The wind tapped against the car window like it had something urgent to say. She didn't listen. She kept her head against the cold glass, watching the road twist through endless trees. Even the GPS had given up miles ago.
The silence inside the car wasn't awkward, it was normal. Her aunt wasn't much of a talker, and neither was she. They shared an understanding: some things are better left unsaid.
She drove, one hand on the wheel, the other clutching the terrible gas station coffee. Her eyes flicked towards her niece every few minutes, checking. Like she might explode again.
But she wouldn't.
Not this time.
She was done being the weird girl, bullied then expelled because something weird happened to those near her.
The last thing she remembered was, she was pleasing herself just like Charlotte and her minions requested. She hated it. She hated them. They bullied her ever since rumors spread that she killed her parents, so they thought they were punishing her, making her school life unbearable.
Something snapped in her. Guess she was tired.
She screamed. And then... they all fainted.
That wasn't even the strange part.
Lights exploded. Windows cracked. Her scream? It echoed like it had claws, like it had summoned something.
Then - blackout.
When Seraphina Dusk opened her eyes, her uniform was scorched, her bullies still lay there together with the school nurse, some teachers and the principal with blood trickling from their nose, mouth and even ears. Not a single soul was allowed near Seraphina, Except her aunt.
They expelled her before her fingers even stopped shaking.
Third school. In under two years.
Now Seraphina was being driven up a mountain to a place called Hartley Hollow Academy, a school no one had heard of. No website. No phone number. Just an invitation that showed up at their doorstep sealed with black wax and the scent of burnt rosemary.
Apparently, they 'Specialized in difficult cases.'
She pressed her fingers to the glass as they passed an old iron gate with carvings she couldn't obviously recognize. Her skin tingled where it touched the window. And like something was waking up beneath her bones, the window glass began to crack. Seraphina took her hand off fast but what's done is done.
"Ina don't touch my car, Lest it stops working." Her aunt said, her voice rough like she'd just remembered she had vocal cords as soon as she saw the crack on her car window. "Don't talk to anyone if you can help it. Don't let them get too close. And... don't lose control."
Sera didn't answer. There was nothing to say.
The trees thickened as the car climbed. Fog licked the windows. There was no cell service, no sign of civilization, just endless green and the cold hum in her chest that never went away.
Then, just like a painting pulling itself out of the mist, the school appeared.
The Hartley Hollow Academy stood like a shadow on the mountainside. Gothic, towering, too many spires. Windows flickered with strange colored light. A bell tolled somewhere deep inside the walls, but the sound didn't echo right. It felt like it passed through Sera instead.
She swallowed hard.
This time she'll stay quiet and hidden. She won't let anything slip.
Sera didn't want power. She didn't want friends. She didn't want enemies. She just wanted peace.
But seeing the school, she doubted that peace was what Hartley Hollow gave to girls like her.
They pull into a stone circle where other black cars were parked. Students in strange uniform crossed the courtyard, long cloaks, silver fastening, boots instead of shoes. Some of them looked normal. Others... less so.
Eyes that shimmered gold. Hair that moved on its own. Ears that looked almost elven. A boy with a tail. A girl floating two inches off the ground, reading a book upside down.
Yeah. Normal was going to be a challenge.
"Out," Her Aunt Debbie said quietly.
Sera took her suitcase. She didn't get out. She never did. Her hand gripped the steering wheel tight, knuckles white. Like letting go would undo something she couldn't afford to lose.
"You're not alone," She said, just as before Sera shut the door, "You never were."
"See you in two years, Ina." Then she drove off.
Just like that.
The wind felt colder once she was gone. Or maybe Sera just imagined it.
A woman in a long, emerald coat was waiting at the top of the steps. Her face was pale and sharp, cheekbones carved like blades, her lips painted blood red.
"Miss Seraphina Dusk," she said, like reading from a script, "Welcome to The Hartley Hollow academy. I am the headmistress Morwenna. Follow me."
Sera followed without a word.
Inside, the school looked like a cathedral and a castle had a child. Vaulted ceilings. Candles that floated midair. Paintings that blinked when you passed. Statues with missing eyes.
No one smiled.
They walked past a line of students. All of them stopped talking when they saw her. Eyes flicked to her suitcase, her boots, her plain jacket.
"A human?" someone whispered.
"Looks weak," said another.
"They always look weak until they bleed."
Morwenna didn't slow down, "You will sleep in the West Wing. Class schedules are distributed during orientation tomorrow. You are not permitted in the third library. You will not enter the East Tower without supervision. You will keep to yourself unless spoken to."
Sera nodded once. That much, she could do.
Morwenna paused outside a dark wooden door with vines carved into it. It opened on its own.
Inside was a narrow room. Bed, desk, armoire. A small mirror with cracks down the middle. A tiny blackbird perched on the bedpost, watching me with glittering violet eyes.
"Your roommate arrives tomorrow," Morwenna said, "She is... quiet. You'll get along."
That felt like a warning.
Before she turned to go, she studied her. Not like a teacher. Like a scientist. Or a seer.
"Do not lie to yourself, Miss Dusk," she said softly, "Whatever happened at your previous schools... It will happen again."
Then she left.
The door shut behind her with a whisper, not a slam.
Sera stood alone in her new room at Hartley Hollow, surrounded by shadows and the weight of things she didn't understand.
But this time, She swore she'd stay quiet.
This time, she'd be invisible.
This time, nothing would break.
Or so she told herself.
The bird on the bedpost chirped once. Then its feathers shimmered, and its eyes glowed red.she sat on the bed.
Deep down she knew, Whatever she was... wasn't going to stay hidden for long. But she hoped she wasn't a monster. Sera never knew this world had supernatural beings until her outburst and that black letter inviting her to Hartley.
After an hour of convincing herself she's still a human. Or more like convincing herself she'll never be a monster that she is just a special person. Sera got up and started unpacking her suitcase.
On opening the wardrobe, it was really tall. Guess they were not made for the humans after all. With just a glance one could see that Sera was the shortest person in that school if the dwarfs weren't included, she still had to make it work.
She finished unpacking and it was already late. She was hungry but there was no way in hell that Sera was about to roam around the place looking for the dining hall or whatever they called it.
Sera took her phone which didn't even have service, not that she had anyone to call except Aunt Debbie whom she was sure won't pick it.
Aunt Debbie she's a loan shark. She runs her own agency. She took Sera in after her parents' death. None of Sera's relatives could take me her, not that she has many but the two, her father's brother and sister took her inheritance money and fled. Naming Sera a cursed girl. Her mum's cousin, Aunt Debbie took her in a month after her parents' burial when she was about to be homeless.
Sera took a bath, wore her pajamas and dived in the bed with her earphones and phone plugged in. She was listening to music till late that she doesn't know how and when she fell asleep.