Forbidden magic

chapter three

Every saint has a past.

And every sinner has a future.

-Oscar Wilde-

_______________________________________________

A sharp whirl of cold wind gusted past Raven, making her teeth jitter slightly. She had just exited the graveyard through the back gate and was currently on her way home. Her house was just a couple of blocks away, Raven held the straps of her bag tightly while strolling past the houses.

Her sudden encounter with the mysterious stranger had set off something within her, that she herself could not pick out. Curiosity? Anger? Raven had no idea. Her lips trembled as she muttered incoherent words under her breath, the day was not going the way she thought it would.

Firstly the school greek god had considered her very existence for the first time since ever. Then she fainted in class and he came to the rescue, lastly her little talk with the tall brunette at the graveyard was very much unexpected. Something was odd and Raven had absolutely no intention of finding out.

She was never curious, if curiosity can kill cats she was pretty convinced that it would do harm to humans. However, she could not help but ponder over the fact that mister stranger had known about her parents. Raven made sure that that certain piece of information of her background was kept well hidden.

Well, it seemed to her that her idea of keeping a low and stealthy profile was not working out. Perhaps he had just taken a mild guess that was only correct by coincidence alone. Raven nodded reassuringly, maybe he had just jabbed her insecurities by random words without any real knowledge.

This thought immediately sent relaxing signals to her system, automatically relieving her body of the tight tension that cramped her insides. She chose to swipe aside the troubling thoughts and continued to walk in utter silence.

As her feet automatically waltzed forward, Raven's attention drifted away as an impassive look clouded her face. Her right foot stubbed a rock embedded in the pathway, causing her to lose her balance and stagger to the side. Her hands flew to her sides as she braced herself as she came in contact with the solid ground.

Raven blinked in a lost manner, she was not much of a klutz but this day seemed to be full of her stumbling into queer situations. With an unladylike grunt, she heaved herself to her feet and dusted of the bits of soil that clung stubbornly onto her jeans. The faded fabric was going to need extra washing, Raven knew.

Perhaps it was the unpleasant feeling arising in her stomach or more likely the impure presence of something vicious that made her look up. Her eyes shifted to the house before her, making her pause. Raven grew conscious of the dusk as the house loomed in the nearing darkness, a lengthy shadow fell before it and Raven was more puzzled than scared.

In all her life in this neighborhood, never once had she come across the building that stood in front of her, or at least what's left of it. Perhaps it was just because she had taken a new route home, Raven was unsure. The house had two stories and lacked great width, giving it a lanky shape. Made of wood, the building was slightly tilted to the left and it would be of no surprise to her if it were to collapse anytime soon.

There and then, Raven decided that she would take a look inside, a tiny peek wouldn't do much harm now, would it? She looked cautiously around to ensure that no one was around, and of course there wasn't a soul along the streets save for hers.

She advanced towards the house, walking across the lawn and up to the front door. Her feet paused hesitantly as uncertainty overtook  her, she took in a deep breath and the autumn air bit into her lungs. Instinctively, she reached into her bag and slipped out the baseball ball, her hand caressed the leathery surface gently. She walked faster and now she was on the brim of the steps leading to the verandah.