Corruption

I sit on my bed, in my room at home. My door’s closed and locked, and I’m hugging my stuffed panda Shuuji to my chest. After Hayden had said that she was...that I was...I just left. I turned on my heel and walked away, and when she followed me I ran, ran faster than I ever have in my life. I got into the drivers side and locked all the doors. As she yelled at me through the glass I put my hands over my ears and squeezed my eyes shut. How could that even be possible? There’s no such that as witches. The keys were still in the ignition so I just started the car and drove off, leaving her there. It took me almost two hours to get home, considering I actually went the speed limit. By then it was completely dark, almost 9 at night, and I walked straight to my room and locked the door.

I lay down, keeping Shuuji close, and stare the wall. Curled in a ball, I try to breathe, but struggle. How did she know my mom was dead? How could she have seen my drawing? Did my drawing even move? Why would she call her and I witches? Questions swirl the my mind, and my head begins to throb. Then a question appears, louder than the others, and my breath catches.

What if she’s right?

I sit up, thinking. Well, if she’s right and I am a witch, then why don’t I just...test it? I laugh aloud, hugging Shuuji again. That sounds ridiculous. How do you test something like that? Then I remember--her jacket. It was on fire. Did I do that?

I squeeze my panda one more time and sit on the edge of my bed. I open my nightstand cabinet and pull out a white candle, used for when the power goes out or I smoke in my room and have to cover the smell. Instead of pulling out the matches, too, I set it on top of my night stand and stare at it. After a few minutes, I put my head in my hands.

“This is so stupid,” I mumble to myself.

I lift my head and pick up the candle, and right when I’m about to put it away I think of something. With the drawing, I was concentrating, so much so that the world around me seemed to disappear entirely. Plus, just staring at something doesn’t do anything, even in movies. I set the candle down and breathe deeply, and then look at the wick. I invision the wick igniting into a dancing flame, focusing hard on the candle. Soon, everything around me fades, and the wick bursts into a flame. I gasp, scrambingly back onto to the bed.

I need to talk to Hayden.

Just as the thought passes through my mind, the doorbell rings. I glance out my window and see my dad’s car’s gone, so I get up and walk through the house to the door. I open it, and standing on my porch is Hayden.

“Hey, bitch,” she says.

Although I left her in the woods, she doesn’t have a hair out of place. Behind her a black Lincoln idles on the street, windows tinted too dark to see inside, especially at night.

“Hi,” I say, uneasy. “I need to talk to you, actually.”

“You’re a witch,” she says bluntly, a neutral expression on her face. “So am I. You believe me now?”

I hesitate for a moment, then nod. I’m nervous. How could witches be real?

“Will you come with me?” she asks, waving her hand towards the car.

I swallow. “Where?”

“You’ll have to trust me,” she says, and smiles.

“Fine,” I say, and turn around.

I put my black boots on and leave a note for my dad, saying I’m going to Erin’s. Then I walk to my room, grab my phone, and throw on a black hoodie. I walk back to the door and Hayden’s leaning against the doorframe, waiting.

“Come on,” she says, and I follow her to the Lincoln.

She opens the back door of the car, and when the interior light turns on I see a guy my age already inside. I look at him as I get in, and he smiles at me. He has short cropped, brown hair, but not short to the point of a buzz-cut. His eyes are a pleasant pale blue, and his smile is genuine. Hayden closes the door and gets into the passenger seat. A heavily muscled man drives, and from what I can see of his face he looks very serious and has many scars.

“We’re going to show you something,” Hayden says, and then the car begins to move.

“Hi,” the guy next to me says. “I’m Dante Louis.”

“I’m Aradia Hollow,” I say, smiling at him.

“You’re a witch, right?” he asks me, and my smile falters.

“Yeah,” I say, and turn my head to the window. “I guess I am.”

The rest of the car ride is silent, except for quiet music playing through the Lincoln’s sound system. I stare out the window, watching the lights of civilization sparkle in contrast to the dark of night. We head out of the city, where trees line the freeway. Soon we’re in a small town, more forest than civilization. We stop, and I look out Dante’s window. There’s a thick span of trees, lining the road, but there’s a small break in the trees. An iron gate stands in the open space, with large gold letters in the center. The letters are E and A--Elemental Academy.