**_I sat at the_** dinner table, fork in hand and suspended in air, when Miss Smith called my name.

I looked up to see her, her homemade witch charms and all her white streaked frizzy hair glory, staring intently at me and squinting her eyes as she ran a hand down her bone necklace. She says it’s made of bone anyway.

My grandparents didn’t notice this at all.

Grandma was eating in the living room, watching her murder show and mumbling to herself who the murderer could be. She would be doing that until another three hours. Grandpa was in the kitchen, humming an explicit song I heard him singing yesterday as he rummaged through the fridge for a beer.

“Where were you today, Walden?”

I was trying to forget that actually.

“Near the woods,” I said for an answer, scooping in as much mash potatoes I could and putting it in my mouth, “Met a weird kid.”

Miss Smith twirled the skull charm at the end of her necklace between her fingers. “A weird kid, huh?”

“I thought you were gonna meet up with your friends, boy. I _told_ you to meet up with them.” Grandpa walked out from the kitchen with his infamous cane in one hand and a beer in the other. He took a sip of the can, splashing a bit on his already stained and soiled tank top that looked older than him.

Miss Smith frowned. “Walter! You aren’t the one who does the laundry, you old fool!”

“Goddamm _right_ I ain’t! Better remember that, woman.”

“Oh, please, sit down before you hurt yourself.”

Grandpa cackled as he walked away to go to the living room, cane clicking on the wooden floor. I wondered when the last time it was replaced.

“Don’t go back there again. You hear me, Walden Jones?”

Miss Smith was back to being serious. It wasn’t like I planned to go back there anytime soon anyway.

I took a sip of my water and nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

**_Hey, my boy!_**

“Hey, Dad. How’s your trip going? You’re in France, right?”

Dad laughed, there was a whoosh of wind through the phone. _Nope-a-dope, tell him where we are, Marge._

_The Alps!_ Mom’s voice was high and giddy. Probably because of the lack of air up there. In the mountains. Not in France.

“The Alps?” I stopped doing my math homework as I thought about that. They had already went a few years back didn’t they? I said this out loud.

_Waaalden! We haven’t been here in years!_ Dad stopped talking and started breathing shallowly. _All right sport, I think that’s enough talking for me. We still have to make it to the top of this mountain._

“Okay.”

_Love you, baby!_ Mum blowed me a kiss. Then the phone disconnected.

“Yeah. Sure.”

──── ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ────

**_Despite Miss Smith’s instructions_**, I found myself wandering back to the edge of the forest after school one day. I was hearing the whispering again—breathy soft air against my ear. I knew this wasn’t normal, it wasn’t average, but….

I froze when I saw a pair of lavender eyes staring at me eagerly. I should have turned around, but again I heard the whispers, so I walked forward, until I was in front of Lavender, and stopped.

“I know my mom’s gonna be mad at me, but she’ll understand. She will.” He looked up at me and smiled, grabbing my hand and stroking it my fingers with his thumb. “Hi, Walden. You wanna help me. You do, _right_?”

I tried to shake my head, but my head started to hurt, throbbing, needles of hurt sparking across my head. Lavender’s eyes narrowed and a dark reddish color mixed in with his eye color. His mouth opened, going closer to my hand he had in his grasp.

“We haven’t eaten at all since we got here, and Walden, you smell so sweet. Don’t leave. I promise I won’t take too much. I like you, I like your voice. I promise I won’t kill you. I promise, not like Timothy. I promise.”

**You closed your eyes, trusting him with your safety. You winced as you felt his teeth through the skin of your wrist, after a while, though, the pain started to lessen, replaced with a warm feeling that made your heart race. And your body started to feel light. You suddenly felt the cold ground at the side. I let go of your wrist, shaking you—Hey!** **_HEY!_**

“Can’t even train their young ones for control can they?” A voice said above me. It sounded like Miss Smith.

“I-I,” Lavender paused, “Witch?”

“Yes, I’m a witch, little one, now take your charm off this boy.” I felt fingers pry my eye open carefully. Miss Smith cursed, then my eye was closed shut. “Don’t even know how a thing your age can even have that much effect, but stop it _now_.”

Lavender sniffed, throat sounding clogged. “I don’t know how too, I don’t—I didn’t mean to, I swear. He won’t be like Timothy. I promised him.” Lavender started mumbling under his breath.

“You wouldn’t mind calling your parental unit, would you?” A cool air blasted against my face. I sighed, body relaxing in a way that was normal. My headache was finally starting to leave.

“Oh—okay! I will!”

Miss Smith grunted at him. I started to shake. “Shh, Walden, it’ll be alright.”

──── ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ────

**_I yawned_**, scratching the back of my head and I finished the rest of my homework. After school, I’d gone for a walk in the park before Miss Smith found me and lectured me on staying out late.

Yeah…that was what happened(?) Of course it was. When had my memory been wrong?

“Are you okay, sweetheart?”

I turned to my grandma, a soft feeling entering me at her soft, wrinkled face and dim voice. “Yes ma’am.” I thought so. I was. I _was_.

“That’s good.” She went back to her show, but said to me, her voice low. “Trust yourself, Walden.”

“Trust…myself?” I repeated. The edges of my mind started getting sharper. “What do you mean by that, Grandma?”

But she was already back to her show, biting her knuckles as she watched as the detectives on scene searched a room for evidence.

My brain spasmed, and I hissed. Something had happened to me. Something that someone didn’t want me to know. What was it? _What_ was it?!

“Walden?”

I looked up to see Miss Smith above me, striking her skull necklace as she always did. “Yes, Miss Smith?”

She asked, “You’re okay, right?”

She said, “Of course you are, that walk around the park must have winded you out, didn’t it?”

She said, “It’s time for you to go to sleep, Waldon. Go upstairs and get ready for bed.”

You nodded, knowing that she was right. You were a bit sleepy anyway. “Yes, ma’am.” You said, then stood up from the couch, homework in hand, and went upstairs to your room.

**_I stared up at_** my ceiling in the dark, head thrumming with pain. Did I have a fever? Fever…. Heat, I remember heat.

I lifted my wrist and turned my lamp on, twisting my arm around. Two stars were on it, dark against my skin and warm, warm, _warm_. I’d never felt anything like this before. My whole body was shaking and full and—_what_ was I _forgetting_?

I felt a whisper in my ear, tickling it, begging me to turn to my window. I do.

A pair of lavender eyes stare at me before they disappear.

Trust yourself.

Okay, I would. For once, I would try something different. But I was still Walden Jones. Average, Walden Jones with his average life in his average town. Nothing would change that.

ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ

_Not sure what to name this series, yet. This is my second one, but I’m sure I’ll have an overall title by the third. Maybe. _💀

_Thanks for reading! _❤️_ Tell me what you think, feedback is always appreciated!_