The Soul Searchers [EN]

Chapter 2

The following morning, when the light of the day makes everything a little bit less frightening, I see the things more soberly. But I still can't manage to let go of the incident. That boy was not a new pupil and certainly not a drunk student who got lost in the woods. What was he doing there? That question keeps haunting me like a ghost and even when I walk into the dining hall – the moment I normally forget all my other thoughts and enter the hall alert – it keeps gnawing at me.

"Little one!" The voice of Chayenne makes all my thoughts scatter. I supress the reflex to cower and walk on to the table where the food is on. Just act as if you didn't hear her, I tell myself in my mind. Just ignore her. But that's the whole problem with Chayenne, you can't just simply ignore her. So, when she shouts "little one" again, I turn around. Immediately all the conversations die. All the attention is now on me and Chayenne. Panicking I search for something to say to break the oppressive silence, but Chayenne wouldn't be Chayenne if she didn't have already a mean comment ready: "Aren't you a little bit too old to believe in monsters?" Snickering fills the dining hall which makes my heartbeat restlessly.

"What do you mean?" I ask in a low voice.

"Well, you've seen a monster, haven't you?" Chayenne focuses on her group of friends who accompany her at the dinner table. Secretly, I am jealous of that. Chayenne would always have someone who would stand up for her when Chayenne is at a loss for words, but I didn't have anybody like that. I have no one. Nobody would stand up for me in this tedious situation. "I overheard a conversation between the headmistress and the concierge. Auria knocked on the headmistress's door last night, terrified, because she had seen a monster!" The last few words Chayenne speaks with an overexaggerating fear and she looks at me mockingly. The look on her face reminded me of how a boy, who I had seen near the forest border a few weeks ago, had looked when he'd caught a squirrel by his tail: triumphant, with malicious pleasure and without any mercy. The only difference is that the look on the boy's face immediately changed as the squirrel injured him badly and there is nothing I could do, no, what I would dare to do, to hurt Chayenne and give her what she deserves.

"I..." My brain locks itself. Out of all people, it had of course to be Chayenne who had to overhear the conversation between the director and the concierge and put her own spin on the story. "It wasn't a monster."

"What was it then, little Auria?" Chayenne asks in the same voice you use to talk to a toddler. "A ghost?"

Even if I'd known something to say back, my scared, soft voice would've not been able to drown out the loud laughter full of schadenfreude. I feel my cheeks flush. Rapidly, I walk to the table and pour some milk in a glass. Because of my trembling hands, I spill a little. Normally I would make the effort to clean it up, but now I just want to sit down as quickly as possible to hide between the other pupils so I won't be no longer the centre of the attention. Hastily, I grab a sandwich and a slice of cheese. I sit down on the corner of one of the two long dining tables and silently I take the first bite. When I have also drunk a sip of milk, I feel my cheeks burn a little less. Some pupils keep staring at me, others exchange a few words and giggle softly. Uncomfortable, I move back and forth on the wooden chair. I don't know how to save my face.

"So." Claire looks at me expectantly. I can tell from her tone that she isn't coming to make fun of me over the fact that I might still believe in monsters. That makes me a bit calmer.

"So what?" I ask.

"When are you going to celebrate your birthday?"

"Birthday?" Suddenly a light goes on. "Oh yes, birthday." I had totally forgotten. My birthday isn't exactly a day I'd like to remember, but now it is useful for me that I turn a year older tomorrow. Namely, when it's your birthday you are allowed to leave the school grounds and I'm determined to find out who that boy was. The incident of last night makes me restless. Probably, there is just a good, reassuring explanation for the event and once I have this reassurance I can go back to my carefree life, for as far my life can be carefree...