Lost In Time

A Fickle Creature

I spent Sunday hiding in my room, doing my homework, cleaning, reading up on griffins – anything to keep me from overthinking. Dim. The coven. Samantha. Dracula. Demons. Dad. Dim. It was too much. I was slowly being eaten alive by my own doubts and just wished that I could go back to a simpler time in life, where no one knew anything about that girl living in the attic. So much had changed...yet I still felt the same. No one approached my room, or even texted me. I was well and truly alone. But of course Monday came, and I had to be an adult again.

So I got up and got a shower. Got dressed. I found myself in the kitchen, pouring a bowl of cereal, hoping the Lucky Charms could get me out of my funk. No such luck. As I sat down at the table Jane and Alarik walked in, and immediately Alarik scowled in my direction. My stomach churned as I kept my eyes down. Jane yanked him forward, basically hauling him into the kitchen. Thanks to Charlotte's help, she was up and about, looking so much better. Jane was essentially the only one keeping the peace, acting as a buffer between the coven and I as she spoke on my behalf. But I didn't want to make it any worse.

"Morning Eli!" She chirped as she pushed Alarik towards the fridge, begging him to make her eggs and toast. Considering she was his cute, recently injured, little sister, she didn't have to beg for long, and he got down to it, with hardly a snarl in my direction. He still thought I had something to do with the demons, and who could blame him? They had no idea what happened to my Dad. To my home. To my life. Not that I was willing to further their understanding at all.

"Look, dude, just talk to her, I'm sure she can explain what happened that night...oh. Um." Blake's voice reached my ears, and involuntarily I looked up as Blake and Chett stood there, uncomfortable looks on their faces. I heard Dim's door slam shut, and that did it. Trying really, really hard not to say or do anything I would regret, I put my unused spoon down beside the full bowl of marshmallows, I gave everyone a tight smile as I snatched my bag up from its chair.

"Anyone want my Lucky Charms? I'm late for class." I was getting really good at this lying thing, and kept my head down the entire time as I practically ran to the front door. I'd just get a coffee and a muffin from that little café, I told myself. Ignoring the ache in my heart, I did exactly that, and took it to the outdoor sitting area, trying to enjoy the morning breeze.

People walked by, hurrying off to class as I sat there, silently watching and picking the mushy blueberries out of my oversized muffin. They just didn't taste good this morning. I soon had a pile of the berries pushed aside, but I was still picking at my food, coffee untouched. I just didn't feel like eating, even if I was hungry. And that is just so stupid. Groaning to myself, I put the muffin down and leaned back. I stared ahead, watching an elderly professor sitting on the edge of a fountain, deeply engrossed in her book, occasionally throwing handfuls of bird seed at the pigeons pecking near her feet. What a simple life birds lead. They don't have to worry about their family, or their roommates, or the guy they may or may not have a crush on...they just fly around, foraging for food, enjoying life with no responsibilities. Must be nice.

But as I sat there, watching the birds, a pigeon flew down and took a small blueberry off the top of the pile. It was like a lightbulb went off in my head. Of course, why haven't I thought of this before? Claire always had animals in her pockets, round her neck. She was always muttering weird sounds under her breath any time I saw her, often crooning to whatever creature she currently had on her. But now that I thought about it, those sounds, they were the sounds of an animal. Hisses for snakes. Caws for birds. Squeaks for mice. She could help me get that broach...if I could just convince her to help me. We weren't exactly friends, but we were acquaintances...maybe that would be enough.

After Herbology class, Claire and I walked together to her next class. "So let me get this straight. You want me to help you steal a broach? Moreover, our annoying dragon of a teacher's broach?" She asked me incredulously, stopping in the middle of the hall.