sleep in Ann's room again. But she lay down on a mattress next to the bed in case I screamed again, she said.
And she was right about the screaming, because when I woke up the next morning, I screamed even louder than the morning before.
The dream actually had no reason to scream, which made me feel stupid. I was standing in the forest again in the same dress and necklace, but in a different place. It was a full moon and I could see quite a lot. In front of me I saw a small wooden house, well camouflaged between a pair of large trees. I decided to dare to do something and walked towards the house with big steps. I opened the door and looked in. There wasn't much light other than a large candle on the table that half lit the room.I stepped in and closed the door behind me. Everything was designed in different wood tones, which made the room very cozy. The house was as small inside as it looked on the outside. There were picture frames with historical photos everywhere, a bed on the back wall and an old, disheveled sofa a little closer to the door. The small light source burned on the coffee table in front of it.
Sitting on the sofa was someone I had seen before, in my other dream. It was the same dark-haired, broad-shouldered man. In his huge arms he held a small baby who was sleeping sweetly. An old woman sat next to him, holding a glass of water in her shaky hands.
"Don't worry, she is in good hands with me.", The woman assured in a granny voice, as you know her.
“Do you really think you won't find them here.” The man sounded skeptical. "After all, every dragon can pursue their powers this far."
“That's why I have this.” The woman raised the glass a little. "Your strength will be blocked until you reach a certain age."
“Do you really think it works?” The man now sounded not only skeptical but also concerned. The woman stroked his cheek.
“Don't worry my boy, save yourself and your wife first, I'll take care of you.” She took the baby and gave her some water. The baby opened its eyes but remained calm. I stood in front of it and waited to see what would happen.
I noticed that the baby had bright blue eyes. The eyes shone stronger and stronger until the pupil could no longer be seen. I was slightly startled, but when this happened, the blue gradually disappeared and the eyes turned dark brown, almost black. I stood there frozen with my mouth open, I just couldn't believe what I had just seen.
“Thank you very much mother, God help you.” With these words, he disappeared from the house.
"Well, bad dream again?", Ann sat down next to me on the bed. "Come on, get up, today is your first day of school." She gave me a jerk and almost effortlessly shook me off the bed and accompanied me to the bathroom. After washing, she lent me a pair of clothes. She said it wasn't anything special, but I felt comfortable in it. Of course, I also put on my chain.
When we both got downstairs, Kyle, Jake, and of course Strike were enjoying breakfast. I wasn't hungry, but Ann still forced me to swallow the huge bowl of cereal. When I was done, Kyle got my hand back and pulled me to a black but old car.
"What kind of brand is that?" I asked as I got in.
"It's a Mercedes Benz CLK 63." Kyle replied. "Dad got it delivered as a scrap heap and then put it together. Great job, huh?" He smiled at me and I nodded.
Ann sat forward and I heard the soft hum of the engine.We drove off. It didn't even take 15 minutes, I saw a sign.
"Rochester Adams High School," I read softly.
Ann drove into the large parking lot in front of the school and parked in the first available space.
"Kyle, would you take care of Takara?" Ann asked. Kyle nodded and got out of the car, then went over to the other side and held the door open for me. Together we then went into the large school building and then turned into a room labeled "Secretariat".
I waited a bit for Kyle to sort it all out. It was quiet in the room and you could even hear the small clock on the wall ticking. I didn't even notice Kyle sneaked up on me and presented me with the timetables. I was so lucky to have him. What would I be without him? Until the lunch break he accompanied me to every lesson and explained everything to me. And every hour there were curious people watching us. I didn't know what was going on in their heads, what they were thinking, but I didn't mind being around Kyle either. It was probably so common that you didn't really want to get to know new students, because everyone just stared at me, but nobody came up with the idea to talk to me.
When lunch came, Kyle took my hand and led me into the cafeteria. I grabbed a little something to eat, I wasn't even looking, and followed Kyle to a table. He took one in the middle of the crowd and I sat down across from him.
"Well hello, Milky Face, you caught a girl once too." A dark-skinned boy sat down next to Kyle. He stared at me with his piercing gaze and made a big grin that contrasted sharply with his skin through his teeth.
“She's not my girlfriend.” Kyle sounded annoyed.
“Then introduce them to me!” The boy sounded excited.
“This is Takara, and that big mouthed pain in the ass is Tucker.” Tucker took an apple and tossed it at Kyle, which made Kyle grin mightily. A blonde girl sat next to me. She smiled at me:
"Don't pay attention to Tucker, he's always like that. I'm Sara." She held out her hand to me. I returned the handshake.
"Takara."
“So you're Kyle's girlfriend?” Why did everyone think I was with Kyle? That really upset me.
"I'm not his girlfriend."
“Really?” Sara sounded really surprised. "The way he has been protecting you all day, it seems to everyone here." I had to swallow, which made Sara laugh out loud. "Don't worry, it was just kidding. The people here are used to some weird things."
"Well, what is being discussed here.", Said a girl dressed in punk clothes. Her hair was blonde with pink streaks and she was heavily made up. She sat down next to me on the other side and introduced herself.
"I'm Liss. I'm the DJ here, if you get what I mean." She grinned and I didn't really understand what she meant by that.A blond boy helped me get started.
"She's the party maker here. Whatever the event, she plays the music expert." He sat down next to Kyle. Liss hissed back:
"Envious?"
“On you?” The boy gave a mock laugh. “Not in the slightest!” He looked at me. “Takara, right? My name is Holmes.” I smiled, not because he was so kind, but because his name sounded so funny. Liss explained to me:
"His name is Cornelius. But since he started working for the student newspaper he has been calling himself Mister Holmes. Like that one detective, you know. Sherlock Holmes." She grinned at him nastily. Holmes began to take the anger out on his fried chicken. Liss triumphed over her victory and turned back to me.
"You have math next, right? Dan we can go together, there is still a seat next to me." I looked over at Kyle, who had overheard the conversation. He nodded to me, which Liss was totally enthusiastic about. She took our trays and pulled me towards the exit. She put the trays in a pile and we went out of the school building.
"Math always takes place in the second wing.", She told me when she noticed that I was a little confused. Standing, she was a head shorter than me, which I hadn't noticed in the cafeteria.
I was looking at her so intensely that I stopped when she suddenly stopped. I looked up and saw that there were three girls in front of us. The girl in the middle could have passed as a model, because with her platinum blonde waves and her great figure I could imagine her on a poster. The girl in front of her to the left had slightly darker blonde hair and healthy tanned skin. It looked very much like the first one. The third girl on the other side looked nothing like the first two. She had long black hair and straight bangs. Her eyes, unlike the other two, were gray and not blue, but she was also slightly tanned like the second. All three wore blouses, but they all wore trousers.
The one in the middle turned to Liss with mock friendliness:
"Liss, sweetheart, haven't seen you in a long time, huh?"
Liss replied in a voice that was just the same:
"Yes, but unfortunately not long enough."
"Next time you meet me, you'd better wear something fancier, you don't want me to get eye cancer, do you?" She grinned.
"Of course not. And while we're at it, please dye your hair again, you could be mistaken for a cloud from behind." Liss grinned back. The girl turned to me.
"As I can see, you've already made friends with Liss. But if you want to achieve something, come to me, I can help you." I looked at her confused at what she was enjoying. The three pushed their way between the two of us and strutted on.
“Who was that?” My voice became slightly squeaky again."Cassandra and her troop. The dark blonde is Gina and the black-haired Ayumi." Liss looked at me angrily.
"Are Cassan .... Cassan ...."
"Cassandra" Liss smiled slightly.
"Thanks. Are Cassandra and Gina related?"
"Yes, they are siblings, Ayumi was then adopted by their parents." That explained the other appearance. "Better stay away from them."
“I will, thanks.” I tried to smile, which was a little difficult for me. Liss held the door to the building and we went inside.
The rest of the class went well. In every lesson there was at least one face that I already knew, which I thought was great. I didn't feel so alone. The only one who scared me easily was Tucker, who tried to pierce me with his gaze in English.
After class, the three of us, me, Kyle, and Ann, met back at the car. Ann asked me:
"So? How was your first day?"
"Well." I said slightly absently.
"Have you already met any?"
"Yes, they are all very nice."
Ann started the engine and drove off. On leaving I looked out the window again and saw the three sisters, all