Morana

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I stayed at Alejo's for a bit longer. To make the atmosphere lighter again, we planned the next day. Not that it was much planning really. He would pick me up in the morning and then take me to the closest witch-bank and I didn't need to bring anything apart from money.

We also exchanged phone numbers in case something would come up. I had gotten a new phone from the store that day, since the truck had destroyed my previous one. It was an extremely cheap one, which only had the most essential features, absolutely nothing special. But I smiled at it as I saw Alejo's number in it, the first new number added to it.

He then drove me home.

"See you at ten tomorrow then," he told me when I stood with the front door into my apartment open. I lived on the third floor, but he had found it natural to walk me up the stairs.

"Yeah, see you," I answered and there was a momentary awkwardness as neither of us seemed to want to be the one turning their back on the other. Then Alejo surprised me by giving me a quick hug before walking off.

As I got in, I laid down on the bed and stared at a yellow spot on the ceiling.

"Leramidon, I really don't get what's up with me," I told my turtle. And I really didn't get it. What I had told Alejo about what had happened in that particular foster home, I had kept to myself for so long. After the two people I had been the closest to see as parents ever in my life, though still not even close, hadn't believed me, it had broken me. The following times, I had always kept it to myself to avoid being called a liar.

Because yeah, that was far from the only time something like that had happened. And the older I had gotten, the nastier it had become.

"He's really sweet," I continued talking to Leramidon, and Alejo really had been sweet. He hadn't hesitated about believing me and only sought to comfort. "I really hope nothing will happen that'll make me scare him away. Or that he'll turn out to be someone different than he seems."

I felt my mood drop by several degrees after having said that. If I did something to scare him away, that would be fine. Or maybe not fine, but I could live with it. I wouldn't have anything but my own idiotic behavior to blame then. But if he did something, if he was lying or pretending right now...

It was so odd. I didn't actually know him all too well, and he didn't play a big role in my life. At least not yet, since I had only met him the day before. But I felt that if he would turn out to be an asshole, like most others I had met throughout my life, if he would turn out to consciously hurt me, that would be more painful than anything I had ever experienced.

"It has to be because he's the first other witch I've met," I concluded out loud.

Yes, that had to be it. There was a special connection between us because of that. Alejo could teach me about myself and he knew more about me than anyone else ever had without me even having to tell him. He had also accepted the ominous part of me. He wasn't scared by it, though he had more reason than anyone else had ever had to be. The rest could have forced themselves to think of it as just an odd feeling, nothing to pay attention to. But he knew it was my magic. It would make sense if that made him scared or worried about what I was capable of.

I kept myself busy with thinking about all the good things from the day and go over all the new information I had gotten from Alejo until it was time for bed. Then I tried to stop thinking about it, but failed miserably. It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that I managed to fall asleep, and that sleep wasn't a peaceful one.

I dreamed of dark shadows that swirled around me. Shifting about and plunging everything into darkness. They were close. Circling me. Pressing in on me. It was almost as if they danced, but they had no partner other than themselves. And the shadows were darkness, and all around them were darkness, but I could still distinguish them.

They hissed at me, talked to me. They were a choir of slithering voices and it echoed in the darkness they created. It made it hard to make out what they said, but even so, I knew what. Likely because it was a dream.

"Child of Hecate. Hear us. Child of Hecate. See us."

They said it over and over.

I woke up after only a few hours of sleep. Apart from being tired, I had a heavy feeling in my chest, caused no doubt by the dream. It was weird though, the shadows had been threatening with how they moved around me and ominous in their tone of voice. But the heavy feeling wasn't fear or worry. Instead, it rather felt like I had a void in me, that something was missing. And the shadows, with all their menacing qualities, didn't seem to have been dangerous. If anything, they had seemed sad.

It was so weird and would have spooked me out had I not been far too used to not being normal. Compared to have the captain of my college's football team drop his pants in the middle of a game right after I had wished for it, this all seemed much more normal. And I had received so much new information that my brain was bound to be a bit out of whack. The dream was without a doubt a result of that.

I got up and started getting ready. I had barely gotten dressed before my doorbell rang.

"Hi, you ready?" Alejo answered with a bright smile as soon as I opened the door.

"Yeah," I said and felt the butterflies in my stomach while thinking about all the new things I would experience and learn that day.

I took my jacket from the hanger by the door and was on my way to step out, but Alejo stood in the way.

"It's probably better if we leave through your apartment. Then we don't risk anyone seeing us go," he said and stepped inside.

"What do you mean?" I frowned, but closed and locked the door behind him.

"If we would go by any normal way, it'll take us maybe three hours to reach the bank. But there are magical ways that'll make us get there in the blink of an eye." He gave me a teasing smile and then held his hand out to me.

"Do I have to do anything?" I asked, hesitating to take his hand.

"Don't resist the pull. It'll feel uncomfortable since it's your first time, but try to relax. And don't let go of my hand."

I hesitated a moment longer before placing my hand in his. The next thing I knew, it felt like I spun faster than what was possible. I wanted to open my mouth and scream, but found it impossible to do. And even though Alejo had told me to not let go of his hand, I instinctually tried to. But his grip seemed to tighten to the point of being painful. That pain centered me though.

The experience was uncomfortable. I felt nauseas and out of control. The spinning pressed me outwards, but at the same time I was pushed to a center that was there, though also not. Alejo's hand, his tight grip, however, calmed me.