“Mom…” I called quietly, first turning up the volume on the TV almost to maximum.
Having taken my place, she also did not move the curtains, but as soon as she saw the jeep, she quickly pulled me by the hand, dragging me away from the window. I knew the next steps in advance, having lived through each stage many, many times.
Whatever we were doing at that moment, as soon as a threat appeared, we dropped absolutely everything. The parent only took the laptop and bag in case of escape, and I took the e-reader and backpack. Things, food, water – the minimum set was available in each pre-prepared car. Well, my mother carried money and documents with her, preferring to keep them closer to her hands.
Pull on cloaks, put on hoods. We didn't even take the time to lock the door. They either climbed out through the window or went down the stairs if there was a second exit at the entrance.
There were usually pre-rented cars parked on each side of the house. Of course, in financial terms, such reinsurance cost a large sum, but more than once it came to the rescue and saved us from an immediate meeting with the pursuer.
– Mom, maybe it’s just someone else’s car? Did any of the neighbors or guests come to someone? – I asked, sitting down in the front seat and buckling up. – Maybe this maniac has long forgotten about us, huh? And he lives his quiet maniacal life somewhere in a quiet place.
– Don't be stupid, Sally! – she said sternly, sharply backing up and turning the steering wheel.
I had thought before that my parent was simply sick. The older I got, the less I believed in the invisible pursuer who never caught up with us. Moreover, my mother said almost nothing about her childhood and youth.
What if she spent them in some asylum? Maybe all these years she needed special medicine, the help of qualified specialists, and year after year I mindlessly continued to support her illness?
“Mom, maybe we should just stop and find out what he or she needs from us?” At the same time, we’ll understand if someone is following us…” I suggested carefully, trying to track her emotions.
Focused, confident, gloomy. She didn't look like she was mentally ill.
– Never! – she hissed, no worse than a snake, clutching the steering wheel with incredible strength until it creaked. – Do you hear? Never dare to even think about it!
I wanted to say something else, but in the rearview mirror I noticed that same black jeep. Exactly the same one, because I had a good look at the numbers, first trying to concentrate and at least see something through the tint. The car confidently increased speed and threatened to catch up with our car, but my mother did not give up. She pressed the gas pedal to the floor, driving out onto a suburban highway, mired on both sides in green fields, electrical towers and tall trees.
There the car was rushing at great speed along a flat road, almost imperceptibly. But the road was easier for the jeep too. He was practically breathing into our trunk.
– Mom, train! – I shouted, hearing the growing roar of the express rushing along the railway.
Ahead at the crossing, a barrier was slowly lowering, serving as a barrier device. The traffic light was blinking hysterically with a prohibitory light. The train driver sounded a sound signal using a typhon.
– Mother!
She didn't respond, didn't say anything. At some point, for a split second, I even thought that this was the end. That I spent all eighteen years in prohibitions in order to die like this stupidly, running away from a monster that I had never seen with my own eyes…
I didn't even have the courage to close my eyes.
Our car managed to fly through the rails just a few seconds before colliding with the train, completely demolishing the barrier on both sides. At that moment I wasn’t breathing at all. And my heart seemed to stop.
I desperately wanted to cling to my mother’s hand, but I perfectly understood that I could only hinder her. After what I had experienced, the last thing I wanted was to kill us.
Looking in the rearview mirror, between the rushing carriages of the train, I saw only the shadow of a black jeep forced to stop. When we turned at the intersection, he was no longer following us, but I still didn’t dare say anything.
The mother stopped only when we pulled off the road into a forest straight towards the lake, disappearing with the car behind the dense greenery of the trees. And that’s where her nerves gave way. Covering her face with her hands, she almost lay there for several minutes, leaning on the steering wheel.
“Mom…” I wanted to apologize for the mistrust.
But she exhaled sharply, straightened up and interrupted me:
“Sally, this can’t go on any longer.” We need to hide you so that he can't get to you. I swear I didn't mean to bring you into this. I didn't think you'd spend your first eighteen years on the run. I wanted an ordinary life for you, like I once had. – Stroking my cheek with her palm, she smiled through her tears. “As long as you’re around, I can’t deal with him, because I’ll never forgive myself if I put you in danger.”
– Mom, you speak in riddles. “I don’t understand anything,” I admitted, but tears stood as a veil in my eyes.
Exhaling loudly again, as if she had gained determination, she started the car.
– Go. I'll tell you something on the way. For starters…” she taxied back onto the highway leading to Ashwool. – You should know that our world has another – the Dark Side.
Chapter 2. Polunochnikov Academy
Silence. It was cold, like water in a barrel that had stood outside the country house all winter. She was tense – my nails dug into the flesh of my palms to the point of palpable pain, while I waited for the end of the conversation that was happening without my participation on the other side of the wall. It drove me crazy, because the unknown is the worst creation of our imperfect world.
Out of the corner of my eye, noticing some movement on the dark, porous floor tiles, I suddenly jumped up and froze in horror. My lips immediately dried up at the sight of a disgusting white spider, which confidently moved all its legs, clearly intending to stroll past me.
Or maybe to me! It was impossible to predict his desires from his beady black eyes. But I knew one thing for sure: I didn’t want to cross paths with this individual the size of my fist under any pretext.
Because I was terribly afraid of spiders. To the point of muteness. Until loss of consciousness. As a child, this was my biggest fear. The babayka, the brownie and the under-bed monster weren’t even close to them.
But this is in childhood. A large amount of free time and almost unlimited access to any literature through an e-book played a role. Using various methods, I was able to slightly reduce the degree of my relationship with these multi-legged creatures. Now I perceived them much easier. But if there was an option not to be in the same room with them, I did everything to get rid of these monsters.
Because to preserve the psyche of both of us, we should have stayed away from each other.
In one leap, I moved to the window, I opened it by touch, without taking my gaze off this big-eyed one. A light breeze with a pleasant evening coolness stroked my face and ruffled my hair, but I didn’t even think about wasting time getting myself in order.
Instead, she blocked the white furry man’s path, decisively and boldly placing her foot in his way.
Stopping abruptly, he looked at me as if with incomprehension, rising slightly on his front paws with indignation. I looked this way and that.
I tried my best to keep my cool.
In the end, probably considering me inadequate, the spider chose a workaround.
But stubbornness is my second self. This corridor is too small for the two of us and my great fear.
Take a deep breath, exhale slowly. Carefully grabbing the furry one by his disgusting body with my fingers, I instantly sat him down on the metal frame outside the window and slammed the shutter, locking it tightly.
The heart was beating fast and fast. My pulse beat like a drum in my ears, and through it I could hear my own rapid breathing. This moment, while I was carrying the spider, seemed like an eternity to me. The furry one tried to get out, to reach me with his nasty paws, tickled my skin with them and resisted with all his might.
Even the spiders here were strange! I've never come across white ones in my life. I just sincerely hoped that it was not poisonous!
After wiping my palms on my overalls, I returned to the door, took a breath and allowed myself to close my eyelids for a moment. However, she immediately realized that she had so absurdly missed some part of the conversation. Incredible regret immediately closed around my throat like a pressing ring, but what I had done could not be undone.
I could not think adequately if I knew that there was a spider close to me.
“…don’t let Sally near the Recorder,” I caught, concentrating on the voices.
“Are you afraid that she will find out who her father is?” – the question from Madame Pelisey sounded mockingly.
I leaned against the wall as close as possible. This was the second topic that my mother and I never discussed openly and frankly. Once, when I was older, I received a meager answer from her that it was a casual one-night stand, which she never regretted at all.
But I was sorely lacking this data. One smart person wrote that we are our past, tied to the destinies of our ancestors. If you don't know your family, you simply don't know yourself.
“I wouldn’t want to complicate things even more,” the parent answered restrainedly.
“Aletra, I haven’t agreed to take her yet.” You have always been unbearably stubborn in your intentions and decisions! – the head of the academy was indignant with admiration that was inexplicable to me. – Okay, I'll take your daughter. But only out of respect for my late friend. Your mother was a wonderful person and would never forgive me if I left her granddaughter in trouble. Notes? What are you going to do next?
I was literally torn apart by the overwhelming emotions. They tipped over like cold water, crawling under my clothes with prickly needles that made my skin burn unbearably. I wanted to hear my mother's plans. Yes, I just had to know them! Not for the sake of peace: worries will overtake me anyway, because I already know that she is going to deal with our pursuer.
I had to hear her plans so that I could find her if something happened.
Yes, part of me has already accepted that I will stay in this dark academy for a while, because my mother is really stubborn and stubborn. If she has already decided something, then so be it.
But the other part!
I didn’t know how yet, but I was going to leave this frightening strange prison at any cost. What were your mother's abilities? Did she even have them? And who then was the one who haunted us all these years? Mad scientists with their sights set on a superhero? Decided to blackmail him into fulfilling his every whim, helping him do evil?
Each new idea seemed crazier than the previous one. I knew that I would simply go crazy if I stayed here without any initiative, waiting for news from my mother. Because in the real world, superheroes weren't immortal.
– What will you do with the Hunter? – Madame Pelisey asked measuredly, even casually.
And I realized that because of my own emotions I had again missed part of the conversation. Tired. I was already too tired, and my concentration level kept jumping, allowing me to hear only fragments now.
I probably won't get away with two hours of sleep this time.
Mom’s voice now seemed terribly distant:
– I’ll take him as far as possible and…
– Excuse me, have you seen a white spider here? – a voice unfamiliar to me burst into the silence of the corridor.
Turning around, I saw a handsome guy about the same age two steps away from me. He smiled politely as he looked at me. Apparently, he was waiting for an answer, but there was still no answer, because I practically hovered, my gaze fixed on his face.
It turned out to be nobly pale. Exactly noble, and not like a person with chronic lack of sleep, where black circles under the eyes occupy most of the face.
A neat triangular chin, slightly protruding forward. Expressive, clearly defined lips, large nose and sharp cheekbones. The dark green eyes seemed incredible, bewitching, like emeralds in the reflection of a flame.
A deep, soulful look.
His charm demolished all barriers. Each part of the face alone would never have made anyone handsome, but in him all this wealth was combined surprisingly harmoniously. Even his slightly longer dark hair was combed back in a perfectly casual manner. As if after a four-hour styling session in a beauty salon to advertise a newfangled shampoo.
His smile grew a little wider. Expressive dimples appeared on the cheeks.
Confused, I looked down and finally noticed his shape. Black tailored trousers, a black turtleneck and a burgundy jacket in a calm, deep shade. The latter bore the embroidered gold emblem of the Midnighter Academy: a pointed moon and the shadow of a bat with outstretched wings.
“Spider,” the guy reminded politely. – Furry, scary, white, runs fast.
Hearing the characteristics of the creature the student was looking for, I seemed to wake up and instantly became cold. Apparently, that furry guy was this brunette’s pet, and I…
– No, sorry. “I didn’t see,” I answered, stuttering slightly, feeling how treacherously my cheeks turned red with shame.
More than anything, I hated lying. I felt terribly uncomfortable, awkward, and my eyes just wanted to move to the window to check if the multi-legged creature had crawled away. What if the stalemate could still be saved?
She looked at the guy again. Now he looked at me strangely. My heart beat with triple force. Did he really figure out my deception so quickly and easily?
–Are you new? – he suddenly asked quite peacefully.
A weight has just been lifted off my shoulders. But then there was almost a rockfall because I didn’t have time to answer. My nascent thought was interrupted by a loud knock…
Out the window.
We both turned toward the sound as if on cue. Behind the glass, on a wide metallic tint, a furious blond man, like a thousand wild bees, sat on his haunches, dressed in a black tracksuit with the academy emblem on his jacket. His face seemed even paler than the brunette’s, and his features sharper.
He glared at me with undisguised hatred, intending to make a couple of holes in me at once. Brown eyes seemed almost black due to the corrosive squint. The rounded oval of the face did not add softness at all, the straight nose divided it into two symmetrical halves, and the narrow lips were compressed into a barely noticeable stubborn line. Only the wide dark eyebrows brought dissonance into this harmonious villainous face, because the slicked hair turned out to be light, almost white.
Hearing the brunette's restrained laughter, I almost jumped in surprise. Lightly covering his lips with his palm, he laughed even with his eyes, causing tears to appear in the corners. However, the guy didn’t even think of rushing to the blond’s aid. And then I myself ran to the window to open it.
– You! – the blond roared, climbing out onto the windowsill. Jumping from him to the floor, the guy straightened up and found himself much taller than me. Not even a head – one and a half. – How dare you throw me out the window?!
“I didn’t throw it away, but carefully put it in,” I justified myself, now cowering at the wall opposite the entrance to the office. – And I didn’t know that he, that is, you, that is, that he… I…
– Did you want to be blown away by the wind? Or maybe it was eaten by a bird? – the blond hissed.
His hoarse voice gave me goosebumps. It was unbearable to stand under this gaze, so I decided to escape. In the sense that she took advantage of the fact that the guy was distracted by the brunette’s speech and ran back closer to the office.
To the door behind which, I hoped, I could be saved from the punishing hand of this screamer!
– Come on, Percy. She probably didn't do it on purpose. It is so? – the brunette smiled restrainedly, trying to pull himself together, but chuckles danced in his green eyes.
– So. I didn’t even know that… Well… That spiders can be people. Although no, there is Spider-Man, damn it. Is he really real? – I muttered chaotically, having a persistent desire to hide behind the brunette’s back, because the blond’s destroying gaze found me again.
Now the opposite wall seemed charmingly attractive to me. Actually, having decided to repeat my maneuver, I got caught. More precisely, she froze halfway, because the door to the office of the head of the Academy of Midnighters swung open, revealing to us, probably, the director of this educational institution.
Once I looked into her eyes, I found myself opening my mouth in surprise. I imagined an older woman, strict and prim, dry, like yesterday’s baguette, but in no way the same age as my mother. The corrosive gaze seemed creepy – maybe because of the different eyes? The left one was light brown and more like a cat, and the right one was light gray, with a wide black border.
Dark hair and sparse silver reflecting the light from the lamps. The clothes were a multi-layered complex outfit. A light, flowing floor-length dress in the style of an ancient Roman toga was partially hidden by a brown jacket made of stiff fabric with leather inserts. It looked more like a corset, but at the same time hid the shoulders and neck, had a high, diverging collar and a wide belt at the waist – with a gold oval plaque.
A slight, subtle hint of a smile appeared on Madame Pelisay’s lips.
– And here are my best students. You guys are just in time. I see you have already met Salaman. She is new and from now on will be a first year student at our academy. I…
Without hearing what the director wanted to say, the blond decided to leave. He walked confidently, calmly, and angrily. I barely had time to step aside, otherwise, I swear, he would have simply knocked me out of my place like an insignificant nuisance. His elbow touched my shoulder on the edge, beyond which only one flash would be enough for my restraint to crack at the seams.
“Monsieur Becriv, don’t you think it’s impolite of you to just up and leave when someone is talking to you?” – the woman loudly turned to the guy’s back, narrowing her eyes angrily.
Only these minor changes betrayed her dissatisfaction. It seems that someone was hired for a pencil, and for some reason I was sincerely happy about this.
