The Conjurer's Charm - The Dream Catcher series (BOOK 1)

1.2 || From the MIND ||

Mr Targewood prompted him to go in, and his quivering legs carried him to the door. He peeked in first to see if there'd been any arrangement made for an exam, but the tables and chairs were left unmoved.

"Come in, child," came the voice of a man from inside.

Alwold stepped into his brightly lit classroom and stopped by the door. He thought he saw a faint flash of colour in the air. A white man with long brown hair and a goatee sat at the teacher's desk, a laptop and a file with a long green feather inside it placed on his sides. A chair was kept in front of the teacher's desk for the student to sit.

"Sit down," the man said, smiling welcomely at him.

Alwold's lips twitched to a grim smile before he walked to the chair and sat down, taking a deep breath as he gulped.

"Tensed?" asked the man.

"Uh, no," uttered Alwold.

"It's completely natural to feel tensed, so don't worry."

Alwold pursed his lips and looked at the man's greyish eyes. He tapped a few keys on his computer and took hold of his pen, spinning it between his two fingers.

"Okay, so let me introduce myself. My name is Gareth, and I'm from the MIND, which stands for—" (Alwold primed his attention on his words) "—the Mental Inspection and Neuropsychology Department."

Alwold raised his brows and uttered an inaudible "oh."

"So, I'm just going to ask a few basic questions, just for our statistics research, and you will provide me honest answers."

"Okay," said Alwold submissively.

"First—" He hit a key on his computer. "Tell me your name, child."

"I'm Alwold. But everyone calls me 'Alo'."

"No need what others call you," he chuckled, "your full name would help."

"Right, I'm Alwold Jayson, then."

"Alwold ... Jayson," Gareth repeated, entering his name in his computer.

He opened his file, moved the feather aside (which Alwold wondered why he had an unnaturally large feather in his file) and scribbled something on it. His gaze returned to Alwold and he asked his next question.

"What is your age, Alwold?"

"I'm sixteen ... I turn seventeen in ... four months."

"And when is that?" he asked inquiringly.

"On the tenth of February."

"Let's just assume you are seventeen, then." His smile widened. "And you've been living here since you were born?"

"Yes."

"What do your parents do?"

Alwold's heart stopped. The mention of his parents suddenly drew out his mind blank. His jaw loosened and he stared plainly into Gareth's eyes narrowing below his furrowing eyebrows.

"You okay, boy?" Gareth asked gently.

"Yeah, I'm fine." His response was strongly unconvincing.

"About your parents. Are they with you or?"

Though under the realization to provide honest answers, he persuaded himself to lie this time.

"Uh, yeah, they're with me, they're just um ... at work." (Gareth's brows furrowed) "... in another country," completed Alwold, licking his lips.