Headmaster Everdeen

“Piper?”

I opened the door at just about 6 am. Piper looked like she had been up for hours or maybe hadn't gotten to bed yet. Disheveled with a curious look on her face, she came inside and took a seat by the fireplace.

“What are you doing here Piper?” I asked.

After the premature loss of our grandmother, we hadn’t spoken a single word. It’s been over a decade now. No birthdays, no holidays, no more conversations between us. To see her standing at my doorsteps with no warning was maddening to say the least.

“Celine, I haven’t slept. I have been trying to shake off the dark thoughts but they keep coming up. It feels like something is after me, but I can’t see it. Do you have tea? I think that will help me calm down. I hope it is no bother that I came unannounced.”

I waited as Piper drank her tea and came around to talking again. The dark circles under her eyes hid the beauty that was once there. What had happened to her? How did she know where I lived? What was following her?

“Uncle Ricky told me where to find you if you’re wondering. I’ve known you lived out here in the forest down the street from grandma’s house. It makes sense, Celine. I know how much you suffered when it happened.”

I couldn’t contain my anger any longer.

“How dare you say anything about grandmother. You never knew her or what she was going through. What do you want? I know you didn’t just show up out of my past to talk about someone you never cared about.”

“I’m sorry Celine, I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m here to talk to you about a letter she wrote you.”

I rushed out of the room and up the stairs and locked myself in the bathroom. What is Piper talking about? No one knew we wrote letters to each other. Grandmother said we needed to make sure to burn them after we read them.

Wait...Grandma said she would leave a letter behind if she ever did what she contemplated for years. But Piper. This must be a joke. Why would grandmother leave the letter to Piper out of all people?

“Celine you have a beautiful house! I gave myself a little tour while you were upstairs.”

"That’s presumptuous of you,” I said.

“You were gone for over an hour, Celine. I got bored.”

An hour! What was she talking about? I looked at the clock above the fireplace and she was right. I had been in the bathroom for over an hour. That hadn’t happened for over a decade. As you may expect. Since grandmother died.

“What brought you here Piper?”

“Oh yes. Back to my visit. I was climbing the old oak tree behind grandma’s house one day and there was a blue light that came from under one of the roots. So, I decided to dig it up. It took me several hours and I had to dig several holes, to be honest. But alas, I found the blue light.”

I listened intently. What did you find Piper? I thought to myself.

“I found a black notebook. It's small and at first it was blank but when I looked closer, it had...

“To Celine” edged into the cover.

"So, I opened it of course. But this is where I knew I had to come find you. There was a letter inside but I couldn't read what it said. And then what’s even more weird, a blank check. Grandma left you a blank check. Why? Celine do you know why?”

Perhaps this is a good place to let you into all the years grandmother suffered. Not personal suffering but suffering in the eyes of others. She was not like the rest. She lived in another world. A magical world which she started to teach me about when I was 4 years old. It started with talking to plants and bugs, but by the time I was 13 years old I could see the battle between good and evil that simultaneous happened around us.

"Do you have the notebook with you Piper?" I asked.

“Of course, I do. But Celine. I don’t want to give it to you if you are going to follow in grandmother’s footsteps.”

"You mean take my own life, suicide? You have no idea what you’re talking about Piper, so please, just give me the notebook."

Hesitantly. Piper handed over the small black notebook.

To Celine. I opened the notebook to find a letter...

“My dearest Celine,

I am happy you have found this small black notebook. The black color conceals it to non-magical folk. I’m sorry I couldn’t prepare you for what was to come. They came for me right after I sealed this under the portal in the oak tree. I have written out a check for you, the amount is a little over what you will need to travel here to set me free. Make haste, I wait for your arrival.

Love,

Headmaster Everdeen”

I turned the page, and out fell a check.

Then... A word appeared 20,000 dollars.

Memo: Give this to the keeper of the portal for safe passage.