The Gifted One

Chapter 17- Nowhere To Be Seen

Maxine's P.O.V.

Sweat dripped down my forehead as my pjs stuck to my body as if it was glue and fear got to the best of me. I gasp awake with a heart beating so fast and as loud as a bell. I believed it was still night as they always would be at night and my nightmares appeared to be so vivid. The demon haunts my dreams as a parasite would, yanking and pulling my hair as I try to desperately hold on to something so tightly that my knuckles become pale but of course, every dream would be different. At times the demon would stare at me in the corner of the room with only the moonlight barely illuminating the room but it was enough to see the eyes flicker like the flame of a candle and her smile that always haunts me as I stay paralyzed in bed unable to move a single limb. Then the dream would change again to the time when the demon's long bony fingers would wrap around my neck as her black raven hair fell on either side of my face. The hair was in knots like a bird nest and her face was so close to mine I tried to back up but couldn't as I could feel myself choking in the dream and in reality but I woke up with a gasp for air. Nothing would be there other than the dead silence of the night. It was different today instead of waking up in the middle of the night, I awoke in the morning.

Lost hope lingered in my heart and mind. The urgent need to figure out its name was much more difficult than I had wished it would be. The only thing I needed was its name but the task was nearly impossible. If only my mind didn't go blank when faced with the demon and if only my heart didn't betray me and cower away like a frightened pup taken away from its mother. I swore to myself that I would no matter what ask for its name the next time we face each other. There were endless names like a bottomless pit and no clue of its name just like the endless stars in the midnight sky.

I looked at myself in the mirror with my hair messy as it would be every morning as I looked at myself while I traced the scar that was on my left eye. Regulus had mentioned that as I grow the scar will grow smaller but it'll still be visible for many people to see. Thankfully in Hogwarts, people didn't judge my scar perhaps because I was in Slytherin not many people spoke about it. Or perhaps they thought it was a battle scar, fastinated as they would be when they see Harry's lighting bolt scar which was more noticeable then my own. Although I'm sure many people knew that I spent more time in the Gryffindor table than my own it didn't mean I didn't hang out with Draco and his friends often. Sometimes you need to use ever person you can even if they were annoying.

I quickly changed no longer wearing a tie and thankfully the professors grew tired of countless times telling me to wear my tie. I searched the room of where Prince might be but he was nowhere in sight, "Prince? Prince?!" I clicked my tongue hoping he would hear me calling. Suddenly Panay appeared startling me, "What's wrong? You're going to be late for class again." "I can't find Prince," I say panicked looking everywhere frantically. "He must've walked by when I opened the door. I'm sure he'll be back." Reassures Pansy and in most cases, cats do naturally come back to the person who feeds them. But I didn't like the feeling I was getting inside. It was the feeling that something bad was going to happen. And yet I couldn't pinpoint why... maybe I was overthinking it or I was getting too anxious after what happened with the demon. Or too many nightmares that haunt me at night have left me on guard.

Now I couldn't even determine who and when the demon would wish to make an appearance and that alone was enough to make me anxious.

I went to classes like I normally would but the lingering feeling that something bad was going to happen didn't disappear. It was in the pit of my stomach warning me like what most people would say a gut feeling. I think that's what they call it anyways?

I headed to the dueling club which I decided to join to see Archie leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. I couldn't exactly speak to him due to the few students that surrounded me but thankfully he would help me and point out any flaws that I had made or what I could do better. And he was experienced when it came to dueling as if he was naturally talented.