My secret (English version)

23.

Another five minutes pass in silence until Nic, Toni, Finny and Yemaya come down the stairs. They all still look rather sleepy. Nic looks like he's lost in thought. Is he really taking it that well?

"Toast?" I ask the group. Everyone nods and I share out the plates.

"Who are you anyway?" Toni asks, addressing Finja.

"Finja, and you Mundane?" she asks, looking at me sceptically, "Your lunch?"

I just laugh and shake my head, while Toni says, "Anton, and no, I'm not her lunch! And what's a Mundane anyway, a bad insult?"

"Nah, that's what supernatural beings call normal people" (Finja)

Everyone else laughs and carries on eating. Shortly afterwards, Kaya and Killian are standing in the doorway and get something to eat.

"Why did you leave so early? I thought you'd left..." Kay asks Finja.

She smiles and says:" You were sleeping so sweetly and I didn't want to wake you up. Besides, I needed five minutes to myself to cultivate."

"Okay, fair enough." (Kaya)

Everyone finishes breakfast in peace and Killian has to drive the others home. We quickly pack up all our things while Kaya and Finja disappear back into his room. I try to hear as little as possible of what they're doing, but it's almost impossible to ignore. I just grimace.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you making a face?" (Finny)

I just reply: "Sometimes super sensitive ears are not an advantage"

The others look at me strangely and questioningly.

"Kaya and Finja just two rooms away" (me)

When I say this, they look understanding and everyone packs up the last of their stuff. We drive off and drop Toni off first, then Yemaya and then the twins. Nic sits next to me and before he gets out, I quickly whisper: "I'll write to you when I have something new.

He nods slightly and then goes into the house. Now it was just Killian and me in the car.

"Do you think we can go home again or are they still in the act?" I ask him.

He thinks about it for a moment, but then says, "I think we just need to make enough noise when we get out and go in. Then I think we'll be fine."

We both start laughing and set off.

***

When we get home, we stomp extra loudly to see if they're ready. Fortunately, they were. We got the book straight out of the safe and started leafing through it. Kaya and Finja joined us a little later.

"Ohh, is that a potion book? It's still really nice, most of them are really worn out after half a year." (Finja)

When Kay sees the book, I notice tears welling up in his eyes. He pulls himself together briefly and asks: "Why are you getting Jo's book out? What happened?"

I look at him:" Oh right, you weren't there. We need the potion to find out what magic is in you if you suspect a magical being. Nic might be a werewolf."

Kay's eyes grow wide:" Wait, what?! Since when? Where did the assumption come from?"

"He and I were out for a bit yesterday and he said that he keeps getting this weird feeling, it was the same as Jo described to us back then, just before she turned."

Kaya needs a moment to process this, but then Killian shouts: "I think I've got it!" And indeed, I could tell from Jo's scrawl that it was the right one.

"Ok, what ingredients do we need?" I ask.

Killian starts to read out:" We need belladonna essence, blood bladder pod, fire salamander blood, lovage and steer plums."

Finja frowns now:" According to what it says, it's a really complicated potion, and prunes are really hard to come by. You can get the rest from pretty much any witch or medicinal herb fairy."

We all look at her in amazement. She gets embarrassed and says:" I've looked into it."

"Just a question, you don't happen to know a healing herb fairy, do you?" (me)

She thinks about it for a moment, but then says: "I know one and if we're lucky, she might know where we can find a steer plum."

"Do you know a lot about the subject? Because we're complete newcomers to the subject and would definitely need some help." (me)

She looks me in the eye: "OK, I'll help as much as I can. But why don't you just ask the person who owns the book? That would be best"

The boys and I fall silent. I can't get a word out. Killian then says: "Unfortunately, that's not possible."

Finja didn't seem to understand, so she asks:" Why not? Is this person abroad or something?"You can see Killian's pain when he says: "No, the book belonged to Maxi's sister Jo, unfortunately she died four years ago."

Finja is shocked and immediately apologises for her intrusiveness. After a short silence, she says that she will contact the fairy and will be able to tell us more the day after tomorrow at the latest. Then she and Kaya go back upstairs and I disappear into the forest. Killian wanted to come with me at first, but I told him I had to be alone. And so I've been lying in the meadow for three hours, thinking about life.

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Sooo, I know it's a bit weird, I wrote the chapter in the middle of the night. Hope you like it anyway :)