Forbidden magic

chapter four

Success is not final,

Failure is not fatal;

It is the courage to continue that counts.

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A shiver tingled along her spine as she shuffled up the front door, her teeth were cluttering and her cheeks were numb from the cold. Raven's enclosed  palm rose as she knocked on the door, her knuckles were of a pale shade and a sickly blue color seeped into her quavering lips.

The door swung open revealing her uncle Edmund, he was still in his work attire and looked anxious. His eyes were hazel green but not at all like Raven's, he had dark green eyes, it was easy to detect kindness in his irises.

Raven knew she was in for a ton of trouble, her uncle glanced over her trembling body and gently ushered her in.

"She's been worried sick for you, kid," he mumbled calmly as he closed the door behind him. Raven always liked him, he was an understanding and patient man who treating her very much like his own.

"I've really done it this time, eh?" She trudged off her bag and slipped out her jacket. The warmth of the house radiated around, ridding her body of the frosty feeling from the autumn weather outside.

"Don't be too hard on yourself," uncle Edmund instructed as he ruffled her hair fondly. He loved his niece dearly, Cassandra and Raven were the only people that truly mattered to him. "Now go get changed and come down for dinner."

"Thanks, uncle Ed," Raven drew her lips into a tiny smile. She rubbed her hands together and covered her cold blue nose for a little while, before repeating the process.

"Oh, and Raven?" He stopped short in his steps to turn around. His lax eyes trailed to her head.

"Yeah?"

"You have leaves in your hair," he informed her, briefly glancing at the bits of rotten leaves wedged in between the red strands of her hair.

"Oh."

                                     *~*~*~*~*~*~*

Awkward silence infiltrated the table like a disease. Raven shifted uneasily in her seat, it was during dinner that they would converse the most, but now no one seemed to be up for chit chat. Raven kept her head down and her eyes remained on the plate of food before her.

"May I have the gravy, please?" Edmund asked, Cassandra passed on the bowl to him and the silence dawned again. Raven forked at her meat without eating, she rested her elbow on the table while supporting the weight of her chin on her knuckles. This had been going for several minutes, until the clatter of Cassandra's utensil sounded.

Raven's green eyes flitted to her aunt only to find that Cassandra had been staring at her the whole time. She gulped her food before dropping her hand to her side, Edmund stopped midway in his chewing and his eyes darted between them.

"Family meeting!" Cassandra announced out of the blue. Edmund choked on his food and began coughing vigorously, Raven patted her uncle's back and gave him a glass of water. Smiling gratefully, Edmund gulped down the water and cast a sideway glance at his wife. His eyebrows furrowed as he sent some sort of signal to her, oblivious to the fact that Raven had witnessed the exchange.

"Is something wrong?" Raven set her fork down and pushed her plate away, as she leaned in. Her eccentric green eyes flickered with interest and Cassandra knew that there was no turning back.