The Third Reader - The School for Good and Evil

1) Shadow

A face stared at Evelynn through a window.

Stopping to stare back at it, she was confronted with black, glaring eyes, a dark, tight-lipped mouth, and tear-stained cheeks. She blinked harshly, shortly met with the reflection of her own face. 

She must've imagined it; it was only a reflection.

"Lynn!" Evelynn's elder brother yelled at her as her gaze fell away from the window. "Get inside!"

Glancing briefly around her - not having yet noticed the fading light - she realised the sun had nearly set. Villagers had formed a long line around the entrance to the forest, ready to fight off whoever or whatever kidnapped 2 children every 4 years.

It never worked.

Evelynn's mother, Avery, rushed over. There was a deep crease in her brow, and her cheeks were bright red. "Why aren't you inside? You look too presentable! Go and mess yourself up, now."

"I told you not to worry," Evelynn began, casually. "I'm not good or bad enough to be chosen." 

"You don't know that!" Avery countered. "Go, now. I love you."

Evelynn walked away rather reluctantly, eventually reaching her room and locking the door with a huff. She came up to the window, which had already been hammered over with wooden panels by her brother. She traced a finger along one of them and pulled away in shock - a splinter from the wood had sliced open her finger.

"Oh," she murmured to herself. "How stupid of me."

She pressed the cut to her mouth, blocking the flow of blood as her eyes scanned her bedroom. Her rickety, wooden furniture had been moved away from the window, shoved in the corners. Her books and plants remained scattered around. There was a half finished drawing at her desk.

Despite the very minute possibility that it was the last night she was going to see her bedroom, Evelynn was adamant about finishing the drawing the next day, because she was 100% certain she wouldn't be chosen.

You see, Evelynn wasn't good or bad.

She was so sure of this because on some days - for example - she would gently remove the bugs from her room and release them from a window. However, if she happened to be in a bad mood she wouldn't hesitate to squash them with a book. Furthermore, she consistently fought with her family over silly things, and enjoyed tormenting her brother from time to time - while refusing to admit she loved them really. None of the bad things she did were bad enough to make her bad, whereas none of the good things she did were good enough to make her good. 

Hence why Evelynn so confidently believed that she would not be chosen that night. 

Instead, she suspected the girl that lived in the graveyard could be taken: Agatha. She felt sorry for Agatha because of what people said behind her back...and to her face. But whenever she attempted to approach the girl the response she'd get was a spit on the ground which - although vaguely amusing - was very rude. Agatha didn't like new people (nor did they like her very much) meaning her only friend was that pretty princess Sophie girl. Perhaps she would be chosen too, or kind Belle.

It was a shame really; the children being snatched from their homes every four years and taken to a school where they were forced to be a villain or a hero, never to be seen by Gavaldon again.

Although Evelynn was so incredibly sure she wouldn't be taken, the slither of doubt that any sane person would possess was nagging her, so she decided to get it over with and crawled into bed, clutching her duvet tightly up to her neck.