The night was getting late when Raven finally fell asleep again. However, this time her dream felt more real.
She found herself standing in a misty forest, among tall trees that looked like dark shadows in the moonlight.
She heard a whispered voice calling her name, "Elara... Elara..." A subtle, but haunting voice, calling from a direction she could not determine.
As Raven stepped further into the darkness, a flash of light from the pendant around her neck caught her attention.
The blue light glowed faintly, as if radiating a strange power. Amidst panic and the urge to run, Raven kept moving forward, following the whisper.
Behind the trees, Raven finally saw the figure of a man with his back facing her.
The man's shoulders that stood straight, the grey hair that glistened in the moonlight-Raven knew who he was.
"Simon," she hissed softly. However, the man remained motionless. Raven wanted to get closer, but his image began to blur, blending into the fog. "Simon!" Raven shouted, running towards the man's shadow. However, the figure disappeared behind the thick smoke.
Just as Raven tried to reach out to the shadow, she woke up with a gasp on her bed.
Raven's entire body was drenched in cold sweat. The pendant glowed again for a moment before fading away.
Raven stared at the pendant left by her mother while muttering, "What does this mean...?"
That morning, in the main hall of the campus, Raven saw a group of students gathered in front of a new notice board.
She peeked over the shoulder of one of the students and saw a neatly pasted announcement paper.
Open Discussion: Myths and History of Medieval European Witches, by Dr Evander Hyde. Limited Space.
Raven knew this might be an opportunity to find out more about Dr Hyde. In her heart, Raven was sure there was a connection between the man, her dream, and Simon.
That night, the discussion room was packed. Raven sat in the back row, watching Dr Hyde who stood at the front of the room with his mysterious smile.
"Good evening, students," Dr Hyde opened with a calm voice that seemed to hypnotise the room. "Tonight, we will be talking about the thin line between myth and reality, between the visible and the hidden." His gaze swept the room until it met Raven's.
"Belief in witches is often dismissed as exaggerated folklore or fairy tales," he continues. "But what if I told you that behind the myths is something real, something alive... that exists among us?"
The crowd began to whisper, some holding their breath, but Raven sensed there was a truth Dr Hyde was trying to hide. She waited for the right moment before finally raising her hand.
"Dr Hyde, you seem to have a deep understanding of the witch world. Do you also believe that they are real?" she asked aloud.
Dr Hyde looked at her deeply, and a faint smile was etched on his lips. "Why are you so interested in witches, Miss Raven?"
Raven felt her heart beat faster. "Maybe because... I want to know more about history. About what really happened," she replied carefully, looking at Dr Hyde without averting her eyes.
Dr Hyde was silent for a moment, then walked over to Raven, staring at her with his
piercing gaze. "You are right, Miss Raven. Sometimes, history hides secrets we are not prepared to know. Some of them... can change who we really are."
The words hung in the air, and Raven felt the entire room fall silent with tension.
Raven didn't know how to respond. There was something electrifying behind Dr Hyde's words - as if Dr Hyde actually knew something about her that Raven herself was not yet aware of.
As the discussion ended, Dr Hyde caught up with Raven in the hallway. "Raven," he called, causing her to stop and turn her head, "about that discussion." Dr Hyde restated his words.
"Why are you interested in discussing this with me?" asked Raven, trying to hide the anxiety behind a stoic demeanour.
Dr Hyde leaned closer, his voice almost a whisper, "Because I know, Miss Raven... that you're not a simple student. You're searching for something...something you already have inside of you."
Raven felt her hair stand on end. "What do you mean?"
"Someone is looking for you, Elara," Dr Hyde replied. "Simon knows you're here."
Raven was stunned, speechless, and just as she was about to demand further explanation, Dr Hyde had already walked away, leaving behind a shadow that felt even more terrifying than before.
The next night, Raven felt like she was being stalked. During her journey back to the dormitory, she sensed someone following her. As she turned down a deserted hallway, Raven heard another set of footsteps following.
"Who's there?" she asked, turning her head sharply.
There was no answer, but a shadow at the end of the hallway revealed the figure of a tall man, staring at her from afar.
Raven tried to ignore the urge to run away. "Simon?" she whispered almost inaudibly, but the shadow still didn't answer.
Raven braced herself and stepped closer. However, the shadow faded like smoke, disappearing before she could reach the end of the hallway.
When she returned to her room, Meredith gave her a worried look. "Raven, you look scared. What's wrong?"
Raven shook her head, trying to calm herself down. "It's okay. I'm... I'm just tired."
However, in her heart, Raven knew there was something she could no longer ignore. Simon, Dr Hyde, and the locket around her neck-all felt connected, like a puzzle she had to solve.
That night, before going to bed, Raven clutched her blue pendant and closed her eyes, whispering a prayer in her heart for answers.
As soon as Raven's eyes closed, she dreamed again-but this time, Raven stood in a room filled with blue light, and Simon stood before her. "Raven, the time is almost here," he said, his voice echoing like a mantra.