1 Chapter 1 - The Message

Sunlight shone on a small cottage deep in the forest of the small town of Oakbrooke. Inside, a woman in her 40s set a basket filled with fruits on the wooden table. She hummed a tune as she began to prepare breakfast for her daughter, whose birthday was in two days. Her little girl was growing up, and she was ecstatic to celebrate with her even if it was just the two of them.

It had been that way for the past ten years. Her husband passed away when her girl was just reaching the ripe age of seven. She remembered the night clearly, when a raven appeared at their window to deliver the message. Her heart broke for her daughter, who no longer had a father.

A young girl descended down the wooden stairs of the household. Her long blonde hair that went past her waist was kept untouched as she had just woken from her slumber. She was still in her nightdress when she made her way to the kitchen where she saw her mother cutting an apple to put on top of a steaming hot bowl of oatmeal. The aroma of cinnamon and peanut butter wafted through their house, and she hummed in pleasure at the delicious scent.

"Good morning, mother," she greeted the brunette woman who had her back turned. Fiona Luxx turned her head to return the greeting with a smile, and set the bowl down on the table along with a glass of water. "Good morning dear, your breakfast is ready."

"Thank you, it smells lovely." Quinn thanked her and picked up the spoon handed to her to begin eating.

Quinn, unlike other kids her age, was homeschooled by her mother. Oakbrooke had a very small population compared to the other towns. Because of that, there was only one school which was unfortunately located on the other side which was far from where they lived. Fiona decided to homeschool her instead, thinking it was best for both her and Quinn not to travel so far on a daily basis.

Quinn had no problem with it, as she was pretty shy on her own. Her mother was perfectly capable of raising and schooling her, therefore she had no doubts on her own knowledge and was grateful for all her efforts.

"So, your birthday's coming up, is there anything that you would like to do?" Fiona looked at her daughter to see if she had any ideas on how she wanted to celebrate her special day.

A small smile formed on Quinn's lips at the remembrance of her turning a year older. "Mm...not really. Although, I did hear from Gwen that there's a carnival in the next town. I think I'd like to go."

Gwen was her dear friend, her best friend, who attended a school far from Oakbrooke. A school she had never seen and heard of until months after they became friends.

It was a few days after her father's funeral. Gwen came to their house to comfort her. The two children were spending time in Quinn's small room, where she tried her best to distract Quinn from the pain she felt.

She handed a mug of hot chocolate to the sniffling girl as she sat down beside her. She rubbed her hand on Quinn's back in hopes of getting her to feel better. "There, there. Everything will be okay, Quinny..."

"I hope so..." the teary blonde said sadly, taking in the comfort of her best friend.

A few more efforts put into cheering her up, and Gwen had managed to get the girl to smile. She told a few jokes and while Quinn was in no mood to laugh, she ended up doing so anyway.

"My mom said I'll start homeschool next week." she informed the short black-haired girl lying next to her.

"Homeschool, eh? That's not so bad. My mom was homeschooled too until she transferred to the school I go to now."

"What school is that?" Quinn leaned over to look at her with her big, green eyes. She saw the tranquil look on Gwen's face turn into one of shock and nervousness at the question, and let out an awkward laugh.

"Um...it's not really here in Oakbrooke. It's a very far school. You've never seen it before. You can't go there either, they're very strict with visitors," Gwen then shifted the conversation, "You wanna play hide and seek?" the little girl asked enthusiastically.

"With just the two of us?"

"Yeah!"

Fiona gave her daughter's idea a thought before nodding. Gwen was a year older than Quinn, and she knew the girl had her own car so she didn't have to worry about Quinn having to walk.

"Sure why not?" she agreed thinking no harm would befall on either of them. She then remembered the information she received earlier in the morning from the same source she continued to get messages from every once in awhile in the past years.

"By the way Quinn, your grandmother might visit us on Wednesday..." Quinn's head tilted in confusion. Her birthday fell on Wednesday, and she currently only had one grandparent alive which was on her father's side.

"Really?" she pondered over the thought, "Why though? Grandma has never visited us..."

From what she heard, her grandma lived in a different country which was why she had never met her. While Quinn and her mom lived a normal life in Oatbrooke, she knew her father's side was wealthy. Her grandma continually sent them checks every year which was how they got by. Fiona was unemployed ever since she became pregnant with Quinn, and before her father died, he was the one who worked for the family.

"Well...I believe you're grown now, and I think it's time she should meet her granddaughter too."

"I guess..."

The day was spent with Quinn and her mother heading to the market to pick out ingredients needed for the upcoming celebration. Her mother striked a deal with a merchant to purchase a charm bracelet as a gift in advance, a silver one with a single crescent moon charm.

Later that night, Quinn racked her closet to look for an outfit for her birthday. She went over every dress she owned, all of them being gifted by her grandmother through the years. Though her grandmother was distant, she always sent her gifts for her birthday every year. They were normally clothes or jewelry for her to wear, but there were a few times in the past where she received odd gifts like fictional books about witches.

She looked down at the silver chain and jet-black stone that rested on her chest. She touched it with her hand, feeling its ice-like coldness. The longer she touched it, she felt something run through her veins, almost like ice water in them, and she let it go immediately.

A shiver ran down her spine at the new occurrence. That had never happened before. She felt her chest heave at the sudden feeling, and she looked out the window to see the dark sky. The moon was waning that night, and it looked similar to the charm on the bracelet her mother bought her.

Deciding it was time for bed, she changed into a clean nightgown and rested her head on the pillow when sleep overtook her before she knew it.