After that I didn’t see her for the rest of the day, I kept thinking that maybe we just weren’t in the same classes but when it came to lunch I couldn’t see her anywhere. Once school had ended I even hung around the car park to see if I had simply just missed her at lunch and everything I had seen during our lesson was some result of side effects from my restless night. But still she didn’t show. I was beginning to realise that maybe there was more to this new, mystery girl then just being the double of the girl in my dreams.
“Hey Nemesio you coming??” I heard Balen call to me from beside his car, it was only then that I realised I didn’t really want to spend time with my brothers for a change.
“No don’t worry I’ll nick a lift off of one of the geeks, feel like going for a drive” I answered and a knowing grin lit up his face,
“Go for it I say take that Rodney’s car, it’s just over there and he’s been getting in my way lately”
“Okay see ya later” I call as I head over to the silver car hidden away in the corner. I was so distracted with the thoughts whirling around my head that I didn’t even notice the similarities between Rodney’s car and the car in my dream.
As I drove alone through town in Rodney’s now stolen car I couldn’t help but think of her. From the moment she sat next to me I haven’t been able to get her out of my head, there has to be some sort of coincidence from the fact that she looks like the girl from my dream and ended up in town the night my dreams went crazy. But what was it?
Suddenly I heard a loud beep from another car as I drove way to close to them on the road. I looked up and came out of my daydreaming state only to realise I never go down this road this road leads to the Dragomar mansion, this was the road from my dream. I suddenly brake as realisation hits me, just in time to see a girl spin around in the road and scream before she fell.
“Shit” I race out of the car, I didn’t realise I’d hit anyone! But as I get to the front of the car I see her laying on the floor.
“Oh my god” I whisper, “are you ok?” as I take her hand – and then leap backwards in pain, as electricity shoots up my arm.
“I....I’m sorry I didn’t look where I was going” she said as she looked at me, with fear I realised.
“Its Sirena right?” I manage to murmur deciding to just ignore the pain in my arm. She just nods.
“What you doing round here? No-one comes this way”
“Oh um well you know how I said I’m living with my grandfather? Well he lives up this road”
“But no-one lives up this road ...” oh hell no, “there’s only Dragomar mansion”
“Yes” she simply says as if knowing what that one word will do to me. How can this be! No-one’s been in that mansion for over 248years, we’d know if there was anybody there and now if one of our ‘family callers’ come round I’ll have to tell them and I honestly wouldn’t wish them on anyone.
“Ha” I finally manage, “but like no-one’s lived there for like 300years that place must be falling down”
“248years actually and no it’s fine really it’s quite nice” ... all I could do was stare at her. Only the Dragomar’s and my family knew exactly how long that place had been empty for so that meant only one thing.
“Hey I never caught your last name, mines Nemesio Gaibonais” I watched as her eyes widened in shock and realised that her next answer was going to be the one word I was dreading,
“Dragomar, my last name is Dragomar”
-
“Did you say you were a Gaibonais?” she asked once I managed to get over the shock and then realised it was raining, we’re sitting in my (stolen) car now seeing as she doesn’t have one.
“Yeah, never thought I’d meet a living Dragomar to be honest”
“Haha yeah I know that feeling, it was kind of stupid for me to come back here but I really didn’t know where else to go”
“So that whole living with your grandfather story is just a cover up? ... hang on did you say ‘come back’ you’ve been here before?” at once I saw the recognition of her words in her eyes as if she realised she had said something she shouldn’t have.
“Yeah it’s a cover up, there are no more Dragomar’s other than me. My parents really did die but it was so long ago I can’t really remember properly ... and no that was just a silly mistake, my parents came here before so I guess that’s what I meant” she struggled to come up with her excuse but I let her, to be honest I was happy she was talking to me at all seeing as she obviously knew about what my family did. Suddenly my phone goes off making both of us jump from the tension in the air,
“Sorry” I mutter as I get it out from my pocket to read the text from Sy. As soon as the words appeared on the screen I felt my heart drop.
“Nemesio? What’s wrong?” she asked as she saw my face drop even more,
“Well just a spot of trouble at home ... um look I’m going to get into so much shit for this but I need you to make the mansion look as if you haven’t returned and hide some place out of sight for the next couple of days, I don’t think I could deal with your death on my conscience right now”
“I don’t understand, no-one knows I’m here”
“Maybe not but they still check in every now and then and one of them is here now ... do you realise what that means Sirena?” I look in to her eyes to make sure she was hearing every word I was saying to her.
“Oh my god this can’t be happening”
“Sirena look at me” I take her face into my hands and make her look back into my eyes, “I’m going to protect you ok? But you need to help me do that by following everything I say ... what will htey do to you if they find you?”
“You mean you don’t know?” her face matched the confusion in her voice.
“They don’t tell us anything, they just crash with me and my brothers, check the place out for a couple of days then disappear again, we never know when their coming”
“I’m the one they want not you, you shouldn’t be helping me .... I should go, no, I need to go before i get you killed” she moved as if to get out the car.
“No frigging way Sirena” I shout as I grab her and pull her back in, “I’ve been mixed up with you since before you even came to town and you know it ... you had the dreams to didn’t you? I saw that look in your eyes when you first saw me in class today so there is no way in hell that your getting rid of me that easily”. At first she just stares at me then after a minute or so she says,
“Ok but you need to know something, if they find me they’ll kill me and then the world will change”
“What?”
“When I was born there was a curse placed me that if I was ever killed the world would end Nemo”. I let the words sink in as I placed together everything I had ever learnt from my brothers and my parents before they died and suddenly for no reason at all I just accepted it.
“Well ok then, let’s make sure they don’t find you then”.
