Waking up in the morning had to be one of my least favorite things to do. Being drawn back into my regular life from dreams with a tall, tanned, blonde guy (who's hair was constantly changing) was not one of my favorite things to do. The only thing I was ever able to recall from my dreams was his name, Jack. I'm not sure why his name's Jack. Honestly, I think it should be Felix meaning happy in Latin. He always seemed cheerful in my dreams. I even had one where he was trying to fix the sink. I woke up crying from that one. I didn't know why or for what because it ended like all the others. He kisses me and leans forward to say, "I will find you." Of course when I first had this dream when I was around five my mom started freaking out and saying that I was possessed by demons. Not that I was. A priest had come later that day to prove that. What he had said, though, had made it seem like I did have a demon somewhere and I was just hiding it. My mom gave me up for adoption after that. Then I landed in one home after another until I turned eighteen. I was lucky that my mom had left me some money in a deposit that she hadn't touched. So I got my own place and went to school. I even got a degree. Now I'm a high school teacher, a creative writing teacher to be exact. I work on the newspaper with the students and they seem to like me well enough...
Throwing my arm over my eyes, I groaned and sat up unhappily. Letting my arm fall, I noticed that it was still two hours before school opened for the teachers to get in. Tiredly, I stood up and just stared at my wall for a while before I stretched and yawned. A quick shower was in order and after that a couple cups of coffee. After the coffee, I would eat a snack bar and maybe chill on the couch before I went to work. I usually had lesson plans to do but luckily, I had turned them in yesterday. Even my students knew that I didn't want to do a lot in the morning but they kept my spirits up by sometimes bringing me a cup of coffee or a small treat. Not something that happened to every teacher, let me tell you. Mrs. Withers was complaining about my attitude just the other day and had scoffed at my scores. Then again, I actually had the top scores in the school. I didn't even know why I was worrying. Agitated with my slow pace, I hopped in the shower after starting the coffee pot. With surprising speed, I was out and in my work clothes (a polo shirt and slacks with my favorite boots) tinkering around my kitchen. My apartment was right by the school so I was able to walk there everyday. Plus I intended to start Shakespeare today.
Happily reminded of the fact, I started humming. Grabbing my bag, I pulled off the wrapper to my snack bar and threw it in the trash. Locking the door with my breakfast in my mouth, I started to make my way to the school. I had been doing pretty good with getting there recently. I had always been there early but now I got there before all the other teachers. Then again I should considering the fact that I was living by the school. Finishing off my bar with a crunch, I swallowed it and walked in the front doors. The front hall was still closed but the library should be open. It always was with Ms. Hallow in there. She was my favorite person here and we often had lunch together. Making my way there, I walked to the library and blinked astounded. It was closed. She was always here earlier. I even considered it a law against nature to be here before she was. Shocked, I glared at the door before I sighed and made my way back to the front hall. I was on the second floor of A hall but that didn't stop me from stomping my way there. It wasn't like anyone was here anyway. I angrily jammed my keys into my classroom door and opened it.
Muttering curses under my breath, I was about to throw my bag on my desk when I saw it. It was the King of Hearts from a deck of cards on a student's desk. It hadn't been there when I left, Friday, so why was it here now? Confused, I set my bag on the floor and contemplated the card. It had the usual K in the upper left hand corner but the cover art was unusual. It had a man covered with a black cloth but his arms came out from beneath it. His arms were bent towards himself and his hands held swords that crossed at the hilt. He had a blindfold on that covered most of his face. Although his short blonde hair didn't escape my notice, or the fact that he was tan. If anything he looked remarkably like Felix. Turning it over to see the deck art, I only found a heart with a single word going through the heart like an arrow: Victory. Frowning, I turned back to the face of it and examined it for anything else. Nothing seemed to pop out at me, so I put it in my desk and started to get my classroom ready.
