•To Kill a Raven•

2. The Ghost

     Back at room 12, Grandma and Grandpa were almost done unpacking. Jason went to go arrange his room, even though his box was still in the living room. Alex helped unpack some other stuff and took her box to her room. Luckily, she had packed many blankets and pillows, so when she had to sleep on the floor tonight it wouldn't be as awkward. Her selves were there as well, and her tiny hanging succulents, as well as her small statues and many, many pencils and enough paper to make a tree. She took out her posters last; they were in a long wooden case so they wouldn't get messed up. A 'Five Nights At Freddy's' poster from when she was young, a 'Glass Animals' poster, a 'The Neighbourhood' poster, and way too many plant posters. Her room walls now had a strange aesthetic to them, that only Alex could get.

     She grabbed a handful of hooks and carefully removed the succulent pots, then unloaded everything else.. It was going to be a long night of decorating the room.

- - -

     For dinner that night, they decided to make a bunch of homemade stuff. Chicken noodle soup, bbq chicken, fried chicken- More chicken, and a bit more chicken. This family didn't play around. Alex even threw in her own homemade french fries, and Jason made sugar cookies. Needless to say, Binx had a fun time eating the leftovers, and Alex snuck a bunch to her room. The rest would be for her lunch tomorrow at Nockfell High. Being 15 is fun. 

     She quickly took a shower and dove into her floor-bed, swaddling up in the sheets and closing her eyes. 

- - -

     "Wake up, Emily." a voice called. Alex stirred in her sleep. Emily was here real name, weird.. No one but her dad had ever called her that. "Or should I call you Alex? That seems to be what your bro calls you. I don't really know what you prefer, man." Yeah, definitely not her dad. 

     "Unf.. Hello? Is there someone in my room? I don't have any money, go away." Alex muttered, sitting up. She rubbed her eyes, peering through the darkness. A guy that appeared to be 26 or so with long brown hair, white eyes, and.. Transparent, stood a the other side of the room. "What in the name of sweet baby Jesus are you?!"

     "Dude, calm down, I'm a ghost." it said, shrugging. 

     Alex threw a book at him, but it kind of just went through. "GET THE HELL OUT! EXORCIST!"

     "Chill, I'm only here to warn you. It's pretty weird that you can't see the other ghost here, I guess it's because I'm more social. But whatever."

     Alex looked around the room, expecting to see demons or something, but it appeared to be empty. "On second thought, I'm just insane, oops I don't actually see a ghost, Night night." She covered her head with the blanket. 

     "I'm still here. So come on, do you wanna hear my warning or not?" the ghost said. Alex poked her head out.

     "Warning?" 

     "Yeah. Did I stutter?" he said sarcastically. 

     "What's the warning?" Alex asked, sitting up. "Is it bad?"

     "Depends. It includes four friends, a demon, and a mask. Don't touch the black dog, and be careful of the raven's eye. The cat will only help with it's owners eyes. Witches are your friend here, and your family is not what they seem. See ya."

     Before Alex could ask the ghost more, it vanished into a whirling mass of flesh and blood. She sat there, repeating the message in her mind until it hurt. "Wait, I need to write this down!" she screeched and fumbled around her room for a pencil and paper. "Four friends, demon, mask, don't touch black dog, careful of raven's eye, witches are friends, family is not what they seem." she said as she wrote it all down. She rubbed her eyes and sat back down, reading over it as much as she could. "Sleep. I need sleep." she finally muttered and laid down, gripping the sheets. But it would be awhile until Alex White got any sleep.

- - -

     The next morning, Alex woke up tired and hungry. She quickly got dressed, throwing on her jeans, a black shirt, her jacket, and a few bracelets. She fixed her hair and washed her face off, trying to keep her skin clear for more than five hours. She was the first one up, and her grandparents would be sleeping until nine, so She made a few waffles and ate it as she banged on Jason's door. Her brother looked ready to kill someone, so she left. She double checked her book bag, double checked to see if it was light enough, and did a few talking exercises. 

     "Ok, now here's the hard part." she muttered as she checked her watched. "Getting to school on time." she ran through the apartment, came out the door, and bumped right smack into Jocelynne Bourassa, the girl she had met yesterday. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Alex yelled, helping her up quickly. 

     "It's alright, I'm fine." she said, brushing herself off. "Uh, why do you look like you're about to go to school?" she asked, looking at Alex's outfit.

     "Because it's Friday?" Alex said. She noticed Jocelynne was wearing the exact clothes she had on yesterday.

     "It's Saturday." she replied, crossing her arms. "Are you that eager to meet the class?"

     Alex blinked. "Uh, yeah. I want to get it over with before Monday. Sure." she said, blinking. 

     "Well two of my friends are coming over today. You can meet them." she walked back to her room and Alex stood there for a second, then went back to her own apartment, as confused as ever.