The Scarlett Story: How it all started

Chapter 8, part 2

"How was your walk?" I say and sit down beside her. She leans back against the tree and smiles. As she does, she seems a little more relaxed.

"It was... Nice. I cleared my head a bit, it definitely helped. How was your history class?" She leans her head on my shoulder.

"Horrible, please remind me next term to not take History of Magic." I put my arm around her and she leaned more into me.

"Yeah, I agree with that... You should take something different next term..." She buries her head into my shoulder, closing her eyes gently as she does this. She seems to have calmed down a lot more.

"Are you okay Nevaeh? I am so sorry for what they said to you." I say and lay my head on hers.

"It's not your fault..." I watch her close her eyes, and lean further into me. "I'm just really sick of them bullying me over my blood status, it used to be once or twice a month, but now it's getting more and more often." She seems exhausted.

"They are just trying to upset you. I know it is horrible, but you really just have to ignore them."

"Yeah..." She mumbles again. She seems to be thinking about something. "Hey... How do you handle them?" She seems genuinely curious about this.

"I either talk back or I tell my sister, and she does something that scares them off."

"So you have someone who will stand up for you..." She sighs. "I wish I had that." She has a small smile spreading on her face.

"You have me and Eain." Her smile widens slightly.

"That's true..." She says quietly. We just sit here for a while, silently enjoying each other's company. Her breathing is starting to slow down now, and it seems like she's feeling a bit more relaxed now. Her eyes close again. There's a small smirk on her face, it's pretty cute. She's completely comfortable now, and she seems happy and won't move at all.

"You know, I think this is the first time you have ever missed a class." I whisper to her. She giggles lightly at this, it seems that she didn't notice until I said it to her.

"Yeah, I know." She replies, a wider smile spread over her face. Her hair moves up into my face. I take her hair and move it over her shoulder so it's out of my face.

"Are you going to make up some excuse and charm your way out of a detention?"

"I might..." She replies. "Well, it shouldn't be too hard..."

"Yeah, for you." She giggles softly.

"Yeah, I guess everything is easy for me." Her eyes flutter briefly open so she can look at me. "Can you do me a favour?"

"Yeah? Sure? Anything?" She turns her and looks directly at me.

"Can we just... For about 15 minutes, can you just... Hold me?" She asks in a tiny little voice.

"Yeah, come here." She snuggles into me. She buries her head into my chest. Her tiny frame looks so little as she leans against me, it looks like she's comfortable. She closes her eyes again as she does this, her breathing has calmed down even more now. I pull her closer so she is sitting in my lap. I run my fingers through her hair gently. Honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing. I am just doing what my sister used to do for me. She seems to really like this. She relaxes even further into my lap. She closes her eyes again. She seems to be enjoying this and after a while, she actually nuzzles into my neck and then she speaks.

"Thank you..."

"You're welcome." I rub her back gently. "Can I be honest?" Nevaeh lifts her head from my neck and looks up at me.

"Yeah?" She looks curious.

"I have no fucking idea what I am doing here." I say and motion to her and myself. She giggles at this. She puts her head back on my chest.

"Me neither...I've never really had someone hold me like this before..."

"I have never held anyone before, I am just doing what my sister used to do."

"Well, she must have taught you well. You're doing well..." She moves her head and puts her cheek against my chest. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah?" She takes a second to think before talking again.

"Can I lie down on your lap?... Just for a little while?"

"Yeah, but can you please help me with this homework? It was due today but I am not in class soo?" I say as Nevaeh turns over to lay in my lap.

"Yeah, sure..." She seems to be enjoying the position much better now. She sits up a little and looks at the homework. "What's the question?"

"I don't know how to explain it." I take the paper out of my bag and lower my arms over her so the paper is in front of her. She starts scanning the paper, studying the question that's being asked. She's silent as she reads it, then looks up at me.

"Can you explain to me what it wants you to describe? " I groan and explain it to her, it seems like time blacked out because four hours later I finally see the time.

"Oh fuck, we are going to be late for assembly." I say and put the books away, that I didn't even know were taken out.

"Ah, damn..." She sighs and rolls her eyes at the realisation of time here too. "The assembly hasn't started yet? " Nevaeh asks, I help Nevaeh up off the ground. She turns to follow me.

"Ten minutes." Something down the path behind the castle catches my eye. "I'll meet you there." I say and start walking away from her. Nevaeh follows along after me, just a few steps behind. There is a hole in the brick wall, and a soft scratching noise can be heard.

"Come on." We both start slowly walking towards the wall, not getting too close.

"What's that noise?" Nevaeh whispers, not wanting to approach it too much.

"Come on." I whisper and walk closer to the wall, I slip through the hole and look back at Nevaeh. Without even thinking about it, she slips through the hole in the wall. I grab her hand and help her through. We walk through and into a big room under the castle. She glances around as she steps into this room, looking at the space. She seems a bit surprised at just how large this room is. She takes a step further in and starts looking around in more depth.

"What is this room doing under the castle?" She whispers, seeming a bit confused.

"I don't know but look." I pointed around the room where a strange green hue with black smoke is floating around the room. I notice the noise has stopped. She looks around, and her eyes catch the green hue. She stares at it, fascinated.

"What is that?" She whispers, seeming a little anxious as she does this.

"I don't know." I walk forward and halfway through the hue. There is a rock part and a small ruby stone. "Why is that down here?" I say to Nevaeh, but she isn't listening to me. Her eyes are focused on the rock. I watch her slowly move her hand closer to the rock, almost touching it.

"Wait!" I grab her hand, but when I do there is a deep pain that strikes through me and I hear a voice in my head.

"You shouldn't have come here Mathias, stupid, stupid boy." A random voice says. I can hear Nevaeh crying in pain, but for me. The whole room goes black and a numb feeling.