The witch's raven

A new arrival or an old classmate?

I panted as I ran down the dark college hallway past the cafeteria. My legs heavy and sore from running. I turned around just as a black wolf the size of half a car came around the corner slamming against the college windows shattering them. I turned back to face where I was running realizing I had no where else to turn.

A dead end.

I leaned my back up against the wall behind me as this huge beast came charging towards me. A silent scream behind my lips. I squeezed my eyes shut hoping for a savior. Help me! Help me! HELP ME!! Anybody!!

A loud explosion echoed through the hall shaking the ground underneath me. I opened my eyes to see the wolf up against the wall with blood splattered across the marble floor. A tall and slender man had picked up this large beast and had him whimpering. The man looked at me and my breath hitched. His eyes were the color of red with what I could see the death he had brought on to many more beasts.

He manhandled this ferocious beast and tossed him aside. The wolf immediately melted into the marble leaving a huge acidic hole in the ground. The man came walking towards me with blood dripping from his hands. As he got closer I could see in the faded light from outside that his hair fell to his middle back the color of coal and his face looked like he was chiseled from the same marble as the ground. The man reached out his arm and I squeezed my eyes shut tightly terrified of the same fate as the wolf. "Violet, are you okay?" I refused to speak nor open my eyes. "Violet."

"Violet!" My eyes shot open as I sat up quickly in a bed with white sheets. My head throbbing uncontrollably. I turned to see that I was in the nurses office with my dorm's regular nurse sitting beside me.

"Thank goodness dear! You've been out cold for almost 13 hours!"

I looked around in confusion.

"Mrs.Thompson, what happened last night? Why am I here?" Blurry fragments of last night sped through my head as I tried to fathom what had happened. Max and I went to the edge of the woods last night to grab my belongings but I can't remember much after that.

"Oh, well it seems you went for a walk last night near the woods and had slipped dear. You hit your head pretty hard. Luckily a very nice young man brought you back and we got you all bandaged up!"

Nice young man? " you mean Max? Is he okay?"

Mrs.Thompson looked at me strangely. " who's Max sweetheart?" My head felt like it was about ready to explode. Why was she acting as if he doesn't exist. We were just at the woods last night. Just about everyone knew him.

"Isn't that who brought me back? He's tall with tan skin and wavy hair." Mrs.Thompson stood still for a moment as if she was trying to figure out who I was talking about. "I think you hit your head a bit hard Violet. There was no one by the name of Max that I can recall. The young man who brought you in was Lucas of course. He's in the same classes as you."

At this point I was ready to just fall back in the bed and wake up from this dream. There was nobody by the name of Lucas in my classes. "What about stasia? The student who was found dead? What about her?" My anxiety was taking a 360 on my heart.

"I think you should rest a bit longer deary. I am not sure where you're getting these stories from but maybe take some time to calm your head." Mrs.Thompson handed me two Advil and a glass of water before walking out of the office.

My hands shook as I stared into the glass of water that had a foggy tint to it from being poured from city pipes. The more I tried to think of last night the blurrier things got. The dream I had too. What does it all mean..? Something wasn't adding up and I needed answers. I swallowed the Advil dry because I wasn't going to drink city water and flipped my legs over the bed. I realized that I was in a bed gown from the nurse's closet which I hadn't noticed before hand. I scanned the room hoping to find something more decent to walk around campus with and caught eye of a set of clothes folded up at the end of the bed. I quickly stood up regretting it as my head pulsated but I brushed it off to go looking for Max. He would know what's going on. Or at least maybe a little bit. I stripped out of the nightgown realizing that I had been sweating profusely and my hair was all knotted. Oh well. I didn't care right now.

My bag I had last night was hanging on a hook beside the bed and I grabbed it racing out of the nurse's office. I checked the clock in the hallway that read 11 am.

Max should be getting out of class very soon for lunch. I quickly walked down the hall around the corner and bumped into somebody coming from the other side. My butt hit the floor and winced in pain from the throbbing in my head.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there." I rubbed my hip as a hand shot out in front of my face. It was so slender with long fingers and was porcelain white that I assumed it would break if I grabbed it. I looked up and my body froze in terror.

He looked like the man in my dreams.

Long black hair. Pale skin. Tall and slender. The only difference was his eyes were maple brown. I swallowed a gulp of air before grabbing his hand. I flinched at how hot it was.

He pulled me up and I was surprised for how thin he was that he had so much strength. He didn't struggle at all.

"I'm really sorry for that. I wasn't watching where I was going. Are you okay?" I looked up at this man who bumped into me and realized then how much taller he was than me. He had to be at least 6'1. He was also very beautiful. My words caught in my throat as I tried to speak.

"I-it's okay. I shouldn't have been running anyways.I'm fine" I could feel my heart racing and it was only making my head hurt more. He smiled and put his hand out again. "By the way my name is Lucas. I'm the one who brought you to the nurse's office when I saw you passed out by the woods. I was on a walk and found you." So this was the Lucas Mrs.Thompson was talking about. I've never seen him around here before. I took his hand and shook it.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Violet. Did you just transfer here?" Lucas's smile turned strange for only a second or maybe it was my imagination. Either way it gave me goosebumps.

"What do you mean? I've been here a while now. We have the same classes together. But I'm on my way to lunch so I'll talk to you later okay?" And with that he walked off and I was standing there more confused without answers than anything else. I really had to find Max.

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