Chapter 1

Another nightmare, I don't know how much more I can take of this. For the past week, I've been having the same horrifying dream, and I don't know why; maybe my great-grandmother was right, perhaps I am a witch. The nights seem to blur together; I feel so drained. A night of peaceful sleep has been unknown to me for a while; these dreams terrify me, to the point that I don't desire to sleep. Today is my first day at Willow Park High; mom moved us down here for her new job as a physician for the Texas Health Willow Park. We've been staying in a motel for a couple of days while we find a house.

Mom had left for work in the early morning, which left me, making sure everything is locked, so if someone were to break in, they couldn't get anything of value. I finished getting my bag together for school and started for the door. My phone started ringing; it was mom, "Hey mom, how's work?" I could hear the lack of breath and sleep in her voice,

"Hey Claire, are you heading to school?" she asked me, 

"Yeah, I just locked the room, and I'm about to head that way." I headed down the stairs and began walking on the sidewalk.

"Okay, I won't be there until late tonight, they've got me working until midnight." I rolled my eyes, of course, she wouldn't be home until late. She's never home early.

"Okay, mom; I'll see you in the morning then." I heard her gasp,

"Oh, gosh, I almost forgot!" I paused in my steps, "I'm going to look at a house while I go on my lunch break; Tiffany is going to make my rounds long enough for me to talk to an agent about the house." I could feel a bit of happiness etch onto my face,

"That's amazing mom! I hope it goes well. I'm almost at school so I'll talk to you later. Love you."

"I love you too, Claire, have a good day." I hung up the phone as I made it on campus. I walked past several groups of kids who stared at me as I made my way up the stairs to the double doors. 

As I sat in the principal's office waiting for the counselor, I felt a shiver go down my spine. Something felt off, but I brushed it aside. "So, Miss. Nightingale, I see you were the top of your class through grade eight, is that correct?" the counselor asked,

"Yes, ma'am." As she spoke to me about extracurriculars, I took in her appearance to attempt later on; her hair was tied back with en stuck in it, just in case she needed it, no doubt. Her eyes were as green as grass, framed by her glasses and strands of her bright blonde hair. It was clear that she had children, though I couldn't see any pictures of them; however, she was still slender, which made her look no older than twenty. 

"Your mother mentioned that you are an artist?" I nodded and took out a notebook with a few of my drawings. Her face lit up as she scanned through them, "These are incredible! What do you use as inspiration?" 

"Nothing really; I tend to have glimpses of things and dreams, and I draw them while still on my mind. They've been weird lately." the counselor nodded and handed the notebook back to me,

"I would like to put you in an art class. The teacher is my little sister. She would have a strong interest in your sketches." I was surprised but managed to find the words I wanted to say, 

"Thank you; I'll check it out." We finished setting up my schedule, and then she escorted me to my class, which just so happened to be History.

Upon entering the room, the instructor looked up and smiled, "Mrs. Jackson, who might this be?" he asked as he stood and began to wander over towards us.

"This is Claire; she's a new student. I hope we didn't miss anything interesting?" she smirked, but the man chuckled,

"No, no, we were going over last night's assignment. You are just in time for the good stuff." he directed the comment towards me, and I gave a small smile. "Please, have a seat. I will get you a textbook." I nod and start looking for a seat. Every seat was taken except one in the back, it was between a boy, about my age with crystal blue eyes, and a girl, that I seem to recognize but couldn't determine from where. The instructor brought me my book as I got my notebook out, only when he got to the front did I begin drawing. I sensed the boy glancing at me, which urged me to glance back, the moment I did, our eyes locked, and I turned away quickly to hide my blush. He was handsome, but I needed to focus. I continued drawing, but I kept seeing strange things in my mind. I tuned most of it out and started paying attention to the lesson.

I head to my locker to put my book and bag away; I finally find it but couldn't get it to open, "Come on, stupid locker! I'm going to be late for class!" I continue to fight with it until someone punched it and it opened,

"You have to be rough with this locker to get it to do what you want it to." I turn to see the boy that was in the History class; his piercing blue eyes glistened as a smirk played upon his lips, "I'm Harry." I blushed slightly.

"Claire. Thank you for opening the locker door for me," he smirked,

"You're welcome, Claire." my heart quickened, but I soon regained my composure, 

"Excuse me; I should get to class." I start to head off for class, only to discover that I didn't know where it was. I heaved a sigh as I tried to figure it out; then, I see the girl that I was sitting next to in History. I mustered some courage and asked her for help, "Hi, do you know where the art room is? I'm late." the girl smiled and pushed up her glasses,

"Sure, it's just down the hall on the left." 

"Awesome, thank you!" she smiled and started to walk off but then,

"I'm Allis, by the way. Maybe you can sit with me during lunch?" I smiled at her nervousness; it was reasonable to act this way towards the new kid. You never know how someone is going to respond. I nodded,

"Yeah, that would be great. I'll see you then." she nodded and we went our separate ways.

Lunchtime, I went through and got what I wanted and went to sit down. I hadn't seen Allis yet, so I started drawing while I ate. Not long after I was shading the drawing, I hear Allis,

"That's good, Claire." I looked up to see her push her glasses up on her face,

"Thanks, it's a hobby of mine. I draw everything, even my dreams." I shuddered at the thought of the nightmares I've been having. Allis sat down, and I handed her the notebook, she looked at each page.

"Are these all people?" she asked, I nodded, she flipped to the page where I had begun drawing Mrs. Jackson, "Wow, this is incredible! You have a gift."

"Thanks, I'm glad you think so. My mom never looks at any of my art; she's always been too busy for even a glance. My dad was the only one who paid any attention to me and my love of art." I fought back a sob, "He always said he would help me get into art school." Allis smiled slightly, I think she could tell that something was up, but I didn't want to talk about it, so she changed the subject.

"Yeah, I love to read, but my family is very active. My mother played soccer, my father played basketball. Makayla, my sister, is the softball champ, and my two other sisters', Marlin and Vickie, who are gymnasts." I sat there attentively as she talked about her family and everything they do. We sat and talked forever, and finally, it was time to go back to class, we brought our discussion to a close as we headed to our next session.