Through the 12 Realms

Chapter 2: Twists and Turns

As the car skids up the carpark coming to a brisk stop just before the kerb. The door flings open as Nattie jumps out of the car, her bag following after her on her back. 

"Bye mum! See you later!" Nattie shouts behind her as she waves goodbye to her mother. 

The school had a ghost-quiet environment, a cold and unnerving atmosphere that would make anyone shiver, the golden rays of the sun were blocked by the dark grey clouds passing over the school.

Nattie approaches her locker, however, she quickly realises shes left her key on her desk at home.

"Crap! I left it next to the paper!" 

She quickly turns both ways to verify there's no one else around. 

"Alright, just this once."

Her hand stretches out, an open palm towards the lock, as her eyes light up the same golden hue from just this morning. Her hand emits the warm gold light that attracted the gaze of any around her. The lock slowly twists and turns until it's changed into a thin slip of paper. Nattie quickly throws her bag in and grabs all her equipment before she shuts the locker and returns the lock back to its previous form. The golden glint in her eyes fade back into their respective hazel colour, and her hands cease to emit their golden glow.

"Alright, no one saw...right?"

She shakes her head before standing up and quickly dashing off to her class. Though before she reaches the stairs in front of her, she stops, looking around. Feeling as though she's being watched ever so closely. She pushes the thoughts to the back of her head and continues on her run to her class. 

She arrives at her classroom as a huff of breath leaves her mouth, she stands up and quickly erases all signs of her running. She proceeds to knock on the door 3 times and patiently waits outside. However, to no avail, no one came to open the door, she knocks another 3 times. Still, no answer, the eerie and cold atmosphere starts to get to her. 

She opens the door herself and slowly opens it up, the door creaks and cracks as she opens it up all the way. To her surprise, no one was inside a ghost town, a ghost classroom. 

"Err, where is every one..." She mutters under her breath.

Before she knew it she was quickly thrust through the doorway and into the classroom, as the door shut behind her. 

"What?!" She shouts in surprise, as she still tries to process what had just happened. 

She quickly bolts to the door in an attempt to open it, but with no success. 

Her eyes quickly turn to their golden hue as both her hands emanate their golden glow that filled up the room this time. The handle of the door transforms into a thin paper slip just like the padlock on her locker. Her eyes return to their hazel appearance as her hands retain their natural complexion. Nattie takes a deep breath in, as she slowly creeps to the door, the floorboards creaking and snapping under her feet. She pushes open the door and quickly runs out, but to her surprise, she began to fall. 

The howling of the deep freezing wind rushed past her face as she fell in a black, bottomless pit of the void. Her heart pounding more than ever before, she was unable to understand what just happened. Though the closer she looked, the more she realised she was getting closer to light as if she was falling into the light. 

"Please be something safe!" she belched out loud in an attempt to assure herself she would land safely. 

Fwoosh, crack, snap, thump.

She stopped falling, she had landed safely on the ground, though covered in dirt and mud, nothing too much. 

"Where...Where is this...What is this?" She could barely mutter the words, she looked around in an attempt to identify her surroundings. 

The rustling of the wind whistled through the thick brush of the land, the sunlight hit every nook and cranny around her as if there was no such thing as darkness. The chirping of the birds filled the forest with a song as the insects and animals danced along in perfect harmony. It was almost as if this was paradise. 

She stood up, brushed off the dirt on her and caught her breath. 

Crack.

"Footsteps...?"

She hurriedly ran towards the sound of the footsteps, a glimmer of hope in her heart. A hope to understand what is going on and just where she was. 

As Nattie brushed through the flora of the land, whacking into every branch and leaf, she finally reached her destination. A small, wooden hut, not too tall and not too small, perfect for a single person. Maybe two, it felt like it carried this aura of a warm home to come to, it looked very well maintained, with nothing electrical in sight. 

Nattie slowly took small steps towards the hut, carefully taking in her surroundings. She suddenly stopped, frozen, as if she couldn't move, her heartbeat sounded like a rocket taking off. Then she heard the voice, the voice that filled her with joy and happiness, knowing she wasn't alone.

"Hello, I'm Antoinette, and who might you be?"