Chapter 4: Sky - Follow the Dream

I woke up in the morning, knowing what I needed to do. The dreams had turned up after I had asked the fates for guidance, so maybe they were showing me a sign.

I sneaked out before anyone had woken up. I thought about bringing Lightning, but not knowing what I would walk into, I decided against it. She was better off staying in the stable, besides my family needed her.

I started walking away from our house. Following the path shown in my dream the best as I could. After I had walked for hours, I felt defeated and sat down. Thinking I had made a mistake. Maybe I should just go back home. While I was sitting in the grass, contemplating what to do, a big grey cat came up to me. I gave him a cuddle before he walked off. 

I followed him with my gaze. Before he disappeared from my vision, he stopped and looked back at me before letting out a meow. Remembering the dream and that someone had been with me in my dream, I got up and started walking next to the cat. Happy for the company, I told the cat about my life. It must have looked silly if anyone was listening.

After a while we got to the broken tree I had seen in my dream. I lifted my gaze to inspect it, memories of the dream floating back to me. I remembered exactly what I needed to do to get to the house. With a smile, I turned back to my companion, but he had disappeared.

I followed the path to the left and like in my dream, the house turned up in the distance. I ran towards it, terrified that I would wake up in my bed before I reached the house. However, this time it was real, and I didn’t wake up.

When I reached the house, I slowed down and looked around. There were two buildings. A main house, and a stable. They both had seen better days. The stable looked like it could collapse at any moment. The paint was coming away from the wooden walls, displaying the rotten wood underneath. It was a miracle that it still stood. The main house looked to be in a slightly better shape, with its stonewall foundation. The area looked abandoned. I walked closer to the house to inspect it. Why had my dreams led me here?

The sky above had darkened, and it looked like the sun was about to go down. What should I do? There was no way I would find my way back to my house in the dark. I had hardly found my way here in the light. But no one seemed to be around.

I walked inside the house. There must have been a reason the fates showed me this house. When I stepped inside, the smell of food filled my nose. My stomach reminded me loudly that I hadn’t eaten.

The hallway I walked into was small and outdated, but it had a homely feel to it and to my surprise it seemed to be in a much better state than the outside. There was a staircase in front of me and a closed door to my left. To the right, was the kitchen.  I followed my nose and walked into the kitchen. Like everything else in the house it looked out dated. There was an old metal stove that had an actual fire burning underneath it. While I looked around, I noticed a middle aged woman standing by the kitchen counter, chopping vegetables. She seemed oblivious to me, so I jumped when she spoke up.

“Hello my dear.”

I looked around, thinking she was talking to someone else. But no one else was in the kitchen. She was the only living person I had seen since I arrived. My thoughts went to books that I have read about people being abducted or about evil witches living in the woods, kidnapping children to eat. I shook my head. Those things only happened in books.

I turned towards her, but kept my distance. “Hi,” I said, with a weak and unsure voice.

She looked up and gave me a smile. The atmosphere in the room suddenly became calming, and it felt almost like I belonged here.

“I’m Leaf, you must be Sky.”

I took a deep breath. How did she know who I was? I scanned the room, debating whether I should make a run for it.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you. The fates told me you were coming.”

To my surprise, I could feel myself relax.

“You must be hungry, dinner should be ready soon.” She untied her apron and hung it on a hook next to a kitsch cupboard. “Let me show you around.” She waved her hand in the air and somehow the energy in the room shifted. When I looked around again, it was like I was somewhere else. The area had become cluttered with toys and books, there were noises coming from the other rooms.

My mouth opened in awe. I know we were witches, but things like this were not a normal occurrence. I had never met someone that could create a hiding spell like this. As far as I knew, not even the High priestess had that power.

I followed Leaf as she walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. To be fair, it looked more like a massive sleeping area. There were several beds against the walls on both sides, a few desks and cupboards, It almost looked like a small cubicle of bedrooms. There were several people around, they all looked about my age or slightly older.

“This is Sky, your new sister.”

Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and turned around to look at me. I could feel my cheeks blushing. I never enjoyed being the centre of attention. A few of them came up to me and introduced themselves, whereas others just said hi, before turning their back on me and continuing with what they had been doing before we entered the room.

“Everyone here has had their magic sacrifice and the fates have given me the responsibility of looking after them and that includes you.”

She walked to the end of the room, there an empty bed was standing.

“This will be your new bedroom, I know it’s not much and you are welcome to come and go as you please, you are not a prisoner. However, the fates led you here for a reason.”

I looked around, not sure what to say. I hadn’t really thought about what would happen when I found the house from my dreams. But I had not expected this.

“I know it is a lot to take in. When you’re ready, come and find me and I’ll show you the rest of the house.”