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She walked down the staircase slowly, glad that she’d opted for her sneakers instead of boots with a leather sole and wooden heel. Those would be echoing throughout the whole dorm. She looked at the entrance. A small lamp was on, in the corner of a little booth. She leaned a little forward and saw the head of the watchman, resting against his elbow on the table. He seemed to be asleep. She wondered if she could tiptoe past him, without him noticing her. The door opened on the inside, it was only locked from the outside. All she had to do was make those few steps and she was in the clear.
She started slowly, one step at a time. All of a sudden, he stirred. His head lifted but she couldn’t see if his eyes were still closed or not. She breathed slowly, quietly, even though it felt like her heart wanted to leap out of her chest. She jumped behind a big pillar to the side. Her heart was racing, though she wasn’t sure why. She probably wasn’t the first one to try to sneak out in the middle of the night. What would the watchman do anyway? Shake his finger at her crossly? Send her back to her room? Tell her not to do it again? She doubted they’d suspend or expel her over this, it wasn’t that big of a transgression of school rules. She could just say she wanted to go out and meet a guy. That sounded plausible enough, it probably happened a million times before. Girls meeting guys, guys meeting girls. It’s an excuse as old as time itself. A small place, lots of teenagers with raging hormones, of course, it happened before. She had nothing to worry about. She kept reminding herself that.
She peeped from behind the pillar. The watchman seemed to be sound asleep. His head was resting even more comfortably on the desk now and there was a small TV to his side, playing an old, black and white movie loudly. She didn’t even need to be all that quiet with that thing shouting in his ear. She boldly continued, not taking her eyes off of him.
Three more steps to the door. Carefully.
Two.
One.
Her hand was already resting on the knob and she pressed it down slowly. The door opened silently. She thanked her lucky stars that someone obviously oiled them recently. She closed the door carefully behind her, then rushed off in the direction of the forest. She wanted to get there before that shiny thing disappeared. She wanted to find out what it was.
There was a high, brick wall all around the school grounds, almost like a miniature version of the Great Wall of China. She had overheard some girls in the bathroom the day before, when they were talking about some hole underneath the wall. Sure, she’d get all dirty and muddy but she had to find out what that light in the forest was. It was too small to be a fire and too contained. Someone was there, making it visible, then hiding it. But why? Were they calling someone? Was it a secret meeting of some sort? Whatever it was, she would find out. She ran in the direction of the forest, trying to avoid open spaces where she could be seen by someone who was unexpectedly there, like she was. She walked past walls, away from the street lamps and finally reached the outer wall.
There was no one around. Only a few lamp lights illuminated the deserted area. Mina bent down and tried looking for anything that might resemble a hole. For the most part, concrete joined in with the heavy wall but then, she found it. It was behind a small bench, all the way close to the wall. The concrete had been broke, and a few loose boards lay over it, in a lousy effort to try and hide it. Mina moved them. It was a perfect fit for a person to go through it and safely get out on the other s
ide.
She managed to squeeze through effortlessly, crawling on her hands and knees. It was almost fun. She got out, cleaned herself a little, even though most of the mud was already caked on her pants and sleeves, then gazed in front of her. The moon was shining bright, illuminating an invisible path she was supposed to follow. Where would it lead and what would she see at the end of it, she wondered? Bravely, she ventured forth, covering her head with her hoodie and squeezing her fingers into fists, as she walked through the forest, not really knowing where exactly she was going or what she was looking for. It was slightly chilly and she praised herself for her choice of clothing. For a second, she wished she was back in her soft, warm bed, instead of stepping through muddied soil in the middle of the night but she knew she was right where she needed to be. Her gut was telling her this loud and clear.
After what seemed an eternity of walking and wondering whether she’d be able to find her way back once this was all done, she started hearing voices. Soft and indistinct, they weren’t recognizable yet. Slowly, those voiced blurred into chanting, not far away from her. She stopped, in an effort to figure out where it was coming from. She pushed aside branches and bushes, all of which seemed to want a piece of her, clawing at her. Finally, she saw a little clearing open up before her but she herself remained behind, in the depths, hidden by a large bush.
Squatting behind it, she could see a fire in the very center of the clearing but it was no ordinary fire. It was red, then, blue, then orange, then green, changing colors every few seconds, as it tried to reach the skies themselves. A group of long haired women danced around it in long white dresses that reached down all the way to their bare feet. Their heads bobbed up then down, then up and down again, as their hair flowed wildly, following the rhythm of their chanting. Mina had no idea what they were singing. It was a language she didn’t speak. She couldn’t understand a word of it. She doubted she had even heard it before. The women held hands, as their bare feet danced on the ground, creating a closed circle around the fire. They seemed to be in a trance, with their eyes closed, but they knew exactly where to move and how to stay away from the blazing flames.
She was too far away to see anything clearly but, for a second, Mina thought she recognized Reeba, as one of the dancing women. The girl was of similar build and her red hair down to her shoulders was easy to pick up on. Mina was sure that she hadn’t seen any other red haired girls at the school but she had to get closer to be sure.
She dared not risk it. She had no idea who these women were or what they were capable of. What if that wasn’t really Reeba, but some completely different girl with nasty intentions towards intruders? Were they vampires or witches, or maybe both? Mina had never fought a witch. There was never a reason to do so. Witches had gone into hiding ages ago and very rarely decided to live in places where there were more humans than witches. Instead, they opted to stay in little villages in the mountains, or in some uninhabited islands, where they were free to practice their magic. Humans weren’t really all that eager to be neighbors with someone who could curse them over a possible disagreement. Mina could totally understand that. So, she decided against getting closer. Instead, she remained where she was, hiding and closely following what was happening.
The fire seemed to dance along to the movement of the women that surrounded it. Suddenly, one of them fell to the ground, as if she was struck by lightning. She appeared to be having a seizure of some sort, her body twitching and bending in most unusual ways but, strangely enough, there was no sound coming from the girl. Mina’s first instinct was to rush over and help but she had to keep herself calm and composed. The others rushed over, but instead of helping her, they were spilling flowery water over the girl’s face. She was still convulsing but much less fervently now. A few seconds later, she was lying motionless on the ground, her hair spread all around her face, with flower blossoms in it. The fire had died down a little. It wasn’t licking the skies any longer. Now, it was small and contained, blazing red in the darkness, pleasantly.
The woman on the ground stirred a little. She lifted her head up first, resting her open palms against the ground. She sat up, holding her head. Mina noticed that the earth was scorched to the ground where she’d placed her palms, as if someone burned all the grass and greenery from that spot with open fire.
The others surrounded her. They were talking to her, but Mina was too far away to hear anything. When they all dispersed, she finally recognized her friend. It was Reeba. They all picked up their clothes and got dressed in silence. Mina made sure not to make a single sound. Suddenly, she heard something behind her, a twig snapping. She quickly turned around but there was nothing. All she could see was darkness. Even the moon seemed to hide away. When Mina turned around again, she realized the women were gone. The fire was the size of a golf ball now. It was dying out on its own. Mina had never seen anything like it.
Before she could get up and see it for herself, she felt someone’s hand grab her elbow.
“What are you doing here!?” someone hissed at her, as quietly as they could.
Mina almost died of fright. She pulled away from the hand that reached out to her from the darkness and managed to fall into the bushes. The hand helped her get up and, only then, did Mina see that it belonged to Reeba.
“You almost gave me a heart attack!” Mina hissed back.
“You’re not supposed to be here!”
“And you are!?”
Mina realized how difficult it was to whisper while trying to shout at someone.
“We need to get back before anyone notices we’re gone,” Reeba pulled her again and Mina found herself running after her.
She had no idea which way they were going. She doubted she’d be able to find it in this darkness anyway, so all she could do was trust Reeba. About half an hour later, they were sitting safely inside Reeba’s dorm room. As Reeba was washing her hands in the bathroom, Mina realized that Reeba had a roommate. The other bed was nicely made. There were photos in the frames of a girl who obviously wasn’t Reeba. Several pairs of shoes lay by the door.
“Where’s your roommate?” Mina asked, as Reeba got back from the bathroom, with a towel still in her hands.
“She’s at her boyfriend’s room,” Reeba explained, “but, you didn’t hear it from me.”
“Of course not.”
