by Maria Kuklina
Chapter 7
I woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. I look around in the darkness, trying to find anything out of the ordinary. Dandelion was asleep in her bed, and Aspen was still asleep on my chest. I pulled off my blanket with my legs. It looked like a giant black ocean wave. My heart was beating faster than Aspen’s. I really hoped he’d wake up.
I swear I heard something in the hallway. I just know it. But Aspen is still asleep on my chest. What do I do.. What if one of those ‘mysterious creatures’ is in our room? Mom, where are you..
My mind was racing with thoughts of the worst.
We could die.
I hear the door creak open and I shut my eyes tight, trying to calm my heart rate and pretend to be asleep. It felt really damp and hot all of a sudden, and I was afraid to breathe. I wanted to cry.
The mysterious figure creeped over to Dandelion, each step making me more terrified.
It’s just the maid, I tried to convince myself, It’s just the maid, It’s okay. It’s the maid.
I wasn’t brave enough to stand up and try to make them stop like the characters in my books. And I hated myself for that. I just had to close my eyes and listen.
I felt like I was frozen. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t do anything.
The metallic steps echoed, each decibel of sound bouncing off the walls, sounding much louder than it should. And also making me feel petrified. I have never felt fear like this before, and my hands were shaking. I was pretty sure the mysterious figure could hear my heartbeat.
Ohmygodohmygodohmygod…
“Forest’s Bane will come for you..” The deep, gravely voice says to me, sounding like sandpaper on a chalkboard. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears, along with the horrible ringing in my ears.
I finally feel my arms and pull my quilted covers over my head and squeeze my eyes shut.
I wait. I probably waited for hours, not sleeping, trying not to breathe.
I want to get out of here. It’s not safe. Those words kept repeating in my head, and my eardrums felt like they were moving in and out of my ears. I could hear the blood rushing in my veins.
But there was also a tad bit of curiosity in me. What was that “Forest’s Bane” the figure told me about? And is it coming for me?
I pulled the covers away from my face. The cold dorm room air hit my face with an unwelcoming slap.
I looked at Dandelion, expecting an answer from her to what I had just experienced.
But no, she was still asleep. I sit up, and turn towards the window.
The cold, dark, curtain feels heavy in my arms, but I push enough of it aside to look out the window. And I swear I saw something out there. In the deep, dark forest that had looked so welcoming and kind before, stood a long, black figure. I didn’t see its eyes, but I saw a faint outline of it. The second I did, I closed the curtain and crouched down.
Is that Forest’s Bane? In the woods? I thought to myself as I lay flat in bed again.
And not even thinking about it, I drift off to sleep, under the covers, with Aspen on my lap again.
Everything felt cozy and safe, like it was at home. But only one thing was missing…
Mom.
Chapter 8
“Juniper Juniper Juniper!!! Wake up!!” I sit up to Dandelion’s cold hands shaking me. They felt kind of refreshing after the night I had. But for some reason, I don’t vividly remember what happened, like I usually do.
“What?” I mumble, still half asleep.
“It’s already 10!! You’re gonna miss breakfast! I heard they’re making french toast!” Dandelion exclaimed. She seemed way more excited than normal.
“Ugh.. I slept really bad last night. I’ll just skip breakfast this time.” I say, swallowing hard. I was hungry, but I was too lazy to get out of bed.
“You sure?” Dandelion asks, the excitement in her eyes gone.
“Yeah, Yeah, just wake me up when it’s time to get to class.” I say, trying my best not to let my voice shake.
“Okay.. see ya!” Dandelion says, and she walks out the door. I did feel kind of bad for her, since she doesn’t have any friends except for me. But I felt like I had 30 minutes of sleep, plus the weird figure coming into the room and me having a panic attack.
But I couldn’t help but wonder, what is the “Forest’s Bane?” Is it dangerous? And what about the weird animal I saw at night in the forest? Was that it?
Thinking about that gave me a strong sense of deja vu, like I’ve seen that figure before. Maybe I have..
I suddenly got cold, like something behind me was holding my arms.
And that’s when I realized that Aspen was nowhere in sight.
“Aspen?” My voice echoed through the soulless room like a ripple through water.
“Aspen!” I yell, my voice louder now. I haven’t even seen him since this night, after I got up to look in the window. Wait..
A crazy thought seeps its way into my mind. What if– no, maybe it wasn’t– Aspen was the figure I saw outside?
“He wouldn’t have escaped. He doesn’t have any reason to. Plus, he doesn’t look like..” I couldn’t finish the sentence no matter how hard I pushed. My voice echoed through the room again, this time more eerie and distorted.Something was definitely wrong with this school. I tried to convince myself that maybe he went for a stroll around the building, but I couldn’t get myself to believe anything I said. I had a type of brain fog after that night which wasn’t letting me think straight. I blink many times to get rid of the vision, the room beginning to sway.
I sigh and stand up. I look at my pajamas, the ones that my mom had sewn from me a couple years ago. I was surprised they still fit after the school food I had.
And then, I sit in an old wooden chair that has a scratched, taped-up leg, and start writing a letter.
Dear Mom,
I miss you so much. I know it’s only been a day since you dropped me off here, but there’s something really wrong here. I feel like I’ve been here before, but I don’t know.
And Aspen, he disappeared. I don’t know how or why, but this night he just vanished from my dorm.
And.. I really don’t know how to say this, but maybe you’ll know what I mean. I was told by.. Something that “Forest’s Bane” will come for me.
I don’t know what that is, but I hope you know.
From,
Juniper
I was desperate to get answers, so I wrote to the only person that I actually knew and trusted for a long time.
“I miss you so much.” I say to the patches of different patterns on my worn-out pajamas, hoping that some type of magic connection will form through her patches and Mom will hear me.
I snap out of my weird trance, going back into reality and breathing heavily. It was a weird feeling, like I was in a dream and I’d just woken up.
Okay. That was weird. But right now I need to find Aspen. I say to myself, still unable to forget everything that just happened. But I couldn’t recall what happened at night.
☆
“Hi, Juniper!” Dandelion says, looking really happy and full. The breakfast was probably really good, and I suddenly remembered that I was really hungry.
“Hey..” I try to hold back my tears, and I look down into my palms.
“You oka-” Dandelion starts, and the excitement in her eyes is extinguished for the second time today.
“IlostaspenandIdon’tknowwhere..heis..” I blurt out, hoping that Dandelion will say that she saw him at breakfast and I’ll feel fine again, and I’ll go to class like nothing happened.
“Aspen? Wait, really? He was here this night..” Dandelion says, and I lay down on my bed, my brown hair becoming extremely messy and frizzy. I don’t care.
“He was.” I say, wondering if I should tell Dandelion about what I saw. But I just couldn’t get myself to say anything more.
“Yeah..” We both didn’t know what to say, so Dandelion went into the bathroom. And I could hear her talking to herself.
“Aspen is probably gone for the best, maybe he’s saying hi to the other kids and familiars.” I smile at the thought, feeling somewhat better.
“But I have to cheer up Juniper. She’s been so sad lately…” I heard Dandelion say and then–I don’t know if I was hearing things– but I heard her start to cry. Not cry, it was a weep so loud that she knew I could hear her. I got an image in my head of tears rolling down her cheeks, and I suddenly felt the need to cry. But I kept it inside me.
Oh man. I don’t want Dandelion to be embarrassed when she walks out of the bathroom. Will she even come out? She’s usually so light and happy and now… I shiver. I didn’t want to finish that thought. Not now. Dandelion and crying don’t go together.
I decided to go up to the bathroom door once Dandelion calmed down. I could hear her sniffing and inhaling sharply, and I was starting to worry if she was running out of air in there.
Without giving my brain time to overthink things, I knocked on the door two times, making sure she could hear them. The knocks echoed darkly through the room, and I got goosebumps. And for a while there was no sound in the bathroom. Or in the main room.
I was about to knock again when I heard Dandelion say through multiple sniffs, with a voice so delicate like a sheet of paper,
“I’m..sorry.”
“Why? You didn’t do anything!”
“I didn’t-” Dandelion’s voice broke, and I heard her start to sob again.
“Look, I really don’t want to make a big scene about this. You’re sadder about this than me. So please just- just.. Ugh, I don’t know. Aspen was a really amazing, smart familiar, and I’m sure he’ll come back.”
Silence. That was all I could say, except for that one thing I saw at night. But I just couldn’t get the words out of my dry, thirsty, hungry mouth.
I decided to just let Dandelion be and walk over to my still unpacked suitcase. I pick out an outfit for the day, smelling each and every piece of patched clothing with my eyes closed, trying so hard to bring myself home. My outfit for the day was a plain yellow shirt with brown and green patches that I made myself. And I decided to wear some jeans with patches of other types of jeans that my mom had made for me a couple years ago. Those were my favorite jeans in the world, just because my mom had made them for me. What I’d give to see her right now and hug her tightly and tell her everything that’s just happened. But I can’t; I need to be strong like my mom always says. This may be my dream school, but I’m starting to question my opinion on this place. It feels…haunted. Eerie. But, maybe I’ll get used to it and this will actually be fun.
Chapter 9
After about 30 minutes and one class skipped (sadly, Art, but I did it for Dandelion), Dandelion finally unlocked the bathroom door and stepped out. Her face was red and puffy, and her eyelids were too. But at least she wasn’t crying anymore. We both made eye contact, her standing and wondering what to do next, and me sitting on my bed, hands folded.
“You okay?” I ask, really hoping she answers truthfully. But, Dandelion just nods and looks down at her feet.
She’s embarrassed. Just like I thought. Now this is awkward for both of us. I think to myself, blinking hard.
“Well, I’m gonna go to class, I already skipped one when I waited for you. It’s fine if you don’t wanna talk.” I say, surprised at how I hadn’t cried in so long at a time like this. Dandelion didn’t respond, she just sniffed and cleared her throat. I will admit, I did feel bad for Dandelion. But she didn’t even want to talk to me when I tried to tell her that it’s going to be okay. I skipped my favorite class for her, and she didn’t even seem grateful for it. Why is she even sad?
Before I left our dorm, I looked back one last time. At my unmade bed, the pillow that I’d shed so many tears on this night. I made a mental note to flip it over on the other side.
Dandelion was who-knows-where in that dorm, but I really didn’t want to see her hurt face again. Not right now. Right now, I already knew where I wanted to be: home. With Mom, who I would be hugging, and her cold but also softly warm hands stroking my brown hair as I cried into her chest, letting all my feelings out. Later, she would give me some of her elderberry tea as we sat on the couch, laughing, forgetting about the gut-wrenching sob I had. But this time was different, I had to go to class while trying to keep my tears inside me, pretending the voice inside my head was mom. But that just made me even sadder. I just need to get through this, I thought, and that made me feel a bit better.
☆
I was well away from the dorm room door until I gained consciousness and realized that I didn’t even know where I was going. I sat on a nearby bench and pulled out my schedule, letting out a big sigh of relief that I actually could find it in the endless void of papers, which was, sadly, my backpack.
TUESDAY
1st period: Art
2nd period: Science
3rd period: History
4th period: Potions
5th period: Familiar Training
Science? Where even is that? Ugh, I guess I’m on my own. Again.
I really didn’t feel excited for 5th period, but there was still a little strand of hope in my mind that Aspen would come back by 5th period. He had to.
I swung my backpack over my shoulder and started walking again. My old, worn out Converse sneakers were really loud against the marble flooring, and I felt like people were staring at me even when there was no one there to look.
I ended up finding the science room, but I came in 15 minutes late.
The young teacher gestured at me with his seemingly yellow eyes to go sit down, and I obeyed him. I didn’t want his first impression of me to be “always late for class.”
I sat at a table, all alone, but I didn’t mind. It was actually better for me to be alone at that moment, because the thoughts of Aspen and Dandelion and Mom started coming in again, and I had to hold back my tears and try not to cause a scene.
At the end of class, I let out a big sigh of relief that I hadn’t realized I’d been holding in. I made my way to History, feeling a little better. I stood in front of the door to History, hoping that Dandelion wasn’t in there. But part of me actually wanted to sit next to her, to hug and maybe comfort her. I hoped she felt the same way, so I wasn’t the only one who thought like that.
Right when the door creaked open, everyone’s eyes in the room shot at me.
Every time.
Dandelions did, too, but they immediately went to her feet. I pretended to not notice her, but because of muscle memory, I went and sat right next to Dandelion. Oh, come on. I can’t move now though, because then she’ll think I hate her. I guess I’m stuck here for the next 50 minutes of my life. But, not the worst thing that has happened to me. I think, trying to take my mind off our argument and get my notebook and pencils out. As long as it wasn’t nighttime, I felt somewhat okay. But I knew for sure that come night, I will probably have a nervous breakdown.
“Alright class, my name is Mr. Indica, as you know. Right now I am going to hand out some papers which will tell you all about our units in class. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to raise your hand and ask.” Mr Indica states, and he takes a pile of papers and hands it to each of us one by one. I take a look at the paper in front of me, and I read. The History units that we were going to be working on were surprisingly kind of interesting; Hands-on simulations, Creating video documentaries, listening to people’s personal life stories one by one, and a really cool movie to finish off the year.
I was about to turn and tell Dandelion that I was really excited, but I remembered about Aspen and pretended to look in my bag for something
“And now, how about we talk to the people next to us and tell them something about ourselves.” Mr. Indica says softly, and I freeze. My breath stops, and I don’t blink. This means I have to talk to Dandelion. I think to myself, goosebumps spreading across my skin. But maybe this is all I need. To connect back with her and tell her I’m sorry for everything.
“So, uh..” I start, and Dandelion’s eyes shift to me. Only now I realized she was in her pajamas, attending class. I decided to just spit it out.
“Look, I…I’m so sorry, Dandelion, for whatever reason you’re m..mad at me.” For some reason, my voice starts to quiver. Dandelion stays silent, digging her nail into the skin of her thumb.
“It’s not your fault. I promise. I don’t even know what happened, and yet I’m staying strong.” I sigh, thinking about what to say next.
“I want to be a hero and make you feel better like in those books, but I really don’t think I can. It’s your choice how you feel, and if you don’t want to talk, I understand. I’ve… been through this before.” I let out another sigh. Dandelion doesn’t say anything, but she stops destroying the skin of her thumb and her gaze softens. I can even see a smile start to creep onto her face.
“I’m sorry too, Juniper. I…” Dandelion doesn’t continue. She was still hiding something. And we just sit there, in silence, while the whole class talks. They’re not even talking about the subject, but so are we… I sneak a glance at Dandelion, who is looking down at her feet. She lets out a big sigh, and I look away. I want to say something to her before class ends, but I don’t know what.
“Dandelion?” I whisper once the class quiets down. Dandelion doesn’t hear me.
“Dandelion?” I whisper, louder this time.
“Mhm?” She mumbles, looking at my shirt, but not directly at it.
“Are we still…um, friends?” I blurted out, a bit louder than expected, and some of the class looked at me.
“Well, I guess.. I don’t really have any friends.”
“Same.” I say, and for some reason, I feel some weight lifted off my chest.
The rest of the class was fine–awkward sitting next to Dandelion after the small but meaningful conversation we had. And when the bell rang and we were dismissed, I decided to make some small talk.
“Where are you going next?”
“Uh, I think I have potions.”
“Same! Wanna walk together?” I say in the cheeriest tone I can do. It’s hard at a time like this.
“Okay.” Dandelion wasn’t that enthusiastic about walking with me, I could tell. But I need to show her that I am a good, funny friend, and I am fun to be around.
☆
“Do you know what’s for lunch?” I ask Dandelion with a smile. She was starting to warm up to my words.
“I’m not sure. But I’m looking forward to whatever it is!” Dandelion exclaims, looking in the direction of the cafeteria and its old wooden doors with random scratches on them. As we approached the majestic doors that were propped and held open with rocks from the forest, I suddenly realized that I was extremely hungry. I speedwalked over to the buffet line, grabbing a tray and almost dropping it. I plopped hot bassa fish on my plate, along with apples, rice, and a little bit of salad. When I was finished, I eyed the dessert section, hoping to finish in time to take some tarts or crepes. I wanted everything today. As I sat down at our table, Dandelion didn’t come until 5 minutes later. When she finally came, I couldn’t talk about how good the food was because I had already finished eating and was on my way to the desserts section. “What do you have for next period?” Dandelion asks, and it startles me. “I believe it’s Familiar Train- Uh, you?” My eyes shift over to her plate. Aspen.
“I actually don’t know.” Dandelion turns herself over to her vintage brown bag and begins to search it for her schedule. A lot of papers spill out, and I pass them over to her– a quiet ‘thank you’ every 3 papers or so I hand over to her. As she finishes up and finally pulls out her schedule with a weary sigh, she spills her water on the table and puts her elbows on it, cradling her face in her arms with yet another weary sigh. I stare, then finally open my mouth to speak and ask her if she’s okay, but nothing but a weak whisper comes out, so I just look down at her. Her body shakes, and I understand the feeling she’s experiencing.
“Are you alright?”
Nothing.