“I knew you wouldn't take too long.”

I gasped, coughing up water as my back hit the hard stone ground. My shivering form felt frail and disoriented – my ears rang and my vision clouded up. I scurried to my feet, using my hands to support me. Whimpering, I started swinging my fist ahead of me, hoping to fend off whoever might have been there. “S-stay away from me...”

“Relax, Anastasia,” The voice spoke again, yet this time sounding more familiar. He stepped closer. “It's just me. Petto.”

I vision stabilized. My legs wobbled but held me upright with his help. He had a change of outfit now – looking more like an old college headmaster than an old man with a bag of pigeon food – a purple waistcoat, sleek black dress pants and a white shirt which sleeves were rolled up ever so slightly. He smiled.

“And without a second glance, Alice leapt down the rabbit hole.” He quoted, leaning onto his cane before helping me to a bench from where I woke. “Or something like that.”

“Where am I? What's happened?” I stuttered, dropping myself onto the bench. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a sugar cube – the kind you'd give a foal – and hadn't it to me. I accepted, dropping it into my mouth, hoping it would help steady be. It did way more than that.

The taste was what took me by surprise – it reminded me of the summer morning pancakes my mother would bake, only for me to drown them in syrup and be baffled by how much it could absorb. I could feel the warmth of the sun press against my skin as something inside of me began to glow, melting away the frost that gathered on my spine during the past day. My bruises faded and the burning in my lungs settled down. I could feel her embrace – I could feel her.

“How do you feel?” Petto asked, taking the seat beside me. He was overlooking the dark granite stone I fell onto. It was covered in dimly lit blue runes and was the centrepiece of a town that looked so much like the last one. Buildings rose up to two stories around it, flooding the cobblestone streets with passersby and merchants who couldn't care less about some girl falling from the sky.

“I... ” I looked at my hand, tightening my fist before releasing it again. Saying I felt amazing would have been an understatement – my senses were heightened far beyond any drug could do. My eyes lit up the shadows of the world around me like cat eyes, making everything seem nearly prismatic clear. I felt... “What was that?”

Petto laughed, resting against the backrest of the bench. “You're certainly got a lot of questions. Understandably so. How about I ask you one, though? Do you know where you are?”

“Salem,” I answered without thinking. Where else could I be?

“She's sharp. I like her.” A voice sounded from my side. It belonged to a boy slightly older than myself – perhaps twenty – dressed in a grey t-shirt that hung low and a black leather jacket. His hair was gelled down to keep it from collapsing into his face. He wore a beard that was too long to be called a stubble, but too short to be a full beard. A spiked bracelet was strapped to his left wrist. “I'm Jesse,” He shook my hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Anastasia,” I spoke, still spooked by his sudden appearance.

“Alright then,” Petto spoke, raising to his feet. “I don't think a couple of kids like you three would want to ‘hang out’ with me.”

I frowned. Three? A gentle tap on my shoulder met my answer – a girl with short hair, so dark it was almost black, and a black hoodie. I nearly jumped out of my skin again. “Hey.”

She remained silent, simply blinking before turning to Jesse. Jesse scratched the back of his head. “I should tie a bell onto you, or something. Like geez, Arry.”

Yeah. And he was one to speak.

“Jesse,” Petto spoke as he walked off. “I'm pretty sure our new friend here is tired of today's doings. Take her to school. I've set her up with the dorm in your hallway.”

“Yes Sir,” Jesse spoke. Arry moved a black cotton surgical style mask with a big white X over her mouth.

I followed the pair as Jesse pointed to the buildings we've passed like some sort of tour guide in Vegas. Though all he spoke about was about how his extended family lived in half of the plots on the street, some of them being halfborne, whatever that meant. Despite my lack of interest, I hadn't been complaining. His voice had a certain pull to it that comforted and distracted me from wondering whether I had finally lost it, or if this was all real.

“So is this school like Hogwarts or something?” I turned to look at the town – the effects of the sugar cube still going strong. It was the town I just left. Yet, seemed different in ways I couldn't explain. The streets were blooming with life; birds and pets that chased each other, children who took foot races and adults who chattered about the day they had. Even the scent of manure was gone here, replaced by the rich aroma of the spice stores and appetizing steam the slipped through the windows of the bakery. My stomach twisted in hunger. When last have I eaten?

Jesse laughed. “If only.”

It didn't take long before we reached the school – it was a woodland mansion placed on the outskirts of town where nothing but trees were on the other side. A massive gate stretched around it – made of dark steel and that hummed at a low frequency – obscured my view of the entire building. We stepped through the gates after Jesse spoke to the gatekeeper (who happened to be a statue, in case you were wondering). My jaw dropped.

The building rose at least seven stories, stretching out to be the size of a football field, and stood on a base made of solid stone. The walls themselves were wooden, raising to a series of peaked roofs with gargoyles perched above them. Living gargoyles. But to be honest, nothing had surprised me anymore. Not even the man on the front lawn, placing scraps of meat directly into the maw of a gryphon.

“It's the only way to get them to trust you,” Jesse whispered, slowly moving towards the man. “It's like feeding a baby bird – they see you as a family if you feed them like that.”

“Mama bird,” I spoke. The man pulled his hand out carefully, meeting the head of the giant beast. It flew who, displacing the air around us with a single flap of its giant wings. I shield my eyes.

“Glorious,” Jesse spoke. Arry glared at him. “The gryphon, dammit! I meant the gryphon!”

She smiled smugly. Jesse shook his head, walking towards the man. The man wore a black coat that hung slightly above his knees – his hair a mess of red strands and his shirt buttoned up to his neck, finished off with a broach over his tie. “Is this the girl Petto told us about?”

“That's the one,” He answered, “Anastasia, meet Morgan.”

“Nice to meet you,” He spoke with a smile, shaking the leftover chunks of gryphon chow from his hands. “I take it Petto asked you two to babysit her for now?”

“I don't need a babysit-”

“Yup,” He answered. “The old man asks us to help her settle in. Grab some grub then take her to her room.”

“She's lucky it's pudding night, then,” Morgan spoke, looking at the giant building behind him. A few of the students sat on the stairs leading to the large entrance in front, practising what seemed like telekinesis, but I was too far to tell for sure. A few of them looked our way – they face baring a look I was all too familiar with; disgust. “Just be careful...” Morgan continued. “Students here are pretty damn cutthroat.”

“Thanks for the warning,” I spoke. But it wasn't really anything I didn't already use to – constantly switching high schools before my father, being a teacher before he lost his job, decided to homeschool me, came with the “benefit” of never managing to fit in.

A sighed, tugging onto my wet clothes as Arry and I walked towards the left half the building, slipping into one of the side doors that lead to a hallway decorated in stained glass murals of a woman surrounded by many others who bowed at her feet, holding a flame in their hands like some sort of offering. We continued by before Arry stepped in front of an elevator.

Her look spelt out What? Do you think we're savages who only use stairs?

The elevator pinged open shortly after she hit the button to the fourth floor. The elevator rose so fast it disoriented me for a moment, then the doors opened to another hallway, filled with rooms on either side. There were five rooms in total, three of which had names marked onto it – Jesse, Arry and Anastasia. I walked towards the one with my name and pressed my hand on the door, stepping back as it glowed a deep purple, then vanished. I shook my head, then stepped in. Arry retreated to her own room.

The room was all I could have wished for. So much so that it scared me. There was a bed placed in the middle of the room, covered in sheets the same shade of purple that the door had glowed in. The door itself has managed to replace itself by now. To my left was a shelf, filled with books about magic tricks, a small diary and the entire collection of Magics Greatest Secrets Revealed in CD's – all of which I collected as a child, and left behind when we left home. On the shelf was a bunch of photos of my family before we were torn apart, one of which with a goofy look on my face as I manage to drop my peppermint ice cream.

I dropped onto the floor at the feet of the bed, hugging my knees as I slowly fell asleep.