Crescent High

Chapter 20

I was home. It felt nice to be back, although I was dreading my family. Paul's car pulled up in front of my house and I got out, thanking Paul and Reef for their help. Then, I walked slowly down the path towards the front door. I stopped before it, readying myself, and knocked sharply, three times. The door opened a few minutes later, and standing in front of me was Mum.
"Hi." I began the conversation. "How have you been?" My voice was soft, and quiet.
"Feonyx," my mum choked out, sounding pleased to have me home. "You're back."
I was surprised by my mum's actions, as I really thought she'd be happy with me gone.
"Yes, term's ended for the winter break," I told Mum, and she hugged me. It was the first time I'd been hugged by my mum, and it felt nice, if not a little out of place. My arms wrapped around Mum as I hugged her back.
"Come on in, you must be cold out there," Mum said, and I took her advice. "Boys, your sister's home."
I felt my heart sink as my brothers thundered down the stairs. They were almost unrecognisable, with Michael looking tanned, muscles bulging. Jack was similar, however, slightly less fit.
"Hi," I said meekly under their imposing glare. "How've you been?" Looking up at them, for they were like giants, I waited for a reply.
Jack spoke up first. "Little sister, so much has changed."
"I can see that, you look awesome."
"Thanks, we started working out a couple of months ago, and Michael joined the school basketball team."
I definitely preferred this version of my brothers, that was clear.
"Tell us about school then," Mum asked, seeming genuinely interested for the first time.
"Well, we did a lot of prepping for end of year exams, cause they're quite a large part of the curriculum, and I met a bunch of new friends like Rose and Megan. Also, Reef goes there as well, which is really cool."
"Oh, I wondered why I hadn't seen him around for a while, that explains it," Michael added.
"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to see Tom," I spoke up, and stood up, going to the door.

"TOM!" I screamed as I ran into the bakery.
"Feonyx?" he asked, before his eyes lit up and he returned my shout. The other people in the bakery looked at is strangely, but I didn't care - it was just great to be back.
"How are you?" I asked Tom.
"I'm great, you?"
"Fine, school was awesome and I met some awesome friends called Rose and Megan," I wittered at Tom, before he told me about how he's been. I stayed at the bakery for a little while, until Tom said that it was closing time.
"Bye Tom," I said as I walked out of the bakery, closing the door behind me. Now, I was back on the high street: it was busy for Westfield, with all of the shop owners beginning to pack away for the night. As I passed them, I said hello to a lot of them, and their children too.
I knew a lot of them from going to Westfield School, the only one in the village, and some I were quite close to.
"Hi, Mrs Pierce," I called as I passed the book store. She was one I knew very well as the book store was like my safe haven.

📚

"Feonyx," Mum called from downstairs. "It's dinner time." The smell of fresh pasta wafted into my room, where I was reading a book that I'd completely forgotten about.
Standing up from my chair, I called back down to Mum. "That smells delicious!" My stomach growled, and I raced out of my room and down the stairs to help Mum serve food. Jack and Michael came through from the living room, and we all sat down to eat.
When we were finished, I washed up, and we all went to play a board game. The game we chose was Monopoly, and my brothers seemed pleased with the selection.
"So, how's your time been whilst I've been at school," I asked, half an hour into the game.
"Oh, it's been great. Over half term, we went to Colorosa to see Aunt Willow and Uncle Dan. They have a baby girl now, her name is Kaitlyn," Jack replied, a grin on his face.
I gasped as Jack told me about my new cousin. "When are we next going to see them?"
Mum smiled as she took her turn. "Actually, we're seeing them next week. They're coming over for Michael's birthday."
"Really!" The smile on my face grew more and more as it dawned on me. I would get to meet my new baby cousin! "I can't wait!"

For the next three hours, we played Monopoly and talked about life, and what we'd been doing for the past few months. I really wanted to tell my family about the magical happenings at Crescent High, but we were sworn to secrecy. This was because of a war that had happened 50 years ago between sorcerers and men, where many of my kind were killed, and more imprisoned and stripped of their magic. After that, all records of sorcery was erased from human history, and magic was removed from their lives, leaving them as a rapidly advancing civilization unaware of the world around them.
I sighed, and leaned back in my chair as Jack went bankrupt and I was the only one left in the game.
"Yes! I win, losers!" I cried, springing up and slamming my hands on the table. It wobbled a bit, before Michael flipped the board and stormed off.
"Let's clear that up, shall we. I'll go have a chat to Michael, and you can make a start on it," Mum suggested, and we nodded in agreement. I got on my hands and knees and began scooping up the Monopoly notes, whilst Jack packed the board away. After a few minutes, we had cleared it all up, and I grabbed a waffle from the counter, spreading Biscoff spread on it.
As I finished, Mum and Michael came down the stairs, and apologized. "I'm really tired right now," he said, and sloped back off to his room.
"So am I," I told Mum, giving her a hug and making my way to my room, settling down in bed. Slowly, my eyes closed, and my dreams began again.

Fire, death, destruction. That was all I could see as war raged on around me, the screams of dying people being lost in the red sky. I swung my sword at a person - if you could count them as one - clothed in black, steel plated armour and glowing red eyes. Their voice sent a shiver down my spine when they spoke, a chilling screech piercing the air.
I swung my sword again. It was a brilliant purple blade, a blinding gemstone adorning the hilt made of soft, black leather and the strongest metal ever forged. The strikes I took cut the air as I got ever closer to my foe, the hits just missing their head.
Then, finally, I hit them, us both falling to the ground, my shoulder throbbing and a gash opening up...

* And here's another one for you. Sorry that it took so long, but I'll try to be faster for the next one. I hope you enjoyed it. *