WITCH TRIALS: Hourglass |Book One|

ONE

Drip, drop.

The sound was subtlety quiet, pacifying with a lingering uncertainty to it. It was like a series of water drops leaking from a faucet in a silent room. It was dark all around me, swallowing me whole in the emptiness of which it was. My heart pounded, and my eyes darted back and forth, desperately trying to find a light or the source of the maddening noise. It slowly begun to grow in sound, almost like a beating drum inside my head, echoing into the hollow abyss. I cried out for help, my hands cold and clammy and wet with something that was thick. I was alone, my lungs struggling for each breath that I took.

I was dead oh god I was dead that was it I was dead.

The words were like a whisper in the dark hollowness of my head, coming from an outside force with grinning teeth whispering into my ear. I felt as if my body had been touched by a force that could not feel, the icy chill running down my spine. I spun around, searching in every which way for something, anything. The drumbeat grew louder, louder, and louder with each passing minute, the same continuous beat of drip, drop, drip, drop.

Boom, bam, boom, bam.

It was maddening, seeming to get closer and closer to where I felt like I could reach out and touch it. I held my wet hands to my chest, gasping for breath, ribs aching and cold to the center.

A light flicked to life, in the dead center of the room, small and innocent. I started to walk towards it, relieved for the precious sanctuary. Suddenly, I felt something tingly on top of my head that frightened me to the core. It was warm, thicker than water, like syrup. I was terrified. Slowly, I groped the air above my head, feeling the now slow stream of thick liquid, when the drumming became thunderous to where my ears felt like they were bleeding. In a flash, the room came to life, a circle of seemingly endless rows of candles lit all at once, swaying with the beat of the drum. I went to cover my ears, to shield them from this insanity,

Drip, drop, drip, drop.

When something red caught my eye. My heart stopped, breath lingering in my throat when I began to draw my trembling hands to my face.

They were covered in blood.

My eyes widened in horror, my hair soaked with it with the stream above still continuing. I tilted my head back cautiously, my body shaking with fear of the unknown, the blood dripping on my forehead subtly with the beating of the drums louder and louder and louder until every bone in my body vibrated from the force, chants rising from the abyss. I looked above my head, and I saw truly horrified me.

Oh my go-!

The room collapsed onto itself, the drumming fading away with the icky, dark blood washed. My eyes snapped open, my bones locking at the sight of the blinding light and the eyes of another person. I almost screeched, sitting up immediately and my body slamming against the side of my desk. Fear rose inside me, heart racing, until I heard a series of soft laughter around me. I realized where I was not too long after.

I was at school, my desk, my class, and my teacher stood in front of me, looking very crossed. I gulped, my muscles relaxed, and my face growing hot.

"Ms. Faye, this is class, not nap time." She snarled, and a few more giggles arose in the class. I ducked my head, trying not to look at her in the eyes, the most frightening feature about her.

"Yes ma'am." I mumbled, chuckling a tad. She glared at me for a few more moments, but her look was broken by the shriek of the bell, signaling the end of the day. She turned around and walked towards her desk, while I grabbed my binder and stuffed it into my bag. My mind felt cloudy, like a thick stream of fog had been wrapped around it inside my skull. My temples felt sore and throbbed, pulsing with each beat of my still racing heart. A small touch appeared on my shoulder and every nerve in my body was on edge.