Once upon a Midnight | BOOK I

One

Darkness. No moon in the sky, no star in the sky, and no ounce of light to banish the terrifying darkness. But I kept running. There were a number of things I was good at, but I was better at running, and I didn't stop running for I knew that in that terrifying darkness, there was another kind of darkness, a living darkness, and that was what I was running from.

I wasn't sure how long I ran. I didn't know where I was running to. But I kept on tearing through the dark forest. From the darkness, a shadow reached out its claws, it placed a strong, cold grip on my right shoulder and pulled me into the darkness.

I jerked awake. Breathing hard, I switched on the lamp at my bedside and took a quick, fearful look around the room assuring myself that there weren't any shadows in the room. The nightmare began to drain away and my breathing slowed down but the fear the dream left behind was enough to keep me awake. I slid out of bed and went to the wooden desk positioned beside a window, and sat in the chair.

I pulled out a book from the drawer, opened it and removed the folded sheet of paper in it. Picking up a pen, I unfolded the paper and marked another number on continuously growing tally on the paper. I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand and yawned.

"Forty eight." I sighed. "I've had the same dream forty eight times in three months. Mum's going to kill me." A low chuckle escaped my lips.

My mother told me to always inform her whenever I had the same dream three times because of my prophesying tendencies but the fear this dream always left behind made me keep it to myself. I thought  that I would be able to find the meaning myself, but I haven't had any luck so far. I yawned again and sniffed. I decided that I was going to tell my mum everything.

I folded the piece of paper and placed it back in the small notebook. After staring into the air for a while, I pushed the book aside and went back to the comfort of my queen-sized bed, hoping that I would fall asleep again. Unfortunately, it looked like sleep wasn't being friendly with me. After trying to fall back asleep for a while without any success, I sat up and eyed one of the numerous books lying on my desk. It was a black book with the word 'NECROMANCY' written on its cover in bold letters. I snapped my fingers while willing the book to come towards me. The book floated over to me and I let out a small sigh when the book landed on my lap.

"I guess 3:18 in the morning is not a bad time to start studying." I spared one look at my cat, Moonlight, as he laid at the feet of my bed, before I made the potted plant at my windowsill to also float to me.

It's been seven weeks since I started practicing Necromancy, the magick of the dead. I started bone magick, but my only luck so far was mildly controlling a dead rat. It didn't last long before I lost a hold of the creature's essence. I flipped through the pages of the book, I skipped Bone Magic, and went to Necrobotany. If I couldn't manage with animals, I could as well try plants.
I turned my gaze to the dead plant in the pot and hoped that I'd have at least a little luck in resurrecting the plant.

*  *  *

"Kim," my mum's voice sounded in my head, "come downstairs and help with the fire."

"Bloody hell," I groaned and hit my palm on my head. "Mum," I yelled, "what happened to 'no telepathy'?"

I snorted and held back a hiss. I spared one dark look at the broken pot in my room. The dirt was all over the floor and the dead plant was no where to be found. Probably under the bed or Moonlight had picked it up. I made a mental note not to ever try necromancy again, whatever the type. Who knows, maybe the next time I try it, I won't smash my flower pot on the floor. Maybe I might finally slit someone's throat in frustration. I decided not to give my failure at Necromancy much thought. I slid out of bed, wore my flip-flops and darted out my room.