They didn't see any of it. Not the black mass, not the bony hand, not the writing on the blackboard ... How the hell did they think then, had Ned died !?

I shook my head as if to signal something to them, swallowed my tears and ran away. I ran out of the classroom and ignored the eyes that bored into my back blankly.

"What's wrong with her?" I heard a voice mumble that my confused mind could not identify, although I realized it sounded disturbed.

"Everyone around her seems to die. She knows that."

That was Blair. I could assign you. Though outrage added to the sadness in my heart, I kept running. Blair had curly red hair, a pale taint and green eyes that she normally never looked at anyone directly with.She always behaved like an outsider and, despite her clothing style, would have been more suited to the emos. She was reserved but spiteful. I was not surprised that she reacted that way. Even if I didn't know who exactly she meant by "all".

I pushed open the doors at the entrance and stumbled down the stairs into the schoolyard, where I gradually felt safe and unobserved, and there I took a breather.

"Catrin!" A voice called my name.

I knew I knew the porter and drove around. A tall boy with dark brown hair and almost black eyes came running towards me. He was tanned and his hair was a little longer than most of them. Still, he wasn't ugly. And he was very well known to me. It was Vincent. He had never been my friend, but a friend nonetheless.

I looked at him with probably reddened eyes and waited for him to say something.

"You ... look finished," he remarked hesitantly, but in a worried voice.

"Does that surprise you?" I replied, wiping the tears from my face.

"In a way, yes! After all, he just had a pretty bad asthma attack. It's not as if Ned just died before our eyes," he laughed softly. "Still, I didn't expect it to scare you like that. But probably you're just too nice."

I blinked in confusion, trying not to let it show. What was going on here? Ned didn't have asthma. He had never had asthma either. Even if we weren't as good friends as we used to be as children, I could maintain a clear conscience. So was he still alive? That made absolutely no sense. What was certain, however, was that no one had seen what I had seen. And if I didn't want to look like a mentally ill person, I'd better act like I hadn't noticed anything unusual. If only so as not to frighten anyone.

I smiled at Vincent and instead suppressed the gasp that tried to force me to gasp in disbelief. "Hey, am I hearing jealousy?" I asked playfully to distract him.

"No, don't worry," he just laughed. "Are we going back inside?"

I hesitated. "To be honest ... I wanted to go home. That just reminded me of a lot ... I think I put away her death too prematurely and that came up now, or something like that," I lied.

The brown-haired nodded as if he understood. "Yes, that's not easy. Shall I go home with you?"

I shook my head without really thinking about it and inwardly cursed myself for my stupidity. I had just missed my chance to inconspicuously elicit some information from Vincent that could have told me why everyone was acting so strangely just seeing me. But it was too late to change my mind ... "No. I'm fine. Just do me a favor and tell Martens something appropriate, will you?"

We said goodbye more than reluctantly, and I made my way home with quick steps.I felt more than uncomfortable, so I had only half lied to Vincent ... As I quickened my steps from second to second until I finally ran, it got darker over me and I realized I was walking towards a cloudy sky .


_________________________________________________


I stormed into the house, slammed the door behind me and locked it twice to be on the safe side before hurrying up the stairs to my room. Once there, I crouched on my bed and pressed a pillow in front of my chest into which I buried my face. I didn't cry. But I had a severe headache without knowing where it came from.

A soft melody rang through my room. Startled, I jumped up and stared at the shelf next to my door. An old music box had stood there for years, but I had never touched it myself. I hadn't known if she was still playing, but neither had I shown any interest in trying it out. It was an ordinary toy, like any other, with a cheesy ballerina in a pink tutu on top who danced to the tune and did pirouettes. I looked around my room, frightened. A disgusting shiver ran down my spine and I felt as if a torrent of cold air was blowing towards me. Who wound up the music box when I couldn't reach it because I was panting on my pillow?

Reluctantly, I swung my legs over the bedside and crept up to the ballerina, took her in my hand, and turned the music box curiously, while she apparently did not plan to end her song. It actually sounded nice ...

There was a creak behind me. Another shiver ran through me, but I didn't show it and slowly turned around. The bathroom door that adjoined my room had opened and now my dark bathroom gaped towards me. I swallowed. In horror films this was always the point where someone with cheap scary effects was lured into the trap to be killed. Even the weather outside seemed to be right ... It wasn't storming, but the clouds in the sky turned it dark gray and also put my room in an oppressive mood.

I chased the thought away and went to the door. It was almost funny. Whenever I saw a movie like this, I told myself that I would never be that stupid. And now I was so stupid. What should happen anyway? There were no immortal, mass murderous monsters. Nothing could happen to me. I turned the light switch on the wall anyway to be sure. I was relieved to see that all I was seeing was my reflection in the mirror, staring at me as if someone else was waiting for it. I had dark circles under my eyes, but I booked it as a lesser evil. My blonde hair had been caught in the wind and was slightly frizzing at the base, but even that was better than being mugged and killed ...

The music box played the last bars of their song and gave a soft click.I was surprised to see in the mirror how the small platform had risen slightly and how a drawer could be opened and closed. I fixed my gaze on the tray-like drawer and pulled out a piece of paper that literally flashed at me. With one hand I unfolded it awkwardly so as not to have to put the music box to one side.

It wasn't a note. It was a photo. I stood on one side, put my arms around another person and grinned at the camera. It was a typically cheesy photo that was taken in bright sunshine in the middle of the city. I even remembered my sister shot it. My hand began to shake, I felt fine droplets of sweat on my forehead and my heartbeat beating unevenly faster as I turned to the other person. It was a girl with dark brown hair, elegantly curled, and eyes of the same color. She had a very tanned skin, wore hardly any jewelry, and was just as discreetly made up as she was dressed. She gave the camera a shy but friendly smile and let me put my arm around her. It was her! It was the girl I saw in school. The girl who was happy about the tears I had shed. Now I also remembered a name.Laila. I knew her. She was familiar to me - very much so. She was… -

"Cat."

As if by itself, my head shot up and I looked in the mirror. For a moment, I really believed that familiar voice had called me. It was actually impossible ... But I was supposed to see something much more terrible. My mirror was smeared. And this time it was blood. I could see it clearly. I squeezed the photo in my hand. If she had only tried to warn me at school, she wanted to scare me as hell ... The headache disappeared, memories gave way, only to come back to me much more penetrating ...

"... if one of them is dead."was written there in merciless red letters. A single, small, red drop broke away from the word "dead" and pulled a weak trickle on my mirror as it flowed down.

I didn't remember where I put the photo, but suddenly I saw her. Laila stood next to me in the mirror and grinned happily at me as if she found the frightened expression on my face funny. Then her laughing face went out. She gave me a cold look and pounced on me with an incredibly quick movement. All the warmth had drained from her chocolate brown eyes. I shrieked, felt a tear run down my cheek, and dropped the music box in shock. I heard it hit the floor and, judging by the sound, burst into pieces. The thought of it made me feel a strange pang in my heart.

"Look, Catrin ...", I heard my mother's voice in my head.

I only felt cold as she wrapped her arms tightly around my shoulders as if she wanted to crush me ... Panicked, I rammed my elbow into Laila's stomach, which gave me time to ram her again with my back, and the brown-haired woman backwards bump.I heard a thud on my carpeted floor and spun around ready to fight. If I had to defend myself, so would I.

"What's the matter with you, Cat ?! You saw me!"complained a voice.

But when I recognized the person who was lying in front of me and holding his stomach, I looked into the equally blue eyes of my sister Mia, who looked at me in shock. Her voice alone was not my sister's. She seemed to mingle with Laila's and release my memories ... I just stood there and watched her carefully. Slowly but surely everything came back to me.

"I have to tell you a secret," I said as Laila and I collapsed on my bed.

"What kind of secret?"

"It's about my parents."

"What do you want to tell me?"

"Do you swear you will take it with you to the grave ?!"

"Cat, you're starting to scare me ..." Laila replied uncertainly.

"Cat, you're starting to scare me," Mia's voice pulled me out of my mind again. She sounded worried, but managed to get up as if she were annoyed.

[i]"You promised you would