Those Who Live in the Shadows

Chapter 6

"Do you really want to accompany me to school?" Camelia asked again for the like, thousandth time. She was sitting on a chair in the kitchen, eating her breakfast. Her mother had left after waking her up. Camelia had explained that she worked at the hospital as a nurse. I knew more or less what a hospital was, but I was clueless about the nurse-thing. I only knew that it was her mom's job. Her father worked in a bakery, so he had to leave early each morning.

"Yeah, I wanna see what you guys do there," I answered. I was curious. I was full of energy again, having fed the night before. I wanted some action. What was so important that kids and teenagers spend all their time there?

"You will be disappointed. It's really boring."

"Then why do you go?" She sighed.

"That's the question I ask myself every morning," she responded.

"Wait." I had just thought about something. "Aren't you going to a, like, school for blind people?"

"...No... I go to a normal school with...normal...people."

"Why?"

"Well..." Camelia put her toast down. "I wasn't always blind, you see."

Yes, she had told me a little about that before. Very little. I wanted to know more about it.

"About a little more than a year ago, I suddenly woke up blind. Boom, over the night I had lost my sight. Just like that. My... worst nightmare had... come true." She paused, her voice shaking. "The doctors can't explain it. But they are still trying to create a cure. But while they do that, I have to keep on living, you know. So the docs and psychologists said it would be better for me to continue to go to a normal school, since they hoped that I regained my sight one day."

Overnight? Her worst nightmare came true? This... Her blindness wasn't normal. I had a little idea about what caused it, but I still needed more details. But she seemed so... broken as she told me her story that I didn't want to push her. I will ask more questions later.

"But it isn't so bad, really," Camelia assured. Liar. She was in pain. She hated being blind. It was clear that her condition was bad. I knew what she was doing. She was trying to convince herself that it was okay. She reminded me of myself, when I lost Wish. I had repeat over and over again that I would be okay, that I had to move on... But even years after, it was still painful. Just like what she was feeling.

"And I have Fabian," Camelia continued, "He has done so much for me... He volunteered to personally help me at school when I got blind, and still does it. He's so nice... I can't believe I have such a good friend." She smiled. Hm. I wasn't so sure about that. If I was Fabian, no way I would have been capable of helping someone blind almost all the days of my life. And he seemed pretty discouraged when I saw him yesterday. But, hey, you never know. Maybe he loved helping her and hanging out with her.

"So, are you still coming with me?" Camelia asked for the thousand-and-first time.

"Yep. Don't worry, I'll try to keep quiet," I answered, "So you won't need to talk to me. Or to yourself, as the others may think."

"Good."

"DING-DONG!" The doorbell rang.

"Oh, that's Fabian!" Camelia rushed to the door and picked up her school bag. She opened the door and greeted her friend. Fabian didn't look good at all, but kept his tone enthusiastic. He had a weird look in his eyes and didn't seem very happy to see Camelia. Weird. Either he was sick, or he was really tired with this. But Camelia couldn't know, since she couldn't see anything.

Something was wrong with Fabian. I knew the strange spark that rested in his eyes, that sly smile as he looked at Camelia... I had seen it on many humans after they had woken out of their dreams, when I still used their wishes to break them. Fabian was turning mad. I blinked and he looked normal. Had I imagined it? I wasn't sure. I decided to watch Fabian. I wanted to know what he was planning.