Hermione Gaunt pt. 2

STUFF

Hey! I have this story draft that I wrote for school, and I decided to share it with you guys!!!!!!

Here it is👇🏻

The Haunting of Heirwall Street
It was a Tuesday afternoon, the 31 of October to be exact. The air was crisp and cool. I was walking up my street. I stopped to look at the witch decoration a Michael Fajuer always put up at the bottom of his driveway. I think about the year before.
Before I tell you about last year, I should probably tell you a bit about myself. My name is Catalina Quinones Vela. I am in the 7th grade and I am back-up head cheerleader at my middle school.
It had been my first year in the small Vermont town of Barre. Before that, I had lived in Phoenix, Arizona for a few years. We had moved to Vermont because my father's company had expanded to New England.
The memory of Halloween the year before quickly unsurfaced. I had been very excited for my first Halloween.

1 Year Prior
It was going to be a night of running around finding costume pieces, taking pictures and trick-or-treating. I could tell it would be the best night of my life.
I woke up extra early to get ready for school. I had, of course, picked out a sparkly Halloween themed outfit to wear. I got ready for school quickly.
The bus ride as normal, friends talking to one another, children laughing, an unidentifiable voice singing. I, as always, sat alone, staring out the window.
I was surprisingly unpopular for a middle school cheerleader, but it may have been because I was far from stereotypical.. Though I was blonde, I prefered not to gossip, tease, or think myself above others. I actually thought myself to be rather modest, and I loved to read. I was basically what most people would call a nerd.
The first period of the day was science. We had gotten our tests back and I had gotten an 100, as usual. The rest of the cheerleader girls compared scores as I sneakily listened in. The lowest grade of the bunch was a sorry 76.
The rest of the day passed quickly. My mother had told me to skip cheerleading practice so I could get ready for the night. I was planning to dress up as a witch.
I boarded the bus to return home. It was relatively quiet, but relatively quiet for our middle school could still get a deaf woman to complain about the sound.
The first thing I noticed was that it was much darker than it should be at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. It was raining quite heavily and lightning was present in the sky.
"I better hurry up the hill," I thought to myself.
Rain continued to fall as passed houses on my way up the street. The houses were all decorated nicely on the outside and the lights were dimly lit.
My family lived at the top of the hill at a small ranch so I had to walk passed everyone else's houses to get to mine. Our house was barely decorated with only a large leaf wreath hanging on our front door.
I was had just passed the house of Michael Fajuer, who always put an amazing witch decoration up in front of his house, when I heard and felt lightning strike behind me.
I looked behind me. The witch's nose has been burnt badly. I started to quicken my pace, scared of being struck.
I did not stop until I heard a peculiar sound behind me. I had heard scary stories about Halloween day and night, so I was rather nervous. When I finally did, I stopped in pure shock.
Behind me, in all her glory, stood the witch herself. She had long, greasy, black hair that looked as if it hadn't been washed for hundreds of years. She wore a long, black dress and and classic, black witch's hat that covered her green, warty forehead.
I was frozen, I simply stood still as the rain made my hair stick to my forehead, and I was calculating how fast I could reach my home. I wanted to talk to her. I finally spoke out.
"Who are you?" I asked, my voice almost revealing my fear.
There was a pause that seemed to last minutes, before I heard  response.
"I am a witch."
Her voice was scratchy and was much deeper than I had thought.    
"What is your name?" I was curious of the answer I had received. "I mean, do you have one?" I asked stupidly.
"Esmerelda," she replied curtly. "And I have to kill you now. They will come for you."
I looked at the ground. I thought back to last year when we learned about witches. We had learned that witches were charged with treason and were executed.
When I looked back up, Esmerelda was walking towards me, a look of purpose in her eyes.
Not frozen any more I start sprinting. The raindrops hurt as they collided with my face and the cold air whipped my eyes. I could barely see the other houses with their elaborate decor.
I can hear footsteps behind me. They are light and slow, yet they seem to keep up to me. Just as they seem to reach me, I get to my front door, I quickly entered and dead bolted the door.
When I looked around the house, I came to a terrifying sight. All of the decorations in the house had come alive. The orange and black Halloween candles were dancing, there were little bats with little orange sneakers flying around the room, and the skulls were singing spooky songs.
I heard a crash as a miniature witch flew into the room. She flew circles around the room before flying swiftly out the window.
I saw the the back door start to open. A little moon with legs walked in wearing a small baby blue vest. Behind him the shadow of Esmerelda loomed. I did the cowardly thing, I ran frantically into the basement, the only place they can't get to.
I heard Esmerelda cackle from upstairs, her boots making loud thumps against the floor. Her kind facade was gone, an evil one taking its place.
Her footsteps were then directly over my head. I felt my breath start to speed up, the low voice of Mr. Moon set my heart racing.
    After what seems like hours. I climbed the stairs to the living room.
"If I die today," I had told myself, "I loved this world and don't want anyone to grieve for me."
I took a deep breath. I slowly open the door, scared of what might be on the other side. I saw my little brother's toys scattered across the floor. All of the decorations were back in their original location.
I meandered into the dining room. On the table lay a short letter.
"Dear Catalina" it read. "I'm a sorry for any harm I may have caused you. There is simple explanation. I am from the year 1692. I died on this date that year. My spirit lingered, finally resting in the calm decoration that your neighbor owns. I will no longer bother you but I will be here if you need me. Sincerely, Esmerelda Depuis, 1692."
The only proof I could that that afternoon even happened was the letter.
Just after that, my dad had gotten home from work. He asked me how my day was. I asked him about the weather. He proceed to mention that the weather had been nice all day and that we were very lucky.
"Hm, that's rather peculiar," I had thought to myself, but not bothering to mention anything.
We ate dinner before I went upstairs to change into my costume. I was about to put it on when I realized I had enough of witches one day. I decided to dress as the Mr. Moon, or Miss Moon I guess.
After trick-or-treating, when I was lying in my bed, staring at the ceiling, I thought about that day. Other than being chased by an evil witch, the day was okay. I had a lot of fun.
Only later, when I was about to fall asleep, I realized, I never told Esmerelda that my name was Catalina. Maybe there was more to her than I saw.

2017
    That day was the best day of my life. Everything was almost perfect. It was a day I would cherish forever.
    I take a deep breath as I walk by Michael Fajuer's witch. I may have imagined it, but I swear I saw her smile slightly, and mouth "Cat."