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T h e H o l l o w s   O f
H I R A E    T    H
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"Nothing." I sighed as I closed yet another book. The dust particles came gusting out and I choked as I inhaled them. I looked over at Toby who seemed as if he had poured himself into a book and wasn't paying much attention to me.

I put my books away and turned my phone back on. I immediately got several messages but I ignored them and checked the time on my phone, I confirmed it to be nearing five pm. Wow, we've been here for four hours? Taking me eating lunch into consideration. I ran a hand over my face and yawned; this has been an awfully long session of finding non-existent answers.

I finally checked the messages, a few were from the group chat with the girls but the majority were from Jameson. I rolled my eyes as I saw his texts asking me where I was. I decided to text him, so that he wouldn't worry that I was dead or something.

'Stop going on a witch hunt. I'll be back soon.'

I sent the text and almost instantly received another back—I rolled my eyes at Jameson's constant worry. Loosen up, seriously.

'You're a witch?'

His message read and I burst out laughing. I saw Toby jump in his seat in the corner of my eye and I glanced up to see him looking startled.

"Sorry," I quickly apologised and Toby nodded, then frowned at my current standing position.

"Are you leaving?" He asked me as he raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, Jameson is going to kill me otherwise." I laughed, though I knew that Jameson would most probably actually kill me.

"He'd have to find you first." Toby winked at me and I shook my head at him. This boy. God.

I slung my bag on my shoulder and frowned when Toby went back to his book, "You aren't coming?" I asked him as I leant against the table.

Toby lifted his head to look at me, then shook his head, "I'm going to keep looking. Unless you don't remember the way out?"

"Oh no, I'll be fine." I smiled at him, brushing away his help. Silence overwhelmed us and I felt as if that was my cue to leave.

I pushed myself off the table, "Well I guess I'll see you around." I bid him farewell awkwardly and started to walk away.

"Sky," Toby called out and I turned around to see that he had risen from his seat and was leaning against the table with a smirk on his face.

"We can do this again." Toby offered but it sounded more like a statement. I gave him a small smile before nodding my head. I turned back to walk away and surprisingly wasn't interrupted this time.

I made it back to what I'll call the main part of the academy—or just the parts that I'm actually allowed to be in—rather quickly and, shockingly, didn't get lost. That's an achievement.

I was walking down the long as hell corridor to get back to my room, my legs speeding up at the thought of relaxation. Then all of a sudden–

The wind was knocked out of me as I was shoved to the sound. I winced in pain and nearly screamed as the arm that had been bashed by the door came into contact with the wall. And hard. I fell to the ground in pain as someone leaned over me. I looked up, but couldn't recognise the person; they had a balaclava on.

"I'm so sorry." The person apologised but the tone of his voice ran chills down my back; I recognised this voice. But I didn't have any time to put two and two together as the persons right hand clamped my mouth and his left went into his pocket. I screamed through his hand as I felt my body go into autopilot mode in panic.

He did a good job at keeping me still and quiet, until I kicked out my leg and hit him in his privates. The person buckled over and I scrambled to my feet and sped off. I could hear the footsteps behind me and I panicked as the door to the room was quite far away.

Wait—the key. I don't even have the key. This person is a fast runner, I'll give him that. However, it wasn't very convenient for me. I soon found my face meeting the ground and I groaned in pain.

The person turned me so I was on my back and he was straddling me.

"Please," My voice came out pleadingly as I fought for my life. Gosh, this always happens to me.

"Someone is making me do it, I'm so sorry." As soon as the words left the persons mouth I stopped breathing. 'Someone'? I didn't have time to react as I felt a stinging sensation in my arm.

I looked over to see the person basically slicing my arm open. I shrieked in pain and felt tears pool in my eyes. Not this again. Oh God.

"You don't have to do what the person says–" I was cut off as he dug in deeper. I let out a blood curdling scream and thrashed around in his hold. This isn't the worst I've had—I was stabbed in my stomach. Grow up, Sky.

I fumbled around and freed my right arm from his grasp—the arm that wasn't currently being butchered—and socked that dick straight in the face.

When I got to my feet again, I saw a crowd of people around me. They were all looking between me and my almost killer with shocked expressions. A little help maybe? My head spun and I struggled to see as my eyesight began to blur.

As I pushed through all of the people, who more than willingly moved out of the way for me, I saw out the corner of my eye as the stranger smashed a window and jumped out of it. I turned around, running for my dorm.

I didn't even need to call out for him; he was right there.

"Sky!" His voice echoed down the corridor and I felt anticipation shoot through my veins, as if the only way to put my panic to bed was to be next to Jameson. I took that as a sign and ran—stumbled—over to Jameson. The boy didn't even move. However, when I reached him, he embraced me.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and he wound his around my waist. I breathed in his scent and was immediately overwhelmed with the feeling of being calm. I rested my chin on his shoulder and felt as his hand came up to cup the back of my head.

"Sky." Jameson breathed out my name in relief as he hadn't seen me in years. I smiled and tightened my hold around him, afraid someone would rip me away from him and try to kill me. I honestly wouldn't be surprised.

Weirdly, we both relaxed out of the hug at the same time and I looked up at Jameson with a grin on my face. Then my vision started to blur and I fell face first into Jameson. Well, at least it's a little softer than the floor.

"Sky?" Jameson cupped my face, worry bleeding through his words. I smiled at the sudden emotion he was showing me and blinked several times to get rid of the blurriness. I felt a stinging sensation in my arm and I winced, looking over to see Jameson's fingers gently prodding around the cut.

I gazed up at Jameson to see a frown on his face as he observed my injuries. His jaw was clenching and unclenching as I felt the noise of the corridor die down.

"It's not that deep; I have a medical kit in our room." Jameson assessed and I nodded in response. Jameson went to pick me up, his arms outstretched, but I put a hand up to stop him.

"I have legs, I intend to use them." I retorted, an eyebrow raised as I became aware of Jameson's arms dropping.

"Fine." He responded simply. No argument necessary. Good, that's the way I like it.

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ITS CHRISTMAS HOES

MERRY CHRISTMAS

here's your gift from me

EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT SKY GOT BUTCHERED IN THE ARM BUT ITS OKAY

Love,

Santa Claus

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Next update: 😉
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CHAPTER FORTY-TWO SPOILER:

A crystal blue sky.

Can be jaded with clouds that cry.

(I'm liking this whole [pathetic fallacy] riddle rhyme thing if you couldn't tell)