Hidden Forest
I ran…
Until I finally slid to the ground. I got on my knees, crying. I’m so weak. And I hate myself for being me. “I can’t take this anymore! I don’t want to be like this!” I shouted, but the silence still prevailed.
I looked where I was now, I was in a park where no one was around, it was so quiet and peaceful. But the place was unfamiliar to me. I put my head on my knees and I was silent for a moment.
But I felt someone touch my hair. I did not pay attention to it and just waved it off. Maybe I was just hallucinating. But it didn’t stop touching my hair, so I looked up and looked behind me. I immediately crawled back away when I saw what was touching my hair.
Butterflies. Beautiful butterflies that keep on flying in front of me, but what amazed me was their glowing wings. They paused for a moment and I could feel them staring at me. Then, they flew away.
They seem to want me to follow them. The next thing I knew, I was following them out of curiosity. I wiped away my tears as I walk inside the forest, I followed them. While they were flying and heading in the direction of the forest. “Wait! Where are you going? I’m still following them even if I don’t know where they are going. I just walked until…
“No!” I shouted when my foot slipped. I fell from a cliff. My breathing became rigid as I felt the breeze of the air enveloping my bare skin.
While I was in the air, I saw the butterflies flying. They seem to be showing me that they are already home. And then a lot of butterflies came, but at the same time as they arrived, I fell into the water and hit my head on a large rock. I felt pain sipping through me. What is this? Is this another nightmare?
And it all went black…
“She’s bleeding,” I heard a woman shout. I immediately sat down and vomited water. “She’s awake! She’s awake!” she shouted again.
I slightly bent down and adjusted my bangs which were wet due to the water. I turned to the woman who was shouting, and I noticed that it wasn’t just a girl. There are four of them. Two boys and two girls. It looks like they are just my age. They are wearing the same uniform, but I am not familiar with the uniform they are wearing. I’ve never seen anyone wearing those.
“How are you, Miss?” a man asked, and he even touched my shoulder, but I immediately withdrew his hand. I’m not used to people touching me and my reaction made him stop.
“Where am I?” I asked them. They looked at each other as if they were talking using their eyes and turned their attention to me.
“You’re in our open field. We brought you here your head is bleeding, and you were drowning in Crystal Falls, so we had to do something.” He pointed in the direction of the falls and there I saw the cliff I had fallen on earlier. So, it was a waterfall.
“Call Isaac. We need him. There’s an outsider here,” a woman said to one of the guys. The guy nodded and ran. I followed him with my gaze, and I was completely stunned by what I saw. In front of me is a huge castle-like building. I seemed to be in fairytale movies. Except this is real. Or is it not?
I touched my head when I suddenly felt something oozing down from it. It was blood. I’m such an idiot for following butterflies like that.
I was stunned when one of the girls leaned in front of me, she’s so pretty and her eyes are glowing blue. “That’s our school. Alexandria Academy.” I stared at the Academy she was referring to.
I can’t even utter a word while looking at it. There’s a school in the middle of the forest? How come?
“How–” I was about to ask when suddenly, someone picked me up. “P-Put me down.” I tried to jump away from him, but my body was too weak that I couldn’t even move my feet, properly.
“Just thank me later, Miss. Anyway, my name is Kristian Nicholai,” he introduced himself. I tried to tell him to put me down, but he didn’t even listen. He just walked along with the girls toward the castle-like Academy, they’re talking about.
“Your eyes,” I said while staring at Kristian’s blue eyes. He laughed a little as if what I asked had seemed natural to him.
“Yes. It’s blue, right? I inherited these eyes from my Mom,” he said, proudly.
I looked at the rest of them. That woman has one red eye, and the other one is blue. Okay! I’m freaking out now! What the hell is this place? I remembered my own eyes that were different.
“What happened?” I turned my attention to the guy who had just come. From the way he reacted, I knew he was the one they were referring to as Isaac.
“She’s bleeding,” Kristian said. He put me to the ground, and I was surprised when Isaac suddenly approached me and touched my head, so I immediately avoided it.
“What are you trying to do?” I hissed.
But there was no reaction on his face. His gaze was locked on my face. “Such a brat,” I heard him say. Arrogant. I just let him touch my head and a moment after, I felt his hand getting warm. And I feel like my wound is healing.
“Get her inside,” was the last thing he said before he walked away. He’s not liked the others. He looks much more arrogant while the others are quite generous. Unlike the people, I have met.
“Hi, what’s your name?” The woman with a sharp voice asked me. She looks kind but I know she can’t be kind to me. No one has been kind to me in the first place.
“Althea Genovie,” I answered. I never spoke to her again, but she continued talking.
“Hi, Althea! I’m Cathryn Dela Fuente. You can call me Cath.” She smiled, genuinely. I feel like smiling too when I saw her smile, but I looked down and never looked at her again. We walked through the staircase to the front door. As we approached the enchanted Academy, my chest throbbed louder. I feel something is wrong with this place. Why do I feel like this?
“Hi, Althea! I’m Lydia Hawkins. Daughter of the former leader of Alexandria Academy,” Lydia introduced herself. Cath and she are beautiful.
Lydia has long wavy hair and fair skin, and she’s kind of tall which makes her more beautiful. She looks like a model. While Cath is shorter than Lydia, her skin is fairer. Although her hair was shorter, it suits her. She’s so beautiful and I could look at their faces all day long.
“Of course, save the best for last! “I looked at the man who suddenly appeared next to me. “Kurt Scott is the name. The only heir of the new leader of Alexandria Academy.” He offered his hand, I just looked at it and didn’t even bother to take it. I am not used to interacting with people. “That was…” I heard him whisper.
I just ignored him until we got inside the beautiful castle, they called Alexandria Academy. My jaw dropped in amazement. It seems that what I see in fantasy dramas had come true. Am I awake right now? I can’t even tell if this is real.
Alexandria Academy