Chapter 1 part 2

My memory was foggy. I awoke in the middle of nowhere, in a field. Fallen leaves were blown sharply and violently from the trees... The weather was surprisingly mild as the sun was setting. It was comforting to see the last rays of the sun touch the sky one last time before the darkness swept in, it felt like home somehow...even though that place seemed unfamiliar to me. I was walking towards the middle of the field when I noticed a strange shape forming in front of me. Was that a tree? Despite my best efforts, I couldn't stop my eyes from wandering to that strange thing before me. I walked towards it and the thing began to take on the form of a leafless oak tree...the wind became stronger. Could it be a warning?

The sun had already set completely and the atmosphere that once felt warm and welcoming began to change itself before my eyes. It had gotten colder and scarier, I stopped walking as soon as It had gotten completely dark. Across the meadow, the pale moonlight shone powerfully, yet softly. Its light rose slowly yet gracefully.

I wanted to run away but could i? I found myself in an eternal stage of curiosity, there was something going on in this field and I wanted to find out what it was. I tried to take another step towards the tree but my muscles refused to move. It was as if I was trapped in my own body. I faced an internal battle against the urge to leave that place.

"I am free to do what I want! Okay?! - I snapped.

My body felt lighter, I pronounced these words out loud while I slowly regained the power I had over my own body. I walked closer to the tree, blurry creatures quickly formed around it.  They gained the shape of children except for one thing... They were all faceless. The moonlight shone where their faces should have been, but it was black and blurry. They were all dressed as if they came from the 18th century, could they be ghosts?

With wide open eyes, I stared at them in terror. I heard voices telling me to run away, but could not determine where the sound was coming from.

"YOU ARE IN DANGER"

"RUN"

"DON'T TAKE A STEP CLOSER TO THE TREE"

"PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF"

"RUN!"

The voices screamed louder and louder, the intensity of the wind increased. The voices were telling me to run, but I couldn't ignore what was happening before my eyes. The faceless children pointed at the tree as if they were trying to tell me something.

I fought against the voices and my instincts, I ran towards the tree and what I saw changed everything.

I stood right in front of that oak tree, I realised that the faceless children were pointing at another one of them. Except this child was hanged by the neck. The wind blew strongly against the body and it powerlessly shook as a response. The pale moonlight shone brighter over the hanged body of that faceless child and then I realised- the face began gaining shape, the other faceless children ''starred" at it and... it gained the shape of my face!

My body began feeling numb and I slowly started to lose consciousness, I felt my lungs fight for air -I hopelessly tried to breathe. I tried to reach for help but the faceless children stood there, paralyzed.

Suddenly, a figure of a woman emerged among the faceless children. Her face was adorned with an intriguing smile while she walked towards me. She approached me, she whispered softly in my ear all kinds of things that made no sense. The moonlight, which once illuminated the field beautifully, now seemed to be fading... just as my life withered away while I struggled.

The countless whispers continued until one made sense as I fell to the ground almost lifeless. Her last few words were pronounced slowly and carefully, as if she wanted me to understand what she was saying.

"Don't go on the trip"

And with that last message I I woke up.

credits: https://picrew.me/search/creator?crid=6000

Ella's P.O.V

What a pain. The day already started badly.

Firstly, because we were standing outside the school in this freezing, cold, and miserable weather, waiting for the bus to arrive and pick us up. And secondly because I wasn't going on the same bus than my friends. This sounds futile but I didn't know anybody going on the trip apart from them. Well, that's partially my fault since I hated everybody there. And finally, the day already seemed bad to me because the warning from the nightmares kept echoing in my head. "Don't go on the trip", they said.

Since the nightmares started, I tried hard to hide how I felt from my friends. Truth is, I couldn't sleep at all without waking up feeling suffocated and scared the next morning. I really wanted to go and spend some time with them but there was something out there telling me that I shouldn't. It may sound silly but I grew up in a very superstitious and "spiritual" family, therefore I couldn't help myself to feel scared and interpret my nightmares as a warning. The only person who knew about them... wasn't even a person. Honestly, I wanted to tell my family what was happening- but if I had told them, they wouldn't have let me go on this trip. So the only living being that I could open my heart to at the moment was my cat, Oliver. At least he was able to keep my secrets hidden as well as being a good listener.

Earlier that day I had packed everything before my friends arrived. My silly nightmares have woken me up earlier than usual, so I thought I would get my things ready while killing time. I packed everything I needed and... What I didn't need too. I wanted to put an end to my nightmares once and for all so I packed my mother's book of "spells". She always told me that "casting spells in the house is a very dangerous thing to do since it could attract bad spirits". I couldn't cast the spell at school either. Schools are places filled with negative energy and emotions; so the chances of summoning an evil spirit would be high. And what better place to perform a ritual than the chosen destination for the school trip? Luckily, I was off to a place that I did not plan on visiting afterward, so it was ideal to do such activities.

A couple of minutes later the buses arrived to pick all of us. We all cheered in excitement, we walked towards the buses in order to form a queue. The headteacher had told us before the arrangements were made that "students will share the facilities according to their mentor group in groups of two. Mentor A will pair with mentor B and so forth."

Ariel was in mentor E and Charlotte was in mentor C, and I? I was located in mentor A. I waved at my friends from a distance as we bid our "byes" for the moment. Ariel looked tired as usual. She waved in a less enthusiastic way, she stood behind everyone else in her mentor. She was pairing up with mentor "F" and honestly, i could understand why she looked dead. The people from that mentor group were known as the "troublemakers". They were not trouble really, they were just a group of quirky teens that thought being rude was cool. I hated those types of people with passion.

Charlotte on the other hand, looked as friendly as ever while she happily waved at me. She had a good reason to be happy after all, she and her boyfriend could go on the same bus since he was in Mentor "D". I was happy for her, she has been dating this guy for nearly a year and he treated her right... that's what mattered.

A newly formed queue gathered in front of our bus while I waited anxiously. My shoulders began to tighten as I realized I would be stuck in the same bus with strangers for at least three hours before I reached my destination. I barely knew the people there. They were not relevant, really and honestly; I couldn't care less.. Except I did... a little. This was going to be a long journey.

I had gotten inside the bus and I went straight to the back of it, it was an ideal place for me.

Normally, people willing to interact would sit in the middle, the anxious kids would sit at the front in order to get out as soon as possible and, only the "social rejects" would sit at the back. If my theory is accurate, I wouldn't even need to interact with them and that would be perfect.

Amidst all the unfamiliar faces entering the bus, I noticed that one of them wasn't totally unknown to me. ARIEL'S BROTHER WAS IN MENTOR B? Maybe this trip would not really suck at all. My face blushed as he entered. He leaned forward so he could avoid hitting his head in the bus ceiling. Like his sister, his name began with an "A", for Aries. I remember Ariel mentioning a while ago that her parents had planned their name since before their birth, they wanted to fulfil a vowel that was to name their first born after the first letter of the alphabet. Well, since they were twins...they both ended up with an "A" in their names.

Compared to other guys, he was quite tall and muscular, and looked like a literal god. I have had a crush on him since we were in year 10, this being two years ago. From the moment I saw him, I knew he would be mine and mine only. He wasn't like the other boys in our school. He seemed so kind and generous, he always thought of the needs of others before his own. Took me a while to realise that I had fallen in love with him. To me, love is like a quiet emotion that slowly becomes part of the air that we need to breathe. Being in love with him felt easy and carefree. It made sense to me why the other girls had fallen for him.

However, they only saw him from the outside.

In their eyes, the most important thing was his delicately sculpted facial features. He looked like he was crafted by the hands of an angel. His skin was also pale, which aligned gracefully with his perfectly dark blue eyes. His hair was also something divine, as white as snow, just like Ariel's. But to me things mattered more rather than his looks, like the way he treated people for example.

When I asked Ariel about their hair and if they bleached it to look cool when we first met, she shyly replied: "Some bad genetics." He was definitely taller than any boy I knew, about 6'2 i think? That made loads of boys intimidated by him, which was a fun thing to see. All the cocky guys, wanna-be-popular, were afraid to confront him.

Well, I did not really care about how tall he was since I am rather tall myself. Being taller than most girls my age made me insecure about my height. But after seeing him act confidently, I became confident and I loved him for that reason. In love, we're said to show our best sides, right?

It is because of him that I fell in love with my insecurities and no matter what happens, I will always be thankful to him. I wish I had the courage to tell him my love right here, that I was brave enough to stand up and ignore everyone around us and shout loudly and clearly: "I LOVE YOU, ARIES CLARKE!" I ALWAYS HAVE!!!".

But I could never do that, he was my best friend's twin brother after all. And between her friendship and his love, I would choose to be Ariel's friend, forever.

He had also turned down every girl who ever asked him out. All of them, even the prettiest and most popular ones. Why do I think he will ever love me? His sister's friend??

It wasn't until he sat right in front of me that I realized that I had been daydreaming all this time. That would have been an amazing fact on its own, if only he hadn't been followed by a flock of girls willing to sit next to him. Before I knew, the back of the bus had been occupied by a bunch of needy girls and my theory collapsed.

I sat by the window, a girl I didn't know sat next to me along with two of her friends. They were desperately trying to get Aries' attention while he talked to a boy that sat next to him. All the desperate girls moaned in frustration. They realised that their most dreamed seat spot had been taken. One of the girls gave this boy a dirty look while he talked comfortably with Aries. Oh, if looks could kill...

"- I am so excited guys, aren't you excited??" bitch one stroke suddenly.

" - Oh my god, yes! Especially because I really love winter. What about you Aries?"- Bitch two answered as she leaned forward in an attempt to look at his face while she asked.

"Huh, yes...of course" - he responded, easing back in his seat - rather than give the girls what they wanted, which was an attention-grabbing glance.

"C'mon bruh, they are talking to you.. The boy sitting next to him poked him jokingly, advising him to turn around to look at the girls and he obeyed. Except by the fact that instead of looking at them, he looked at me.

"You are Ariel's friend, right?" he asked suddenly, yet confused. He tried to figure out where he remembered my face from. What a pain.

"Yes"

"Oh... I know now! I've seen you with her around the school... sorry I didn't recognise you"

It's okay" - I replied, trying to hide my embarrassment from him. He barely remembered who I was, while I dreamed about our marriage every day. Since Ariel never invited me to her house, how could he know? I have to be sensible in terms of judgement since it is not solely his responsibility.

He leaned forward with a smirk on his face in order to seem friendly. The girls next to me were surprised since their plan to have his attention completely failed. There I was, talking to the man of my dreams.. Thank you, dear God for giving me this shot.

" I hope we can hang out on this trip, Ella..."- He teased. His smirk grew into a large smile. He knew who I was all along?? It was all a tease?? He laughed playfully, staring into my eyes and I laughed too. Could it be?? Could he like me??

With the biggest smile on my face, I cheered:

" I hope we do."

NOTES FROM THE AUTHOR:

HI GUYS HOW ARE
YOU?? I hope
You all are doing well. I would
Like to announce in advance that the next chapter will deal with sensitive topics such as su1c1d3 and depression. With that being said, I hope you all have a nice week! :))

i know the second part of this chapter is from a different P.O.V, the thing is that previously this second half was chapter 2. but since it didn't add much to the story i decided to add this as a part 2 instead.
Illy you all xx