Secretly Witch

Chapter 9 - Raven in a Nest

Alana Winters was surrounded by woods.

Endless woods.

Yet, these trees seemed familiar to her... as if she had been here before - many times.

Wait. This dream again.

Alana knew what was going to happen as she walked into the familiar clearing. Auburn hair slapped against her face as the wind blew.

But this time, Alana was not scared.

She knew the kitty witch personally now. And she knew for a fact her name was Selena. And Selena was nice.

So Alana wasn't worried.

"ALANA!"

Alana jumped. What was that?

"HELP!"

Alana started running towards the scream. She strayed from the usual clearing, going further into the woods. Her brain was in frenzy; she didn't know what was real and fake anymore.

"AHHHHHHH!!"

Alana ran and ran. She came closer. Alana's blood chilled as she noticed a trail of blood at her feet. Her heat raced - Who's blood?

She found out a second later.

Her parents.

"No," Alana let out a sob, collapsing at their sides, her knees getting soaked in blood. She let out a shaky breath.

Their bodies were mangled on the grass, drowning in dark, dark blood.

"Mum," Alana cried. "Dad! What happened? Oh, I never should have left-"

"But you did."

Another voice. Another familiar voice. And Alana knew who it belonged to.

Alana turned to see Isla Banks, her head tilted down, a dark hood covering her blonde hair, her lips a thin smile.

"You did leave," Isla sneered. "You are nothing, Alana. You will never fit in. You left us all behind."

"No!" Alana blurted, her face streaming with tears. She ran further into the woods, leaving her parents and the hooded monster of Isla behind her. 

My best friend! Alana thought. What if she hates me? What if she never—

"Running away?" Isla's voice echoed, even though she was far away. "Like always. Always leaving us behind."

Alana fell to her knees, sobbing. Her parents. Her friend. What had she done?

"I will never be your friend again, Alana."
"Never."

                                                                             ***

Alana Winters woke up, sweating. Closing her eyes, she sat up on the bed and inhaled.

Now, that was an interesting variant of the Classic Alana Nightmare.

And 100% more terrifying.

Who knew Evil Isla would be so creepy?

Then Alana noticed her. 

The dark-haired girl sitting on the edge on her bed.

AM I STILL DREAMING???? Alana's head screamed as the girl turned around, fixing her ice blue eyes on Alana. WHO IS THIS CREEPY GIRL IN MY ROOM??

Alana leapt out of bed. "Who are you?" she demanded.

The girl smiled, smoothing down her black tunic, her icy eyes lingering on Alana's violet. She looked around Alana's age.

She tilted her small nose upwards, "I'm Evie Storm. And-"

"AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?"

Evie coughed. "Technically, this is my room. You just moved in."

"What?" 

Alana heard Evie mutter something under her breath, but when she turned back to her, Evie had a smile on her face. 

"We're roommates."

"What?" Alana blurted again. "But yesterday night, when they brought me here, I didn't see you-"

Evie rolled her eyes. "Obviously. You were drooling around like a zombie."

Ugh, Alana. Use your common sense! she thought furiously. Now this girl thinks you're weird.

"Uh," Alana said, she racked her brain for something to say. "I like your hair ribbon...?"

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Evie gushed, stroking the blue ribbon tying back the dark locks beside her ears. "It matches my eyes, and my dad bought it all the way from the-"

Alana tuned out whatever she was saying. It honestly just looked like a normal ribbon.

Now that she was wide awake, she finally got a chance to look around the room. There were two ornate wooden dressers, each on two opposite walls, along with two desks. 

Large French windows showed that it was evening, and the dark room was lit by a jar of flickering flames mounted to the walls and ceiling. 

But the beds were the things that caught Alana's eye.

There were two black-colored beds, the one that she used that morning, and another on her right, which was probably for Evie.

Each one was designed as a bowl-shaped nest, the sheets woven from black feathers. Despite it's spiky design, the bed was warm and comfortable - like a nest, Alana thought. Raven would have lots of science-y stuff to say about that.

Raven in a nest! 

The thought was so random, but Alana thought it was hilarious. She wondered where they were now. 

She looked up to see Evie frowning at her, her arms crossed.

"Were you even listening?"

Yes, your hair ribbon is SO interesting, Evie.

When Alana didn't respond, Evie suddenly smiled and thrust a paper into her hand. "Your schedule," she explained. "Dinner is at 7pm and classes start at 8," she glanced at an antique gold clock on the wall, which showed that it was 6:45pm. 

Evie walked over to her dresser and pulled out a pointy black hat. "You hat is in yours," she said, nodding at Alana's dresser. 

Alana went over and took out her hat. So witches did  wear pointy hats. Huh. At least her knowledge of witches didn't fail her on that part. 

"Well," Evie said stiffly as she threw on a blue sweater over her black tunic. "See you at the dining hall, then."

With a flick of her hair, Evie pranced out of the room.

Seconds later, Evie poked her head back in.

"Wait," she said, though Alana hadn't moved an inch. "What's your name again?"

"Alana Winters."

Alana could have sworn Evie crinkled her nose, but her obnoxious smile had returned.

"Well," she said, giving Alana a sideways look. "Hope you can find your way to dinner, Winters."

Alana wondered why she emphasized her last name.

And realized that in fact, she didn't know the way to dinner.

Well.

Her first day was off to a GREAT start.

a/n - Okay, I know I usually never do author's notes, but I just want to say that I TOTALLY DON'T KNOW WHY I named this chapter Raven in a Nest. 

...

AND I want to say THANK YOU to all who've read this book - past, present, future. THANK YOU ALL ALANA IS VERY HAPPY!!!

P.S sry for the oh so long chapter

This a/n is weird. 

Okay, bye!