I knew I had to get out of the truck but I didn't want to. I thought about finding an excuse to continue talking to him but I couldn't think of anything. I didn't have much experience talking to strangers. I was never good at starting conversations.
   “Thank you for bringing me,” I said and looked for the door handle.
   Damien turned off the engine. I automatically removed my hand from the lock. I turned and looked at him. His eyes were fixed on the house. Then he turned his head from one place to another, scanning everything. His view was from the front park to the beginning of the forest that began about fifty meters to the west.
   “Your mother hasn't arrived yet,” he told me without looking at me.
   "No. And I don't know when it arrives. Maybe I'll have a guard tonight."
   Damien looked at me. He was frowning. And I sensed that he was angry. I wished he wouldn't go with me.
   "What were those howls I heard on the route?"
   “Animals,” he answered me dryly, turning his eyes toward the forest.
   I was quiet. It was very difficult to speak in his presence. I got lost in his beauty and his angelic voice. I didn't know what else to say so I put my hand on the door handle again.
   "Close everything when you come in," he told me with a tense voice. "And the windows too," and his eyes were fixed on my bedroom window.
   And immediately I was sure. I felt absolutely certain that it was he who had entered at night, through that same window.
   "Thank you…for giving me back my cup."
   " It was not me.
stared at him."
    Of course I didn't believe him.
   "I didn't fix it for you…," he insisted.
   My body vibrated from head to toe.
   " I didn't say that you was fixed."
   He looked at me for a second and I caught a glimpse of a grimace on her mouth. But to my bad luck, the sound of an engine broke that magical atmosphere. I looked in the rearview mirror. I recognized the old Falcon and felt my hands get sweaty. The car parked near us. Trembling, I opened the door and turned to say goodbye. I got surprised. He had already gotten out of the truck. I also went down and closed the door. I saw - without being able to believe it - how Damien was waiting for my mother to get out of the vehicle. I could see the strange look on her face when she recognized me.
   " Hello, Mrs. La Rue. My name is Damien Blanc," and he extended his hand to her like a perfect gentleman.
   Alice seemed to recover from her initial surprise. She approached and shook his hand with a smile.
   " I am Emma's high school classmate and I offered to bring her home. She was a little lost."
   “I see,” my mother said with a mischievous look.
   She was enjoying it all. Especially from my shame. She felt my face red and my heart was racing faster and faster.
   " Did you say… “Blanc”?" Alice asked, taking some packages out of the car. And of course Damien offered to carry them! I sighed, again, without being able to help it.
   "Yes ma'am. My mother is Elena Blanc, from real estate."
   "Clear! But you are the exact copy of her," Alice laughed. "So… Damien, have you had dinner yet?"
   My stomach flipped. I wasn't ready to share dinner with Damien Blanc! If I couldn't spend more than a minute in his presence without blushing or saying something stupid, much less was I prepared to have dinner with him. To my relief, Damien declined the invitation in an extremely kind voice. He even gave me the impression that he really regretted having to say no.
   " Thank you, Mrs. La Rue."
   "Alice…"
   "Alice. But I have to go. However, I accept your invitation for another day. I would love to have dinner with you."
   I swallowed. And to my own misfortune, I sighed again! We walked up to the porch and he handed me the packages. When I held them, our hands accidentally touched each other and I felt that a new electrical current – ​​smaller than the previous one – was tickling me. I looked at him and he smiled at me.
   That smile was different from the previous ones. It had a hint of mischief. And for the first time I noticed that it looked like Adam's smile. Of course, they were cousins ​​after all. They would have some resemblance.
   " Good night," He said goodbye.
   He walked towards the truck and got in and drove away at a medium speed, getting lost behind some tall trees.
   I tried to gather my thoughts while I helped my mother prepare dinner.
   “That young man seems very nice,” said Alice, stirring the salad. “What did he say his name was?”
   “Damien,” I answered automatically, feeling my voice tremble a little.
   My mother smiled.
   "What?" I questioned her while she was drying some glasses.
  " Nothing, nothing," my mother smiled again. "It's just that I think it's very good that you have a friend."
  " Damien Blanc is not my friend."
   I felt like saying that made my stomach clench a little more.
   "But he could be."
   "No," I held the glass tightly when I felt it begin to slip out of my hands.
   "Honey, it's not that bad. I mean, having friends."
   " Yes, it is bad, especially if you have to say goodbye to them in a few months."
   I noticed that I was already getting upset and I didn't want to argue with my mother, so I snuck to the bathroom and stayed there until I managed to calm down. I washed my face and looked at myself in the mirror. My brown eyes were moist and my dark circles were very noticeable. My brow was frowning, as was always the case when I got angry, at myself for always getting into conflict over the same issues.I didn't like the image that the mirror gave me back. I looked ugly. I always felt ugly. That's why I didn't like looking in the mirror. I went back to the kitchen, trying to calm myself down.
   “I'm sorry, Emma,” my mother said, caressing my face.
  " No, I'm the one who's sorry."
   "Maybe this time we can stay longer. Maybe everything will end up working out. Take advantage of this opportunity. Damien seems like a good boy. He is gentleman and polite. And he brought you home."
   And he repared my cup, I thought. And that thought comforted me. Although I still couldn't explain how I had done it.
   "Besides, he's very handsome," Alice said mischievously.
  "Mum!"
   "What?! It's true!"
   Of course she couldn't disagree with him on that. Damien was beyond handsome. He had a beauty that until then had seemed to me only possible to find in the books he used to read. And that was precisely the problem. He was too beautiful for someone like me. And besides, he had a girlfriend.I tried to put the image I just saw in the mirror out of my mind. I didn't succeed and suddenly I lost my appetite. I barely tasted the salad, which caught my mother's attention.
   "It's just...I ate something in the school cafeteria this afternoon and I'm still full."
    "Well, I have to go. I have guard tonight. You'll be fine?"
   "Yes, of course," I answered while I picked up the dishes.
   I wanted to sneak back to my room so I could process everything that had happened to me. After washing the dishes, I took a quick shower and changed into my pajamas. I sat on the edge of the bed and laid my eyes on the cup that was on the desk, in the same place where I had found it that morning. I had so many questions in my head. Starting with the cup itself.
   How was it possible that it was intact?
   I had seen it torn to pieces myself. And yet, there it was, before my eyes, as good as new. And I was sure it was the same cup. Which raised new questions in me. Like, how did the cup get to my desk? I looked at the window and felt a sweet chill run through my body. Had Damien been in my room? No, it couldn't be! But what other explanation was there? Plus, I thought I made it pretty clear when he advised me to close the window. I know he looked at my window.
   I imagined, for a second, the night before. Me, asleep and him, there, in my bedroom. I automatically looked at the blanket. I had wrapped myself up with her. I reached out a hand and touched it. A stranger had been in my room at night. And despite what it seemed, it didn't cause me fear but rather a certain excitement. I didn't feel in danger, but rather every inch of my body seemed to scream at me to trust.
   The explanation was perhaps quite simple. Damien had saved my life. That's why I associated it with an emotion of trust. I sighed and looked at the same window he had told me to close. I got closer, but I didn't close it. He had a burning desire for a repeat of the previous night's visit.
   Why had he come? Just to give me back the cup? Or because he wanted to see me? He hadn't been very friendly at school, although he ended up giving me a ride home. Did he change his mind that quickly? Did he have a split personality?
   Adam, on the other hand, was different. Why was Adam Alexander in my thoughts now? I couldn't help but smile when I remembered him. He had been open and friendly from the first moment. He seemed to really enjoy my company. And then I remembered. When he had shaken her hand, he had felt a small electric shock. And the same had happened with Damien. So that happened in real life too. And apparently more often than I had believed.
   I lay down on the bed, curling up. My thoughts had returned to Damien. I felt cold but I didn't cover myself. I looked at the half-open window and sighed. I thought I would have a hard time falling asleep because I couldn't get Damien out of my head - neither his smile nor his enigmatic look. But as soon as I moved again, the sunlight bothered my eyes.
    It couldn't be! It had already dawned! I moved a little more. My legs felt numb. But I immediately realized that I was covered - from head to toe - with the blanket that I had purposely left on the side of the bed. I smiled. And I felt myself shudder. How could it be that Damien had been in my room and I hadn't realized? My sleep had never been heavy. Any noise - no matter how insignificant - used to wake me up. How could it be that someone had entered through the window, approached me and covered me with the blanket and I didn't wake up?
And then, I felt afraid. A deep and paralyzing fear. I couldn't afford to sleep like that, so deeply. I thought of Albert, immediately. If he were to enter the house, with the same ease with which Damien had done it - and met with such zero resistance - everything could end in tragedy.
   I got up, as best I could. And immediately I felt dizzy and nauseous. I barely made it to the bathroom in time and vomited bile. I didn't have any food to throw up. I stayed there for a while, on the floor, waiting for it to go away. Was it the fear that was causing all that in me? Fifteen minutes later, I felt a little better and began to prepare for school, completely enveloped in a horrible feeling of terror. And for a moment I forgot about Damien and Adam and everything else. I walked around the house - holding on to the furniture and walls, as I was still quite dizzy - and locked all the doors and windows. I also made sure that the bars on the openings were well welded and the locks worked well. I peeked into Alice's room and was calmed when I saw her sleeping soundly. Surely she had not returned long ago.
   I filled a bowl with milk and cereal. I had no appetite but I knew I couldn't repeat another day of fasting. When I had finished, and without paying attention to the retching, I took my backpack  and felt through my pockets. I was missing the keys. I had probably left them upstairs in my bedroom. I climbed the wooden staircase two steps at a time. I saw the keys on the desk next to my cup. I stopped for a second to look at her. She was so cute! Then my eyes fell on the photographs. Adam's sweet face smiled at me. And the other Adam immediately took over my thoughts. What a coincidence that they both had the same name!
   I took the keys and before leaving, I looked at myself in a small mirror hanging on the wall. In an unconscious movement, I adjusted the blue sports jacket I was wearing and tried to comb my hair... I smiled. Since when did I get ready to go out? What was I thinking? Better said, in who?
   I didn't waste time on self-deception. I was getting ready for Damien. The fact of knowing that I was going to see him made me feel anxious and...happy. Even though he was still sick to his stomach. After he had brought me the day before, our new meeting promised to be interesting. I would try to put aside my shyness and my personal rule of not getting intimate with anyone beyond a “hello” and “bye-bye.” I was going to make the most of all the time I had. I would heed Alice's advice.
   I walked down a narrow path, still quite dizzy. But the fresh air seemed to help. And I arrived at the fork feeling a little better. Even so, I was still nervous about my meeting with Damien so I tried to pay attention to the road so as not to get lost again. I crossed the road and went a little further.
   "Hello, Emma!" I heard behind me.
   Amber and Maggie were coming towards me. I stopped to wait for them. I was glad I didn't have to walk to school alone. I tried to think of something that sounded sociable.
   "Nice morning!" I said moving forward again. I walked between both young women.
   "It's cold," Maggie's voice sounded harsh.
   "And it's cloudy," Amber noted.
   " Still," I insisted. "it seems like a pleasant morning to me."
   Maggie growled.
   I thought the only one grunting was me. Or my mother when she didn't like something.
   "Is something wrong, Maggie?" She didn't know whether to ask. Her face was unfriendly.
“She won't see Adam today,” Amber said, looking at her out of the corner of her eye.
   "And why not?" I asked without understanding too much.
   “Because they have a family reunion,” Maggie said reluctantly.
   And upon hearing that “they have” it seemed that she was infecting me with her reluctance. I understood perfectly well that she wouldn't see Damien either.
   “Ah,” I stammered.
   But still, I tried to see the good side of the situation. Despite the disappointment, I was able to make better use of my day and catch up on notes and subjects.
   "Could you lend me your math notes?" I asked Maggie.
   "Yes, of course, I have them here. By the way, Adam told me to give you the history notes you asked for."
   "Notes?" I said without understanding too much.
   Maggie reached into her backpack and pulled out a stack of bound sheets. I looked at the scribbled handwriting and the margins filled with drawings everywhere.
   "What? Hadn't you asked him for the notes?" Maggie asked, frowning.
   Flipping through, I reached the last page and saw - in more stylized handwriting and with less haste - my name.
   I lowered the pages suddenly and said:
   "Yes of course. I asked him for them." and I hurriedly put them in my backpack.
   I was intrigued to have read my name in those notes.Adam had been very polite. He had a cheeky smile and exuded confidence from every pore. He made me laugh and, next to him, it was very comfortable to be. But that lie in the notes intrigued me. But a minute later the memory of Damien erased Adam from my head. Damien seemed to have completely upstaged him. Even though he had barely spoken to me and I had only seen him smile a couple of times. He had treated me contemptuously more than I would have liked.
   However, it was Damien who seemed to have taken over all my thoughts. Although I still didn't understand why I had felt electricity when I shook Adam's hand, just like it had with Damien. It seemed like it was a common thing. In the end it was going to turn out that it was not something about love but about physics. Maybe I had too much static that day. I smiled. And before I realized it, we had already reached the door of the institute.
   I sighed. It really was a shame knowing that she wouldn't see Damien that day. I just realized how many expectations I had placed on that.
  "And when is Adam's family reunion?" I asked as if passing by.
   Maggie shrugged. You could see the sadness in her eyes.
   “Those meetings last a long time,” she told me. “Sometimes they only last a couple of days. But others take more than a week. They meet at the three families' summer home, at the foot of Mount Shasta. How I would like to be invited to that house one day! And spend a weekend with Adam there…,"  Maggie looked at me suddenly. "I mean, with Adam and his entire family."
   "Yes," Amber said, getting into the conversation. "I would like to go away too. Especially this weekend. I'll have to spend these days locked up. Every time there are sacrifices I get so scared that it's hard for me to even go shopping."
   "Sacrifices?" I looked at her stunned.
   Amber and Maggie exchanged glances and I didn't miss the fact that they had turned pale.
" Come, let's go to class and I'll tell you," Maggie told me.
   I followed her to room 711. That day I had Literature and, luckily for me, they were both in my class. I gave the teacher my form and she introduced me to the students. There was only one empty seat. Amber and Maggie had sat together. She had to sit behind them, next to a young man she had met the day before, in the cafeteria. And whose name, of course, I didn't remember.
   "Hello, Emma," he greeted me.
   " Hello…"
   " …Anthony."
   "Sure, you're Maggie's brother."
   The young man smiled, pleased that he had remembered it.
   “Adam gave me this for you,” he told me in a low voice, looking askance at Maggie. I looked at his hand, which was extended toward me from under the table. A handful of candies glistened in gold wrappers. I smiled and took them. They were the same as the ones he had given me the day before.
   The teacher began the class talking about Whitman and how he had created a different poetry in which he established a more direct relationship with his readers. But my mind, after that, shut down and I didn't hear it anymore. Without being able to stop it, Damien had gotten into my head again. I really wanted to see it. I unwrapped a piece of candy and put it in my mouth. It was brown, but very sweet. And that sweetness enveloped me immediately. And I thanked Adam silently for that gift. But quickly the image of Damien came into my thoughts. I smiled again.
   Maggie turned and looked at me, while the teacher continued talking about Whitman and wrote something on the board. Maggie placed a piece of paper on top of my notebook and looked forward again.
   “I'll tell you about the sacrifices,” she had written.
   Her handwriting was small and tight but very clear.

“You must be careful in the forest. For many years, every beginning of the month animals have been found sacrificed along the beach. They are crazy. But even though they've never been caught, this is a small town. And people talk…”

   I took my pen and wrote on the other side.
   "And who is suspected?"
   I touched Maggie's back and handed her the paper. A few seconds later, she returned it to me and I read:
   "The dark ones".
   But I didn't have time to ask anything else. Well, I noticed that the teacher was looking at me with a frown.
   "Well, La Rue, do you know the answer to my question?"
   "Eh…, no, professor, I'm sorry. I hadn't even heard the question." And immediately I felt that she made me blush. She had all eyes on me. The teacher pursed her lips and chose another student to answer.
   From there, I forced myself to pay attention. He had started that class on the wrong foot. And I was sorry because literature was one of my favorite subjects. I diligently took all the notes I could until the end of class, and volunteered to answer a couple of questions that I did know the answers to. The teacher seemed pleased and class ended.
   “What are the Dark Ones?” I asked Maggie as we went to our next class. For some reason that topic had stuck strongly in my mind. I was fascinated from the beginning.
   " Keep your voice down!" She told me nervously, looking everywhere. I noticed that a couple of students had looked at me in a rather strange way.
   I followed the crowd to the top floor. We arrived at room 803. IT. I growled. I didn't like computers. I didn't find anything interesting about them. From what I saw, the boys spent hours in bloodthirsty games and the girls spent hours talking to who knows who and about what they know what. I wasn't very sociable. But if I was forced to talk to someone, I preferred to do it in person and not through a machine where too many lies were told. Or maybe none of those were the reasons I disliked computers. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Alice and I used the computers to find a new place to live, a new job for her, and a new school for me.
   I introduced myself to the professor - who seemed too young to be a professor - and sat down in front of the first free computer I found. On the next machine were Maggie and Amber. Although there were other terminals available, they apparently preferred to share the same machine. Surely they would want to talk. And surely the chosen theme was “Adam”. I knew then that it was going to be difficult for me to get more information from them. So I took advantage of the fact that the teacher was busy with a computer in the back that apparently had problems turning on. I opened a search engine page and typed four words:

“The dark ones, Crescent City.”

And I started the search. I was surprised by the number of pages that appeared, mentioning the topic. I looked over my shoulder. I saw that the teacher was still entertained so I opened the first page of the list. With great attention, I read:

   “The dark ones are the descendants of the incubi and the succubi…”

I didn't understand even half a word. So I opened another page and read, skipped:

“…Its sacred place is the outer stones.”

Using the mousse, I scrolled through the text a little further and read:

“In Crescent City, California there is a long-standing settlement used by the Dark Ones, a secret order to which its members are recruited by blood.”

I opened another page, as quickly as I could, and read:

“The skull ring is its ultimate symbol.”

And finally, further down in smaller letters it could be read:

“The Nemesis of the Dark Ones are called The Penitents..."

When I saw that the teacher began to approach, I hurriedly took out my notebook and a pencil and copied in hasty handwriting the skipped sentences that he had read. I suddenly closed all the pages, including the search engine. I tore the page from my notebook and put it folded in my pocket. And the class began.
   I had too much to understand and too much to figure out. I didn't need to reread my quick notes again. For some reason they had stuck in my mind, without the slightest effort. And from everything I had read, two words had caught my attention: succubus and incubus. I had no idea what they meant so I was impressed that I could remember them so easily. And I set out to find a way to find out what it was all about. I heard the bell ring that ended class. I closed my Excel table and sighed.
   I was hungry so I followed Maggie and Amber to the cafeteria. I chose the largest sandwich I could find and helped myself to a lemonade. We sat at the same table as the day before, along with Anthony and Amber's boyfriend whose name of course I couldn't remember and another young man who I thought I remembered was called Dylan. While listening - fragmented - to the conversation that had arisen in the group, about an upcoming soccer game, I began to think about how to decipher the information I was missing. I didn't dare openly ask those at the table. So I just ate my sandwich while I considered alternatives. At home we didn't have an internet connection or a cell phone. I could borrow one. Surely anyone there had one. But he didn't want to explain. I finished the lemonade and the sandwich almost without realizing it. He had participated very little in the conversation but no one seemed to notice. I looked at my schedule. I had to go to another building - according to what the copy of the plan I had showed me.
   As I walked out, I noticed Maggie and Amber coming next to me. They had to take Chemistry in room 145 and I had to take Spanish in room 143. I arrived at the building and started looking for the classroom. The two girls said goodbye to me in the hallway. I couldn't find room 143 anywhere, so I rummaged through my backpack looking for the schedule to check the room number. And then I came across Adam's notes. My schedule seemed to have gotten stuck on the last page. I took out my notes and schedule and was petrified when I read two words… I stopped suddenly in the hallway without realizing that I collided with a couple of students.
   With wide eyes, I read the note Adam had written for me at the end of the notes:

Emma,

I have to be away for a few days. I will try to keep them few. And since I know you'll miss me- heh heh- I recommend that you use your weekend in the best way. Visit the beach, the one on the south side of your house. You will love the landscape. Of course, be careful with the incubi and succubi that are out there! See you soon,

Adam.

P.S. I hope you liked the candies. (I hope Anthony gave them to you and he didn't eat them himself!)

I reread the part where I mentioned those two enigmatic words. I smiled. I already had plans for my next weekend.  
Thanks, Adam! I thought. A few minutes later I found my living room and entered with my thoughts far away from there.