𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥? 〚𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚏𝚘𝚢 〛

Chapter 2

Sitting in the waiting room, I nervously played with a curl of my brown hair, quite aware that what was happening behind the closed doors would determine whether or not I would be able to leave. Whether or not I would finally be able to satisfy my curiosity, to be able to put it all behind me. 

For a long time, I had listened to my parents. I really was afraid of being mentally unstable. But no, I wasn't, I was just... special. I believed in something others didn't, because I had seen something they hadn't.

I took a deep breath. 

By going to London, where every proof I found seemed to push me towards, I would either be satisfied or resigned. Either way, it would be over. I was tired of waking up at night with thousands of theories or images crowding my mind with no way of discerning what was real and what was not. I was exhausted. And I had enough of my parents worrying for my health and safety.

My head snapped up as the door opened, revealing my parents, trailed by my psychologist.

"Do you really want to do this?" worried my mother.

I smiled, trying to reassure her.

"I want to get better, mom."

My father gently squeezed my shoulder with his large hand.

"You've never traveled alone before."

"It'll be alright, dad, I'm sixteen. There is a first time for everything."

No matter how suspicious they are about everything I do, or how they intrude in my privacy, I think they are only trying to be good parents. They love me. Just as I love them. Which is partly why I feel guilty of lying.

But hey, I'm not putting anyone in danger, am I?

I am willing to go very far to achieve my goals. It'll make me successful in life, I recon. 

My father sighed and wrapped his arms around my mother. "Let's go home, honey. Rose needs to pack her bag."

And that is how I, Rose Collins, a straight A student, ended up on a train to London on August 31st, the week before the beginning of the school year. Missing school: the only thing I hadn't planned.

Wonderful, I love events I didn't predict.

.......................

"Here we are Miss Collins," announced my psychologist, Mildred, as she unlocked the door to her apartment.

The train ride from Rye to London was too short, with not enough time to figure out what to do next. People practicing magic wouldn't be displaying their gift in the middle of the streets.

"Thank you Mrs Bones, I am very grateful for what you've done for me."

She waved away my gratitude.

"Make yourself at home, dear."

"May I go for a walk?" I ask as innocently as possible, dropping my bag on the floor.

Mildred laughed. "Heavens! You are travelling on your own Miss Collins, don't ask for my permission."

I smiled shyly before grabbing my family's IPhone and slipping it inside my pocket. My mother has never been fond of technology. She emigrated from Canada when she was a teenager and had lived in a village that mostly consisted of seniors who prefered to stay isolated from technology. The sense of not being in touch with the world is one of the things that remind her of home. Even if she started a family and lived a life of her own, I think my mother missed her village and the people that raised her.