Magnificum Maga

      I have one fear and that's of the dark. So, naturally, I find myself in the woods in the middle of the night. The darkness is so thick that I cant see my hand in front of my face. In fact, I can't see anything at all so the only indication that I'm in a forest is the fact that I have bumped into several trees while stumbling around. I'm growing hot and tired to the point that I feel I simply must rest but I know nothing of this forest and the things that may lurk nearby. With that thought came an unsettling, animalistic moan. Prior to this the woods had been entirely silent aside from my own stumbling about. It was as if the thought of something being nearby had summoned whatever it was out there.         I continued to stumble forward hoping that I wasn't heading towards whatever beast was out here with me. The sound came again and this time it was much louder as if it was closer than before. I wheeled around and started going back the direction I had came from only to run face first into a tree and collapsed on the ground.         Suddenly I was awake sitting in the woods with dew on the ground and the morning light flitting through the treetops. I was sure that the creature in the darkness had all been a dream but yet here I was, sitting in the woods. Fortunately, in the daylight I knew exactly where I was and how to get home. I was about a mile into the woods behind my house. I stumbled and tripped as I walked but eventually I broke through the last branches into my backyard. As soon as I stepped inside the door I could smell the bacon cooking. Apparently it hadn't been discovered that I wasn't in my bed yet.        "Where have you been!?" my dad inquired. "You're an absolute mess."         "I was in the woods. I just woke up there."         "I don't believe that for one second."         Suddenly my mom interjected and said "Sweetheart, if she says she woke up there then she must have. She was probably sleep walking."         "In the woods?"         "Yes. Perhaps she dreamed that she was there and her body took her."          She looked at me when she said this and which simultaneously told me that she knew something about what had happened but that I had better not ask.           I could tell my father wasn't buying it but he knew not to argue with my mother. She was a force to be reckoned with.          We ate our breakfast in silence and then I headed for the door to leave for school. My mom cut me off and said "We will talk when you get home. We have some important things to discuss." With that she ushered me on out the door and shut it behind me.          As I walked to school I kept getting this odd feeling that someone was following me but every time I turned around there was no one. Sometimes a squirrel or even a cat or dog would be there but nothing else. By the time I had arrived at school the feeling had faded as if whatever had been following me was too afraid to go near the school.        I walked into homeroom 5 minutes late and Mrs. Donovan said "Nice of you to join us miss Vesta."       I chose not to respond at all and quietly went to my seat in the back. I knew that if I had responded I would've regretted it. I hated Mrs. Donovan with equal the passion that she hated me. She always singled me out above every other student. She always looked at me with her cold dead eyes as if she wished that I myself were dead. I couldn't understand it. I had never done anything to her and my hatred for her only stemmed from hers for me. To make matters worse I also have her for English class which is 8th period so I begin and end my day with her. I sit there and ponder this waiting anxiously for the bell for 1st period. When it finally trilled for all to hear I rushed out as quickly as possible.      I tried my best to avoid everyone in the hallways because no one particularly liked me. They viewed me as a nerd who thought I was better than everyone just because I always got good grades and mysteriously knew things before they happened. For example, I know that there will be a pop quiz in 5th period today. Even I know it's strange. There's no way that I should know that but I just have a strange feeling and usually when I have a feeling it's not wrong. My mom always jokes and says that I should be a fortune teller but I know that there's nothing real behind it. I just get really lucky and guess sometimes.       At any rate,  the other kids at school hate me. I avoid them as much as possible and only interact when I absolutely have to. Well, I guess that's not entirely true. There is one person that I actually do like here. My best friend, Tyler Marcus. Tall, blonde, goofy, and extraordinarily clumsy. I practically grew up with him. He was at every birthday party and family gathering that we ever had. In fact he basically lived with us and only went home to sleep and he didn't even do that all the time. My mom didn't care that he stayed over because he was more like a brother than anything. I always felt safe when he was around and he always defended me, even when I wished he wouldn't.      I was lost in thought when suddenly someone grabbed me from behind. I started to shout but then stopped myself because I knew it was only Tyler and if I had screamed then he would know that he had been successful in his goal to scare me.        "Seriously Cam? Didn't I scare ya? Even a little bit?"        "No! I'm way too used to your tricks for you to scare me that easily." I started to walk again towards my next class. Slower this time so that Tyler could keep up since he always walked so much slower than me.        "Well darn it. That's no fun."        "Sorry. You're just not a scary guy. Couldn't be no matter how hard you tried." I reached up to ruffle his hair as I said this to playfully tease him. Despite being about 6 feet tall compared to my 5 and a half feet, he acted like a little kid and pouted when I teased him like that.          "Dude, you're cute when you pout." I giggled.        "What do you mean? I'm cute all the time."        "Meh." We both laughed. This was just a part of our usual banter. We arrived at our next class and walked in quietly and sat down. Despite my slow pace after Tyler joined me, we were still the first ones here. We chatted mindlessly about various things for the next few minutes while other students drifted in and waited for class to begin. Today we were to begin on what was supposed to be a week long research project with a partner. Obviously Tyler and I were partners and we both knew that we would be finished with ours before the end of the period because of my nerdiness and his ability to do exactly what I told him and type everything up.         We quickly began to work and just as I had expected we finished with 10 minutes to spare. The teacher wasn't at all surprised when we turned it in and asked if we could go to the library. She was used to our quick work and knew it was always of excellent quality so she permitted us to go.          Just as we reached the library doors, a dark feeling washed over me. It was unlike anything I had ever felt before. The feeling was so overwhelming that my knees went weak and I collapsed. Tyler managed to catch me and keep my head from hitting the ground.          "Cam! Camille! What is it? What's wrong!?"          I could only manage one word. "Mom!"