I'm just drifting off to sleep that night, when there is a loud thud on the bedroom window. The noise breaks through my dreamy haze and I leap out of bed.
It's pitch black outside, being three in the morning and all.
I let the curtain swing back and I'm just about to get into bed again when there comes another almighty crash against the window pane.
No, not a bang, more of a ...knock?
I drew back the curtain once more, still unable to see.
I stick my feet into my slipper boots, grab a jacket and tiptoe down the stairs, skipping the step halfway down that creaks.
I enter the back living room. What if it's burglars?
Still, I very much doubt that they'd knock at my bedroom window. Unless it was unintentional.
The patio doors lead out into the garden and my hand rests on the handle, all set to turn it, while at the same time I wonder about going back to bed.
The breath catches in my throat.
A shadowy figure is lurking by the shed, crouching down on all fours.
Not a burglar then.
I press the handle downwards, and a glacial blast of air rushes into the room. Frost glints on the grass, sparkling in the moonlight.
The figure takes a step forwards and I flick on the patio lights quickly.
Let this be a dream, please let this be a dream.
A dark haired boy emerges from the shadows. His skin is scaly, and he has two bright green slits for eyes. He is wearing a torn shirt and black jeans but his feet are bare.
A low, reptilian hiss leaves his throat, and I'm horrified as he comes closer.
"Andre?" I stammer out.
He opens his mouth again, and I see a forked tongue licking ivory fangs.
"I'll save you, I promise." I whisper, even though as I'm saying this I'm repulsed by his appearance.
His snake-like eyes lock onto mine, and he halts for a moment, before lashing around and soaring over the fence out of sight.
I'm still spooked by what Andre had become, but I had to focus on the task at hand.
"The ice bomb is probably effective enough to overcome the venom in Rosalind's blood. There is no specific spell to combat the poison, because she is the first of her kind. The fact that she has lived for so long suggests that if anyone had previously tried to defeat her, then they were unsuccessful. This particular spell will freeze the venom. I cannot guarantee it will work, but you must try."
Gran doesn't sugar coat things. She gets straight to the point.
"So how do we make an ice bomb?"
"You must discover which elements you can master. I do hope you can control water, ice and fire in particular, but if not we shall work around it. My strength lies in water, so perhaps yours will too. But we shall soon see."
I stand up, anxious to get going. Even now, Rosalind could be sucking the life of him.
"Can I practise with the pond in the garden?" I ask her.
"Call me if you need help, love," she smiles proudly as if she's confident that I won't need any.
I make my way out into the back garden. In one corner, there's still an old outdoor toilet, and in the other, a large fishpond.
A fish darts out of my way as I touch the surface of the water. It ripples and distorts my reflection.
With my palms facing upwards, I motion to the water to rise - and a jet of it streams upwards. It worked!
I imagine it crystallizing, and sure enough, the ball of water turns solid and I'm left holding a giant ice cube.
Gran will want to know how I did, so I turn around, but she's already leaning against the back door frame.
"Excellent. When you throw it, the ice shards will enter her skin and freeze her blood from the inside outwards. Practice aiming at the wall to get the best hit."
Four hours later, my fingers are numb from the cold, but I can now create an ice bomb.
I had my work cut out for me.
Carly is walking ahead of me, down the ramp to the science block. It's been raining for hours, and it gives me an idea.
I slice through the air and the puddles on the ramp freeze solid.
There's a shriek and Carly hits the deck, landing splat on the floor.
"Want a hand?" I ask cheekily, rather enjoying myself.
She hauls herself up and turns to glare at me.
"What did you just do?" she almost screams.
I can't help smirking. There's ice slush all over her pink skinny jeans and one of her acrylic nails has snapped. Carly pulls it off, furious.
"Well?" she looks demented.
I shrug. "I don't know what you mean, you just slipped on a patch of ice, right?"
Her eyes narrow as she frowns sulkily.
"You're not...no, you can't be," she murmurs.
We stand face to face, each weighing up the other.
"Thorn. Are you a witch?" she spat.
I maintain a poker face, staring as hard at her as she is at me.
"Answer me!" she demands, and for a second, the mask slips. I see the power behind her pretty face.
"Relax. I'm not a witch."
She nods, but still looks confused. "What are you, then?"
"I'm actually a Wiccan."
Carly backs away a little until she's up against the wall.
"Of course...that's why I could not take him..."
"What are you talking about?"
"Andre...I have tried, a few times...but, he resisted..."
Carly is murmuring more to herself than to me, and I have to stand right next to her so I can hear what she's saying.
"You attacked Andre on Monday, didn't you?" I snarl.
Her face has turned white and she won't look at me.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?" I roar at her.
My voice echoes around the courtyard, and a couple of Year Nines gawp at us warily as they travel to class.
Carly raises her head slowly, a sneer upon her peach painted pout. She looks resentful and bitter.
"I could not kill him. Usually when I kiss a boy, he dies within minutes after the venom enters his body. Andre survived because he is linked to you. You have magical blood, and your bond with him prevents any other witches from bewitching him. So if I had a lover you would not be able to touch him."
She pauses for breath.
"When I first joined the school, I took James Archer. Then a few days later I met Andre and tried but failed to do the same."
"You had a migraine, didn't you?"
"An adverse reaction, yes. I did not read the warning signs, for it was the first time in my life I had come across a boy with a bond to another witch and I tried again at the party, where you caught me."
"That was when you didn't show up at all for school." I realise.
"The last time was just after Physics class. I'd already been weakened by it before but I am so attracted to him that I brought my serpent familiar as a distraction. It bit him and he was easily susceptible to entrancement so I kissed him again, but this time I felt like my head had exploded, so I fled."
"Carly, Andre is turning into some sort of snake." I described the previous nights events.
"While the poison spreads through him, changing him, it is leaving me...weakening me."
"What should we do?"
"We have to stop him transforming, before he destroys us all." She warns me, an note of urgency in her voice.