1 ~Lauren Forster~
~Following Lauren~
Lauren enters the desolate house. The emptiness like a vacuum sucking her into memories long suppressed. Scorch marks crawling up the walls of the interior like a stain on the few positive experiences had in this house.
Lauren takes careful steps through the hallway, through the piles of dust and ash that have collected on the carpet floors.
Her stomach feels heavy with dread as she approaches the one standing door left in the house. Lauren takes a steadying breath as she prepares to enter a room she has not seen in 10 years.
The squeak of the hinges are like gunshots reverberating through her cranium. Lauren's breath catches at the sight of the old dusty rocking chair, her mind flashes with memories of her grandparents.
Laurens eyes shine with unshed tears, the sorrow she has repressed for so long bubbling to the surface. As she lets the tears slide down her face her blue irises solidify into a misty grey hue.
The grimy old rocking chair is now vibrant and cushioned, like it was made yesterday. The scorch marks recede into nothingness as paint and wallpaper covers the rooms old walls.
Laurens now youthful face grins, her smile now twins with the crescent moon hanging outside her window. She belly flops onto her soft single bed, pushing her face into the mattress. As her vision obscures, her mind starts to flood with details she hasn't paid attention to in years.
~
The date was 1985 when Lauren Forster was born into a family of many accomplished warlocks and sorcerers.
Most of her immediate family growing up during and after magic was reintegrated into society after WW2, allowing them to grow up well adjusted and somewhat wealthy in what is now considered the new golden age of magic.
Laurens birth revealed her to have an already solid magical core. This means one of two things, either she was born an elemental or a witch. Considering the circumstances of her birth, not being during a natural disaster of some kind, that confirmed that she's a witch.
This caused much confusion in her family as not one of them was a witch or even a Druid.
After less discussion then would've been assumed between Lauren's parents, they decided it would be easier for them to let her grow up with her non magical grandparents.
The elderly couple agreed to take her in as they believed they'd be able to handle her without any prejudices or biases, unlike her parents.
And so Lauren grew up never visiting her parents, living a quiet life in a small retirement home. She grew up not learning how to use her magic so most of the time she forgot she even had it, until one day.
~Lauren present day… kind of~
It's been a couple days since Laurens thirteenth birthday and now she's ready to use her last gift. Her grandfather promised to answer any questions she has about anything, because Lauren has lived a pretty sheltered life, this promise was unheard of for her.
Her grandfather is lounging on a comfy looking rocking chair in Laurens room, he seems to be snoozing so Lauren gently shakes him awake.
He wakes up with a snort and turns his bleary gaze to Lauren. She giggles before speaking in a soft voice. "Afternoon grandpa, how was your sleep?" Lauren blinks up at her elder with wide youthful eyes.
He smiles fondly at his granddaughter before responding with slight mirth in his voice "Just fine, until some little rascal decided to wake me up" he says with mock seriousness.
"About your gift to me, I think I know what I want to ask," Lauren says, looking at her grandfather with pure earnestness. "I want to know, why don't I see my parents?" Lauren asks, curiosity in her gaze.
Her grandfather stays silent for a couple of seconds before finally responding "They said that they didn't want to deal with you. Because you'd be too difficult to raise and they didn't want a, and I quote, "filthy witch" ruining their reputation" he finally says, pity obvious in his tone.
Laurens mind blanks, her heart starts pounding against her ribs. A numbness starts from her fingertips and climbs up her arms, reaching her face. The young girls blood burns through her veins.
Tears prick at her eyes and she falls to her knees, the stimulation forcing her breath from her lungs. Laurens eyes flash grey and she falls into unconsciousness.
A flash of grey and scolding heat hangs in the air. Just as Lauren opens her eyes, it finally clears. Everything aches within Lauren, though, it feels as if a great pressure has been released from her very core, like something has been building for years.
Her eyes focus in on her surroundings, as Lauren sits up from the floor she takes a look around. Piles upon piles of ash scattered everywhere, all the furniture in the room has been reduced to nearly nothing, scorch marks claw along the walls and even on the roof.
"Grandpa?" Lauren calls out, she can't see him despite him being right there in his chair a second ago. It takes a second but it finally clicks.
'He was right there next to me, and all the furniture had turned to ash… Oh'. Fresh tears collect in her eyes . She hobbles to her grandparents bedroom, trying to keep her eyes away from the ash and scorch marks as she looks for her grandma.
Lauren walks through the, now broken, door and stumbles to a stop. Lauren sees her grandma lying on her bed, eyes open but not present, she's breathing but only barely.
Lauren walks over to her side and puts a small hand on her grandma's frail palm, she strokes her thumb over the aged skin while whispering "I'm so sorry" over and over again in a shaky voice.
A loud knock at the door pulls Lauren out of her trance, she dries her tears and takes a deep breath before making her way down the scorched hallway to the front door.
When she opens the door she's met with a woman in uniform, the woman smiles softly at her before saying "Hello I'm officer Irrel, we just received some complaints from the neighbours about a large surge of magical energy, Do you know anything about that?" Lauren looks at the woman and shakes her head, her voice failing her in the moment.
"Where are your parents? Can I talk to them?" The officer asks, concerned lines etched onto her forehead. Lauren opens the door all the way and starts walking to her grandparents bedroom again.
The officer hums in confusion as she moves, following the young girl down the hallway. She notices the scorch marks and her smile becomes tight with obvious strain but she continues to stay silent until they reach the door to what she presumes is a bedroom.
The officer lets out a gasp when she notices the state of the older woman who is lying silently on the bed.
The officer grabs her device and starts talking in a hushed tone "I have entered the house with the complaints, there's a young girl around early teens and an elderly woman. The girl appears to be physically fine but looks shaken, the elderly woman seems to be in a comatose state, there are burn marks all throughout the house and piles of ash scattered across the floor. send an ambulance and the forensic team".
The officer turns to Lauren and kneels to look her in the eyes, she speaks in a gentle voice "Hey everything's going to be fine, Some really nice and helpful people are going to be here soon just hang tight okay".
After the officer is done reassuring Lauren she stands back up to full height and walks over to the unconscious grandma to check her vitals to assure herself that the woman was still alive.
About ten minutes later a group of people all in uniform enter the house, two of them enter the bedroom and mutter "atom eppleates".
Suddenly Laurens grandmother floats gently. "embros" One of the stranger speaks again, causing the elderly woman to trail after the two officers. The officer with Lauren leads her outside to where her colleagues are setting up their equipment and discussing the possible events.
"Susan, do you have an idea of what happened?" The officer with Lauren asks her colleague. "Yes, This is all clearly the result of an outburst of highly condensed magical energy.
Our files show the elderly couple living here are non magical, which would explain the woman's state as non magical people, especially of an older age, aren't meant to handle large amounts of magical energy,"
The officer with Lauren nods before asking "You said an elderly couple lives here, where's the partner?"
Susan's face creases into grim frown. "Well, from the patterns of the scorch marks we can see where the outburst originated. The woman was lucky enough to be on the other side of the house, Her partner was most likely turned to ash due to his close proximity to the outburst."
The officer's face pales, she then looks at Lauren and asks "Do you know what happened?" Laurens eyes widen before she mutters out a small "I'm sorry". The officer then turns back to her colleague.
"Do they have any emergency contacts and if so have you called them?" The officer asks, getting back into business mode. Her colleague nods "We have two emergency contacts, they have confirmed they are the child's parents. They're on the way here as we speak."
The officer nods and kneels next to Lauren "don't worry your parents are going to be here soon, they'll look after you" Lauren nods in response, she drops to the floor, sitting cross legged.
It's another ten minutes before Laurens parents arrive. As soon as they get there they head straight for Lauren, After noticing her state they turn to the two officers next to the young girl.
"I'm Julia and this is my husband Sean we are Lauren's parents, now can you explain what happened" Julia says, her face hard.
The officer who's been taking care of Lauren takes a deep breath, she then relays all that was told to her by her colleague. As she goes on Laurens parents' faces get progressively more and more shocked and angry. After the officer is done talking Julia puts on a sweet smile with an elegance earned only through practice.
"This is so unfortunate, we understand how difficult this is for our darling daughter. We should get her home so she can rest after such a tough day" Julia grabs Laurens hand and says "Isn't that right sweetheart".
Lauren nods in response to the rhetorical question, not caring enough to protest or actively question it. The officers give them the all clear then they head to Sean's car.
The entire trip to her parents house the car is completely silent, aside from the soft chatter coming from the radio. When they arrive Laurens parents direct her to the guest bedroom then lock the door, still not saying a single word to their daughter.
The silence lasts an entire week before it's broken. Lauren only gets to leave her room for simple meals. It's early in the morning when Julia enters the guest bedroom and switches the lights on, Lauren startles awake but she quickly recovers and stares at her mothers pretty face.
"Those friendly officers went through the house to collect any belongings that weren't turned to ash, they didn't find much aside from a couple of your clothes and a pendant that belongs to your grandma" Julia's smile is a little too wide when she says this but Lauren still doesn't say anything.
"Despite what you did to her, I believe my mother would love for you to have this. I mean, It's the least you can do after you destroy her home and kill her husband.
She would want you to wear it all the time so you wouldn't seem like a brat. And you're not, right?" Julia says, sarcasm pouring from her tone. Lauren thinks nothing of it; she nods and puts on the beautiful silver pendant and lets it hang over her heart.
"Tomorrow a bus is going to arrive, pack your stuff and get on it. It will take you to a special place that will correct you and make you easier to handle" Julia says before leaving the guest room.
Laurens spends the rest of her day packing up the few belongings she has left after the accident. She puts all her stuff into a small backpack before heading back to sleep.
The next day Lauren is already awake and dressed by the door when her parents wake up for breakfast.
Sean doesn't say anything, he just continues eating, Julia is the one who gets up to walk Lauren out the door down the driveway to the bus stop only a small walk away. "Remember what I told you?" Lauren does what seems to now be her favourite thing, nods.
A bus arrives soon after Laurens mother heads back to her house, Lauren gets on the bus that seems to be filled with only other kids her age. She sits down as the bus dematerialises, heading towards a place that will hopefully become a safe haven for Lauren.
~Two years later~
"What do you mean I won't be able to go into my next year!" The shrill voice of an angered teen screeches through the neat office.
An older woman with dark hair pulled into a tight bun is massaging her temple in irritation, she opens her eyes to stare down the pissed redhead standing in front of her desk.
"I meant what I said, you won't be progressing to your next year of schooling" The regal older woman says. Lauren is panicking internally, she doesn't know how to deal with this situation.
"But why? I aced all my exams, I'm the top of most of my classes and haven't gotten a single detention in my time at this school" Lauren says, her voice still high but less shrill. The older woman sits up in her chair before letting out a sharp hum.
"I am the principal of this school, I know what goes on with all my students and you Lauren have failed all of your practical exams since you've entered my school" Principal Klotsia says, a sharpness entering her tone.
"Listen, you are one of our best students despite your lacklustre performance in the practical field of magic. I'm willing to give you an assignment for extra credit, if you comply I will excuse not only your practical marks but also the disrespect you have shown me in my own office. Is that clear" The principal's demanding tone leaving no room for arguments.
The proposition makes Lauren think. She definitely doesn't want to go home and face her parents so she chooses her only real option.
"Fine, I'll take the assignment" Lauren says, finally having calmed down. Principal Klotsia lets out a sigh of relief, glad that she doesn't have to argue with a hormonal teenager any more than she has to.
"Good, your assignment is to mentor and lead one of the new students that will be arriving tomorrow. You will be allowed to choose, but if I hear you skipping out on your duties then you will be kicked out of this school are we clear" Lauren gives her principal an incredulous look before responding "I understand miss, may I be excused now". Principal Klotsia gives a nod and turns back to the stacks of paperwork sat on her mahogany desk.
Lauren heads back to her room, making sure to avoid Alexandrea not wanting to deal with her bullshit right now. She finally collapses onto her bed and starts drifting off to sleep hoping that whatever brat she has to deal with for the rest of her year is at least bearable.
