"Where is she?!"
Cerise yelped when the woman suddenly appeared at the doorway in a flash of dark purple light, accompanied with a strike of lightning and a loud clap of thunder from outside.
"S-she's here," Cerise's voice trembled as she stepped to the side.
Behind her was an unconscious Raven lying on Maddie's bed.
The woman sighed in relief as she approached her daughter.
"What happened?" the woman asked.
She was surprisingly calm despite the elevated heart rate that Cerise can hear at the moment.
"They were teaching me magic," Maddie suddenly spoke as she jogged through the door. "She may have overdone it."
"I should have told you that she can't cast spells the normal way," Reina spoke as she looked at her daughter. "Well, there is nothing we can do right now but let her rest. In her room."
The three teens watched as the woman drew a spell circle, with the spell covering the black-haired girl in a dark purple light before disappearing. Most probably reappearing in her bedroom.
Reina then turned to the door.
"Now that that's taken care of, I will be down in the basement and… pace. Do not disturb me unless it's about Raven."
With that, the woman disappeared again in a flash. Another strike of lightning accompanied her departure.
"Do you think Reina is acting a bit suspicious just now?" Darling suddenly spoke.
Cerise and Maddie turned to her.
"I think I know what you mean," Cerise spoke as she sat down next to Darling.
"What do you mean?" Maddie questioned.
"Because she seemed to be a little tense to me," the platinum-haired girl responded.
Maddie furrowed her eyebrows as she sat next to them. "She looked pretty relaxed to me."
Cerise winced. 'I can't say that I can hear Reina's heart rate. Darling knows, but I can't tell Maddie my secret just yet.'
"She was trying to appear as such, but she clearly isn't. I mean, her daughter just collapsed and she just goes down to the basement to pace. Doesn't that seem weird?" Darling tried to elaborate.
That did make some sense. But…
"I really don't know how Reina's brain works," Maddie spoke. "Probably she's doing something down there?"
Just then, a familiar explosion sounded from below, startling the three girls.
Cerise blinked and pursed her lips.
"That… doesn't sound like pacing to me," Darling commented.
"I know. And I'm very familiar with the sound," Cerise added. "It's like a potion exploding."
"Well, we can't bother her now…" Madeline spoke. "What if we ask Crow? He did say we can bother him."
~~~
"I do not know anything."
Cerise and Darling followed Maddie as the tri-colored-haired girl led them to the mansion's kitchen. And then found Crow munching on crackers on the counter.
"Well, can you at least tell us why Reina is pacing around at this time of the year?" Cerise asked.
"No," the raven spoke.
"Crow, something just exploded downstairs. We're worried," Maddie added.
An explosion was heard. Most probably from the basement.
"She probably just knocked a vial down or something," the bird responded with a shrug. "There is nothing to worry yourselves about."
Lightning struck from outside.
"But she could hurt herself!" Maddie's voice was dripping with concern. "I am also afraid of those poisonous substances and ingredients she kept on the bottom shelves."
Crow flapped his wing as if to dismiss the thought. "She will be fine. She's been doing it for years."
Another explosion sounded from below.
The three teenagers winced at the sound.
"Apart from the storm outside, I am growing concerned about all these exploding noises," Darling spoke.
"She is mostly just worried about something that you don't need to know," Crow replied.
He then continued to munch on his crackers.
"Tell us, is this about Raven?" Darling asked, giving Cerise and Maddie knowing looks.
'She's going to coax him into slipping the information out,' Cerise thought as she bit her lip.
"It is always about Raven," Crow replied with his beak full. He then swallowed. "That woman doesn't worry about anything but the well-being of her daughter. Especially after Raven got cursed--"
Lighting struck and thunder roared after his statement.
Crow's eyes went wide and his beak hung open in surprise.
But he was not the only one who was surprised.
"You were saying?" Darling spoke as she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.
"I shouldn't have said that," Crow said as he turned his back towards the three. "I should not have said that."
He then prepared to depart.
But Cerise grabbed him before he could flap his wings open.
"No, you're not going anywhere," Cerise spoke as she held Crow like how one would hold a pigeon.
"Raven is cursed?" Maddie asked, a little stunned.
"Sadly, yes," the bird responded. "However, I do not know any more details. Now, unhand me, Miss Hood."
"No," Cerise responded. "You know something. And we're not letting you go."
"Well, I know a secret of yours that, I suppose, you do not want to get out," Crow responded.
Cerise's eyes went wide as she immediately let go of the raven.
"You wouldn't dare…"
"Since you let me go, I don't have to expose you," Crow responded. "Thank you very--"
Lightning struck close to the mansion, illuminating the room in white.
When the light faded, the power in the household went out. But something was off to Cerise.
"... much," Crow finished as he stood up from the floor.
"Did anyone just hear something crashing just now?" Darling asked, still slightly stunned from the lightning.
"If you're talking about the thunder, then yes," Maddie responded as she closed the window that was left open.
"She wasn't talking about the thunder," Cerise said as she looked up. "We gotta check on Raven."
The four of them rushed up to the black-haired girl's room.
Only to find the bed empty.
"Um…"
Cerise's gaze landed on the window. "Guys…"
The tinted windows were broken and the curtains that hung from it were ripped. And the hole was huge enough for something to fit through it.
"Something took Raven!" Darling exclaimed.
"We have to tell Reina!" Maddie spoke in panic, preparing to dash down the stairs once more.
"Girls!" Crow spoke as he flew down onto Raven's bed. "I think it is time--"
"Time to what?" Reina asked, suddenly appearing at the doorway, whilst being accompanied by another strike of lightning.
The woman's hair was a mess. And she was holding a flask filled with some kind of purple liquid.
The flask made Cerise realize that the noises from the basement had stopped.
The woman then gasped when her gaze landed on the empty bed.
"No no no…" Reina spoke before turning to the three girls. "What happened?"
"We were downstairs," Maddie responded.
"But then we heard something crashing upstairs. So we came to check up on Raven," Cerise continued.
"But when we got here, she's gone," Darling finished.
The woman then looked at the talking bird. The bird only nodded.
Reina sighed and looked down. "I think it's time to tell you."
"Tell us what?" Darling asked.
"You might want to sit down for this," Crow spoke as he flew from his spot. He then landed on Reina's shoulder.
Cerise and her friends looked at each other before doing what they were told.
Once they sat down on the bed, Reina sat down on Raven's bean bag chair. She also put down the flask on Raven's desk.
"Raven is cursed."
"We know," the three teens chorused.
"Huh?" Reina looked surprised. But then, she turned to Crow.
"The main thought slipped out," the bird said in defense. "They coaxed it right out of me!"
Reina sighed again and looked down. She began to massage her temples in slight irritation.
"Well, there is no going back now…" Reina said as she looked up to the three girls.
"When Raven was three years old, she was cursed. Her father and I thought that it only affected how she casted spells. As you can see, the spell doesn't manifest unless she made it with evil intent."
Cerise and Darling nodded. They both knew full well how bad things go when Raven tried to help someone with the use of magic.
"But that isn't everything. On the night of the first full moon since the curse, something happened."
The tense atmosphere in the room was accompanied by lightning once again.
"D-did she turn into a werewolf?" Maddie asked.
Cerise looked at Reina expectantly.
But the woman shook her head.
"N--"
Reina's reply was cut short but the sound of wood bursting into splinters.
All four of them stood up and ran downstairs.
Only to find the front door on the ground in pieces.
And on top of it was a slender four-legged creature with wings. But what could catch one's attention would be its fiery blue eyes that glowed brilliantly in contrast to the dark room.
"A dragon!" Maddie panicked.
Cerise heard a blade being taken out from Darling's side. She took a glance and found a dagger in the princess' hand.
Lighting struck again, illuminating the room.
The momentary lighting showed that the creature had black and purple scales.
"R-Raven…?" Cerise found herself saying as realization struck her.
The dragon roared at them and began to charge at them.