Haven ( Book one )

Seven

I had just opened the door to the rooftop. You could see the sun raising it's wings from beneath the dark and mysterious clouds. There was a soft blow of wind that floated around the air. You could see the trees slightly swaying in the distance. It really was a beautiful morning.

Harrison had texted the group and said that he wanted to meet us on the rooftop. Everyone was already there when I arrived. I grabbed a chair and then I sat next to the rest of the group.
I looked at everyone and then I asked "so what's the occasion? Why are we having an early morning meeting?" Myles looked at me and then he responded with "I've got information on last night. It's quite easy to find, with my dad being the principal." Harrison looked at Myles and then he said "before you tell us, I think we should wait for Sapphire to get here." I looked at Harrison and then I responded with "I hate to burst your bubble, but I don't think Sapphire is coming. She didn't come back to the dorm last night. I'm assuming that she's out with a boy." Harrison nodded and then he replied with "fair enough. That's Sapphire for you. Myles, start without her." Myles took a deep breath and then he said "this is really hard to say, but the reason the dance got shut down, is because a student was found dead." We all looked at each other in complete shock. Carson looked at Myles and then he asked "do you know who?" Myles nodded and then he replied with "this is going to hurt a lot of you. A lot of people here were close to her." Jessica looked at Myles and then she said "bro, stop beating around the bush. Who is it?" Myles took a deep breath and then he looked down, and with a faint voice, he said "it was Sapphire. Also, before anyone says anything, the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. Saf was murdered. It wasn't an accident." My jaw dropped open. I turned to look at Harrison, he didn't even have an expression on his face. He was completely blank.
I then remembered that Sapphire told me that she could sense when death was near. I guess she wasn't kidding. She's actually gone.
I looked at Myles and then I asked "how? Sapphire was so loved by everyone. She was a breath of fresh air. Who would ever want to hurt her so bad, that they wanted her dead?" Myles looked at me and then he responded with "I don't know. One thing I do know, is that we are all suspects. I was looking at the sign in sheet from the dance last night. All of us were checked out between 9-10pm, and that's the time of her death. We were the only ones checked out, which means someone here did this. I don't want to believe it, but everyone else was accounted for. We're all main suspects to this homicide. We're all going to get questioned." Jessica stood up and then she said "this is bullshit. I don't care if we were all checked out. No one here would ever lay a finger on Sapphire. Most of us have known her since elementary. I refuse to believe that my best friend was murdered by someone that I call family. If that's the case, then you can count me out of this group." Harrison nodded and then he stood up. He looked at Jess and then he agreed by saying "she's one hundred percent right. If there's even a small possibility that someone here did this, then I'm out. Saf was my cousin. If any of y'all actually did kill her, shame on you. I hope you rot in hell." And then him and Jess walked off the roof terrance.
I looked at Myles and then I asked "is this really how it's going to work? Principal Colstone isn't going to tell anyone? Sapphire was a loved member of this school. I haven't been here long and even I could see that. She deserves a proper send off, and I'm going to give it to her. She deserves this, Harrison deserves this, Jess deserves this, we all deserve this. Starting from now, we're going to be setting up Sapphire's paradise. We're give her a proper memorial, and we're going to honour the beautiful and talented woman she was." Myles, Naomi and Carson all looked at each other and then back at me. Naomi took a deep breath and and then she said "Haven is right. Sapphire deserves to be honoured. Especially by her best friends. We can't hide her memory. She was too much of a big personality. She deserves the biggest send off." They all nodded and then we all left the roof terrance.

Principal Colstone called the whole year group into assembly. The group and I already knew what this assembly was going to be about, but that didn't make it any easier to listen to. We all sat down and then principal Colstone got onto the stage and he said "good morning everyone. I'm sorry to have to cancel classes today. A situation happened last night which unfortunately caused me to shut the dance down. I don't know how y'all will take this news, but I don't think you will take this well. Last night, around 9-10pm, a student from this year was found dead. After identification, the student has been named as... Sapphire Park. She was unfortunately murdered, and an open investigation is taking place." Everyone started talking. Principal Colstone cleared his throat and then he said "silence, please. I know this information must be hard hard for y'all to process. I also know that Sapphire had a cousin here. So let me introduce, Harrison Park, who wants to say some words." Principal Colstone went to the back and then Harrison got on the stage. He took a deep breath and then he said "good morning everyone. I know the news of Sapphire's death has probably shocked everybody, me included. But I also want us to remember that Sapphire was a really big presence in this school. She always had a solution to everything, she never let anyone go out if their problem wasn't solved. Sapphire taught me that you should always expect the best? and you will always receive the best. It made me realise that nothing is impossible. Sapphire was extremely selfless, and she wouldn't want us to be upset. She would want us to live our lives, and that's why for her funeral, we will only wear her two favourite colours, red and white. She wouldn't want us to mourn her in black, she was never a dull person and she shouldn't go out in a dull way. Over the next week leading up to her funeral, we are going to be setting up a memorial for her, we are calling it 'Sapphire's paradise.' At the end of assembly, I will be taking down the names of the people who want to help. Let Sapphire know, that no matter whether she's here or not, her presence will forever be remembered. Thank you." We all clapped and then Harrison came off the stage. Principal Colstone got back on and that's when he said "due to these unfortunate circumstances, school will be cancelled for the next two weeks. During this time, you are free to go home. You don't have to, but you are allowed. We will be using this time to mourn, and to heal. I look forward to seeing all for y'all in a couple weeks. To those that are going home, I wish you the best, and I hope that all of you can recover from this. I can promise that we will get justice for Sapphire. We owe her that. Thank you. Assembly dismissed." We all got up and started to leave the assembly hall.

I was in my dorm, packing some of my suitcases, since I was going to be going home. I needed to find out the truth about my dad. If what Sapphire said is true, it basically means that I've been lied to my entire life. I could possibly be a witch, and not even know about. Myles could help me with some spells, teach me the basics. I really hope it's not true, I don't want to believe that my mother had been lying to me for that long. Because if she is, I don't think I'm going to be able to come back from that.

I had just finished putting my suitcases into my car, and as I closed the boot, Naomi was standing right in front of me. She literally scared me shitless. I could feel my eyes turn white, I quickly had to switch back to my normal colour, before she recognised that I wasn't human. I thought she didn't realise, but then she said "you're one of them. Damn, I get why you're so close with Harry now." I looked at her and then I asked "you know about the werewolves? Are you one of them too?" She nodded and then she responded with "unfortunately not. I would love to be a werewolf though. I'm human, but I promised everyone I wouldn't say anything. I have to keep their secret." I nodded and then I said "it's nice to know that more people know about us." Naomi looked at me and then she replied with "funnily enough, there's very few people that know. It's literally just a secret within the group. Also, I hope you don't mind me asking, but why aren't you staying to help with the memorial?" I took a deep breath and then I looked down and I said "before Sapphire died, she told me things about my family that I didn't even know, and I need to find out whether it's true or not. Because if it is, it could change everything for me. My entire life would be different, this type of secret is literally something I'm dreading finding out. I know Harrison will kill me, but please don't tell him, I'm not ready for him to know yet. If he asks, just tell him I went home. Don't tell him why."
Naomi nodded and she responded with "understandable. Don't burden people with your family drama, especially not until you know the whole truth. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. I'll tell him you just went home." I nodded and then I was about to get in my car, when Naomi said "good luck girl. I hope you get the answers you want." I was in the drivers seat, I looked up at Naomi and then I replied with "thank you, I'm gonna need it. I know for a fact, this is going to be a very long couple of days."
She smiled and then she closed my car door. I turned on the engine, and drove off campus.

I was not looking forward to going home. There was always a fifty percent chance that what Sapphire was true. I was really hoping that it wasn't, but there was a lot of proof that made me believe that it was. Principal Colstone had a picture of me as a baby, his daughter basically had the same name as me, and she was born on the exact same day. It was way too much of a coincidence. I wanted to believe that's all it was. That would be naive to think that. I know that the possibility is high. I was dreading it so much. From what my mum told me, I should hate witches, but there's a possibility that I could be one. Sapphire could've been killed because she was a hybrid. She mentioned that no one liked them, because they were a bit of everything. If that's the case, and hybrids are actually as disliked as she says they are, then I'm also at risk.