Secrets for Centuries

Chapter 3- Boarding School

— • ♥ • —

The moon shone brightly above, but I could barely see out the thick, bushy trees. I waited for my body to move and find Mystery Guy again, but nothing happened. I sighed and trudged on, deeper into the woods.

After a while, I came to a fallen tree. I sat on the ground and leaned my head against it. My mind wandered, and I started thinking about the crash. Tears welled up in my eyes. I missed my mom. She didn't deserve to end up like that. She was the only person who cared for me, and I had no one else left in the world. How was I going to go on without her? Still sobbing, I cried myself to sleep.

— • ♥ • —

When I woke up, my eyes hurt and my head ached. Groggily, I grabbed a branch to pull myself up, but it broke. Suddenly, the ground beneath me opened up. Had I activated some sort of lever? But before I could even think, I slipped and fell into the hole.

The hole was like a long, dark, tunnel. Screaming as I went, I landed in front of a stone mansion. The place seemed...familiar.

Wait.

This was my aunt's place.

— • ♥ • —

Now, I know I said I didn't have anyone else left in the world, but that wasn't strictly true. I had an aunt, but she didn't care for either my mom or me, so we'd only visited her a few times before, during emergencies.

I reached for the door knocker, but before I could do anything, the door flung open. Standing there in the doorway was a vaguely familiar face.

"Hello Scarlett," my aunt Crimson glared down at me.

"Hello, aunt Crimson," I replied, still shaky from the incident at the hospital.

"You are to go to boarding school and remain there until you control your powers," she began walking briskly and I struggled to keep up.

"What-"

What powers?

Aunt Crimson cut me off. "I've gathered your belongings. The chauffeur will be taking you to Vermillion Heights Academy."

"Why can't I stay with you?" I protested as I scrambled after her down the corridor.

"Foolish child. I want nothing to do with you or the rest of your family." The rest of my what now? My mom was my only other family. What was she talking about?

"Why are you sending me to boarding school?"

"Hmph. I'm not the one sending you to school, I never paid a penny. I already said I wanted nothing to do with your kind. The headmaster agreed to let you in free of charge. Said something about saving your kind or whatever. Foolish man, he'll regret it."

She led me outside, where a pale, grim-looking man stood next to a hearse. But before I could ask her anything else, she slammed the door in my face.

As you might be able to tell, my aunt despised me.

The man opened the door of the hearse and I walked in.

As we got closer to the academy, it started raining. Not normal rain, red rain. Flashes of lightning lit up the sky and thunder rattled my eardrums.

"Where...where am I? Where is this place?" I panicked as I looked out the window.

"This," the driver said, "is your new home." He pulled up at the front of the school, got out of the hearse, and started unloading my bags. Before I could stop him, he got back in the car and drove away. What do I do now?

The bell on the tower chimed. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Eight times. Finally, I saw students rushing out of the dormitory building and into the school. I tried to stop them and ask for help but I just couldn't. Something was making me feel weird about this place and my shyness didn't help at all.

— • ♥ • —

Be sure to click on that little orange star and vote! Follow me and talesoflore on Wattpad and Instagram- c.hloe.wn. TYSM!