Here's the next update, guys and gals. I am so so so sorry for the delay. School got in the way, and there was a family problem…I am so sorry… but here's the next chapter for all of you.
Chapter 7
Hours later, a shower of blue and white lights emerged from the marble ceilings and materialized into Paige. She was back in the Great Hall, wearing nothing but a lavender nightgown. Deciding to investigate who was chasing her earlier, Paige decided to probe deeper into the hallway in the dead of the night, clutching a small athame in her left hand. The full moon's light shone brightly down on her through the high windows of the hallway, illuminating her milky white skin. Under the moonlight, Paige looked around her, and cringed- the eyes of the paintings seemed to be following her every move. She took in a breath, goose bumps erupting on her skin as she gingerly took a step forward. She shivered as her bare feet treaded on the cool marble floor, the coolness of the night seeping into her body.
Paige surveyed her surroundings and found everything to be in the same exact place she had seen them when she had been chased earlier- the vases, the paintings, the chairs, everything. Drawing in a sharp breath, Paige calmed her frazzled nerves and convinced herself that there was nothing to be afraid of; the words of Ms. Wrinkleberry echoed in her ears, "I'll have you know that we have more than enough magical charms around the perimeter of the school to keep all demons, even the Source of All Evil, at bay."
Nodding in resolution, Paige took a few tentative steps forward. However, she suddenly paused, her body tensing up, her breath caught in her throat, as without warning, heavy, dark clouds washed over the skies and covered the moon, encasing Paige in a blanket of darkness. Even in total darkness, Paige tensed up as she faintly saw flickers of movement in front of her. Reacting on instinct, she clutched the athame above her head, ready to strike, and slowly inched her way forward.
Feeling her way through the darkness, Paige backed up against the wall and slowly paced forward, athame grasped firmly in hand. As she reached her target, she plunged her black-handled athame forward, and yelped in surprise- her blade struck nothing. Paige pulled her athame backward, and swung it forward again- still nothing. Shaking, she stood in silence, waiting for what seemed like hours. Finally, the black clouds that only seconds ago blocked out the moon's light rolled away, revealing the full moon once more.
Paige sighed in relief as the moon's light washed over the dark hallway again, revealing nothing except for the still shadows of the chairs and vases of the Great Hall. Standing in front of her was the empty hallway, still and motionless, save for the shadows that have been cast beneath the moon for hours.
Continuing her exploration of the hallway, a gentle gust of wind slowly brushed against her bare neck, causing her fine hairs to stand on end. Paige whirled around, her body tensed for battle, and probed her surroundings. She stood firmly in silence, trying to listen for stray sounds and movement that might betray an assailant.
As expected, silence enveloped the entire school- the only sounds coming from the howling wind blowing outside and the crying crickets. Sensing nothing dangerous, Paige spun around again and decided to continue her trek down the lengthy hall. However, the moment she turned around, Paige heard a familiar clicking behind her that broke the night's silence.
Tok. Tok. Tok.
Paige's whole body froze. She stayed standing, hiding beneath the shadows, and using them for cover. She gripped the athame tightly, her pulse quickening as the footsteps echoed louder and louder.
Tok. Tok. Tok.
Suddenly, the reverberating footfalls faded away into nothing, as if they disappeared into the winds. An eerie silence fell over Paige like a huge blanket. She stared into the halls, watching as the shadows leapt high into the walls as the moon was hidden yet once more behind heavy, dark clouds, and dropped back down as the moon shone again as the dark clouds rolled away. The shadows seemed to writhe in pain as the moon's luminescence washed over them.
Paige waited for her pulse to slow, and then continued walking. Her delicate nightgown clung to her skin as she broke into a cold sweat. She lightly rubbed her arms, shivering under the moonlight. "Okay, Paige, steady yourself," she whispered to herself coarsely, her throat dry and heavy.
PHLAK! Somewhere behind her, a vase crashed, breaking into tiny million shards of porcelain. Paige's head whipped backward anxiously, searching for the source of the crashing noise. Under the radiance of the moon, she suddenly caught a fleeting glimpse of a billowing cloak draping inches behind her.
"Who?" she thought warily.
As her eyes scanned the area of the hallway behind her, a stray shadow loomed ominously behind her. It was uncharacteristically larger than the others, moving closer and closer to her than any other shadow. Unlike the other shadows that clung to the walls of the hall and remained motionless under the moonlight's watch, this one seemed to make its way nearer to Paige.
Tok. Tok. Tok.
The heavy tapping of heeled shoes once again broke the eerie silence.
With the moonlight shining brightly down on the hallway, Paige could distinctively make out the silhouette of a cloaked figure coming closer.
Tok. Tok. Tok.
Paige remained frozen, paralyzed by her own fears. She looked around, searching frantically for a weapon, when she saw something glint in her left arm. Suddenly, she remembered that she had an athame with her. Gripping her blade tightly, Paige felt more secure. Closing her eyes, Paige tried to pin down the location of her stalker by tuning in to her Whitelighter-sixth sense, a natural instinct that had never failed her before. Instead of "sensing" for a witch in danger, Paige honed in on any one with hostile intentions. Compared to the cool shadows and calm auras of the sleeping students and teachers inside the Magic School, the aura of her stalker burned hot red- its crimson aura scorching the area of the Great Hall behind her.
Without opening her eyes, Paige quickly spun around and hurled her athame. The glinting blade flew at a blinding speed, slicing through the darkness and propelling towards its target. Paige squinted through the darkness and looked on as the blade of her black-handled knife flashed under the moonlight. After a tense second, the athame stopped moving and hung in the air.
"Argh!" a wail of agony shattered the silence of the night.
Paige's heartbeat thundered in her ears as anxiety crept into her. "I hit something," she thought uneasily as she dashed forward to what her athame had struck. Paige ran as fast as she could, her footsteps echoing through the night. She quickly closed the gap between her target and herself. Nearing her target, Paige eyed her surroundings warily.
Expecting to see a cloaked demon or a shape-shifting warlock, Paige braced herself for whatever it was that her athame had hit. However, she reeled in shock when she saw emptiness in front of her. Silence and shadows blanketed Paige as an unexpected wave of fear washed over her.
"What?" was what she could manage before she felt the presence of another being standing behind her. Frozen with fear and panic, Paige could feel slow, warm breathing on her neck. Suddenly, she felt something cool and metallic touch her bare shoulders- shuddering with anxiety; she soon realized that it was her own athame that was sliding down her body. Paige found herself paralyzed by her fear, and her body rejected her instincts to run and flee; even her concentration wavered, and she could not access her gift to orb.
"Witcchhhhh...." the cloaked figure behind her hissed, causing more goose bumps to erupt on Paige's skin. It was a low, hollow whisper, and Paige shivered involuntarily and broke again into a cold sweat, as the coldness of the night seemed to intensify. A stray gust of wind blew in from one end of the hall, and Paige felt the coldness of the wind crawl down her spine through her nightgown.
The cloaked figure behind her traced the outline of her arm with the sharp edge of the athame. "Witch...witch...witch..." it chanted in a low, hollow voice, an empty whisper being blown by the wind.
Paige shut her eyes close. She could hear the thundering beat of her heart; her heart beat beating wildly against her chest.
One wrong move and I could die. Orb, Paige, orb, she forced herself nervously.
"Yooouuu sssshhhallll dddiiiieee..." the cloaked figure whispered ominously as it pressed the sharp edge of Paige's athame at her stomach. "Witcchhhh...witchhh... witch..." Its voice seemed to echo hollowly against the cool marble floor, bouncing off the walls and the high windows.
Sweat beads ran down the side of Paige's cheek, as the mysterious figure ran the smooth blade of her athame on her left cheek, the coolness of the metal sending shivers down her spine. Escape was the only thought that clouded her mind, yet the very thought of running seemed impossible, as terror and fear gripped her entire body in an icy grasp, paralyzing her within the cloaked figure's reach.
Then, as if everything went into slow motion, Paige felt the tip of the athame plunge strongly into her stomach, slicing deeply into her flesh.
"Aaaaaaaaaaa," Paige wailed in pain. "aaaahhhh!"
Paige's eyelids fluttered uncontrollably as she winced in pain, her body thrusting upward in pain. Then, without warning, her eyes suddenly snapped open.
Silence.
Crick crick crick. Crickets.
Paige looked around her, her vision dry and blurry; and it took a few moments for vision to adjust to her surroundings. Paige began to realize that she was inside her room, and not in the Great Hall. "It was just a dream...just...a... dream..." she panted wearily. Breathless, she took in huge gasps of air as she tried to look around her and focused- she was in the safety of her room, sweating profusely on her bed. She was lying on sweat-soaked pillows and her raven-black hair clung to her damp pillowcase. She soon became aware that her flimsy nightgown hugged her clammy body tightly. Remembering her dream, Paige's moist hands quickly slid down her stomach and felt around to where the shadow in her dream had stabbed her.
Nothing.
Paige sighed in relief. "It was just a dream," she repeated to herself, "Just a dream." She was shaken up and shivered as she recalled how real the dream felt. Shaking her head, she grabbed her thin blanket and wrapped it around her body as she slowly stood up from her bed. As she began to walk toward her open window, she instantly felt the coolness of the night as a stray gust of wind blew inside uninvited, brushing her cheek lightly.
Panting, she looked up at the bright full moon and gazed at the luminescent orb in the sky. As she stared up at the moon, her breathing gradually returned to normal; staring at the moon always gave Paige a sense of security and tranquility. Minutes passed and remnants of her unsettling dream slowly drifted away into oblivion as Paige continued to stare into the moon, and she soon found herself unconsciously chanting the Wiccan Rede.
"Bide within the Law Ye must,
In Perfect Love and Perfect Trust,
Live you must and Let to Live,
Fairly take and Fairly Give."
Paige continued chanting the Rede until a blanket of calmness and peace washed over her. "Blessed Be," she whispered to the glowing moon and smiled as she finished the entire Wiccan verses. Drinking in the serenity of the night, she closed her eyes as another gust of wind blew from outside; this time, however, she welcomed it merrily. "Just a bad, bad dream," she whispered reassuringly.
Thinking more calmly and clearly now, Paige dismissed the possibility that it was a demon or warlock that had been following her earlier in the Great Hall. She then decided that it was probably one of her rowdy and gutsy students playing a malicious prank on her. "How could it not be?" she mused half-mindedly as words from the Rede still echoed in her mind, "I'm handling pre-adolescent monsters!" She chuckled at her own joke and remembered that it was also a pre-adolescent who had conjured the Headless Horseman a year ago. "I have nothing to worry about," she convinced herself with a nod, "Heck, I vanquish demons from the pits of hell on a daily basis, compared to that, these kids are a piece of cake!"
With that resolution, Paige smiled yet again. She inhaled deeply, thanking the Goddess for clearing her thoughts and restoring her peace of mind. "Yawn," she stretched and exhaled tiredly as the stress of the day crept into her body. The clock on her table read 3:53. "Might as well go to sleep," she thought.
Before retiring back to bed, Paige looked at the Faery Gardens that was directly below her window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Faeries and Earth Gnomes dancing under the full moon. She looked down disappointedly as she saw nothing but the potted plants and the budding flowers. Yawning once more, Paige bid the moon goodnight and was about to turn around when something shiny below her window caught her eye.
"What?" she cried in terror as she looked down and recognized the glinting object that was shining before her.
Standing in the center of the Faery Gardens was the cloaked figure from her dreams, waving the same athame at her in mockery. The figure looked up and seemed to be staring at Paige through its red cloak, waving the athame at her. Then, in the literal blink of an eye, the cloaked figure was gone; leaving Paige to debate with herself whether the figure really was there or was it merely her imagination playing a sadistic trick on her.
However, one thing was certain, Paige knew that sleep would be elusive.