Luz took a book off the shelf, which turned out to be the third book in her beloved "The Good Witch Azura" series.
Luz loved going to the library, she loved books, the smell of books and of course the things they tell. She could escape the real world for a moment into a whole new unexplored one.
She quickly flipped through to get to her favorite chapter in the book. She was just starting to read when she got a message from her phone. It was from her mother.
Mamà: It's going to get dark soon, come home! I've prepared dinner and I want to tell you something.
Luz looked out the nearby window, seeing the sun setting. Luz noticed that she was the only one left in the building. The librarian was looking at her annoyed, obviously waiting for her to leave so she could close down. It was Friday night, after all. The girl had spent all day in the library without noticing, and she had got here to 'study' but got distracted.
She quickly gathered her things and stuffed them into her backpack, then headed home.
Luz put on her headphones to pass the time faster. She zoned-out and was already in front of her house. She unlocked the door and was hit by the nice smell of home and cooking. She excitedly kicked off her shoes and dropped her backpack and sprinted to the kitchen, almost slipping on the floor.
"What's for dinner?" she asked in her usual excited and happy tone.
Her mother had prepared one of her favorite Dominican dishes. She turned to her with a warm smile. "One of your favorites!"
Luz pulled a chair out of the table and sat down not it, Camilla sitting across from her. "Sooo you texted me that you wanted to tell me something?"
"Do you remember your aunt Tara?" her mother asked.
"Who?" said Luz confusedly while chewing.
"Actually you can't remember her, you were very young the last time you saw her." said Camilla, more to herself. "She lives in LA and you'll be going there for about 6 months because she wants you to catch up."
Luz almost choked on her food. "Six months?! In LA!? What kind of catch up is that?!"
"Listen Luz, your aunt took your father's death really hard, it's to be expected that she'd want to spend time with you. You haven't seen her in a while because she has an interesting job and can't be away."
Luz's gaze softened and she felt a little sad. ''I get it. Well at least I'll have the chance to make friends! Everyone here is avoiding me.''
''You'll be enrolled in a private school too. Saint James Middle School. Please try to keep your shenanigans out of there.''
''Yes ma'am!" said Luz jokingly. ''Aren't private schools expensive?
''We have the money. Don't worry.''
Luz lay on her back on her bed and tried to relax. This really could be a chance for her to make friends, start fresh, be liked at school, and not always be the main target for bullying. She had time to think. After all, her flight was in a week.
The days passed quickly and now Luz was getting her bags ready because she had put it off until the last minute. She got up early because her mother told her it was better to get to the airport two or three hours before the flight. She managed to squeeze on one last t-shirt and close her suitcase, then went downstairs to see that her mother had made pancakes.
The girl started tapping her fingers on the table, she did that when she was nervous. ''Is something bothering you cariño?
''Nah, I'm just a little nervous about the flight and everything. I don't even remember what my aunt looks like, will she recognize me?'' Luz leaned on her palm.
''Don't worry, she'll recognize you. She's a kind woman, and for some reason she really likes wearing sweaters...'' Camilla thought for a moment as she said the last. ''And you know I gave you her address, you can call me if there's any problems.''
Luz's nerves calmed down a bit, but she had a right to be worried, it was her child she would have to travel by plane to the other side of the states anyway. She finished her breakfast and went back to her room to get her bags. When she came downstairs again, her mother was already waiting for her by the car.
''Is your phone and video games charged, and did you bring any books? I know it'll probably be hard for you to sit in one place for 6 hours.''
''I took everything! I'll be fine!'' she said, but she seemed to be trying to lunch herself more than her mother.
She managed to get her luggage into the car and they drove to the airport. A Spanish love song came on the radio, which was later replaced by a song by Nirvana while Luz buried her face in her books. She could tell she was ready enough for the six hour flight, there were a million words of saved fanfictions she could read, there were video games and her favorite book series. All she had to do was stand still for six hours. How hard could that be?
Luz felt the pull up and the door open. They were already at the airport. They had arrived 3 hours earlier, so there would be plenty of time. Camilla explained to her daughter what she needed to do and when to get on the plane.
''You'll be fine cariño! You're smart! I'm going to miss you a lot, but I promise I'll try to call you every day!" hugged Camila.
''I'll miss you too mom, I'll call you when I get to L.A. Muchas gracias por todo, ¡Os quiero!" smiled Luz and started to walk away.
She got through the scanner with no problems and could now stare at the windows in the waiting room. All she had to do was wait two hours to be able to board the plane and wait another hour to fly out. Today was going to be a long day she thought. She walked around the waiting area a few times, even got in line to buy a sandwich and water and went to one of the benches.
She had halved her sandwich and was reading on her phone when she saw something in her peripheral vision. Raven was perched on one of the benches. It was looking around with its eyes glittering like obsidian. It didn't look like any street raven, it was bigger and had shinier feathers. It turned its head towards her, making very brief eye contact, then with the blink of an eye it was gone, leaving only a single black feather.
No one seemed to have seen the raven, which was a little odd, but Luz explained it away as a bird coming in from outside. She just hadn't noticed when it flew away.
She could finally get on the plane, not that there was anything interesting there. She hoped at least the view would distract her for a bit, so she took a seat by the window. Next to her after a while sat a worried looking woman with bags under her eyes who fell asleep after the plane took off. Luz noticed that her eyes looked a little... strange, inhuman. Probably just wearing contacts.
Luz judged that she was sitting by the window. The view was nice for five minutes at most, but then the clouds became monotonous and boring. She put on her headphones and started listening to music, but that got boring after half an hour. She tried reading fanfiction, however she wasn't in the mood now for some reason. She decided to read her favorite chapter of the fourth book of ''The Good Witch Azura'' for the hundredth time.
She was somewhere in the middle of the chapter when she caught something with her peripheral vision. She looked out the window only to see the same raven from before. The bird was flying next to the wing of the plane, Luz could see its shining obsidian eyes from here. It took her brain a moment to realize what was happening, but then it hit her.
The plane was moving at 300km/h and was too high to see ravens. The raven was flying at the same speed of the plane, which was impossible.
She blinked for a moment and the bird disappeared. For a moment she felt tired and sleepy. Maybe it would be a good idea to take a nap, she had gotten up early, it was just her imagination.
A woman wearing a light green sweater stopped what she was doing and got to her feet. She went to the window in her room which was open and stuck her hand out. An unusually large raven landed on her hand, digging its claws into the sweater and shrinking to the size of a larger than usual raven.
"Do you feel the change too Kurt?" the woman asked, her voice raspy.
The raven perked up in response.
''I really hope the prophecy doesn't have anything to do with Luz, she's just a kid. But what is this change due to, Gort? I guess the only thing we can do is wait.''