She felt like someone was breathing down her neck as she read in the library- and it wasn't just the Madam Pince this time either. The shelves and isles were eerily empty, not of books, but of people. Of course, it was pretty late at night. Most students would be in bed, and she probably was getting close to being out of the dorms at night. Of course, she had to finish her homework as well.
Did you really think you could hide?
Sidera's head shot up from it's place, nose inches from touching the paper as she wrote. She knew that voice to well- that ugly voice, smooth and calm. Feminine, with an icy chill in its underlying tones.
Just run away like a little child, off to that pretty little fortress of a school?
It felt closer now. She could feel the ice creeping down her spine, her lungs constricting, as if they weren't getting enough air. In a blink, she could hear the rushing water about her ears, filling her nose and mouth as water came in around her- and then gone, in another blink. A memory, a nightmare.
Oh but my dear,
The shadows were closing in about her now, the shelves were gone, the lantern on her table flickering against a winter gust of wind, carrying flurries of snow along with, it's feathery tips brushing at her nose, before the wind picked up again, dragging minuscule ice crystals across her cheeks, stinging her eyes.
I'm in your head now, you can't be rid of me- I will always be there.
And it was with this that she woke up, head flying up from the paper as she tumbled out of the chair, hitting her forehead on the table as she fell, one flailing arm grabbing at something to stop the fall. In this, she only succeeded in knocking over her inkwell and breaking her quill. The 5th year student ended up in a rather sprawled position of one leg sitting atop the chair still, while her lower back rested on the ground, her head pressed against the leg of the table and one arm grabbing at the edge, while the other was flat on the ground for stabilization. While not exactly stuck, she didn't feel much like moving either- actually, Sidera rather wished she was a child again, just to justify crying. She was stressed about tests that hadn't happened yet, behind on her homework and desperately trying to catch up, she hadn't had a proper sleep in what felt like weeks- there wasn't a day that went by that she didn't feel tired. And now the nightmares were back. Someone who wasn't even around anymore was still plaguing, and Sidera felt sick to her stomach with the idea that she had known that would happen. All it took was a seed to be planted in the mind, and it would manifest into a monster.
No, she'd stay under the table. Dressed in her muggle cloths, as she usually did after classes were finished and she'd be spending the rest of her night in the library, for as long as she could, before getting kicked out to go back to the Hufflepuff dorms. Her jeans had seen better days, faded, worn out and torn in the knee, while patched in the other, she refused to use magic to fix them, and hadn't found the time to track down something to sew with. Her shirt was just black, a bit large, and rather comfortable, hence the reason for wearing it, and the checkered blanket about her shoulders was tangled underneath her now as she was wedged between table and chair, her short, light brown hair standing up at an odd angle, hanging in her hazel eyes slightly as well.
