Beyond the Veil

Chapter 12

Sera spent the afternoon getting to know this new girl. She seemed nice enough, but Sera didn't care for pleasantries. She never has. She wanted this girl to trust her enough to open up, she wanted to know all her secrets.

"So you never told me your name." Sera said with a bit of charm in her voice. She wasn't very charming.

"It is strange it is so commonplace to hand over one's name so readily. Names have a lot of power, you know." The girl grinned, leaning closer to her on the table.

Sera wasn't sure what to make of that comment, what a strange thing to say. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours, that seems like a fair enough trade."

The girl smirked. "My name is Nishay."

"I'm Sera." Sera tried to keep the tone positive, but that name seemed to deepen that eerie coldness in her chest. It didn't scare her, she was used to it by now.

"What a cute name for such a cute girl!" Nishay said happily.

"Oh, um.. Thanks..." Sera broke off awkwardly, no one besides her mom has ever told her that before. Quinn too when she gets dragged on shopping expenditures. A blush of humility rose to her cheeks. She knew she looked very plain. She had dark, pin straight hair and pale skin, and her hazel eyes had only a few flecks of color in them. There was nothing special, or particularly alluring about her looks. She knew that, and really was okay with it.

"Do you want to hang out after school, maybe get to know each other better?" Nishay leaned closer to her over the table, looking at her expectantly. Sera noticed that she didn't seem to blink that much. Her stare was disconcerting.

Her smile didn't seem to waver nearly enough, Sera was uncomfortable. She wasn't the biggest fan of this girl, but she didn't mind her all that much.

"What did you want to do?" Sera inquired, not accepting or declining the offer. She wasn't exactly sure what to choose.

"We could go hiking, I know there are some woods not too far from here." Nishay replied.

Sera pondered her words deeply. It was strange that she claims to be a new student, but knows the geography of the area. Even more so that she would walk up to her directly, and ask her to go into the woods, all within less than an hour of knowing her.

It certainly was strange. Her gut was telling her no. It was impossible not to notice how off this girl truly was. However, she considered back to how today went, and reflected on how her life felt without this element of discovery within it. Maybe this wasn't the right outlet for mystery in her life, but there is no mystery without danger, and there is no reward without a little bit of risk.

Besides... What's the worst that could happen?

"Let's do it. Meet you there tomorrow at 6."

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The day went by quickly. Sera was in a hurry to get classes over with. She took a seat next to Quinn in her first class, Quinn looked up and smiled, but went back to paying attention to class.

Quinn passed a note to Sera, "Can I come over later?"

Sera looked down at it and frowned. "I have plans, I'm sorry." She passed it back.

Quinn read it, with an unreadable expression, and nodded, putting the note in her bag. She didn't say anything more. Sera felt a pang in her chest. There must be something wrong with Quinn, but this was her only chance, she was going to race to the forest after class.

She promised herself to make some time to be with her and make sure everything was okay, but she couldn't today. She couldn't pass up this opportunity to find out more.