Ch.1 : End of semester
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“This is hell on earth”

is what everyone was thinking in the classroom. Source Highschool, a small school in the suburbs of Toronto was at the very end of its semester. We were taking our last exam before finally starting the summer vacations, and the temperature was hellish. On this 22 of June, the temperature outside reached record heights of 41 °C, and it was clear to see that investing in air conditioning was not the school’s highest priority. Everyone was wearing as little clothing possible, even the teacher. Some had brought portable fans and some others were drinking enough water to make a whale jealous. As for me, I was just dying in silence. The sheets of paper on which we were doing our exam were soaked even if we only touched it with our hands. As the last remaining test taker brought his sheet in front of the class, the teacher announced with a desperate voice:

-Thank God you’re done! If someone asks where I am, point them to the nearest pool!

With that last line from our teacher who sprinted outside the classroom like it was on fire, we were finally freed from our last exam of the semester. Some jumped from joy and followed the teacher’s example and some others walked away in silence. I was part of the second group. The hallway was full of joyous laughter, excited screaming and agonizing wails. People were bumping into each other to get to their lockers or the exit faster. I slowly pushed my way into the crowd of hurried students until I reached the corridor leading to the library. Since most of my peers used the fastest and shortest way to leave the building, this one was fairly devoid of life and a perfect alternate route. After waving goodbye to the librarian, I took the stairs to go down to the first floor and exited the school through the backdoor with a few other students that had the same idea.

 

The temperature outside was the same as inside, with the bonus of the sun directly shining overhead. You could see the haze made by heat when looking down the street and most people outside were flapping their shirts wildly in the hope of producing the tiniest of breezes. I walked past the crowds standing outside waiting for the school buses and started following the road. My house was only a kilometre away from my high school, so walking to go home was easy and the wind made it cooler than taking the bus, the metal carcass transforming them into moving ovens. That said, I wasn’t actually going to my house right now but to the neighborhood’s bookstore. I was a regular, the most assiduous one, if I may say so myself. I loved books and, as a matter of fact, was also frequenting the school library a fair bit, but that bookstore was special. The owner was a very good friend of mine, despite the fact that she was a bit older than me. Her name was Eiea Canton, quite an odd name. At first I was a bit shy around her because of her mysterious aura and demeanour. She was in her early twenties and did not seem to age at all in the 3 years I’ve known her. She never wore anything more revealing than a long-sleeved shirt, no matter the temperature. I never saw her talking to anybody else aside from me, my mother and the spare amount of customer that sometimes wandered into her store. I knew she had no family nor boyfriend from having asked her before. Despite that, she was easily someone I could consider my best friend. In fact, she was regularly pestering me, because she was actually the only friend I had. We both loved fantasy novels and also shared a mutual hate over detective stories. We had the same taste in films, books and even food. Since the store was also only a kilometre away from both my school and house, walking to it was also quick. It took about 15 minutes for the fast walking me to catch sight of the bookstore. It was a small building, akin to a convenience store in size, with the exterior completely made out of bricks. Old wooden stairs led to a wooden door just as old, the little glass plates in it in pieces. The building in its entirety seemed to have survived countless disasters, with practically no paint remaining over the wooden parts, the cracked bricks and clearly broken but patched up windows. That was how run down it was.

 

As soon as I opened the door, a cheerful voice and a wide smile greeted me.

-Hey, Maria, there you are! I knew you’d come today.

-I come almost every day though.

She was standing there, behind the counter and smiling at me. She was wearing the usual, a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans. I didn’t know how she could wear something so hot in this summer heat while I was on the verge of death with a mere camisole, but I wasn’t that surprised. The only exposed parts of her body were her hands and face. Her hair was black and straight, stopping a bit lower than her shoulders. Her face was kind, but clearly more weathered than what her age would suggest. The same as always. The interior of the building was a mess as always, almost reflecting its outside appearance. The small store was littered with tons of books in huge piles that were higher than myself. I didn’t know thanks to what kind of magic they could remain standing, but experience told me there was no way they would topple on their own. Big bookcases in the back could be seen from the entrance that contained so many volumes that it was a wonder how such flimsy wooden boards could hold so much weight. The worst of all was that none of those books were sorted in any way. Only Eiea could tell where each one was, somehow. She went around the counter with something obviously hidden behind her back.

-You’re right, but today is not every day now, is it.

Indeed, today was a special day, my birthday. I was turning 16 today, and since she gave me something each of the 3 birthdays I celebrated since I’ve known her, I was also expecting something this time. Excitement rose through my body in anticipation. Eiea’s gifts were always top class. The 3 last ones were: An iPod so I could listen to music, a first-rate cellphone and finally my favourite movie of all time in all available formats. What would it be this time? An uncontrollable smile appeared on my lips, contrasting the smirk of hers.

-Happy Birthday, Maria!

Without dropping the smirk, she handed me a book. The cover was made of leather, with bold red letters writing the words “A Night in Walpurgis” on the top. The smile on my face deepened considerably as an incredible excitement whelmed up from inside me.

-Are you really giving it to me!?

-Yeah, this time you can have it.

-Why now though, after all those times?

-I was waiting for a good occasion. This is the only copy I have after all.

This book was in fact one that I had spotted several months ago. It seemed so interesting that I pleaded Eiea an uncountable amount of time to let me read it, but she never agreed for some reason. She always said it was too valuable. Even if I said I would give it back afterwards, she would remain adamant about how it was her only copy. It was the journal of a certain man who passed a night in Walpurgis, a city of witches. Everyone thought of it as fiction, but the author always stated that it was a true recollection of his experiences. I was so overjoyed to finally be able to read it that I felt like I was going to start jumping up and down like a rabbit on the spot if I stayed put any longer.

-I’m sorry, Eiea, but I’m going home right now to read it!

-Ha ha! Look at you, I haven’t seen you this excited since your last birthday. Go then, if you’re so impatient. Just tell me what you think about it later.

-For sure! Goodbye!

I left the store and immediately went home in a half run, holding the book against my chest.

 

Upon arrival, I was out of breath thanks to my fast pace. My house was a normal suburban house, looking exactly the same as the others around it. A two stories, 40² feet with a boring blue and white facade and a backyard on the small side. I went up the small stairs on the side and opened the door.

-I’m back, Mom!

I shouted so that she could hear me even from the second floor. I loved my mother. Despite the occasional dispute, she was always nice to me. She was a very laid back person. Even when I disobeyed her, coming home late and the sort, she was almost never angry. Maybe because she knew I was with Eiea anyway, who knows. We spent about one day a month huddled together watching movies, and since the time we moved to this town, Eiea was also invited. Even so, I was closer to her than my mom. Probably a matter of affinity.

 

Footsteps suddenly went down the stairs from the second floor at a brisk pace. Mom turned to me as she got to the bottom and showed a slight smile.

-Welcome back.

I immediately noticed something was wrong. She seemed awkward and nervous, completely different from her normal casual self.

-We need to talk about something, could you sit down for a moment?

Intrigued, I watched her make her way to the couch. What could she want to talk about? It sure sounded important. If it wasn’t, she would have just told me without asking me to sit down. A bit nervous, I also sat down on the couch beside her, leaving my new precious book on the small table between it and the television. When I shifted my line of sight to her, she harboured a conflicted expression, biting her lower lip slightly. It was a very uncharacteristic behaviour for her, so my nervousness ramped up even more. After a few seconds, she seemed to make up her mind and looked me in the eyes.

-It’s about… us. Our family.

Our family? I couldn’t think of anything that could possibly be important about us. Maybe it was about my father? After all, I didn’t know much about him. I lived alone with Mom for as long as I remembered. Once, when I was a lot younger, I asked her why I didn’t have a father. She replied that not long after my birth, he got into an accident while at his job and instantly died from it. Apparently he worked in a factory. I never asked for more details, it was a good enough explanation. I didn’t have an especially high curiosity towards someone that was basically a stranger I’ve never seen nor will I ever see. Is Mom going to tell me that he was actually a serial killer or something? A member of the mafia? Did he have a secret legacy? Like a huge amount of money he left us? Mom always told me that we were doing so well financially because he had a life insurance when he died. A thousand different scenarios whirled wildly in my mind in under a second until I decided to put a stop to it and wait for her to speak again.

-Well, you see… I wanted to tell you some time ago but I decided it was a bit too early. But now that you turned 16, I think you have the right to know.

Please stop beating around the bush, my nervousness is now so high that my hands feel like mush, I can’t feel my legs and my field of vision is getting smaller. Getting a bit impatient, I spoke in a sharper way than intended.

-What is it?

She looked at me again and I closed my eyes in an attempt to make the passage of time feel faster.

-You… are adopted.

What? I opened my eyes and shot her an incredulous glance. Adopted? What do you mean? You are not my real mother? Was that dead father not my real one either? Was that story about him even real in the first place? Was everything you told me a lie? I stood up hurriedly, way too agitated to stay seated.

-Wha?

Only a small sound escaped my lips. The torrent of emotions inside my head was too fast to form any sort of coherent sentence or answer. She also stood up, a bit panicked by my reaction and my expression that was probably a mess. Perhaps guessing a part of what I was thinking, she said in a tone meant to be soothing.

-I didn’t lie to you! About your father and all, that was not a lie!

Oh, so that was not a lie. The torrent slightly subsided, before turning into anger.

-Not a lie?! Of course it’s a lie! He isn’t even my father!

At this point, I was shouting, saying things only half thought through. I was confused and angry. The only thing I could do was instinctively venting that anger. It came from deep within, I could sense a feeling I never felt before in my chest. I couldn’t tell what it was, but i knew it wanted to get out.

-Maria, please calm down!

-LIAR!

As I screamed, something weird happened. My voice broke down, but its strength somehow amplified. I felt as if something was coming out of my throat, swimming through the muscles of my neck before reaching my mouth, and then... something exploded. I felt the floor trembling under my feet. The couch, the table, everything in the room was pushed away from me violently. Including my mother. As I watched like in slow motion, her body was flung at the wall, her arms and legs flailing powerlessly. She hit it so hard her entire body jerked from the impact and then she fell to the floor, completely immobile.

 

-M-mom?

I stuttered in a sheepish voice, slowly approaching my motionless mother. As I got closer, I noticed something. Blood. Blood was spilling on the wall from the back of her head. My entire body went cold. Oh no, what have I done? Panicked enveloped my mind as I looked frantically around the room, searching for what to do. “What can I do?” That sentence repeated over and over in my head until a certain face came to my mind as if it was the ultimate answer. Eiea. I rushed to the room just after the entrance, picked up the phone and composed her number impressively fast and somehow totally accurately. I pushed the ringing phone against my ear like my life depended on it and nervously waited, my whole body trembling. And then, I heard the sound of the line being picked up and the clear voice of Eiea on the other side.

-Hello? Maria?

As I heard this familiar comforting voice, my entire body broke down. My legs gave up under me as I flopped to the floor. My arms were shaking and my hands were felt so powerless than just being able to hold the phone was a miracle.

-Eie..ea. (hic) I...I..(Hic)...M-m-mom i-is…(hic).

-Calm down Maria, I can’t understand a thing! Breath in, breath out. Breath in, breath out.

I took deep breaths following her rhythm until I felt like I could talk fairly normally. I explained everything that happened in a summarized way, because I knew time was of the essence and Eiea listened silently on the other side. The thoughts about how she would think of me, hurting my own mother, briefly passed through my mind, by I didn’t let it disturb me. There was something more important right now. After I finished explaining, Eiea took a deep breath herself.

-Ok, I understand. I’m coming immediately. In the meantime, call 911 and after that wait for me.

She hung out. I shifted the phone from my ear and looked at it for a few seconds, suddenly extremely tired. Eiea is coming, everything will be alright. As the unfounded sentiment spread in my head, I composed 911.

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