I hate Mondays. Elara thought as she walked through the hallways of Pine hill High. Students were everywhere, buzzing like happy little bees except for her of course. Mondays in general were the worst, the fact that she had to wake up so early after a weekend was pure torture.

She rolled her eyes when she heard a group of girls who were supposed to be whispering, spreading rumors about her obsession with Sean. Elara was never a violent person, in fact, she always tried to be nice and helpful but at that particular moment, she was having violent thoughts about those girls.

With a malicious smile on her face, she scanned the hall looking for Laura. It had been three days since Sophie's incident, and she and Laura never left her side always there to support her and make sure she doesn't wake up somewhere crazy.

Elara left the girls before 4 pm since she had to go to the public library and return the African witches' book. She felt weird whenever she looked at it or touched it and wanted nothing but to get rid of it.

"As I said, don't believe anything you read in this book". Barbara told her as she scanned the book. On her way back home after giving the book back to Barbara, it felt like a huge weight lifted from her shoulders. It was a feeling she couldn't explain.

"Someone looks cranky today," Laura said wrapping an arm around Elara's shoulder.

"It's the 'Monday vibe' as Soph calls it."

"Speaking of Sophie, where is she? Didn't she pick you up this morning?"

"No, I rode my bike here. She texted this morning saying she'll meet us after school."

"I'm worried about her."

"So am I Laura..."

"Who are you girls worried about?" Nora joined them as they walked to their class.

"Excuse me I don't remember inviting you into this conversation." Laura snapped at her.

"Easy tiger" Nora chuckled and looked at Elara "How is your shoulder?"

"Laura, don't be rude" She rolled her eyes at her friend and stopped in front of her locker before going to class. "I'm okay. It still hurts a little but I'll live, thanks for asking. How do you like the school so far?"

"It's different..." She looked around "No one bullies anyone, and it feels like the whole social hierarchy doesn't exist here. Everyone is popular and everyone is friends with everyone."

"The social stereotypes still exist here, just not as much as other schools. We still have popular, jocks, geeks, floaters... stoners" Laura said the latter pointing to a group of students leaving the building. They were clearly going for a smoke before classes.

Elara opened her backpack to put some books in her locker listening to her friend when she saw the 'African witches' book. "What in the world?" she pulled it out and eyed it biting her lip.

"What? It's true, everyone knows we still label kids even though we don't bully or get bullied..." Laura stopped talking when she noticed her friend was talking about something else.

"Oh no, not that book again" Nora took a step back.

"What book?" Laura looked at it and gasped "Where did you get that book?" She reached out to take it when Nora slapped her hand away.

"It burns!"

"What? That's nonsense, how can a book burn?"

"Fine, don't say I didn't warn you."

Laura took the book from Elara and opened it "Why are you reading about witches?"

"Witches?" Nora frowned taking a look "African witches?"

"I was just doing some research." She snatched the book back and put it in her locker.

Laura eyed Nora and smirked "So the book burned you huh?"

"Stop teasing! I swear it burned my flesh the second I touched it!"

"Well, that can only mean one thing." She said playfully resting a hand on her hip.

"What does it mean?"

"You're a..." She looked at a frowning Elara and shrugged "I'll tell you later. Gotta go! And Elara, Don't keep that book return it!" she gave her a meaningful look before disappearing between the crowd.

"Your friend is weird Elara," Nora said tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She suspected Laura knew about them.

Elara laughed "Yeah... tell me about it! Let's get to class, I don't feel like getting detention."

"Hey tiny!" Nolan playfully said as he walked by their side. Nora rolled her eyes as Elara glared at him.

"Morning Hulk!"

Nora burst into laughter "best nickname ever El!" they high-fived and went into the classroom.

The day was long. Nora spent most of it with Elara, she was really trying to become her friend. Elara was pleased by it. Nora was strong-headed and fun to hang with. She also seemed very supportive and kind.

The odd thing was the fact she kept asking Elara about her wound or about the night she was attacked. It was starting to piss her off so she kindly asked her to drop it. Thankfully, Nora stopped asking weird questions.

Elara didn't know her well but she could tell she was a good person. Someone she could trust and count on. Just like Sophie and Laura. Speaking of Laura, since her weirdness before classes she seemed off, always staring at Nora quietly. It wasn't until the end of the day that Laura started warming up to Nora, but she still had that uneasy feeling and tried to warn Elara about her.

"I'm telling you, she seems nice and all but something is off. And why would a book burn her? It's a book!"

"I don't know Laura, it's just a stupid book and so far Nora has been nothing but kind."

"And what's with all the questions?"

"She's probably just trying to make new friends. Give her a break."

They stopped at their lockers and grabbed the books they would need at home, Elara took the infamous witch book and tucked it in her backpack.

"Don't forget to get rid of that" Laura pointed to the book.

"I'm not sure why you hate that book but I'm certainly returning it."

Reaching the parking lot Elara groaned "Someone stole the wheels of my bike!"

Laura frowned "What?" she looked around and saw a few bicycles tied up. "Who would steal wheels?"

Elara scanned the parking lot and her eyes landed on Nolan and Sean, they were laughing like crazies. "I swear to god..."

"Don't bother, they're not worth it. I'll give you a lift" Laura said heading for her car.

Before getting in Laura's car, Elara heard Nolan call her name. She slowly turned around gritting her teeth watching him make his way toward her.

"Very creative of you Nolan, I mean seriously how old are you?" she said pointing to her bike.

Nolan looked at the bicycle and chuckled "I don't know who did this but they are so original" he grinned.

Elara shoved him lightly on the chest. She was about to turn her back on him when he grabbed her hand to stop her. Sparks erupted from her hand and into her arm as his skin came in contact with hers. Nolan immediately let go of her hand and took a step back. She knew he felt it too, even though he was trying to hide it by being an ass again.

"So Tiny, my brother over there was just telling me you have a major crush on him. Is that true? I could totally talk to him for you?"

"El, get in the car, don't listen to him!" Laura said from behind the steering wheel.

Elara couldn't help but roll her eyes at him. She bit her lower lip trying hard to keep her calm. Her hand instinctively went to her wound and traced the still visible bite mark. She didn't know why but every time Sean was mentioned in front of her, she would instantly remember the night she was attacked.

She turned her attention to Sean who was casually leaning against his car smirking like the jerk he is. She just wished she could wipe that smirk off his face. If only his car would burn, that would be nice to watch.

She grinned like a Cheshire cat before turning back to Nolan. "Oh, Hulk how nice of you! But I must decline, I don't date trash."

"What the fuck!" Sean yelled and they both looked his way.

Smoke was coming out of the hood of his car and it was so hot he couldn't open it. Elara frowned looking at the burning car remembering her wish from earlier.

What is happening! She got into the car quickly "Looks like your brother needs your help Hulk, see ya!" Laura drove away silently.

"What's gotten into you today?"

"What do you mean?" Laura asked focusing on the road.

"I mean, you're giving zero reaction. Did you see what happened to Sean's car?"

"I did, but he deserved it. Anyway, do you want me to drop you at the library first?" When Elara said nothing, Laura let out a sigh before speaking again.

"As I said this morning you need to get rid of that book. You can't keep it." Laura parked her car in front of the public library and looked at her friend seriously. "I'm not kidding El, it's a dangerous book."

"Okay... let's say I believe you. Explain to me why it's dangerous, and how do you know it is?"

"I can't really tell you more than that. You'll have to trust me on this."

"I do trust you Laura, but it's kinda weird don't you think? It's just a book."

"It's not, if it was it wouldn't have burned Nora."

"I thought you didn't believe Nora?" she smirked opening the car door "I won't be long." She took the book and walked to the library.

"Hey Barbara" she greeted her and placed the book on her desk.

"Elara, hi" Barbara frowned at the girl in front of her "Didn't you bring this yesterday?"

"Trust me, I don't know how it ended up in my bag this morning. Please take it, and lock it somewhere" she said jokingly but Barbara only took the book and glared at her.

"You can go Elara."

Elara shrugged and left wondering why Barbara was so cranky. But again, it's not usual to return the same book twice in a row.

"All done!" She said climbing in the car "Now should we go see Sophie or wait until she calls us?"

"I just got off the phone with her, she said her grandma came to visit so she won't be able to meet us." Laura drove away from the library and turned on the radio.

The remaining of the ride was silent. They were both worried about Sophie and obviously didn't want to discuss the possibility of having their friend being shipped off to live with her grandmother. They just couldn't live without her. Sophie was the one that kept them on the right path. She was the wise one in the group.

"Thanks for the ride, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Hey, El! Don't waste your energy on kids like Sean and Nolan. As you said, they are just trash."

"I know, I just can't figure out what's wrong with Nolan, one moment he seems nice, one moment he's just a jerk." She rolled her eyes and got out of the car "Don't worry I'm fine" she smiled and walked away from the car.

"Hey Grandpa, I'm home!" Elara called out as she made her way to the kitchen. The table was set, as usual, but this time there was no note. Maybe her grandpa was going to have lunch with her! She ran upstairs happily to check on him and found him asleep. So much for having lunch with you! Her shoulders slumped as she turned around and left his bedroom quietly closing the door behind her. She missed having lunch with him, but lately, he was always out during lunchtime.

After eating her lunch alone, again, Elara stacked the plates in the dishwasher while glancing out the window once in a while. She looked at her old treehouse and smiled. It had been ages since she went up there. Washing her hands she decided to do her homework in her treehouse so she took her backpack and went outside eagerly climbing the ladder ignoring the fact she was barefoot.

It was a beautiful white princess treehouse on the outside but dusty and old on the inside. It needed a nice clean-up. She looked around inspecting all the toys that were still lying around. Her grandpa had built her the treehouse when she was two years old. One year before her mom passed. She used to spend a lot of time with her mother in the treehouse but of course, she couldn't remember anything.

After her mom died, Elara stopped visiting the treehouse no matter what her grandpa said or did. Until one day she woke him up and asked him if she could play in her treehouse. It was the same day her dad left. After that day, her grandpa had filled it with toys and art supplies and would bring her up here every time she felt down and sad in order to bring her comfort and joy. Elara remembered how much she liked coming up here. She would spend most of her free time alone in her treehouse drawing, painting, or playing with her dolls.

"It's been years since I've been here" She looked at her small desk and saw an old dusty sketching pad. She smiled while flipping through the pages only to stop at one drawing that made her heart clench.

She felt tears escape her green eyes as she stared at the drawing. She had drawn her mother in a pink dress with white flowers, her hair was free and flying. Next to her mother were two men and a woman. They were all holding hands. Behind them, there was a castle, lots of trees and flowers. Elara could also see some kinds of animals, but she couldn't remember what she had drawn exactly. She must have been five when she drew this.

She wiped her tears away and touched the drawing with the tips of her fingers. She felt an electric current travel through her fingers and frowned feeling dizzy all of a sudden.

She tried to hold onto the desk but soon was met with darkness.