Hollow's Grove (The Preliminary Version)

Chapter Seven: The Encounter

       

It was a truly tearful goodbye for mum and me. Well, mostly for mum. She held on to me as tightly as she could. I was still trying to get it in my head that I would no longer be living with her. I wondered how she would deal with the now empty house. We didn't have any pets for companionship. I felt my heart strings tug when she pulled away, her hand waving furiously. Then she was gone, I was all alone. Ms. Wilson had left me and mum alone to say our goodbyes.

Now, I had to figure out everything on my own. I felt a quiver of nervousness wrack through my body. The full moon wasn't coming up for a while, yet, I still felt very unsure of what I was going to do. I gulped. What if someone found me? I quickly shook the horrifying ideas out of my head. That was not going to happen. I was going to be perfectly fine, I hoped. I turned back to the school.

'Well, here goes nothing Toby. Today you step into the world of education.' I stepped towards the school entrance. Each step I took I felt like my chest got heavier and heavier. I struggled onwards. Finally when I got to the front entrance my entire face had become extremely sweaty. I wiped the sweat off and pushed the doors open. Several students were already in the hall. They all stopped and stared at me as I passed them by.

I felt my heart skip a beat when they all began to whisper to one another. 'They don't like me!' My mind screamed. I rushed by the now laughing teens. I raced to my room. I didn't care to look at the scene around me. All I cared about at the moment was shutting myself away. Away from the scrutiny and judgement of the others. I reached my room and slammed the door. Once inside I gave a shuddery gasp and let my heart slow. Teens were so cruel, I was just sweating.

I glanced about my new room, letting my eyes scrutinize everything. The walls were a dark blue, mum and I had set up some of my posters I had brought along. In the far corner of the room was my bed, it had dark green sheets, with a dark mahogany frame. My desk that I had brought along stood in the opposite corner. Piles and piles of papers were stacked up on it. Books were scattered over the hardwood floor and my new school bag and items were strewn around.

I reminded myself to unpack my clothes and put them in the set of drawers that stood near the door. By now my heart rate had calmed down and I wasn't feeling as flustered. I gave a sigh, and headed over to the window that was centered in the very middle of the wall. I opened the shades and opened the window to let some fresh air in. As the school was near a forest I could smell the fresh pine and maple.

Birds chirped happily, and sunlight poured into my room. All in all my new school was situated in a very nice area. I walked over to my bed and flopped down on to the soft, clean covers. It had been a very long and exhausting day. I gave a yawn, dinner was who knew when. Yet, I wasn't hungry. Mum and I had had a very large late lunch of Mc Donald's burgers and fries on the drive up. I closed my eyes and let the calls of the birds slowly take me to another world...

I awoke with a start. I could have sworn that I had heard a noise. I listened closely. Tap, tap, tap. I felt my heart jump into my throat. Something was tapping against the glass of my window. I felt my blood turn to ice. I thought that the school was safe. The tapping didn't stop. Instead it slowly got louder and louder. I ducked under my covers, whatever was out there, was trying to get in! I lifted the covers off my head and looked cautiously over at the window.

Then I realized with horror that whatever was trying to get in was staring right at me. It wasn't at the window, no, it was standing right over me. I screamed and felt my body slip off the bed. Down I tumbled my bed sheets tangling up, sweat pouring off my brow. The figure's eyes watched me, they glowed a deep green. I shuddered, "Don't hurt me, please." I whimpered. The figure stared at me for a minute and then there was a laugh. "What? Ha, ha, ha, ha, that's rich!"

I stopped hyperventilating, where had I heard that voice before? Then it hit me, "You!" I growled, trying to straighten myself out of the bedsheets. The bedside light flicked on. There standing above me, a smirk on his face, was Marcus. I felt a rush of humiliation and embarrassment, he just stood there laughing. "You are hysterical, new kid!" He roared with laughter, I felt the rage slowly rise. "Get out." He stopped laughing, "What did you just say?"

His voice had gone soft, as though he hadn't thought I would have the guts to tell him off. I locked eyes with him, the wolf I was sure, had taken over a part of me. "Get out of my room Marcus, and stay out." My voice had gotten rougher with anger. The smug look on his face was gone, now he was staring at me with widened eyes. "Hey, no problem," He began to back away. I felt a growl rip through my throat. I really didn't like this boy, and I had just met him the previous day.

He held up his hands, "Right then, I'm leaving don't go all dog on me." He turned and headed for my door. Just as he opened it he turned back and said "You're a freak, you won't last a month here." With that he left my room, slamming the door as he left. I gave a sigh of relief. I really couldn't stand him for some reason. 'Well we'll see about that, I'm not going to quit just yet...'