Normal can be the most beautiful thing there is...
No one knows that more than Aline and her brother.
Aline Blake never knew what was going to happen. Only thirteen years old, she had no clue about life's dark secrets. But that would soon change...
...
The first thing I did was not to greet Simon. When Liam and Bruno had left, Mom asked me if I wasn't going out to celebrate my birthday with my friends, enjoy the Christmas celebrations. It was Christmas Eve after all. Even though I tried to say I wanted to celebrate it with her, she quickly dismissed me. I was going out to hang out with my friends. Another solution was out of the question.
So I contacted Tristan and Katie and asked if they wanted to go out on the town, learn the best places to shop in Canai. They were excited about the idea and Katie immediately started talking about what places we should visit. Tristan was more keen to show me what he called "The best coffee in town".
The Christmas Eve celebration didn't start until eight o'clock, but by seven the party was already in full swing.
Tristan dragged me and Katie to a bar, and even though he swore on his brother's life that the owner had built-in gills and an eel that could produce water from its own body as a Mystic, it was hard to believe him.
It just seemed too unlikely.
But when we got inside it turned out to be true. Because on the shoulder of the tall woman standing in front of us, quite rightly meandered——an eel. It was completely wet and given that the woman's dress sleeve was dung-sour, the second part of Tristan's statement was also correct. That was unbelievable.
"Hey, Marissa," Tristan said, waving to the young woman.
Katie and I approached her with nervous looks. Only Tristan knew this woman, so we were equally unsure of how to act. But Tristan behaved perfectly normal. He was hooting and talking loudly. If I didn't know better, I'd probably think he was drunk.
"How nice you are today," he smiled at Marissa. She rolled her eyes as she let us in, not bothering to answer.
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