Saffire Stones

•cautious and slow•

(A/N: I know this chapter is titled cautious and slow but it kinda moved sorta fast so sorry about that)

I don't understand why people are so cautious. What's the point of writing a letter if you have no story. And so, I solemnly swear, when I write a letter, I'll have a story to tell.
I sat in class waiting for a moment to happen. Most people wait for the moment after the one they're in, I waited for the moments to stop. The past days have been weird. It started on September twenty-eighth, my birthday. It was going to be unbearable to get through the next three hours with my family.
I tried to walk out my door and enter the room. My entire family was waiting for me out in the living room. I couldn't move my legs, they were paralised for minutes. I finally got out of my room and everyone stared at me.
    "Look at that dress! Oh you're so beautiful." Aunt Kathleen pinched my cheeks.
    She handed me a small gift box. It was a black round box that could fit in my palm. I untied the black ribbon. There were so many things that could fit in such a small gift. I lifted the top and looked inside.
    It was a pair of earrings shaped like a heart. It had fancy silver patterns on the side. I noticed it had a hatch. I opened it and asked.
    "What could I possibly fit in this?"
    Kathleen just looked at me.
"You know your father is terrible at gifts."
"And at showing up."
The day after that I woke up early and opened the earrings. It started smoking and ashes fell out. It burnt my hand and I threw it in a glass of water by bed. By day three I'd seen strangers in the house just roaming around.
    "Wake up." My teacher called out.
    I jumped. It'd been hard to get sleep lately. I told her I was sorry and everyone left the classroom. Walking down the hallway I saw everything. The looks people gave me, the posters on the walls that had been there for years, the lockers on ether side of me slamming shut. I sometimes jumped at how loud the noise was. I liked watching the trees move slightly in the small breeze. By the time I got home that brief moment of joy would be over. As expected, when I got home, my father wasn't there. The power went out again, I had to light a candle.
    I put a bit of my pocket money on top of the overdue bills and found a match. I started digging around for candles, I knew where they were but I was still lost in the dark. Aunt Kathleen walked in. I hated hearing her big purse and her keys in the door. I lit a candle and walked over to her.
    She grabbed a piece of my hair.
    "Are you dying your hair again? I told you not to dye it such an awful color."
    I backed away from her and started lighting more candles.
    "My hair is naturally black. I got it from my mother, remember."
    "I wish I did, but i'm not familiar with lies." I lit the last candle, "Look at those clothes, they're filthy! Go get changed. I have some groceries to bring inside."
    I walked outside and brought in the two paper bags she'd brought for me. I saw a little purple girl waving at me, she had to be four. She had a gap in her front teeth and could barely comprehend anything. An older version of her came up and dragged her away. This girl was green and had perfect teeth.
    I chased them down the halfway until they disappeared.
    "What are you doing?" Aunt k said, "I found this in my car, I don't need it anymore."
    She put a pile of photos in my hand and turned out the door.
    "By the way, stop dying your hair. Like I said, your fathers brown hair is much better."
    She closed the door and I repeated her words back in a mocking tone. I looked at the photos she gave me. I recognized the top photo right away because I had a copy of it. It was of my mother with a coin she was about to make a wish on. The one underneath that was one I also had but my fathers face was still there, I'd burned his face on my copy.
    A famous inventor. That's what he said he would be. Back then I believed him, I even said I'd help. Every day I'd come to his work shop and do my best to show him how I could help. At some point it stopped, I don't know when. I looked out the window, aunt K had left. Her car wasn't in the driveway. I saw about five girls playing around where her car once was.
    ttwo of the girls were the girls I saw before. They all played for a while and laughed. The candles that were lighting up the room were almost gone. I knew how to get more candles but it was risky. I walked outside and the children faded away. I quickly walked over to the house next door.
    I knocked on the door. No one answered. I knew it was safe to open the window on the side of the house. Candles would be nice, but I was really looking for money. I creeped through the window.
    The window led to a child's room with a toddler bed and teddy bears painted on the walls. I stepped on the floor thankful there was a carpet on the floor to stop the floor from creaking.
    I walked outside to the living room. Behind that room was the kitchen and on the counter there was a jar filled with money, probably for something wasteful like a vacation. I heard a car pull up to the driveway. I quickly ran out the back door after taking as much money as I could stuff into my pockets.
    I sat down in my living room like nothing happened. I wish I had a better description, saying my heart was pounding but, I'd done this a million times. Though I will say, this was the most amount of money I'd taken. Every time I heard a cop car speed by, I panicked.
    I decided I should go for a walk, maybe pick up some food better then what aunt K had brought for me. I put most of the money on top of the bills and took an old twenty dollar bill. I put the earrings aunt K gave me on. I reached for the door when my head hurt and I heard ringing.
    I saw flashes of a girl in a dark red blazer running around causing some form of panic. She had pointed ears and ever time she laughed you could see the tongue of a snake.
    "Russe!" I heard someone say, "Get here right now."
    I opened my eyes and it was the middle of the night. I was standing in the street, just breathing. The street lights turned off and I could hardly see. One thing I did see was those girls from before but there were a lot more of them. They all glowed, in different colors. I tried to reach out to them and I fell forward, passing right through her and she disappeared.
    A new girl appeared, she was red. I assumed the woman walking up to her was Russe.
    "Polly," the girl said.
    "Yes Mrs. Lazuli."
    I guess it wasn't. The twenty dollars in my pocket fell out. The wind had picked up since I'd left the house. It'd be a waste if I stole the money, then had it blow away. I ran after it. Maybe when I found it I could get a bus ride. Every time I stepped closer the money would blow away.
    I finally caught the money before hearing that sharp noise again. I closed my eyes tightly. 
    "Is something wrong?" The snake girl asked.
    "You caused major panic in the school, I'm sending you home."
    "With all due respect, which is none, you sent someone home. By law you have the bare minimum of students, you can't send me home."
    "Not if she comes, Polly, bring me Saffi."
    "Yes, Lazuli."
    I woke up screaming, Don't come near me! But no one was there. I was covered in dirt and was sitting on concrete. The concrete was warm in the sun and a tall building was near me.
    It had fancy pointed roofs and a large circular window with fancy patterns inside. It was built with tan bricks. Was it a castle?
    It was on that day that I was dropped off and left defenseless at Mrs. Lazuli's place. It was a strange school to be honest, and the way I ended up there was just as priculuar. The school was so far from anything that I couldn't imagine how someone would stumble into it. Lazuli greeted me at the front of the school.
    "How are you?" She said, "Thanks for stopping by."
    The tone of her voice frightened me on the inside, I tried my best to show no sign of concern. She brought me through the large wooden gates and told me about the place.
    "This is a place where students come to learn."
    "I already have a school, just show me the way to West Rell?"
    "You may have a school, it's nothing like this."
    We walked down a rather large hallway. The carpets were all red and every time I looked up the walls grew taller. Somehow her not answering my questions made me seem smaller. I heard her heels every step. A few students passed us as we walked to her office. Some of them had odd features. Some students had pointed ears, some had pointed teeth.
    One girl walked up to the two of us. Lazuli introduced me to her.
    "Saffi, this is Polly. She'd be your roommate if you chose to stay. Polly Ravencroft is easily one of the top students at our school. She takes french, potions, gardening, and-."
    "That's enough praise, Mrs. Lazuli." She shook my hand, "Nice to meet you, you'll be attending full time of course, right?"
    She came off a bit over praised, a slight god complex could easily explain the first few seconds of us knowing each other. She had green hair and wore the same thing as everyone else. A white button up collared shirt with a bow, than black overall skirts.
    "Nice outfit, I assume there's some dress code?"
    "There is one but, you won't have to follow it!" Lazuli shot out, "All the classes are full but you can join whatever you want."
    So many things felt off, maybe my life would be different if I'd just walked through the woods. I'd get lost, never find home and marry some stranger in a random town. But something about being catered to, learning magic, having company, it seemed so interesting.
    They seemed desperate to have me. It was nice being wanted.
    "I could stay for a moment." I said.
    "Thank you!" Polly looked to Lazuli, "Does this mean you'll expel Russe?"
    "Not yet, though maybe this will remove her need for being expelled." She walked upstairs, "I have a meeting with her right now, Polly, take her to her room."