• Chapter 1: The Linden Trees
    I stood. Stood and simply stared into space. I have no idea how long I stood. It could have been minutes, days or years. I only know that I stood there, caressing the wind playing with my light colored hair. Caressing the clang of different wind chimes in the field. The sun was setting on a marmalade sky, making all the tress around me even more brilliant shades of orange and gold than they already were. It was the marking of the beginning of the Harvest, as it was known here in the Midwest. The sun was still bright in the early evening, but as it grew later it grew colder. I knew I had to reach the manor on the hill with its bright lights, like a beacon to me. This time I had walked out to my little oasis, my place of reprieve and escape, without my horse, magick. He was a grand Belgian, taller than I was, and I loved him dearly. My father had given him to me and taught me how to ride when I was only five. The walk back home wasn’t a short one, and I had to reach the house before the sun completely set and it became night. I had about an hour left before I would have to head home, so I headed over to one of the oddly shaped linden trees, and bought out my parchment book. It was filled with blank pages, ideal for sketching. I tried and tried, but I couldn’t think of anything to sketch. I closed my eyes, willing myself to come up with something I might be able to, and instead came up with a noise, like a soft whisper that bounced around in my head. At first I couldn’t make out what it was saying. It sounded soft, and grew louder, but still wasn’t entirely audible. It sounded like nonsense repeating, and humming. It was a strange sound, but oddly familiar. It was so soft, coaxing me into sleep, and why not? I had an hour left, and today had been tiring. And thus, I feel asleep.
    When I opened my eyes, I was shocked to see that night had fallen. Father would be angry when I arrived home so late. I looked around, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness when all of the sudden, my head cleared and I understood what the whispering was. It had been repeating all the while when I had been sleeping. The word had been “Run.” I felt sick as though I had borne witness something so shocking that I thought I would be sick to my stomach. The word was whispered to me once more. “Run.” I also felt as though every one of my movement of mine were being observed, watched. Shivers ran along my spine, raising all the tiny hairs on my arms. I was finally too spooked to stay here any longer. As I went to get down from the tree, my dress caught the bark and it tore. I looked back out at the shoreline, and saw shadows moving. I ignored it as my mind playing tricks on me, since the darkness already made me jumpy. My eyes finally came to focus, there was no doubting that there was something moving, and its motions were getting faster. I turned the other way in order to run to my destination with all of my might, but as soon as I turn I was thrown back. The force of the blow sent my flying, and my head crashed into the tree I had been sitting in. My body crumpled in on itself, and my left arm went numb with pain. I still felt as though this wasn’t happening. My arm felt damp but I really didn’t care. I was losing consciousness fast and the last thing I remember was that the chain on my necklace had broken, and the pendant flew towards a pile of leaves near the base of the tree. I could see it shine in the moonlight. The last thing I thought to myself before everything went black was, “Stupid Ty, you should have run when you had the chance.”
    The time I spent in darkness meant nothing. I was beginning to feel my body and limbs again. I heard my named beginning called. Suddenly I shot up from my bed to hear my mother yelling.
    “Come on Ty! Wake up! You’re going to be late for school!” Apparently, I hadn’t heard my alarm go off.