2 Chapter 1

Freya woke up with a start, for 3 months she's been having the same recurring dream. They feel so real that she always ends up waking up in a cold sweat with her heart racing beyond her control. These dreams of these kids that all end up in one place, that same abandoned building with the stairs. She can never see the face of who they are with them in the dream, but it is always a tall figure with an air of darkness and authority surrounding them. She wants to know what these dreams are, she's told people about them, her friends, brother, teachers, and her parents, they all keep telling her that they are just weird dreams, that everybody has them. She sat up on her bed and crossed her legs as she stared out her window lost in thought, why do they feel so real? Why can I feel their fear every time they go down those stairs?

A knock on her door pulls her from her thoughts as she gasps startled, it's just her mom calling her to breakfast. "Hey silly girl, it's time to get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and embrace the day" her mom smiled on the other side with her hand resting on the door frame. She runs her fingers through her hair and moves her blanket off her lap and stretches up towards the ceiling as she lets out a yawn, "okay mom I'll be out in a minute I just got up." Her mom smiles and goes back downstairs, humming as she steps down the stairs rhythmically, Freya smiled as she stood up quickly and made her way to her closet. She ran through all her clothes until she landed on a dark orange long shirt with a green and gold leaf pattern, this was one of her favorite shirts. She pulled it off the hanger and turned her attention towards her pants, skirts, and leggings on the other side of the closet. She began going through them as well when she finally landed on her long white skirt, this skirt always made her think that she looked like a gypsy. She imagined living in a world full of magic and fantastical creatures of all shapes, species, and sizes. A place where magic is a fact and not just something you say when you find something whimsical, she always imagines a place like that she even has drawn what she imagined it would look like.

She walked out of the closet and proceeded to get dressed while she looked out her window into the backyard. As she was getting dressed, she noticed how the leaves were blowing in the wind, the wind creating the illusion that they were dancing through the air gently and almost gracefully. As the leaves moved in the wind the colors of the leaves seemed to blend in a magnificent hue of oranges, browns, reds, and yellows. When she finished, she turned towards her mirror to look at her outfit, "wow this looks awesome, I'm wearing this on Halloween for sure!" She slipped her white flats on before she opened the door, as she did, she saw her twin brother Mark brushing his teeth in the conjoined bathroom that connects his room to hers. He gives her a toothy and…pasty smile, she rolls her eyes and grabs her toothbrush and the toothpaste. Mark rinses his mouth with mouthwash and smiles at her, "So how long are you planning to sleep in?" Freya sighs to herself "when these dreams stop, I've been having them more and more the closer our birthday gets, and that's tomorrow." Mark looks at her and gives her a gentle sideways hug and smiles as they both look at their reflections in the mirror.

They both let out a chuckle as they do and Freya holds Mark's hand and he looks at her, "you know we may both be 15, well almost, and twins but we aren't very identical, are we?" She shakes her head, he lets go and starts to go downstairs, she sighs as she looks in the mirror. He was right, they were twins, but they looked so different from one another, her hair was auburn red while he was a roasted chestnut brown, his eyes were a light brown, hers were a grassy green. She smiles and starts brushing her teeth after she put her hair in a loose braid.

The smell of bacon flooded the kitchen, the smell wafted up the stairs as Freya began to descend the stairs. The smell tickled her nose and she let out a soft chuckle as she breathed deeply in through her nose and inhaled the scent of bacon and the herbs her mom flavored them with, each one coming through and coming together to create a mouthwatering aroma.

She went down the stairs with a big smile on her face, as the scent of toast and eggs reached her nose, she began to quicken her descent downstairs. At the last few steps she jumps from step to step, she finally reaches the end of the stairs and walks into the kitchen to see her dad and brother at the table and her mom in the kitchen. "Hey sweetheart good morning," her dad said while drinking his coffee, Freya smiled at him and hugged him from behind. He chuckled and grasped her forearm gently, she let go and went into the kitchen by the stove where her mother was making her an herbal tea, her recipe. Freya hugged her from behind and her mom let out a soft giggle as she patted her hand gently. "Hello Freya, I'm glad you made it down in time because the crab apple and honey tea are almost ready", Freya smiled at the sound and the smell of that tea always helped her focus and made her feel inspired and creative, which helps her during art class.

Freya grabbed a plate and headed towards the counter, she stacked toast, lettuce, egg, salt, and pepper. Her mom reaches in the cabinet and pulls out a small teacup decorated with several small birds flying over a small cottage. Freya remembers getting that cup from her grandparents for Christmas when Mark and she were 8 years old. She didn't see them after that; her parents and they had a falling out, she remembered them yelling at each other though she couldn't remember what they were fighting about, she hadn't seen them since. Freya's mom hugs her tightly without saying a word, Freya looks up at her and slowly hugs her back. Even without saying a word, she always knew what her mom was trying to say with a hug like this, she misses them, too. Her mom let go and filled the cup with the finished tea, Freya took the cup along with her plate and took a seat at the table. She smiled and began to sink her teeth into the breakfast that enticed her downstairs, Mark was eating scrambled eggs with bits of oregano with a side of bacon. He stood up and headed to the fridge to get himself some orange juice, when he leaned down in the fridge Freya sneaked a piece of his bacon and put it on top of her egg. She chuckled and took a big bite out of it, it was fun when, despite her doing that every morning, he never sees it coming.

Freya continued to eat her breakfast as her brother sat back down holding a glass of orange juice, he looked at his plate and a frown crossed his face. He slowly looked toward her; her chewing slowed as their eyes met. She blinked and then a big smile crossed her lips and he rolled his eyes "Bacon thief" they both chuckled as did their parents. Their mom sat on their dad's lap, he moved his newspaper and raised an eyebrow at her as she smiled slyly at him "so am I going to get a kiss today from my husband for a job well done?" He thinks for a bit and she laughs as they kiss each other slowly, Freya and Mark groan as they both simultaneously let their heads fall on to the table. "Please guys don't," they both say, all their eyes meet, and they burst into laughter; moments like these are what Freya loves the most.

Seeing her family smile together always brought a smile to her face, it felt contagious; the happiness that filled her when they would all laugh at something that was only funny to them. A chime from the grand clock in the hall stopped them as they all saw that the clock read 7:40, Freya and Mark jumped up from their chairs. It was time for them to start walking to the bus.

They go to their parents and give them hugs and kisses, Freya talking a long drink of her tea before heading to the hallway. Mark was already out the door when she picked up her brown leather with a long strap that she proceeded to pull over her head and lay on her right shoulder. She called back to her parents who stood at the end of the hall "see you after school", she waved as she went out the door, slowly closing behind her. She sped up to catch up with Mark who was already halfway up the block, when she finally caught up to him she slowed her pace to match his so that they could walk beside each other. She reached into her bag and pulled out a small journal decorated with tiny purple butterflies, she opened it to look at the drawings of all the plants and flowers. She learned a lot about these plants from helping her mom, she made many different creams, shampoos, candles, and even oils that she sold in her shop; The Chiming Bell.

"The principal said that I could spend study hall in the greenhouse this week, the orchids, Chamomile, and Calendula I planted are finally blooming today so I'm going to bring them home for mom and me to use," Freya said in an excited tone, talking about plants always excited and relaxed her. Her horticulture teacher would let her spend her study hall in the large unused greenhouse if she kept her grades up, Freya always preferred spending time with the plants than with classmates. She looked up at Mark, seeing he had an excited look on his face too, and it was obvious why, it was Thursday, the day his Mage Quest group were meeting in the courtyard. The group met every second Monday and Thursday, these were the only days when he enjoyed going to school. They both smiled, "yeah and my group meets again today, I'm hoping to gain more experience points and to go deeper into the castle of DeMorga to get a sword that we have been playing for months to get too." Freya chuckled not noticing a group of kids walking behind them.

"Well I hope you guys can today, you've been talking about that same castle all month," she said, suddenly the group of kids pushed past them both, effectively slamming them against a large tree. They both groaned as they looked to see the causes of the bruises that were going to appear on their arms, the group consisted of some cheerleaders, baseball players, science kids, and others; all of which went to the same school as them.

The cheerleader scoffed at them and flipped her ponytail at them "why don't you two just fly to school on your moms' broom? No one in this town wants a witch's kids going to school; they might give us warts" all of them laughed as a car drove up and they all piled in and sped away.

This was one of the things Freya and Mark didn't like about school; most of the people in town thought their mom was a witch because she made things with plants and had her ideals and traditions. Though not everyone hated their mom, she had lots of friends who even frequented her store, but the ones who didn't usually told lies about her. Those kids were the sons and daughters of the people who believed that their mom was a witch; they were both subject to their bullying. Some students weren't like that, Mark's Mage Quest group were some of them and there were some kids who Freya would talk to, but they were more like acquaintances than friends. Mark helped Freya and she sighed as she looked over at the group, a grimace crossed her face and she rubbed her upper arm "I wish that they would stop that, we did nothing to them." She looked up at him with a tearful look in her eyes, he hugged her tight and rubbed her head "hey look on the bright side; at least we don't get detention for smoking or skipping class just because it's considered 'cool'." Freya laughed softly and they finally made it to the bus stop, she wiped her face and sighed; she hated that she cried like that, she wished that she was brave like her mom, dad, and Mark.

A moment later the bus drove up, the hissing of the brakes rang out in the air as it came to a complete stop in front of them both. The doors swung open and Freya and Mark stepped onto the bus, they looked at the array of kids on the bus who all seemed to tense up at the sight of them. They took their seat at the front of the bus and sat their bags in front of them, Freya looked out the window and closed her eyes as the bus started heading towards the bus stop.

Freya was jolted awake by the sudden stop of the bus, it was 8:20, they had finally arrived at school. Mark and she grabbed their bags and started getting off the bus, as they stepped off Freya could see the greenhouse her teacher, Ms. Grand, would let her use to grow plants. She looks forward and heads to her homeroom class, passing by the large lockers that decorate the sides of the halls, students watch her as she passes by; another example of how the rumors about her mom affected her. She never minded the staring, although sometimes it became creepy very quickly; she gets to her locker and begins putting in the combination. When she opens it a doll with a small string around her neck with a note attached dangles from the locker door, she sighs as she pulls the note off and begins to read it to herself.

Witch!

She crumpled the paper in her hand, she grabbed the doll and locked her locker back; she walked into the classroom and through the doll and the note into the trash. She walked to her desk in the back of the classroom near the window, she liked being able to stare out the window into the courtyard. There was a large old oak tree, it was very wide near the trunk and the branches seemed to bloom from the top of the tree; the leaves seemed to imitate the petals of a flower, slowly swaying and pulling in the breeze that ran through the air. She leaned her chin into the palm of her hand and stared at the tree, she heard other students walking in and talking together, they took their seats and continued their conversations along with the students who piled into the room after. After a moment the homeroom teacher, Mr. Philips, walked in with a large cup of coffee; he sat it down on his desk in a corner at the front of the class. "Everyone take your seat and be silent for the announcements," he said as he let out a large yawn and sat down in his chair, running one hand through his messy grey hair he opened his laptop. Freya listened as the announcements were broadcasted through the intercom throughout the school. The announcements were about the same thing; cheerleading tryouts, Friday's football game, and what was going to be served in the cafeteria.

As the announcements concluded Mr. Philips turned on the projector and dimmed the lights. Freya sighed, sad because she could feel a bubble of impatience growing in her stomach longing to go to her greenhouse; she looked at the clock, 8:51 am.