9

I woke up in my favourite way – 5 minutes before the alarm clock was supposed to go off, thereby saving me of a near death experience by the harsh bleeping sound coming from my phone. One might wonder why I didn’t bother changing said horrible alarm tone, and to those people I can declare one simple answer: I’m extremely lazy. So, in the end, I usually wake up thinking we’re going to war and the world is about to end, when, in fact, it’s just my alarm letting me know I have to wake up.

I sat up and stretched my arms above my head, before realizing my “extra tutor session” with Marie was beginning in an hour. I looked out the window, it was a beautiful morning as all I could see was a pale blue sky and the early morning sun peeking through the curtains. I pulled on my go-to outfit – jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers, before pulling my hair into a high ponytail and adding some blush to my tired and pale cheeks – a result being up half night nervously trying to figure out that today’s session with Marie might bring. While conspicuously pedalling my bike – which probably woke up half of town – I concluded Jonas’ weird outburst about Solhall properties probably had something to do with Marie summoning me to the session? It seemed like the only logical explanation. Especially since Marie and Jonas was leaving for Germany to visit relatives tomorrow, something they always did during the beginning of the summer break, which means Marie likely cancelled other important preparations to meet with me today. I narrowly avoided a large pothole in the road and realized I wasn’t really paying attention to my surroundings. I decided to try to think of something less mind-boggling for the rest of my ride to avoid future accidents.

As my feet landed with a crunch in the gravelled driveway, I couldn’t ignore the butterflies in my stomach any longer. The oddness and my curiosity of this entire thing made my hands tremble a little as I parked my bike and knocked on the large, and may I say, quite unnecessarily large door knocker on the solid oak door of the coven’s manor. While waiting for someone to open the door, I casually inspected the door knocker. Even though I have waited outside this door many times, I’ve never truly realized how hideous it looked with its beast-like appearance. A three-headed vicious-looking dog (dogs?) with glittering obsidian eyes was staring down at me, with the middle head holding the knocker inscribed with a cursive “K”, in its sharp teeth. The other two heads looked like they were snarling at an enemy with bared fangs. To finish off this not so welcoming scene, a long tail in an odd shape slithered around the heads in an s-shape. How have I not noticed this gruesome old thing before...? I was startled in my thoughts when the door swung open, replacing the ugly dog-thing by the dazzling smile of Marie.

“Em, darling! Come in, come in.” She wore a jade-coloured wrap dress that clung to her curves elegantly and waved a bracelet-covered arm to usher me inside. “We have so much to talk about today!”