3. First day in Woodhidge

LUCAS 

 

Do you know that time in the morning, mostly between 5am and 8am, when sleep is most pleasurable? Those precious hours are part of my favourite time of the day. Unfortunately for me, Mum decided to steal them from me and that was always a sign of a bad day. Always. 

 

“Lucas, Lucas, Lucas!” Mum yelled as she opened my room's door, thereby succeeding to wake me up. 

 

”What, Mum, this is what...5am?”

 

“You wish, polar bear. This is seven minutes after bloody eight, so don't stare at me like I'm waking you too early.“ Mum frowned, it was normal, she always had funny attitudes in the morning. 

 

Raising the curtains, Mum continued. “I am going out and I won't be back till the evening or so.”

 

”Where are you going this early?”

 

“Well, we just arrived last night and there are many things we have to do as no one has lived here in a while. I have to get some registration done, pay some little fees, get the heat back on, the gas and some other things."

 

“Ok." I echoed, annoyed that I wasn't feeling sleepy anymore. 

 

“Also, you know, I have to get you into Woodhidge High...don't worry, it's not like other schools, you will just have to fill a form and head directly into your class...everyone gets in."

 

“Ok.”

 

”Lastly, I have to meet Karen, she's the sweetest person, she was the one who got this place cleaned up for us...I have told you about her, right? Whatever, also, don't forget to unpack, come on!”

 

I sat upright on the bed and managed a smile. ”Bye Mum, it seems you have a lot on your plate today, it is best if you get on with them.”

 

”Love you, have fun!“ Mum turned around and the next sound I heard was the bang the entrance door made as she went through it. Then the soft sputtering of her car's engine as she zoomed off. And I was alone in the big house, probably spending my first full day in Woodhidge alone. Just great. 

 

I looked at my erected 'member' bulging from inside my underpants, and I wondered why that happened to guys every morning. The stubborn dude below likes to have his highlight every morning. That immediately brought my mind to what Caleb, the only true friend I had, said about the early morning predicament for men. Caleb, who was known to have a great sense of humour, believed that guys faced that in the morning because they had had sex in the night. One would think it was a joke but Caleb truly believed that and would have no other theory. 

 

If that was true, then I guess I'm not a virgin. 

 

Just as I thought of Caleb, he called me on the phone. 

 

”Lucas, what is popping, you haven't given me updates on the...what is the town's name again?”

 

“Woodhidge is the name and I just arrived last night, did you expect me to write a five-thousand word article describing the town?“

 

”That would have been great."

 

Caleb and I spoke for ten minutes straight on the phone, and when the call was over, I felt better. It wasn't bad hearing the voice of a friend especially when I had fears that making friends in Woodhidge might not be too easy.

 

I strolled to the kitchen and began making coffee for myself and chewing on a bagel though I hadn't washed my mouth at all. As I prepared breakfast, I recalled that Caleb told me he just started seeing a girl. What was funny was I had never had a girlfriend nor I have been intimate with any girl. And while it seemed alright for a sixteen year old, I knew quite well that most kids my age had at least two years to boast. It didn't bother me at all but without a doubt, I anticipated how I would feel when I would 'fall in love' for the first time.

 

I didn't believe in love, much less, true love. I felt people had to have a reason to like someone and if that is the case, I don't get what is ‘true' about love. If you see a girl and like her, it is obvious you like how she looks and nothing else. You can't say you like a girl because of her character—if you do, then you appreciate her as a person and could be nothing more than good friends with her. That was my thinking and nothing else. 

 

I stared at the metallic bracelet on my wrist. It wasn't pretty and honestly, it had been on me so long that I had come to see it as part of my body. When I was much younger, I used to have serious hatred for the bracelet. I knew it was my little prison, at least, it was a prison for my powers. Because of it, I couldn't use my powers, and if it was taken off me, I would die at the spot. At least that was what Mum had kept ringing in my ears...and why would I doubt her, even with the bracelet, I still fell terribly ill from time to time. 

 

But that was all in the past, I understand stood that if anything, the bracelet was doing me a favour. While it literally made me powerless, at least, it kept me alive. And I would have to bear to live with it for the rest of my life. Sixteen years and counting—I guess I was pulling it off already. 

 

Just as I took the last last sip of my black coffee, there was a knock at the door and I walked lazily and opened it. 

 

”Uhm, this is some bread here, my Mum wanted me to give you this... as a welcome gift to the, you know, community." A boy my age, with a quite long brown hair said, having a freshly baked bread wrapped carefully in a little disposable package. 

 

The boy was about my height and had a fancy blue cap, though he wore a hoody on it. He had very dark eyes and his shoulder-length hair was carefully trimmed at the edges. 

 

”Thank you, I'm Lucas, nice to meet you.”

 

“Nice to meet you too...I'm Alex, by the way.”

 

Quite unbelievably, we began to chat merrily as we reclined on the wooden rocking chairs that were in the veranda. We had a lot in common so it was easy for us to converse. Ten minutes into our first conversation, I had known that we had similar taste in music and art. We kept talking for almost one hour before he left and I went back into the house. 

 

What I found quite funny was the way Alex has asked me if I was a sorcerer. It felt weird. Perhaps I had to find a way to bring my mind to understand that I was in a different place, the most ‘unique' place I had ever seen—the most anyone could ever see. I had no idea what this town would bring for, and that I would have to have my last year of secondary education in the town was not really helping issues. Though I knew I was a Supernatural, it would take some time for me to get used to seeing other Supernaturals and knowing they knew about my powers. I had always hidden my true nature from even the best of my friends, and now that I didn't have to hide anything, I was still feeling weird about it all. 

 

Also, it would be a little weird to be taught geography by a vampire or werewolf. I couldn't wait to see how schooling in Woodhidge High would be like.  

 

 

EVELYN

 

I had just left Karen's place, and was cruising my way to my Joanna's home. My Aunt, Joanna, was pretty much the most fun person I had ever met. She had been one of the most important people in my childhood and was among the very few people I had still kept contact with when I left my hometown. 

 

Joanna was a darling. I remembered wondering as a kid how she always had a smiling face and an ever excited countenance. I had never succeeded in understanding the woman...not ever. To Joanna, everyday was meant to be a ’fun' and she would always do all in her power to make sure there was literally no dull moment in her life. For a woman who had been crippled from birth, Joanna found many ways to live beyond her problems and limitations. 

 

Most of all, what I could never forget about her was her kindness. If anyone could have a heart of gold, it was Joanna Adley. She was so considerate and incredibly caring. I can vividly recall all the days I would go and meet her for one problem or the other. As a kid, I would run to her home complaining that my parents were being too ‘mean' to me. As a matter of fact, my parents had been lovely people, at least while I was younger, and I had only been a naughty kid who couldn't take corrections. Growing up to be a teenager, I would go to her with endless boy troubles...and she would always be patient with me. She would always find a solution to my problems irrespective of what the issue was. I had never left her home feeling worse than I came and that led me to seeing her as a sort of hero. My personal hero. 

 

Funny thing was I still saw her that way. 

 

I walked into her little bungalow, and moving into the sitting room, she was sat on her couch, reading a newspaper with her face so close to the pages that her nose was touching the paper. As I look at her in the room—a place I was so familiar with, tears began to fall down my face. I don't know whether it was because everything looked the same or that she also reminded me of my late parents. 

 

From what I could see, the house looked untouched. The furniture and everything I could see in the house didn't seem old, but very familiar nonetheless. It was as though I was still sixteen and in high school. As I ran to meet her on the couch, she locked me in her tight embrace and I could see I wasn't the only one shedding tears. It was impossible to explain how it felt to hug Aunt Joanna...I would say wonderful, but that would be too much of an understatement. 

 

We chatted for a straight hour, both of us barely keeping mute for a minute. She began to tell me how my parents passed away and how they had been buried. I felt ashamed that I hadn't come for their burial. Even though we had issues, I should have found it my heart to forgive them, even if I knew they would never forgive me. I pushed those thoughts off my mind as I had cried over it severally in the past, and I had to be strong.

 

”Aunt Joanna, you don't have anyone here helping you, you know you need help.”

 

She then explained to me that there was a nurse who always stayed with her, but the woman had lost her grandmother and had gone out of town to mourn and grieve. 

 

“Still, you should have gotten someone to stay with you for the mean time, you shouldn't stay alone without help."

 

“I'm don't have a quarter of your powers, but my power is not completely useless...I can still pull one or two tricks to help myself."

 

I frowned at her. “You still need someone to stay and help you.”

 

“I'm only pulling your legs, the nurse assigned someone else to me and George also comes from time to time."

 

“Oh, that's good.” I let out, satisfied that she was alright, and I wouldn't have to go through the stress of finding someone for her. ”By the way, who is George?”

 

”He is an adorable kid who comes to help me.” Aunt Joanna said, further telling me how well-mannered the boy was, and she began singing praises for the boy. But then she mentioned the boy being quite special as he was a weredragon. 

 

“Wait, he is a what?"

 

”He is a were dragon.” She repeated. 

 

I had never seen a weredragon before because they were very rare and non-existent in some generations. The weredragon Aunt Joanna spoke of could be the only one of his kind. All I had heard of were dragons was how powerful and dangerous they were. One breath of theirs could melt the bones of any being. If Aunt Joanna was not a very stubborn woman, I would have advised her to change her company. I knew I would have more chance baptising a cat than telling Aunt Joanna who she should relate with. 

 

As I was about to leave Aunt Joanna's home, I told her that I wanted to hit the high school to register Lucas. 

 

”Oh, that's good." She said nodding slowly. “Do you know who the new principal is?"

 

”Mr Hammond isn't still the principal?"

 

”Mr Hammond? The man quitted over a decade ago, and there have been three other principals before the current one."

 

”Wow, well, do I know the current principal?"

 

Aunt Joanna smiled slightly. “You do, trust me, you do."

 

“Who is this person?"

 

When she responded, my heart began to pound loudly. The only thought on my shaken mind, which kept ringing repeatedly, was ‘why not any other person, why him? Why did it have to be him?'