The Destiny

Chapter One

It was the start of just another rainy day in Dragon Lance. It was a creepy town, and even the inhabitants were mysterious and quiet. No one trusted anyone and the town had an eerie atmosphere, which in general, kept visitors to a minimum. The eerie atmosphere was as common as the rain, and no one spoke about that either.

But Annette had been thinking about this eerie atmosphere for days. She wondered where the feeling came from, why it was there and why no one ever spoke about it like it was some form of curse that none dared address. She wondered if Harry sometimes thought about it. She was intent on asking him soon. He sat next to her at the back of the school bus, but was so immersed in this book that she did not want to disturb him. Instead she peered out the fogged-up window, looking glumly at the blanket of rain and the thick, dense forest beyond. A cold breeze swept through the bus and she pulled her sweater tightly to her body.

She had a strangely sensitive body when it came to temperature. Her hands became instantly cold if the temperature dropped even slightly. Harry always jumped in fright when she crept up behind him and placed her icy fingers on his cheeks, which always made her giggle herself to bits to his annoyance.

This Thursday morning her hands were cold again and she kept them tightly pressed to her body. The previous winter had been particularly bad – her hands had itched and the bones in them had swollen. The matron sent for the doctor, who told them that there was something wrong with Annette's blood flow. This concerned them of course, but the doctor had said that it could be easily fixed with a little exercise. As a result, Annette would visit gym after her and Harry's trips to the library. He would almost always join her, but he would go sit somewhere and read whatever new book he acquired as she did her thing.

Harry finished his book just as they arrived at school. Annette was up in a flash and stood waiting for him to get his school bag.

'Come on Harry, any day now would be nice before the bus drives away with us.' Annette chided, eyeing the bus driver nervously as the other kids emptied the bus. Annette was a pretty girl with light brown hair, a small stature and big hazel eyes. Harry in contrast was a big boned teenager and came across a bit chubby. He knew that Annette would never call him fat and although he felt sensitive about it, he himself usually referred to his extra weight as extra padding.

Although Annette was the smaller of the two, she was definitely the tougher one. She could put any bully in their place. She definitely did not let anyone mess with her. Harry on the other hand was a soft hearted fellow who found it difficult to say no and usually would leave Annette to defend him.

He quickly got up and got his bag knowing that being late bothered Annette, who was the ultimate goody-two-shoes. They hurried to go put down their school bags in their home-room, where they then waited for the first bell to ring for school to start officially.

Today they were unlucky enough to have the math period first, a subject which neither of them enjoyed.

It seemed like merely a few minutes had passed when the end-of-school bell rang. This was normally an exciting moment, but today something nagged on Annette's memory and she felt like something was wrong. She thought about it for a moment and then she suddenly remembered what was bothering her.

Today a new kid came to their school. His name was Arthur, but she couldn't recall his surname. Annette had curiously peeked at him between classes. He did not look interested in the lessons and Annette, irritated at times, thought that he must be very clever as he spent most of his time drawing random things and not paying attention.

Arthur had also tweaked Harry's interest because he had waved at him earlier. Harry also noticed Arthur occasionally looking in his direction, and then silently nodding to himself.

They were now standing on the pavement near the bus stop. The bus would pick them up soon, drop them off at the library and then take the rest of the students to the orphanage. It was quite irritating sometimes to just stand there waiting as the cold air nipped at their nose and tugged on their clothes. On worse days it could possibly start raining, but thankfully it seemed like it wouldn't come down today.

'Annette, what do you think about the new kid Arthur?' Harry whispered to her as he watched a man on a bicycle drive by, projecting a bit of water off from his tires in wisps as he drove with the yellow rain coat fluttering behind him.

'He's ... strange, but we don't know him, so I think we shouldn't judge him yet.' Annette said also looking in his same direction.

'Yeah, but the way he looked at me made me feel super awkward.' Harry said shivering. 'Something about him makes me feel very weird, but I can't place my finger on it.'

Annette nodded in agreement as she turned her head to look at him. 'I feel the same.'

They spoke a few more words before Annette started to pace around uneasily. She knew what her brother was talking about, but what worried her the most was that Arthur seemed oddly familiar. And that was simply not possible since they never met before. Annette felt frustrated and suddenly looked forward to spending time in the gym where she could lay off some steam and figure out how to process these thoughts. The bus was a bit later than usual and Annette and Harry were relieved when it finally arrived.

Arthur, standing in the shadows behind a large tree trunk, watched them get into the bus. He had watched them the whole day now and was contemplating when would be the right moment to approach. He was sure that they were now headed to the library.

He smiled to himself, satisfied that everything was going according to his plan, then he looked at the rainbow coloured ring on his finger and focused his energy on it. With a sudden flash of blinding light, the boy disappeared leaving the other people standing near the bus stop stunned and confused.