Stranger

Chapter 1 - Real

PAST

"Keep the most important people in your life close at heart. No matter what."

It was finally September. Summer had ended and I was excited about autumn. "Violet! Please, come here." I heard my mother shout from downstairs.

I walked into the living room when I saw an interesting book placed on the table in front of the fireplace. My parents were sitting down on the couch, talking to each other.

"Mom?" I asked concerned.

"This book got sent to you." She pointed at it. It looked very old, yet very fresh. As if it was kept in a sealed bag all this time. I walked up closer, looking at what the book said.

"A history of magic?" I read the title out loud.

"These people must be messing with us." My father said firmly and stood up, grabbing the book off the table.

"Maybe it's nothing." Mom kept trying to calm Father. "What harm can a book do?" She slightly laughed.

"Maybe none." My father looked at us. A slight silence took over the room until Mom broke it.

"What is it with all this magic?!" She stood up, grabbed the book out of my father's hands, and took it to his office.

Little did I know, this was not going to stop. The books kept coming in. Week after week. Mom and Dad were asking around the neighborhood if someone saw anything suspicious, but no one knew of anything. Yet I, on the other hand, started to get interested in these books. Maybe they were just stories, but someone truly wanted them to be read. Or at least I thought so. I wanted to find out, but my father had locked them away inside a cabinet in his office.

Months passed by and it never stopped until one day my parents made a split decision.

Move out.

I had to leave my childhood home behind because of some people who wouldn't stop sending me books. To me, as a kid, and even now, it seemed like the most absurd thing ever. So we moved. To Northern England. A little town called Lillyhall.

My life had turned around. Especially my school life. I had to leave behind many friends and people I had grown up with. But I trust, it was much harder for my parents at that time. Dad was working long hours away from home and so did mom which meant I had to become more independent. The most difficult thing for me seemed to stop my therapy. I was afraid. Afraid I was losing control again, and moving had not helped me in any way.

For a while things got quiet and everything started to get back on track. It was close to Christmas and we were excited to celebrate and forget about all our past troubles. I had started to get used to living in a smaller town and I had even made a friend. An old lady who lived across the street. She used to do a lot of garage sales before it started snowing. Out of curiosity, I started watching her and she started inviting me over for tea after each sale. Her husband died so she was slowly getting rid of unneeded things. Even I got something from her, as a present. A little locket that had a free spot for two tiny pictures inside it. "Keep the most important people in your life close at heart. No matter what." She told me when she gifted me the little locket.
.