Eva’s an interesting sort of person, the quiet kind that you’d probably be more startled to meet in a dark alley at midnight than the creepy (though still really nice, don’t get me wrong!) Kaitlyn Winters. With her odd two-colour eyes, you’d not think that she would be the leader of a school’s big ‘bully group’, if that makes sense. Never mind the fact that she’s, you know, a nice person.

But she...

It was the crackle of Jaden’s magic that woke her.

Ailya’s eyes popped open. There was no other sound in the world like that. The way the sparks flew from Jaden’s wand gave off a sound more powerful than fireworks, than a gunshot. It came from the way he flicked his wrist; she knew from watching him almost every day in the commons near midnight, ducking around in the shadows when he thought no o...

Crackle. Pond. Night. A giant frog-like creature emerged from the padded water, its long tongue zapping a firefly. Then another. Then another. With each firefly it ate, it glowed a little more.

Dr. Elk had been studying the frog for some time. You are somehow both scary and beautiful, he told it, transfixed. From first sight, the creature had captured his imagination. Eventually he could do nothi...

I never seen a transition. I know I should look away, but peering creepily through the leaves at the ethereal being stepping into the almost still water was too captivating to let me close my eyes.

The setting sun seemed to drape the night over his brown body like melting chocolate over caramel. Where his feet touched the water, I could hear a gentle crackling and bubbling as glittering scales wo...

The mud had baked hard in the morning sun creating a hard, smooth outer shell. But now, in the cool of the evening, she cool feel the comforting warmth in her carapace dissipate. It was this that prompted her to move, to wiggle, to stretch her thin limbs to their capacity, till her clay armour cracked and the cool evening air crept over her.

Slowly, so as not to risk injury, she climbed from the ...

The mud had baked hard in the morning sun creating a hard, smooth outer shell. But now, in the cool of the evening, she cool feel the comforting warmth in her carapace dissipate. It was this that prompted her to move, to wiggle, to stretch her thin limbs to their capacity, till her clay armour cracked and the cool evening air crept over her.

Slowly, so as not to risk injury, she climbed from the ...

The crackling of fire transmuted into a hiss of dying embers with the toss of a bucket of water. The ears flicking out of the water, way back in the reeds, didn’t miss the sound. The merry band was winding down for the night, most of their whiskey drunk.

As their chuckles faded and snores grew the ears moved closer, rippling the deep reflected starry night. A head slowly emerged from the water, n...

“I still hate you” I spat as he threw another log into the fire in front of us.

“As you’ve mentioned about five times now” he said sarcastically.

Slowly he walked up to me and adjusted the rope around my wrists until I could reach my food without any issues. Then he walked to the other side of the fire and sat down. The silence between us was painful, but well deserved. I listened to the fire cr...

The light from the fire reflected back at me from the pond. The water was as still as the dead and the light danced across the surface. I knew the fire was a risk, every crackle and pop of the wood sounded like thunder in the silence of the woods. And the light it breathed into the darkness would draw the attention of anyone near enough to see it. Or anything. But it had been weeks since I had see...

Tomorrow you’ll become one. You’ll be his and he’ll be yours. I don’t want you to be his. I want you to be my mine. I want to be known for being yours. Even though you seem to love him, I can’t bear to see you with him. I want to see you with me. But I can’t tell you. Even though you make my stomach flutter and my skin burn and my heart melt. Even though I never want to hurt you and he does. Even...