Inheritance

Chapter 1

I don't know what in the good and sane world is going on but the wind is howling along with my morbid mood, now usually that wouldn't be odd, but seeing as I'm in a classroom sealed off from the rest of the world, I am, personally, classifying it as insanely weird. Mrs. Peterson is just passing out our mock SAT essays with a healthy wallop of criteria as each paper lands softly on a desk, suffice to say the gazillion year old Deinósavṟos less than appreciates my view of the subject and she gave me my first C ever! As if that didn't irk me enough she went and gave Livore an A as if that little skýla could even spell her name right without the help of her entourage. As I feel my temper peaking, a breeze picks up in the classroom. Suddenly my anger dims and the breeze disappears even faster than it appeared. The bell rings to signal the end of a school day and relief washes through me as we all pack up and file out of the room. I find Amicitia waiting for me right outside looking royally peeved off with her white blond hair sticking out of her head, looking like she had an accident in AP Chem. "Did you see that?"

"What?"

"That mini tornado in the middle of the courtyard!" I shake my head and decide not to tell her what happened in class. As we walk to her car she goes on about what Chris has done now. Amicitia and Chris started dating about three months ago and they haven't stopped bickering since but he loves her more than anything else and she loves him about just about as much, so I let it slide.

As we reach her car Chris catches up with us and gives her a kiss on the forehead. Behind them I see Livore stomping towards us with hair that looks like she made a stop in the 1980's. She unlocks her car next to us, climbs into her car and gives me the stink eye which Chris, Amicitia and I return threefold. She whips her frizzy hair that's almost as black as her heart back and races out of the parking lot leaving the three of us laughing so much that my stomach starts to ache, and my bladder feels pressured.

We climb into Amicitia's little Volkswagen and race off school grounds. Luckily, it's Friday so I don't have to see the damned place again until Monday. "So, any plans for your birthday yet?" Oh yeah Monday is also my Birthday. "Probably just a good movie and a lot of fast food with about two tons of ice cream and chocolate and maybe a friend or two to help eat all the sugar."

"I volunteer!" the two of them shout in unison. We laugh, we talk about school, teachers, movies, books, boys (much to Chris's chagrin) and our plans for the weekend until Amicitia pulls into my driveway and I give her an awkward hug from the back seat and say goodbye as I closed the door.

I can hear music coming from the house as well as the smell of bacon, mushroom and cheese which means dad's cooking, so we'll be eating like kings tonight. "I'm home!" I call out into the cheerfully decorated house as I close the front door. I walk into the kitchen to be proven right. My dad is standing in front of the stove making a mouth-watering Alfredo. "So, we're actually eating something edible tonight," I say with a wink. "Well that's not nice is it?" I hear my mother's voice from behind me I turn around to see her smiling and give her a hug. Dad gives us a look that says scram and seconds later his mouth says it. "Now, now you two don't disturb the chef otherwise you'll be washing dishes for the rest of your life."

"Yes sir!" we salute like dutiful soldiers and walk into the dining room. We start setting the table while mom tells me about her day at work. Mom and dad work at the same security firm, Centaur Security, so I usually only have to ask one of them how their day was because it's usually the same story. After the table's set we go to the living room and watch reruns of NCIS and Bones until dad calls us to the dining room to eat. At the dinner table mom and dad chat about the 83-year old man that tried to break into his own house using a pencil. I start to think about what happened in class today. I definitely wasn't anywhere near logical when that odd calmness washed over me. "Katei?" startled I looked up at my parents. "Yes, Mom?"

"What's on your mind, sweetie?" Dad looks at me with worry in his eyes, "Is there something wrong with the pasta?" I almost want to laugh at the question. "Now that's a silly question isn't it, Dad? Nah, I'm just contemplating the universe, nothing much," I say with a wink and take a bite of the Alfredo, letting the creamy cheese sauce coat my tongue as I try to think about something else.

After dinner I excuse myself from the room and go up the stairs to my room (aka the attic). I plop down on my bed and before I know what's happening I fall asleep.

It's dark around me, but I hear far-off screams and the thuds of army boots hitting the ground in a steady rhythm. There's water dripping from the sky above me yet there are no clouds in sight. That's when the sorrow hits me, a pain so strong and powerful, it feels as if it's punching a hole through my stomach, I see a body in front of me, he looks familiar, but I can't place him, not yet anyway. What I do know is that he is certifiably gorgeous, long lashes, golden skin, hair as golden as a sunrise over mountains and oceans, lifeless eyes a mixture of blue, green and grey looking at me and blood, so much blood around his head, I didn't even think there was that much blood in a person's body. I feel a scream working its way up my throat, not only one of horror, but one of grief, retching through my body. Suddenly light returns to the world and I see war, bloodthirsty, horrible war. In the distance I see two blurry figures engaged in ferocious battle, anger and hate fills me from the heels of my feet straight up to the tips of my hair. I start running towards the two blurry figures, my clothes already bloody from cradling the strange boy's body.

I'm pulled to consciousness by the wet feeling on my cheeks and the hoarseness of my throat. Why did the boy in the dream seem so familiar? Usually my dreams fade within seconds after I wake up, but I can still feel the crushing desperation, I can still remember everything with crystal clarity. Thinking about the dream, I drift into a, fortunately, dreamless sleep.