The Secret Legacy of Pan - English Translation

Chapter Thirteen

CINEMA

But they did not. The throbbing returned as soon as the effects of the pain killers faded. About every two hours. And I felt like it returned stronger each time.

I was about to take another one just before seven o'clock when the bathroom suddenly flickered before my eyes and turned. Meadows! Surrounding me were muddy, sludgy meadows. A hill in the back. It was pouring, my feet were soaking wet. No wonder, I was standing in the middle of a stream. In front of me, an ox. I assumed it was an ox, at least. He was huge and snuffled. Appalled, I took a step back, tripped over the edge of the stream, and landed on my ass on the muddy meadow. It was cold. Icy cold. Was that snow lightly powdered over the gras? The beast in front of me snuffled again and dangerously lowered its head. I screamed.

And stood in the middle of our bathroom again. I would have liked to say that I had dreamed that or lost consciousness, but my feet were wet, and my ass was covered in mud. I staggered, sat down on the edge of the bathtub, and reached for the box by the sink. Damn it. I was out of pain killers.

After collecting myself a bit, I searched the whole bathroom for more. I even dared to look through mum's closet. Nothing. Just binders. Binders full of bills. And injunctions.

The telephone pulled me out of my thoughts. It was Phyllis telling me that we would meet at Leicester Square in front of Burger King in an hour. I hesitated. I would have rather stayed at home. In bed with a thermal pack and the hope that I would fall asleep quickly to escape the pain. But if I did not show up now, everybody would come here. Phyllis would drag me to the E.R. That meant doctor's fees plus an after-hour bonus. I also did not want to have Lee visit our small flat. In general, I did not want to invite anyone into this sad, little apartment who had a whole house in Mayfair to themselves! So I told her I would be there. When I hung up, my eyes fell on my jeans that I had hung over the bathtub to dry.

I made my way to Leicester Square with a throbbing jaw. When I arrived, I immediately thought it would have been better to stay at home. My tooth ache had become much worse, and it took everything in me to not break down.

"What do you think, City?"

"Huh?", I asked, irritated. Everyone was looking at me expectantly. Like every Saturday evening, thousands of people were gathered at Leicester Square. The noise was unbearable, especially because another premier was taking place at the Vue Cinema and an actor had just been spotted by the crowd. Unfortunately, directly behind us. My tooth distracted me from everything.

"Should we watch a film?"

"Which one?", I asked and inconspicuously put a hand to my aching cheek.

"A horror film. Brutal Enemies."

Oh, God. "What else?", I asked carefully.

"One of those high school vampire movies", Jayden explained snidely. "Haven't we seen enough of those by now?"

That sounded way better in my opinion. "What do you think, Ruby?", I asked even though I knew the answer.

"I would rather watch the romance one. Richard Cosgrove is in it." That settled it for me.

"Nicole, what do you want to watch?", Corey asked. I saw the uncertainty in Nicole's eyes. She would have rather watched the vampire film, but on the other hand she would also have loved to sit beside Corey in the dark to hold his hand.

"I think I prefer horror films."

"Since when?", Jayden asked in surprise. "Last time I dragged you with me, you told me you didn't sleep for a week."