A/n: Hey, so this is the first fanfiction I'm posting here. I know I suck at summaries, but please give it a try.
A big THANK YOU goes out to my friend @ichundjulia who is always supporting my writing, proofreading the stuff I write and is the best person to fangirl with. And I want to thank the lovely @issaxcharlie for inspiring me to write a fic in this fandom, her stuff is amazing, you should definitely check it out.
Please feel free to comment and express your opinion.
Prologue
In the middle of the road stood a girl, a messed up bob of dark brown hair surrounding her face like a nest. She wore a dirty dress with an apron on top, a thin scarf and no shoes. Confusion and fear shining in her eyes as she looked around and try to find out what just happened.
She had been in the factory, cleaning up the spinning machines, that was the last thing she remembered. How she walked past the machines, her sickness making her weak and a cough shaking her meagre body every few minutes.
Now everything felt strange, the air didn't seem to be as toxic as before, the ground not as hard and despite it being late autumn the girl didn't feel any coldness. Still scanning the area she noticed a boat being loaded, the men shouting instructions. The girl walked towards the boat trying to figure out what they were loading it with. She felt drawn to it. None of the working men noticed her as her slim figure stood right next to the river bank. Craning her neck the girl watched as two of the workers thru something wrapped in a thin sheet of linen into the trunk. As the pack hit the already filled boat the cloth slipped from it and the girl watching this let out a piercing shriek. A pair of dead eyes looking at her from the pile of, as she recognised now, dead bodies. A pair of green eyes she knew too well - her own. The girl stumbled backwards seeking support at the next wall. Still, nobody took notice of her as she broke down to her knees and silent sobs shaking her body.
The boat cast off into the foggy night. The girl was left alone in the dirt, just one thought occupying her mind at that moment: "I'm dead"
Chapter 1
about 150 years later
"Hello Mrs Brooks, are you home?", Raven called into the little house. Carefully she closed the door behind her and tried to put down the overfilled basket onto the dresser in the hall.
"I'm here my dear.", the voice of Mrs Brooks rang thru the house. Shaking her head a chuckle escaped Raven. Mrs Brooks never told the seventeen-year-old where exactly she was, she just assumed the dark-haired girl could figure it out by herself. According to where the voice had come from Raven took the basket and made her way into the living room. Mrs Brooks sat in her big wing chair and watched Raven vigilant thru her thick glasses.
"Just put it down on the table.", the old lady instructed. After putting the basket down Raven began to unpack it.
"I brought you the herbs you wanted and some others I thought would be helpful. Furthermore, I got a hold of a really good and really old Bulgarian wine.", Raven pulled out a dusty bottle from the basket and presented it to the surprised Mrs Brooks, "Do you know why I could find it?", the girl asked.
The old lady nodded: "I'm sure you'll tell me soon."
Ravens former friendly and happy face turned angry in just a second and she shot the woman in her chair a disapproving look.
"I got it from a nice farmer after I searched for your goddamn sage for three - and I repeat three whole days. Not to mention that I travelled all the way to Europe."
Instead of showing any sign of guilt Mrs Brooks smiled widely and said: "You could get Jupiter's distaff, that are some splendid news, my dear." Raven wanted to retort something but the kettle in the kitchen began to whistle and Mrs Brooks got up and hastily made her way to the kitchen.
Not for the first time did Raven realize that the women with white hair and a dress that looked like drapes didn't move like a woman in her eighties.
Mrs Brooks soon came back with a tray carrying two steaming teapots, a plate loaded with scones and a little bowl filled with confectioneries. The following hours were spent with Raven telling stories from her herb-hunt and Mrs Brooks explaining what she wanted to do with them. When it was time for dinner the doorbell rang.
"I got it.", Raven said and went to open the door. Outside the house stood a girl around 16 who grinned as she saw the girl with her characteristic long bob and straight hair.
"Hi, Flynn.", Raven greeted the visitor and signalled her to come in, "Your grandma's in the living room."
"Hey, Raven.", Flynn retorted, whilst hanging her jacket and taking off her shoes, "I promised grams to cook dinner with her today, you can help if you want?"
"I'd love to."
Following Mrs Brooks call from the kitchen, Flynn noted to the other girl: "You look like always. What's your secret?"
"Like I already told you I'm the ghost of a witch.", Raven deadpanned.
"Yeah, sure. Seriously who's your doctor?", Flynn continued the conversation the two had every time they met, but this time she didn't sound so convinced that Raven was lying. But neither of them pushed the topic further.
Cooking dinner was filled with laughs, Mrs Brooks correcting what Flynn was doing and scolding Raven for using her own, unique methods. As all three sat down at the table and were enjoying their food Flynn spoke up: "I know you have said this very often, but I never believed you.", The girl glanced awkwardly between her grandma and Raven, "The thing is something happened that made me question my doubts so I'm going to ask again and I want an honest answer: Are you two witches?"
A nod from Mrs Brooks and a short moment of thinking from Raven later the green-eyed girl slowly explained: "Yes, we are. Your grandma is what you would call witch and I myself am more of a nature spirit - literally. I'm a ghost." Flynn gulped, processing the said words.
"Now my dear.", Flynn's grandma gave her granddaughter a warmhearted smile, "What was it that made you question your former opinion.
The girl faltered a moment before blurting out: "Julie has a ghost band in her garage."
Mrs Brooks and Raven exchanged an unreadable look, then the senior pointed at Raven and said, her face turned to Flynn: "That's her area of expertise. I'm gonna clean this up and you two can chat."
"Okay Flynn,", Raven focused on the younger girl, "tell me more about those ghosts."
And Flynn did, she told Raven everything she knew. As she came to the part where everybody could see the ghosts when they were playing with Julie Raven got attentive a hint of concern glimmering in her eyes. After Flynn asked what was wrong Raven said: "If you ever hear the name Caleb or of a secret Hollywood club you have to tell me immediately."
"Why?"
"Because then I'm out.", Raven stated. That irritated Flynn a bit but she decided that this would have to be a problem for future-Flynn.
The two girls talked for a while, Raven giving Flynn tips for dealing with the dead and Flynn updated Raven on the newest gossip at her school. When Flynn told Raven that Nick and Carrie had broken up the girl was beaming with excitement about Julie's chance with Nick. With telling her about the chemistry between Luke and Julie Flynn broke this hope, but not in a bad way - as Raven assured her.
The sun had set and night had fallen when the two girls said their goodbyes, bid their farewell to Mrs Brooks and made their way home.Despite living in Hollywood, Raven had managed to find herself a home that stood hidden between some trees and was surrounded by meadows and nearly no other houses.
Opening the door the dead witch deeply inhaled the familiar scent of old books, incense materials and forest. Raven took off her coat and hung it onto the hall-stand. Her eyes scanning the little hallway as they got caught by the picture frames on the wall. They hold Raven's most beloved memories.
In the first picture, you could see a shack in front of which stood a man in his fifties with a grinning younger version of Raven next to him. It was a drawn picture, the colours already fading. The next frame showed another painting with a slightly older Raven sitting in a haystack, a cat lying on the ground next to her. After that, there were more paintings and sketches showing a growing Raven in different situations.
The next big change was seen in the ninth frame. It held a photo, which displayed Raven at the same age she was now, sporting a pair of flared pants and happily twirling around with a girl her age that was wearing a colourful blouse. Each of the girls had a flower crown on their heads and huge smiles on their faces.
A sad look appeared on Raven’s face as eyes rested a little bit longer on that photo, her mind replaying that special day. It was her last day with Monica. The two girls celebrating their freedom at a life concert and being totally in love. With a sting in her heart, Raven turned to the next picture, burying the hurtful memories from the day after the concert deep inside her.
The following frame held another bittersweet moment. It showed four boys on a brightly illuminated stage having the time of their lives.
They were back, those who died.
Raven hadn't shown anything during her talk with Flynn, but she knew the ghosts in Julie's garage from when they were still alive. Their deaths being one of the most hurtful parts of Raven’s life. And now they were back and not only that they were so close by. A tear rolled down Raven's cheek. Her emotions spinning like crazy. Happy memories of her and Sunset Curve mixing up with dark ones after Luke, Alex and Reggie had died. With a deep breath, the girl tried to focus on the positive sites of those memories and collected herself.
Raven slowly climbed the stairs that led to her little bedroom directly under the roof. Strangely the bed was missing a mattress. In its place, the frame was filled with straw sacks and the blanket consisted of scratchy wool on top of a linen sheet. The girl changed into her sleeping garments, crawled into her bed and closed her eyes, entering a night full of dreamt memories good ones, bad ones and those who were neither and both at the same time.
