Episode 2

When I woke up and realized I was still in the door to the school yard, I had to sort through my thoughts before I remembered what had happened before I passed out. When I could think clearly again, a cold shiver ran down my spine. I had a terrible guess what might have happened ... I fought against the panic and calmed down.

I leaned against the wall and tried to relax a bit, thinking about what had happened. You might wonder now that nobody had noticed me before, but that was like that here at this school. Nobody ever went out during the breaks. Everyone was just in the cafeteria gossiping the latest rumors about others. If I had been dead, someone would have spotted me at the end of school and usually everyone goes out at the main entrance anyways, which is why it would not be unlikely if the caretaker wouldn't have noticed until the evening when he was closing the doors.

I got up slowly and headed for the girls' bathroom.

Luckily I didn't meet any other students on the way and after a few minutes I was standing in front of the mirror. It was like seeing someone in the crowd and you know, you know that person, but you don't remember where you knew them from. I knew it was me, but I didn't recognize myself.

My skin was a little paler than usual, my eyes were dark brown mixed with a deep red, and they shone as if there were also gold in them. My long hair also seemed darker and more shiny. But what stood out the most is the white band on my forehead. It resembled braided silver wire, shaped into diamond-shaped characters.

Only once has there been such a case at our school. I was in class when suddenly there were loud voices in the hallway. Of course I went out with the whole class to see what was going on. It was a boy who was like 13 years old. Without moving he was lying on the floor in front of the lockers. At some point the teachers brought us back into class, but everyone had already seen him by then. He then went home and nobody heard from him again later. After that there were many rumors for weeks like that he was mentally disturbed or that he had an illness that caused that scars but since I am neither one nor the other, I no longer had an idea what that strange mark on my forehead was. And now I knew that no matter what happened to this boy, the same would happen to me.

Knowing that I couldn't change my fate now anyway, I returned to my belongings, but when I wanted to put on my backpack, a small piece of paper fell out of one of the side pockets. I picked it up and unfolded it. It said:

Dear Kalina Mistry,

Since you are chosen and you need to get the right training, we have sent someone to activate your mark. We ask you to come to the "Cliffside Academy" as soon as possible. A car will be waiting for you at the address below at 10:00 tomorrow morning , which will bring you to us. Of course we have already discussed everything with your parents and they were thrilled with the suggestion. You do not have to worry about your mark as long as the activation is already 15 minutes ago, because it is after this time is no longer visible to normal people. There is also a packing list below, which you should follow. Of course, you can also pack other personal items, as you will probably stay with us for a longer period of time. We will discuss everything else when you hopefully arrive soon.

Best regards

Mrs.Prof. Cliffside

P.S.: If you are late, please do not worry, as we know where you are and can therefore notify your driver so that you do not miss him.

At that moment I was startled and stopped reading. How did they know where I was?!

Panicked I looked around to see if I was wrong and the men were still here to follow me everywhere, but when I couldn't find anyone, the thought of one of those chips that cats and dogs implanted to locate them came to me and I searched my clothes and my bag. I knew that it was a bit extreme to think something like that, but after all I didn't know these people and I didn't know how far they would go to bring me to this mysterious academy so being careful is better than being sorry, right?

When I had made sure that I was not being watched, I looked at the letter again and read the last section:

Packing list:

Take:

- enough clothes for min. one week (comfortable, festive, free time)

- Toiletry bag i.e .: toothbrush, towel, brush, etc.

- Writing utensils, i.e. pads, pens such as pens, etc.

-Solid shoes

-Sportswear as well as swimwear

let at home:

-Skateboards, roller skates, etc.

-Pets (also small ones)

-Weapons like knives, pistols etc.

-Duvet cover

And remember that the journey will take a little longer, so a book or something similar would be appropriate.

When I read the whole letter I was shocked. The first section was the most important part, but the list was so definitive that it was only now that I realized what was really happening. I had so many questions: How did they know where I was? How could they convince my parents to let me there? How long did I have to go there? And last but not least: What would happen if I refused to go there? I sat down on the floor and went through my head to see what my options were. If I just ran away, then the police would look for me and then I would have even more problems, I also cannot take sick leave because I am only allowed to stay at home if I have a fever and it would not be a long-term solution. After going through all the solutions, I came up with a plan that hopefully would work. I quickly packed the letter back into my backpack and made my way home again.

On the way I had the hood hanging low in my face the whole time, because despite everything, I had the feeling that I was conspicuous, even if, as I later noticed, that was not necessary, since I did not meet anyone on the way . I had already expected that not many people would be on the streets, as the sky was gray and covered with dark clouds, and even if a little black bird in an oak tree chirped to its comrades from time to time, it was quieter than it should be on a Monday morning. Even in such bad weather. So I hurried to get home as soon as possible and get the whole thing behind me.

As soon as I unlock the front door my Labrador dog Lisa rushes up to me and greets me happily. Immediately my mood improves, I laugh and stroke her short brown hair.

She has always been a happy dog and even now, almost 14 years old, nothing has changed about that. After trying to push her aside with little success, I squeeze past her to the stairs when my mother comes straight ahead of the kitchen and sees me "Hey Kali! Isn't it so nice that you weren't accepted at the new school? I know how many problems you always had with your classmates and this is the perfect new start, isn't it? And even if it is unfortunately a boarding school, luckily you can always come home at the weekend when you have free time and I was told that so far every student has been totally happy to be there! That will be great! Of course, I've already talked to your father on the phone and he is enthusiastic too." The woman hadn't lied a bit in her letter. My mother was really excited about the idea of sending me to this other school and I wondered what else was going to persuade her. At that moment I knew that my plan would not work and that I couldn't argue with her. "Yes, that will be... great ..."

I said and made a grimace. My mother looked confused for a moment, but after a few seconds she was back in control and beaming at me. "So now bring your things upstairs and then come down to dinner, yeah?" I nodded and stomped up the stairs to my room.

I would probably have to go there and see it for now. If it was really as bad as I thought I could still call home and ask to be brought back. I sighed and threw the backpack on the bed in my room and went to the bathroom. When I looked in the mirror that hung over the sink, I was looked at by this "other me" again, like I was in school. The woman had written in her letter that "normal mortals" (whatever that meant) would see me normal, but I was still amazed that my mother hadn't seen any of this. After washing my hands and face, I went back to my room and noticed that my window was open. The flower vase in front of was also moved. I looked outside and saw one of the stone squirrels on the tree next to my window. I waved to him happily and went to my dresser, where I always kept a few nuts ready for my little visitors. When I held out my outstretched hand to the stone squirrel, it chattered happily and climbed to my windowsill, where it grabbed some of the nuts and put them in its mouth. The small, about 20cm tall animals, along with the somewhat larger tree trolls, were among my regular guests, for whom I always had something to eat. Apart from me, nobody knew that they'd stop by every now and then, and I'd never heard anyone talk about them either. When the squirrel had finished it jumped back into the tree, chattered one last time and then disappeared back into the branches.

A little happier than a few minutes before, I closed the window and went down to the kitchen to eat. During the entire meal (my favorite meal was probably a "farewell present") mom only talked about how nice it would be that I could finally go to another school and that it was soooo bad that we would only see each other so rarely but that she would still be so happy for me and so on. And meanwhile I sat next to her and was afraid of what would happen the next morning. I mean, what kind of weird sect was that going to "the higher Powers "and believed such crap and then gave youngsters strange signs? I hoped I didn't have to go to such crazy rituals with blood or sacrifices or things like that. And I also hoped that I might even possibly make a few friends. Maybe it wasn't that bad and I might have a little fresh start after all. But just maybe, because it was still a weird school. After dinner I went to my laptop and looked for the address that was given in the letter. My GPS told me that it would take me about 40 minutes by bus to get to the place mentioned, which meant that I had to pack my things tonight if I wanted to take a shower tomorrow morning. I sighed, got up and got my biggest suitcase out of the closet, because even if I wasn't sure if I would really stay in the academy that long, I wanted to at least have everything I needed with me if I really spent my next school years there. I took the packing list from the letter and looked for everything. To be on the safe side, I also packed all of my remaining money, because I didn't know whether I might have to buy school books and food and stuff like that, or whether I would get it that way. But it would be stupid if I had to buy it myself, since I didn't necessarily go there voluntarily. Then suddenly it occurred to me that the woman said I should take something to read for the trip and went to my shelf to pack a few of my beloved mangas. (And yes, I now have such a large collection that it was not easy to decide, uwu.)

When I had packed everything I needed, I went to my desk and picked up a picture. Since it was a bit older, the edge was already slightly faded and the frame barely had any color, but still the picture was very important to me. It showed my parents hugging each other and me with a brown-haired boy many years ago. I must have been around 6 years old at the time, because I couldn't even remember the day, just knew that it was my mother's birthday and that the little boy next to me was my best friend. I didn't know his name or what happened to him because at some point he just disappeared and we haven't heard from him again. My parents didn't seem to remember him either, because when I showed them this photo and asked who he was, they didn't know anything about him either. But still it was always on my desk and since I somehow didn't want to leave it at home, I put it at the top of my suitcase. I looked at my list again to see if I had really packed everything and then closed it carefully, which turned out to be not that easy, because I had packed more things than I first thought. Then I crept slowly down the stairs to the kitchen and put the leftovers of lunch in the microwave for a moment and went back up to my room with the food. After I had finished I got ready because packing my suitcase had taken longer than expected, it was already late and I was tired and went to bed. I didn't think I could sleep, but surprisingly I was so exhausted from all the exertion that I fell asleep immediately.

Hey guys!

I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update again, but I'm currently very busy so it’ll take time to update.. Please comment what u liked and what not!

See you next time! 💞

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***