Chapter Three

Rie washed her face and stared at her reflection in the mirror. She could clearly see the dark shadows under her eyes. She hardly had any sleep last night, or the last three nights. The nightmare kept on coming back to her. It just became even worse these past few days. It’s like she returned to that moment. That faithful moment that changed her and her sister’s life forever.

Rie dried her face using the towel hanging on her shoulder and then walked out of the bathroom. She weakly sat down on the bed. She no longer knew what was happening. Rie was still drinking tea made of flax seeds every night. Flax seed was one of the major ingredients for a sleeping potion.

That’s why she couldn’t understand why she was still struggling to sleep. It had been hard for her to sleep since she was young. The solution her aunt thought of was to make her drink tea made from flax seeds. It was effective since she slept much more comfortably. So, what exactly changed?

She needed to contact their aunt. The other would definitely know what to do. Maybe Rie should ask for a dose of sleeping potion instead, since drinking tea made from flax seeds seemed to not work anymore. The only problem was, Rie couldn’t contact her using normal ways.

The other rarely brought modern communication device with her. According to her, why would she need those devices when she could use other methods to contact people she wanted to contact?

Why could she do that, you ask? Because she’s a witch. And Rie didn’t mean that to call her aunt names. She meant it as it was. Her aunt was not human, but a witch.

Rie couldn’t contact her using the paper charm she left for her and Eri. Because the barrier surrounding the academy couldn’t only protect them from outside harm, it could also detect any kind of magic that was used inside the school grounds. And that’s one thing she couldn’t let happen. No matter how simple the magic was, Rie could never let it be traced back to her or to her aunt.

It’s because her aunt was no ordinary witch. She’s a rogue witch. Which meant that she didn’t belong to any coven that was under the jurisdiction of House of Hecate. And coven witches didn’t have any good opinions regarding rogue witches. Aside from that, Rie also couldn’t let anyone to know the real family she and Eri belonged to. It wouldn’t be safe for them. Especially for her sister.

But she really needed to speak to her aunt. Rie felt like she would go insane if another night passed, and that nightmare continued to bombard her. She could only think of one way. She would contact her outside the academy.

With that in mind, she stood up and changed clothes. She took a small box from one drawer. Rie opened it and took a piece of paper charm. She folded it and put it inside the pocket of her pants.

Before Rie could go out of the academy, she needed to talk to the head of the dormitory first. It’s a good thing that today was Sunday. It would be easier for her to get permission to leave.

She looked at her wristwatch. It’s only eight in the morning but she was sure that the dormitory head was already awake. She walked out of her room. But before she went to the dormitory head, she opened the door of the room opposite hers.

It was Eri’s room. Their two rooms in the dormitory were inside a suite, sharing a common room. While each of their rooms had their own bathroom. When Rie saw her sister was sleeping deeply, she closed the door gently.

Rie walked down the ground floor and went straight to the dormitory head’s office. When she was standing in front of the door, she took a deep breath before knocking.

“Pojd’!” said a voice from inside the room, telling her to come in.

She smiled a bit. Her guess was correct. The head was indeed already awake. Rie opened the door and walked inside. She saw a middle-aged woman arranging the books on the shelf.

“Miss Snow,” the other said when she saw Rie. “Do you need something?”

“Miss Nováková, may I ask for permission to go out?”

The other put down the book she was holding. “May I ask why you wanted to go out?”

It did not surprise Rie that the dormitory head had asked that. The academy had a strict policy regarding going outside the school premises. It’s for the safety of every student here. The only immediate way to go out of the academy during a non-school day was to get permission from the dormitory head.

“I needed to go to the hospital. I kind of injured my left wrist and I’m not sure if it’s sprained or fractured. I want a doctor to have a look at it as soon as possible.

“That’s terrible!” the woman exclaimed in a worried tone before walking up to her, as if ready to hold Rie’s wrist.

“I’d really appreciate it if you don’t touch it, Ma’am. It’s kind of painful,” Rie said, tactically pulling back the hand that was supposed to be ‘injured’.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the other said, no longer trying to hold her hand. “But I think it’s better if we just request for a healing potion from the Headmistress instead of going to the hospital. Your injury will definitely heal faster.”

“Ma’am, although my aunt enrolled my sister and I here for safety reasons, our parents didn’t really trust supernatural beings. They didn’t want us to be reliant on potions and stuff. They said it’s still better to have faith in modern medicine. I just want to honor their memory. That’s why I don’t really want to use any potions. No offense meant to the Headmistress, of course.”

Rie almost cringed while saying that. She was getting better and better at lying as times passed by. The school thought that her parents died in a car accident. Which, of course, was not true. It was much bloodier than that.

“I understand. Then, I’ll just go with you to the hospital,” the dormitory head said in an understanding tone.

“No need!” Rie quickly said. Then, she noticed that the way she said that was forceful. So she quickly calmed herself. “I mean, I couldn’t possibly impose on you.”

“Nonsense. How could I let our academy’s top student to go to the hospital on her own? I know that this is your last year here, but until you graduate, you’re still one of my charges,” Miss Nováková said with a smile. “Now, wait outside. I will just get my coat.”

Rie could only force herself to smile. “Thank you, Ma’am.”

Now, this was a complication she did not expect.