October 25, 1999 – Outskirts of Eva – Zone 47

  The light and continuous wind that shakes the treetops brings with it dark clouds, indicating that today the star king will not occupy his stage.

  Sarah is leaving the house wearing an entirely gray shirt.

  Already at the house gate, she hears her mother calling her.

  "Hey! Aren't you going to take an umbrella? Also, don't you want me or your father to take you?"

  "No, he needs to sleep. He stayed up late happy with the game."

  "Ahnnn... Just remembering what that man played last night..."

  After a moment of sighing, Leila resumes.

  "That is no problem, I will take you!"

  "Aren't you going to travel? You cannot be late! Just grab the umbrella and I will walk." Sarah finishes her speech looking at the cloudy sky.

  Leila watches her with admiration. "Just a moment!" She runs inside.

  During the time she goes in, Sarah sits on the sidewalk and closes her eyes to cease all visual stimulus. The wind that surrounds the place has increased in intensity since she opened the veranda door earlier.

  Something hitting her head interrupts the moment.

  Looking over her head and behind, her mother appears with a silly smile.

  "The biggest one? Really?" Sarah complains lightly, takes the umbrella and gives her mother a kiss on the cheek.

  At that moment Leila places her forehead against Sarah's and closes her eyes.

  "Daughter, never forget! It does not matter who you are..."

  "...but who you want to be!" Sarah completes the sentence. "I will not forget." A closed-mouth smile naturally appears. "Have a good trip mom!"

  "Take care at school, ok?"

  "You can leave it to me." Sarah is already on the sidewalk walking. She turns and makes a quick mocking grimace while sticking out her tongue. She turns again and follows her path.

  Leila is caught by surprise and remains without reaction, but soon smiles again and goes back inside the house.

  On the way to school the wind intensifies. Above, the clouds begin to darken the sky more and more. Everything seems about to collapse. Sarah quickens her steps and prepares to cross a street.

  When she steps on the asphalt.

  A black butterfly with red glowing spots almost collides with her face. In a movement of pure reaction, she manages to dodge to the side.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  At that moment she stops and watches the butterfly continuing its path. More being carried by the wind than actually flying freely.

  The butterfly seems to fly slowly in Sarah's perspective, until it disappears behind a gray wall.

  Not that the butterfly was not fast. But in that small bubble of time that Sarah entered for a brief moment, the butterfly was flapping its wings as if it were being filmed in slow motion.

  When it disappears, everything returns to normal, and the first drops of water fall colliding against the asphalt.

  The school gate is right there, one block away. Sarah notices that Marcela has just arrived and is getting out of a car.

  Accelerating her steps, she manages to approach the car window before it leaves. With two quick knocks on the glass, she is noticed.

  "Hi Sarah, everything okay?"

  He sketches a smile while finishing lowering the window.

  "Everything is fine. Did my mother call you?"

  "She did, if it rains a lot I will take you home. You can stay calm."

  "Thank you, see you later!"

  She accelerates her steps again, as she begins to feel the rain getting heavier. When she reaches Marcela in the courtyard, she arrives already poking the side of her belly with the umbrella. Marcela jumps to the side placing her hand where she was hit, looking frightened to the side.

  She quickly removes the tense expression and lets out a sigh.

  "It could only be you. I do not even know why I still get scared, uff." She suddenly makes a face of pain.

  "Oh come on! It did not even hurt!" Sarah minimizes Marcela's reaction.

  "Oh really? Come here!" Then Marcela runs after Sarah who escapes toward the cafeteria.

  "Aiaiaiaiai, protect me, she wants to hit me!" Sarah hides behind Bernardo who is sitting on a bench, eating a piece of bread and drinking chocolate milk.

  Silence.

  Bernardo looks at Marcela and then at Sarah.

  "The one who least needs protection here is you!" He tries to hide his laughter.

  Sarah pushes the back of his head and sits on the bench beside him.

  "Not funny." She grumbles quietly.

  Marcela sits on a bench in front of Bernardo while catching her breath.

  "Let me tell you… if it is raining when class ends, your father will give me a ride home, then I will ask you to stay there with me. Because my father will be working, and my mother will travel at noon. Just so I do not stay alone you know."

  Sarah explains her elaborate plan to Marcela. Bernardo just listens.

  "But you always stay alone. I think he will not allow it." Marcela shows concern with the plan.

  "Wait, I did not finish... then in the afternoon, around two o'clock, Bernardo will go to my house." Sarah furrows her brow and silently makes a slight pout while casting looks sometimes at Bernardo and sometimes at Marcela.

  "Interesting... I liked it. What time does your father come back?" Bernardo says after giving one last check at the mug that is already empty.

  "He only comes back at night, but her father will come pick her up in the afternoon I think." Sarah answers him while turning her eyes to Marcela.

  "But I can ask him to let me sleep at your house, what do you think?"

  "Perfect! Then you can try to sneak out at night you know." Sarah throws these words toward Bernardo and gives a small poke with her finger on his belly, which makes him shrink to the side in a failed attempt to dodge.

  "AAAI! Wait! I have to check with my mother, I will already be out all afternoon, if she does not mind. By the way what time does your father usually go to sleep?"

  "He arrives tired around nine o'clock. Always at the same time. Takes a shower, eats dinner and goes to bed usually around ten."

  "Look, my mother wakes up early to clean the streets, so she sleeps very early. She will already be snoring by that time. I think I can sneak out."

  "Deal then! Now let's go to class, because there is a Hunters Guild test and I did not study anything." Sarah's face clearly shows a slight concern about what is to come.

  "Yeah right... I know. You never study and always do well on tests." Marcela accuses her.

  "As a future Shadow Hunter, this test will be easy!" Bernardo boasts while remaining calm.

  "I already told you, the secret is to concentrate in class. The teachers rarely charge homework content. I keep saying that."

  Sarah is already standing up and pulling the two forward toward the classroom.

  A black cloak, as dense as darkness itself.

  It is the first thing everyone notices when the woman from the guild arrives with the tests.

  Sarah is the first to finish.

  Another teacher comes, and then another one.

  Thus the morning soon fades away.

  Meanwhile the rain continues pouring outside.