The days went by. We studied in school for our graduation, trained for future competitions – I would probably not be part in anymore – and practiced for performances on stage.
Almost every day I spent time with Cassian, though it was sometimes only in the cafeteria or in class where we held hands.
It was like a daily routine clawed at us and on some days it was dry. Doing the same things without any new things every day. In our town nothing ever happened. So, what great thing could we even do?
The cinema could only play one movie at a time because it had only one auditorium – actually, a few years back it was planned that the cinema should be built greater but nothing changed until now.
There were a few cute cafés but most of them were too expensive and I didn't really want to eat cake everyday.
Then there was the Spotlight on which only opened in the evening and normally, I only went to that place if we had a performance.
At the end of my list, there was only the forest, however I knew every centimeter of it.
And the black forest is a popular holiday spot for many tourists. Our village didn't have many visitors and with that not many tourists were in our territory, but if you weren't aware of them, you could still meet humans in the woods who don't keep track of the required hiking trails.
Normally we try to avoid them to not meet humans by accident.
There just was something missing that life wasn't boring like that.
Cassian's birthday came closer too and I still had no idea what I could give him as a gift. We both were in a new kind of relationship and we – or more I – needed to build up trust.
As much effort we already spent, there was something unspoken and my insides already knew what the unspoken was I needed to hear. My scars, the marks of a traitor, my shame.
He swore me he would tell me and I would wait until he was ready.
This deed... wasn't easy to shoulder and he didn't remember it – probably because of the alcohol and the wolfsbane powder in it.
He should take his time, as long as he needs to. I didn't want to force him and it would take much surmounting to tell me his reasons, mostly because we were mates now.
»Kyran!«
Startled, I flinched and pulled my head up. The instruments around me were quiet and six pairs of eyes watched me attentively.
»Where are you with your head? This was your part!« Ethan bellowed and drove his fingers through hair, obviously stressed.
Normally, Ethan was calm when we practiced but I understood his stressed-out behavior pretty well.
He needed to get his completely drunk father four days ago from the police station and not even two days later did Mister Conner get admitted to the hospital with alcohol poisoning. I was truly glad that he would get his place soon in the psychiatric hospital.
Ethan wouldn't be able to hold on much longer, I was sure of that. He wasn't as strong as he pretended to be. He was like me. Would rather put up a mask and act as if he was fine.
And like I, he learned that too soon.
»You missed your part for the third time today! Concentration!«
I slightly lowered my head before I let go of the neck of the e-guitar – the one Cassian gifted me – and tousled my hair.
»Ethan, I think we should stop for today. We already know that Kyran is able to sing this song and he can't concentrate today, as it looks like. How about we postpone our practice? I too need to go home soon. My mother ordered me to go shopping,« Jack came to my rescue and only got a loud snort from Ethan in return.
»I agree with Jackson. You need a break too. Maybe you should take a run or something like that to clear your head. And Kyran too should do something to clear his head. We still can practice tomorrow!«
Flora put away her e-guitar with a determined expression and put away the stuff she used. Sighing Ethan gave up after Jackson also started to put away the things he used. I joined them and not only ten minutes later we switched off the lights and left the music room.
Our school spent a great amount of money – they rebuilt the music room after our request to make it soundproof. And they made precautions with that, so they didn't need to listen to our practice.
»Oh, come on, you can't be serious,« my former best friend cursed as we pushed open the doors to leave the building – the lessons already ended and we had 16 o' clock by now.
»Have fun getting wet!« Flora giggled and ran up to a car which was waiting in the parking lot. Behind the wheel was one of her female friends, I didn't even know and I didn't know her name either – I only knew they were friends.
»Grit your teeth and get over with it!« Jackson pulled up his jacket so it hung over his head – the jacket had no hood – and then ran right away into the rain.
»See you tomorrow, guys!« we could still hear him screaming in the distance, but it was hard to hear even for us. It just poured too heavily.
»I'm on my way too then.«
Surprised, I looked over to Ethan who eyed everything near us before he changed form and stood on his four paws.
He looked up to me for a short moment, snorted and then trotted away.
His dark-gray fur with the white chest and the black tail was immediately soaking wet and even from my spot I could see the fur that hung over his eyes – he always had longer fur on his head and when he got wet it fell over his eyes to complicate his sight.
»Wonderful.«
I thought heavily about calling Cas if he could get me but I didn't want to disturb him with his Alpha-lessons.
Did I really need to walk through the rain?
»As I thought, you have no desire to walk through the rain.« A unmanly scream left my body, before my head flung to the familiar voice.
»Dammit, Enzo.«
I put my hand over my too quickly beating heart and breathing in and out.
In. Out. In. Out.
Lately, I have been reacting too sensitive to every little thing. Maybe the reason was that I got inattentive and the wolf inside me didn't like that.
But in Cassian's presence, that I felt daily, my body calmed down and felt protected – it let the protective walls of my castle fall down.
»What're you doing here?« I asked after I finally calmed down and realized that the dark-skinned witcher was before me. He halted next to me to stand under the roof and shook the umbrella.
»The others are away and I didn't want to be alone at home...« he started, swallowing heavily.
»And I had a vision that it would rain today and that you would come home looking and smelling like a soaking wet dog. Then you would get a cold again and Cassian would go crazy with every cough, sneeze and croak. You can thank me now that I will save you from that.«
A laugh left me that expressed my thanks. A concerned Naika was awful, a concerned mother was terrible but a concerned and worried Cassian was torture.
»Then, thank you!«
He pulled a second umbrella out from his bag and held it towards me.
»I don't want to squeeze together under one umbrella,« he laughed but the mischievous smirk on his lips was only fake.
I tried to not show him that I looked through his masquerade. He put up the mask to not worry us.
His visions didn't get more but they didn't get less too. He still saw the same pictures, they only got more detailed and he could see more, Enzo explained. But even though he could find out what was behind the visions, I was scared of what he would see.
»If we make it on time, we can watch a movie that will show in about half an hour,« the wither said and grinned at me.
»Well, then let's go!« I yelled determinedly and opened my umbrella before we walked through the stormy wet weather.
And though we had the umbrellas we still arrived wet at home. My pants were up to my knees soaking wet and if I would wring it out over the sink, I could fill buckets with that much water.
However, I stepped into a puddle and not only in small ones, but also in some where my foot disappeared under the water.
Both of us ran into our rooms, dressed in something comfortable and warm before we met in the living room.
While Enzo put on the movie, I prepared us some blankets and pillows, two warm water-bottles and two herbal teas, snacks too.
»Hey, you two.« I turned my head around as I poured the hot water into the cups and saw Witch and Coffee who both snuggled against Enzo and quietly purred.
»So, which movie is it?« I asked and placed both cups onto the table in front of the couch before I walked back to get the warm water-bottles and the snacks.
»Sit down and enjoy it.«
He didn't need to wait long before I was wrapped up in a blanket and put one of the warm water-bottles to my frozen toes. With my hands I grabbed the tea and watched the last ad.
Something about a ship trip. If I wouldn't get sea sick, I would do it too. And just when the ad ended the movie started.
It was the typical opening credit with the intro from Columbia – the Statue of Liberty, but as a real woman and not in the original color.
Other movies started, for example, with the intro from Paramount – the stars that made a circle. Universal, the intro with the earth that probably everyone knew. The 20th Century Fox into most people knew too, and obviously the typical intro of Disney with the castle – the Neuschwanstein castle in Germany.
The first thing I saw from the movie was a black coated horse and sand that whirled up. From somewhere I knew the first seconds, I was sure of that for a hundred percent!
And then the horse raised his hoofs into the air and we saw a man dressed in black with a black mask and a black hat that carved a Z into the screen with his rapier.
The Legend of Zorro.
I had no idea how often I already watched this movie together with Maxim. Probably dozens of times and I could watch it again and again.
Someday I would force Cassian to watch it with me and actually, back then I promised myself to watch it with my children too in a few years.
He just reflected that you should fight for justice and for the weak. The character showed that perfectly and that was one of the reasons why I loved that movie so much.
»You know me the best,« I breathed and slurped my tea while the first scene started.
»That too. But truthfully, I had a small vision that you would be disappointed that you missed the movie,« Enzo laughed teasingly and leaned against the back of the couch, slurping his tea and Witch on his lap.
The rain still didn't stop but that didn't matter to me anymore. The movie just engaged me too much.
[Authors Note]
Do you know the movie?
Do you have a favorite movie?
LeseMate