Project Omikron E-Book

Lorelai SeltCor

• Herausgeber: novum publishing
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 177

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Like Cinderella, Alice MacJextey also suffers from the bullying of an evil stepmother and a no-less-mean stepsister. The differences between Alice's loving mother and the father's new wife get so out of hand that Alice's stepmother resorts to drastic measures. Alice's life, which takes a complete turn, weighs on her with an additional gigantic secret. Amidst this chaos, she meets the mysterious Luc. He, too, has a secret that must never be revealed. But suddenly, without explanation, Alice is no longer allowed to see Luc, which completely shatters her world. How is she supposed to go on without him? Will it remain a human life? Will she see Luc again one day?

Leseprobe

Prologue

I went to bed and fell asleep.

"Hi, Ally!" An arm wrapped around my waist from behind.

"Luc? You're early!"

"Yes, I know." I tilted my head slightly to the left. The slight pain I was already used to spread across the back of my neck.

"How are you?" Luc wanted to know.

"Good!" I replied.

"Don't lie to me!" he replied, "It's never been like this since we've known each other. What happened?"

"Oh, just the normal madness. You know," I said.

"If you say so."

"Luc? Is everything okay? You seem a bit tense."

"Of course! What should be wrong?"

"I have no idea. After all, I don't know much about your private life. But you seem like something is bothering you."

"I'm fine."

"If you say so."

The silence stretched on for a few minutes. Then I felt the pain again.Okay, something was clearly wrong here! There was something he wasn't telling me! And it was important. Otherwise he wouldn't be taking so much blood from me.

"Luc?"

"Hmm?"

"What's wrong?"

The pain subsided again.

"I told you everything was fine."

"If you don't tell me what's bothering you right now, I'll turn around!"

"No! No ... You've won. I ... I'm telling you."

That had always worked. For some inexplicable reason, he was terrified of me seeing him. I was dying to see the boy who visited me in my dreams almost every night.

The first time we had met was when he had stumbled into my dreams by chance. I had been seven years old at the time. It was the first and only time I could have seen him in any way. But I had been far too perplexed at the time. I mean: yes, it was a dream, but somehow he hadn't fitted in. He had been quite gruff at first, but over time he loosened up.

It had been the day I lost my parents. He turned out to be surprisingly understanding. He had started visiting me irregularly that day and we became friends. I had told him about my life and he had told me about his. He was the only person I could really talk to, the only person I trusted. Sometimes we went on trips. He showed me the most beautiful places. He was a real friend.

The only condition was that I wasn't allowed to see him.

After a while, we met more and more often and now we met almost every day. I was always looking forward to finally being able to go to sleep. He was the light of my existence. The one who stopped me from completely throwing my life away.

We had grown closer and closer and I had developed feelings for him that went far beyond simple friendship. I admit that I had fallen head over heels in love with Luc. But his feelings for me were unclear to me. I knew he saw me as a friend, but I didn't know if he felt the same way I did. I didn't know if he had a girlfriend in the 'real' world.

Ah yes! And Luc is a demon or a vampire or something, by the way. I don't know exactly. But one night he bit me all of a sudden and he was pretty bad. Afterwards, he apologized and explained that he had become weak. I hadn't been angry with him. After all, I'm no longer a normal person myself, I just wish I'd known before he attacked me. Back then, he had started drinking my blood from time to time, with my consent of course. By now, it had become a habit.

"Well," said Luc, "I don't know how to break it to you gently."

"Just say it!" I urged.

"I ... We ..."

"Yes?" I asked, partly annoyed, partly worried. He had always been very self-confident. Hearing him stammer was unusual. It must be really important.

"I won't be able to visit you tomorrow and we might never see each other again!"

I stiffened instantly.What had he just said?

"Wh-what do you mean?" I stuttered.

"I-I'm sorry, Ally!"

He held me tighter and pulled me even closer to him. I leaned against him slightly, but I was still in shock. It couldn't be. We had known each other for seven years now and out of the blue he suddenly had to leave?

"Why?" I asked somewhat desperately after I had recovered a little.

"I can't explain that to you."

"Why not? Because that has something to do with who and what you are? We've known each other for fucking seven years and I only found out your name through a hundred corners. Which I'm sure is just an abbreviation. I stopped asking because I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable, and now you're telling me you're just leaving me like that and possibly never coming back? And you won't even tell me why? The reason I'm losing my best friend?" I burst into tears.

He held me and sighed.

"I'm really so sorry!"

"I already know that, but it won't do me any good now!" I sobbed and tried to loosen his grip a little. Then I remained silent.

"Why don't you want me to see you?"

Luc sighed again and loosened his embrace enough for me to move again. I was beginning to think that I wouldn't get an answer again when he suddenly said, "I'm afraid you'll be scared of me. I wouldn't be able to bear it if you were frightened of me."

"What? Why should I do that? I'm not completely human either. I'm part wolf."

"Trust me! You don't want to see me."

Before Luc could even react, I broke away from him and looked at him. After all these years, I dared to look at my friend for the first time. And at first I was actually startled.

It wasn't a person standing in front of me, which I had already expected, but rather a creature. It had horns and wings reminiscent of those of bats. Its eyes were a bright red and glowed. It looked like the devil himself.

I could only stare at him. I had expected many things, but not this.

Luc regained his composure and took a step back. "I knew this would happen. Why do you have to be so stubborn? You were the first person I ever cared about. But now it doesn't matter anyway. I'm sure you think I'm repulsive and scary. As it should be. But I didn't want that. I wish I wasn't like that. But I knew that the moment you saw me, you wouldn't accept me and wouldn't want to be friends with me anymore. No matter how you felt before..."

I scrutinized him as he spoke. Luc was an interesting figure. It took some getting used to, but not completely repulsive.

His appearance seemed to flicker. I didn't believe that this was the real Luc. It seemed more like a shell, as if what I was seeing was not the truth.

With three long strides, I stood in front of the completely surprised Luc. I threw my arms around his neck, pulled him towards me and kissed him.

He stiffened in the first few seconds. But then his muscles relaxed as if a huge weight had fallen from his shoulders and he returned the kiss.

My emotions were on a rollercoaster. This is what it felt like to love and to have these feelings reciprocated. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever experienced in my life.

I didn't care what he looked like. No matter what he looked like, he was still the person I had fallen in love with. Those beautiful moments with him were the reason why I kept going. Even though my life was like hell.

The moment was over far too quickly. Our lips were already parting, albeit reluctantly.

When I opened my eyes this time, Luc had changed. There was no longer any sign of the creature, instead a boy stood before me with white hair and wine-red eyes.

He pulled me towards him again and that's when I saw them.

Two huge, majestic, jet-black wings came out of Luc's back and rose above us both.

"Wow!" I breathed. Luc held me slightly away from him and looked at me in irritation, which I only noticed in the corner of my eye. The wings caught my gaze. I scrutinized every detail.

"They are beautiful."

"Wait... you can see my wings?"

"Yes!" I looked him in the eye and smiled slightly.

"You-you can really see them?"

"Yessss..." I reached out a hand for one, but stopped abruptly in mid-action. "May I?"

Luc nodded. I stroked the silky feathers lightly. They felt soft. Iwas reluctant to release them from my hand. Then I looked up at him again.

He was still staring at me, stunned and distracted.

"What is it?" I wanted to know.

"You can see me!" This seemed to confuse him. "You are the first person who can see ME."

He then recovered somewhat from the shock and sat down on a low rock that happened to be right behind him (although nothing is left to chance in dreams).

We were in a clearing in the forest by a cliff. The forest stretched out below us and a river babbled quietly. The sun was just disappearing on the horizon. There was something picturesque about it and, admittedly, it was very romantic.

I sat down next to Luc and leaned slightly against him.

"Would you tell me who and what you are now?"

He laughed briefly. "Sure! So my full name is Lucifer and I'm what you'd call a fallen angel."

"Wait a minute. Lucifer, like from the legends?"

"Yep! I was the template for that."

"But I've never heard that you're a vampire."

"The stories are only true to a certain extent. But fallen angels were also responsible for the vampire stories. However, the garlic and daylight thing is not true."

"Good to know! What should I call you now?"

"As you please."

Afterwards, we continued to talk about rumors and facts and laughed about the most obscure assumptions.

After a while, however, I became serious again. There was something that hadn't been clarified yet.

"Why do you have to go?"

All of a sudden, the lightness was blown away.

"It's about a job."

"An assignment?"

"Yes. A few of my friends and I are being sent to Earth. We are to mingle with the people there. When I'm with you earthlings, I can't enter your dream. The only way we'll see each other again is if we meet in your real world and that's very unlikely. Especially since I don't even know where we'll even be sent."

"I guess you're right." I hugged him tightly and he returned the gesture. We sat there like that for a while. Maybe it was minutes or maybe just seconds. I had lost all sense of time. The only thing I could think about was that this might be the end.

After that night, we would never see each other again.

1

Alice

THREE YEARS LATER

I ran as fast asI could. They wouldn't get me.

The cold evening air got up my nose and my coat blew behind me. Shots could be heard. I just managed to dodge a bullet that almost hit mein the head.

Around the next corner was a dead end with a wall about three meters high.There I would be able to shake off my pursuers.

I turned into the side alley andran directlytowards the wall.

"We've got her!" I heard a man shout behind me. At that moment, I jumped up the wall.

Shocked sounds came from my hunters as I landed on the wall.

I didn't look back. I landed on the other side and kept running. I might have shaken them off, but who was to say they wouldn't find me again.

I ran and ran through the alleys of the neighborhood.

After half an hour, I felt safe and climbed up the gutter of a house wall. I stopped on the roof and took a deep breath.

The sun slowly set behind the houses and bathed the horizon in a warm red.

It would actually have been a nice sight if it hadn't been for the fact that I didn't have much time left to get home.

I breathed in and out again. It was time to get back on the road.

I took a running start and jumped back onto the street.

When I arrived at my shelter, it was already dark. I turned the last corner.

Unfortunately, I had been careless, otherwise I would have sensed what was waiting for me behind it.

Black shadows lay in the alley and grayish smoke rose. I hadn't noticed them. There were three or four of them. I was only about twenty meters from my front door.

Suddenly a dull pain went through my arm.Damn, one of them had bitten me.I shook off the creature on my arm and dodged the others.

My strength was failing. Apparently poison had been transmitted during the bite.

Somehow I made it to the door. I opened it, stumbled in and threw it shut behind me.

Inside, I slid down the door. The poison was stronger than I had thought.

I went down and all I could see was black.

When I opened my eyes, I was no longer in the slum where I was fighting for my life. I was in a white room.

I immediately panicked.Was I back in the lab? Please, no!

I looked around the sterile room frantically. Then I realized that I wasn't tied to the bed at all. I threw off the cozy blanket and sat up. My brown hair fell over my shoulders. Apparently my appearance was stable. It would be problematic if I had wolf ears or a tail around other people. The door suddenly opened.

"You're awake," a familiar voice said.

I never thought I would meet him again.

Nikolas Anderson looked at me with a slight smile.

"You?" I asked in surprise.

"Hello Alice!"

He had been my father's best friend, Ryan Nex, and had also known and liked my mother well. However, he detested my stepmother.

My father was already married when he met my mother. She had been a gold digger and had an inheritance of several million. After the wedding, they both kept their surnames. There was also a daughter from this marriage who had taken on both surnames at birth. My stepsister, like her mother, was a beast, aloof and arrogant.

Anyway, they had fallen out and my father had met my mother, Sirena MacJaxtey. He had loved her and she had loved him. She had been from a poorer background, but that fact had never bothered Dad.

My father had wanted a divorce. My stepmother, Kathrin Oblo, had of course been against it. At the time, however, my father had known nothing about the child.

At one of the court hearings, Mrs. Oblo revealed that she was pregnant and in her sixth month. As a result, my father could no longer banish her from his life. He had understandably felt responsible for the child.

I had happened shortly before the court date. So they hadn't thought about me yet. When it came out that my mother had also been pregnant, all hell broke loose at home. So there were now five of us.

My mother had loved me and my stepmother had hated me just as much as she hated my mother. My father hadn't noticed any of this.

There were five of us living in one house.

At least until my parents passed away almost ten years ago.

Unlike most of the others, Nikolas had never blamed me for my parents' deaths.

After I had to move out because of Kathrin, he sometimes came to visit me in my small apartment in the poor district. We had a special bond, especially after the loss of my parents.

He had offered several times that I could live with him and his family, but I had to decline with thanks. It had felt wrong to me and his daughter was a good friend of my stepsister. She would have told her about it straight away.

Nikolas checked my values on a monitor on the wall to which I was connected.

"It looks like you're completely healthy," he said, looking at me before continuing, "I'm glad nothing happened to you. I was worried that something worse might have happened. You looked really bad at first. Fortunately, the wounds weren't deep. You've been unconscious since you came here two days ago." He sat down next to me on the hospital bed.

Wounds? How had I gotten them? What had happened after I fainted? That shouldn't have been possible.

My place of residence had always beenprovidedwith a security spell.Had the poison been even more intense? What on earth had infected me? And why hadn't the monsters finished their job?

Not that I wanted to die at the moment, but the demons not finishing their work made no sense.

I was glad he didn't ask why I had been in that state. He trusted me, but if I started talking about supernatural beings, he would think I was crazy. He was a scientist, among other things, and would have no understanding without a plausible explanation. Whether it was true or not.

He knew just as little as everyone else about what had happened to me on that fateful day. He didn't know that I was a supernatural being with inexplicable abilities. And he shouldn't know either.

In the presence of other people, I hid my wolf ears, my wolf tail and my fangs. Since they didn't look natural to humans, I also had to change my hair and eye color: from pastel blue to hazel and from violet to chocolate brown. That way I was less conspicuous and people wouldn't try to lock me up.

"How did I get here?" I wanted to know from Nikolas, because I knew this room. It was part of theinfirmaryat the school Nikolas ran.

"I've sent some of my people after you after you disappeared. Fortunately, they were able to find you in time. They then brought you here. But I'd like to know what happened. Why did you run away back then?" he replied.

I sighed.How was I supposed to explain to him that I had had a best friend in a dream who had had to leave because he was a fallen angel and had been sent to earth?Another supernatural story.

"It had become too much. I couldn't stand it at home anymore. If I had stayed any longer, I might even have killed myself sooner or later." That wasn't a lie, anyway.

"Why didn't you come to me? I told you that you can tell me anything and if you have a problem, we can solve it together. You don't have to be alone."

"I told you then that if Jessica had seen me, she would have told Amelia, who would have told her mother, who would have ended it." I still shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if I had accepted Nickolas' generous offer and his daughter, Jessica, had told my stepsister, Amelia, that I was hiding from Kathrin at their place.

We were silent for a moment, lost in our own thoughts, until Nikolas said: "Well! Anyway, I'm relieved that you're okay."

"Where am I anyway?" I wanted to know.

"Oh! I had you brought to the infirmary at my school. Do you have a home?"

"That always changes. Maybe you'll just take me back to where I was found."

"Or you can stay at the school, graduate and be safe."

"I... I don't know."

"Please," he begged me, "I can't livepeacefullyif I always have to worry about you."

After many objections, I finally agreed. I would live at the school and go to lessons there. Nikolas took care of the financial part. He said that if I was half as smart and agile as I was back then, I could have applied for a scholarship anyway. The school was not a normal one. It was one of the most elitist academies of all time. But I never cared about that.

I was discharged from the infirmary the following day. Nikolas thought I needed new clothes. So we went shopping and ate out.

I was no longer used to going to large shopping centers and was very careful notto burden him financially.

After the shopping trip, he showed me to my new room. It contained a bed, a wardrobe, a desk and a drawer. There was also a window with a view of the forest that surrounded the school.

Nikolas told me to settle in first and that he would send a student liaison to show me around the grounds the next day.

He also explained to me that I had to start the placement tests by the end of the week at the latest so that he could accept me into the system.

I thanked him and he left my room. Before he did, he asked me to call him Mr. Anderson in public. I agreed immediately. I didn't want anyone to know that I knew the headmaster personally. In return, I asked him not to tell anyone that my second last name was Nex, which he understood. After all, my father hadn't been just anyone. He had been one of the elite of the elite. Even though he had had start-up help, he had managed, almost independently, to found one of the biggest tech companies in the world.