Willow Springs

Chapter 11

After my first day of lessons, we had plenty of time to ourselves. My friends and I, including Lisa, our newest friend decided to do what most of our classmates was doing and hung out in the common room. It was loud, very loud some children were sat trying to read, while others watched whatever they could find on tv to watch, but most sat around talking. We stayed if we could stand it, but we quickly decided that we had enough of Harnard watching us and thought it was best to slip out. Lisa had read about a shop which was close by in the only village near the school. It was meant to be a twenty-minute walk through the woods, or twice as long if you went by the road. The only catch was we needed written permission from a teacher or from someone like my junior Pack leader, Jackal Niklaus, who was on duty in watching our common room, as a lot of students his age often did for a small amount of money and credit from the school. At first, he was unsure to give us all the pass, but after taking one look at how Harnard was watching my friends and me he quickly pulled out a pass and once he took our names he passed it to us and told us we had two hours to get back, which we knew was more than enough time.

Seen as none of us knew the way but Lisa we let her lead the way, watching as she skipped ahead into the woods; her red hair bouncing off her back as she skipped. We all smiled at each other and followed her into the thick woods. The path took a slight climb up the side of the mountain and the girls were walking ahead, with Barnett and I walking close behind. Then without warning Aurora stopped and was just staring around her, her mouth wide open, so wide it was amazing it didn't touch the floor.

"Aurora, Aurora what's wrong?" I asked rushing to her side, worried about my friend. I had never seen her like it before.

"Don't you see it? You must see it!" She said in amazement. Still looking around her.

"We don't see anything, what do you see?" Bridget whispered to Aurora.

"The forest, it's amazing. So many colours, so many beautiful creatures and birds. It's like the greenhouse, this is what Miss Aldgrove was talking about, the special place in the forest, it's here!"

"What is she talking about Richard? It just looks like the rest of the forest." Barnett asked.

"Richard do you have those potions with you?" Aurora asked suddenly, spinning around on the spot taking me by surprise.

"Yes, they are in my bag," I replied, dropping to one knee, and opening my bag before Aurora had the chance to say anything else.

I searched through my bag and pulled out four of the vials I remembered Miss Aldgrove said would let me see what was truly in the woods, and I passed them to Aurora. She handed one out to everyone and smiled, giving us all a nod. All together Lisa, Bridget, Barnett, and I drunk the contents and dropped the empty vials back into my bag. At first, nothing happened, but then while looking at a confused Lisa a saw her eyes changed colour to a dark purple colour, swirling around like an ocean. I was transfixed by her eyes so much I didn't notice my vision change until I saw the shock on Lisa's face, and I knew she saw what I saw in her eyes. Taking my hand, we turned around at the same time and saw what Aurora had seen. It didn't look as amazing as the greenhouse in some ways, but it was still breathtaking. There were brightly coloured plants all over the forest floor, with even some trees standing where there weren't any trees. Birds sounded above us, but not the birds which are natural in England and Scotland but ones of bright colours, just like the greenhouse. It was like stepping into another world. None of us spoke we just ran from plant to plant, touching, smelling, and studying the unusual plants. Bridget was holding Aurora's hand, letting her drag her wherever Aurora wanted to go. Lisa did the same with me, almost jumping with joy as she explored the amazing world, excited to pick the flowers and feel how different they were to plants and flowers she had smelt in the past. It may seem like a strange thing to do but to werewolves smell is a huge part of our lives. I found a large feather on the ground and picked it up, it looked and felt like a normal flower, but the difference was it had patterns in every colour you could think of in swirls and beautiful patterns. I wanted to keep it but quickly changed my mind, thinking that it may help Lisa feel more accepted into our friendship group if I gave it to her.