Droplets of rain were trickling down the glass window of Mildred's bedroom as the wind could be heard thrashing between the trees outside. Ominous clouds had gathered on the horizon as the crescendo of thunder could be heard within the distance. All of the castle's surrounding wildlife had fallen silent as a thick metallic smell began to fill the air. A fierce, unprecedented storm was coming which was sure to have an impact on every student and member of staff within the school today.

Deep within the castle, a rather exhausted school girl was beginning to stir from the inside of her bedroom as the noise from outside had pulled her from yet another restless sleep. As she began to regain consciousness, she was becoming increasingly aware of the sharp stinging which spread like wildfire across her arm the more she focused on it. Suddenly, the memories of yesterday came flooding back to Mildred and she felt worse than ever. She recalled in agonising detail the hurtful words that her friends had said to her, and the way she'd turned to such an awful thing in a desperate bid to cope. She had always sworn to herself that she would never let her self stoop this low in her life, yet she had fallen into the same trap that she never understood how others had done her.

Her chest felt heavier than ever as she started to regret what she'd done last night. She was going to have to hide herself even further away from people at school. Especially now she had fallen out with everyone around her, they were bound to think she had only done it for attention if they saw. Of course, this wasn't the case. The only person Mildred had thought about was herself and how much she believed she deserved it last night, rather than anyone else. They wouldn't guess that, though.

Guilt began to invade her mind as she felt utterly ashamed for what she had done. She felt dirty and disgusted with herself as she turned over and sat up, deciding she would have to cover all of her wounds with makeup or something of the sort before she got into her uniform.

As she stood up however, something caught her eye. Her room was an absolute state as bloodied tissues covered the floor, but the thing that made her heart jump the most was the fact that her door was slightly ajar. Normally, she would have assumed she hadn't shut it properly, but she could definitely recall slamming it shut hard last night, before she had leant against it and followed through with what she did.

'SHIT' she cried aloud, exasperated. Someone had opened her door last night, and based on the state of her room, they would have seen things that Mildred did not want anyone to see. Knowing her luck, it would have been Maud or Enid and she was about to get horribly bullied all day. She became lost in anxious thought as she picked up the mess around her room, binning what she needed to.

However, before Mildred could get changed or make herself look presentable, there was a quiet knock on the door. Her heart skipped a beat as she spun around, expecting to find whoever had opened her door last night.

'C-come in' she replied, timidly.

Mildred exhaled the breath she wasn't aware she was holding as Miss Drill walked in. Miss Drill was pretty clueless, she was sure she could lie her way out of this one. However, as Mildred went to open her mouth again, Imogen had begun what she had come in to say.

'Good Morning Mildred, just to let you know that Miss Cackle has decided to cancel all classes today as there's a storm brewing in the distance and she didn't want to risk anything. You know how it is being based in such an unsteady castle!'' Imogen joked.

'Oh, thank you for telling me' Mildred replied hastily, careful not to look suspicious as she had been preparing herself for the conversation to go a much different way.

'No worries, just doing the usual rounds. Feel free to get on with whatever work you need to today, Mildred' Miss Drill stated, before she left her bedroom, shutting the door behind her as she went.

Mildred felt like the gods were finally on her side this morning. The last thing she needed was a day of lessons today with the anxieties she had been plagued this morning.

'Result!' She muttered under her breath as she clambered back into bed, pulling the duvet over her head and falling into a dreamless sleep.

Constance was shitting it this morning - and Constance rarely feared anything.

The first thing she had done last night was bang on Amelia's office door. Unfortunately she did not find her in there, so she had used apparition all around the castle for the better part of half an hour, desperate to find her. It wasn't until she barged into Amelia's own bedroom, where the woman was sat reading a book on chanting, that she finally located her.

'Constance! What on earth is the meaning of this? Are you quite alright at this hour?' Amelia cried. She was shocked at the abrupt entrance that her deputy had made, however she was too concerned to tell her off for her rudeness. 'Are you okay dear, you look awfully flustered!'

'No, Amelia, I am not okay' Constance retorted, shaking with what appeared to be anger or frustration.

'Sit. Tell me what you're feeling. What's going on in your head?' She questioned.

Despite Miss Cackle's caring tone, her statement only made Constance more angry. She hated how Amelia was suddenly willing to listen to her after shutting every concern of hers out for weeks on end.

'NO!' She boasted, unable to control herself.

Amelia's eyes widened as she looked up at her in fear. Constance scared her when she was like this - being completely unreasonable. Constance did not sit down, and started pacing the room at rapid speed.

'

No. It's not so much about how I'm feeling, rather how Mildred is feeling - DO NOT LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT AMELIA' she yelled, having turned around to see the headteacher raise an eyebrow at her statement.

'I mean it Amelia, you may be my boss but I am sick and tired of being told what and when and where and how to do things when I have done that all month and it has ended in utter disaster!' She continued.

'Okay, I'm sorry. Please elaborate Constance.'

'I stand by everything I said last month, letting this entire incident go unresolved has perhaps been the most dire mistake of my entire career. Leaving Mildred to fend for herself, alone and isolated, has absolutely destroyed any remaining confidence the girl had left. She has fallen further and further behind in such a crucial year of her education which has ultimately caused her unnecessary stress, eventually leading to emotions that are far more difficult to handle by herself!'

Amelia just stared at Constance, listening intently. Her best teacher was extremely wound up right now, and she was making herself even more overwhelmed as she recited the story to her. She had become red in the face and her eyes were beginning to water as a result of the intense passion which was radiating throughout the room, carried by her emotional voice.

'There has been more going on with her than meets the eye, Amelia. Something I am assuming that has been going on well before the start of the term and well into the summer. The injuries she had as well as the habits she has picked up to deal with them are not normal signs of teenage behaviour. Yesterday seemed to be the breaking point for the girl as she felt the need to kick a chair across my classroom in retaliation to her friends, of whom she now has nothing left of, before I made a harrowing discovery within the last hour'.

Constance paused to regain her breath as Amelia remained silent. When she next spoke, however, it was much gentler.

'I found her covered in blood and self-inflicted cuts that she had done on her arms. She is currently flat out asleep, but something awful has happened Amelia, I just know it...'

She trailed off as she fell into silence. Once she regained her voice, the familiar anger was present again as she put Miss Cackle in her place once and for all.

'And for the record, thanks to your pointless interventions, I am blaming myself' she cried, her voice breaking in the middle of the sentence.

'You will listen to me tonight, and you and I, as well as Mildred, are going to to have a serious talk in your office first thing, before you and I both have the responsibility for a young girls death on our hands. Thank you, and goodnight!' She said, sarcastically, before slamming the door on the way out.

However, despite her newfound confidence last night, she was incredibly nervous this morning as she made her way towards Mildred's room. Classes had been cancelled due to the storm, but it had actually worked out rather well as everyone could now attend this meeting without any excuses.

As she reached her room, which she seemed to do all too often these days, she slowly pushed the door forwards, expecting Mildred to be awake for the day. However, the girl was bundled under a mass of blankets, apparently thinking it was acceptable to go back to sleep on a self-study day.

Rolling her eyes, Constance walked around the end of Mildred's bed to face her, remembering why she had come to fetch her. Amelia was waiting upstairs, having finally agreed to meet together, so she needed to wake her up immediately.

On the other hand, she looked so innocent below her right now, as Constance felt another pang of sympathy for the girl which she was not accustomed to. She then put one hand on Mildred's bedside table to support herself as she fully sat down on the floor next, with her legs bent underneath her, spreading across the wooden floor.

Constance was shaking as she reached out to wake her. This was the first time she would be coming on a one-to-one basis with Mildred after their argument, and weirdly, it felt like coming home. She had actually missed being around the girl and the radiant chaos she normally brought into her life. She missed how happy her most rambunctious child used to be as she reflected on what she had become.

Constance found herself simply admiring her for a little while. Well she slept, nothing could hurt her in there. She found herself wanting to protect her peace for a while longer before she tenderly stroked her cheek with the back of her two fingers.

'Mildred' she whispered softly. 'Mildred, you need to wake up now. Come on, it's okay'.

After a few more attempts, Mildred slowly opened her eyes, and, after several weeks, blue ones finally locked with the brown again.

'Miss Hardbroom!' She cried out, as she sat up suddenly to face her.

Mildred was at a loss for words as she found herself confused and disoriented. She didn't have time to process if she was relieved, panicked of full of warmth for the person currently sat in front of her.

Miss Hardbroom stayed silent before she looked away from the intense eye contact and out of the rainy window.

'Mildred, Miss Cackle has asked for me to come and collect you. She wants to see you for a meeting in her office as soon as possible which I will also be attending' Constance explained blankly. She didn't want to bombard Mildred with information, but she also couldn't sugar coat it as this was going to be a serious conversation.

Mildred nodded in silent agreement, seeming to understand before falling silent again. She had an inkling about where this conversation was going to go, and she was not ready for it.

'Come, now' Miss Hardbroom continued sensitively as she stood up, before reaching a hand out to Mildred to help her out of bed. She did not let go when Mildred stood up, which solidified to her that something was indeed, wrong.

Miss Hardbroom then left Mildred to get dressed, taking a deep breath in the corridor moments before Mildred exited her room, looking terrified.

Putting a hand on the girls shoulder, Constance steered her away from her room and down the corridor, towards Amelia's office.