Times like Midnight Blue E-Book

Alina Bachmann

• Herausgeber: BoD - Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 444

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

A lot has changed since that night in the mansion. Ramon's visions are back, and this time, they are even more uncontrollable than before. It feels to him as if everything starts all over again, and he suffers strongly from his sudden loss of control. While he and Tim try everything in their power to prevent Luna's foreshadowed death, she has to deal with her own problems. A new student has transferred to her school, and he is no stranger to her. And then there were the last words of the magicians who were threatening to return and who wouldn't give up until they got what they wanted.

Leseprobe

For Maren, the creator of the (for me) most beautiful book cover in the world.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 1

It was already dawn when I woke up. Usually, I would still be sleeping deeply and soundly that early in the morning, but something – and I didn’t mean the quietly snoring body that was lying next to me – prevented me from sleeping any further. I couldn’t really explain what was going on, but some kind of unfamiliar unrest kept me awake. I wasn’t nervous. Really.

Even though today was going to be the first day of school after the summer vacations and therefore the beginning of the new school year, it wasn’t my first day of school in general. There was no reason to be nervous. And even less since I wasn’t new to this school anymore. I had already made some friends, I was familiar with the teachers, and I knew what to expect from my school. Nothing was new to me. Nothing was unfamiliar. Still, I felt uncomfortable even long before school would actually start. What was going on with me?

I glanced next to me. Ramon was still deeply asleep. But there was no reason for him to already be awake; we still had plenty of time until my alarm clock would ring and notify us that it was time to start the day.

Maybe I wasn’t used to sleeping next to another person. Being in so much physical contact with another person was a very new experience for me. Never before had I been in such an odd situation as I was now. Never before had I gotten that close to another human. Maybe my body simply needed more time to get used to the fact that I had less space in bed than before.

Restless, I turned around. I closed my eyes just to open them again.

I sighed.

I couldn’t fall asleep; it was already too early in the morning, and the night was over. At least for me. I noticed that Ramon slowly woke up. His eyes were still closed, but a wide grin was forming on his face. Automatically, I had to smile, too. Was it weird to observe him like that? Maybe a little bit, but at the same time, it wasn’t weird at all. I could see how he started moving his body until he finally opened his eyes, and his grin grew even wider.

“Hey, you’re already awake?” he asked, still sounding asleep.

I nodded and stretched my joints.

“It’s probably just my excitement for school,” I answered ironically and looked out of the window.

The morning seemed dull and grey. This wasn’t a great start for the new school year. Shouldn’t it be summer at the moment? Since we moved houses, it felt to me as if the sun had vanished and been replaced by dark clouds that sometimes rained more or less onto our town. Everything was depressing and humid.

“I thought so,” Ramon murmured, and I couldn’t tell if he had understood my sarcasm or if he was still too asleep to figure it out.

In the meantime, it had gotten late enough for me to get up, so I made my way to the kitchen to lay the table. We could take the time we had gained from my early awakening to have breakfast together before we needed to go back to our regular lives. Ramon made his way out of bed as well and helped me.

“What are you doing on the weekend?” he asked casually while preparing his bread.

“My mom forces me to go on another happy family camping trip,” I complained.

I wasn’t keen on going on another camping trip with my mom, her new boyfriend, and even worse, his son. Although the last camping trip had been a few months ago – in fact, it even happened before our road trip to the mansion – I really wasn’t looking forward to repeating this nightmare. There were a few things that I really didn’t need in my life, and one of these things was camping.

However, I gave up on all of my hopes that my mom would finally realize how much I hated to camp. The only thing worse than all of these insects and spiders was that she wanted me to pretend as if we were one big and happy family. And I was tired of lying to her and even more tired of lying to myself. I wasn’t as happy with our new family as she wanted me to be.

“Well, well,” he laughed. “Where do you go?”

“As if I know… I think she wanted to go close to the mountains, but not some cool mountains like the Alpes – they would be too far away from home for my mom. I guess we’ll stay close to here somewhere, but at least it’s something different than the last time,” I answered and noticed how his facial expression changed for a brief second. Everything happened so quickly, I couldn’t even tell if he was confused, disappointed, or shocked. It was weird, but then again, everything that was somehow connected to Ramon was at least a little bit strange, and therefore I had gotten used to the fact that there were situations I simply couldn’t comprehend at first.

“The mountains?” he repeated, as if he didn’t understand me.

“Yes, mountains. Super high, pointy things that are standing around somewhere in the landscape, you know?” I tried to explain it for dummies.

“Ahh, that’s what you’re talking about,” he said playfully surprised, and took a sip of his orange juice.

I could only laugh and shake my head while biting into my bread.

For a while, none of us said anything because we were too busy eating until Ramon finally broke the silence: “I think you shouldn’t go.”

Confused, I lifted my head and observed him carefully.

“Why shouldn’t I? I don’t think I have much of a choice.”

“Well, you always have a choice. You could pretend you are ill or something like that,” he lowered his voice at the end of his sentence as if he knew how dumb his idea sounded.

“Believe me, my mom wouldn’t leave me home alone. Even if I was feverish, she would carry my ass up the mountain herself,” I laughed.

I knew her too well, and when it came to family activities, she would never let me off the hook that easily.

“But you have complained about the other camping trip so many times already. Do you really want to get through this again?” he asked me.

I didn’t know what he was trying to achieve, but it was somehow bothering me. I was annoyed by him judging me without knowing my life. He didn’t know how stubborn my mom could be; she was even worse than me. Yes, he was right about the last camping trip. It was a horror trip for me, and I would give everything to not go camping ever again, but at the end of the day, it wasn’t about the camping trip. It was about living in peace with my family.

“Yeah, I’m not super excited about it either, but there is nothing I can do about it,” I answered annoyed.

It was so easy for him to talk like that. He already lived alone and was completely independent from his family. I, however, had to get along with mine on a daily basis. No matter if I rather wanted to stay home or not, I definitely wouldn’t be allowed to.

“You could finally stand up for yourself. You are 17, and next year you will turn 18, and then your mother can’t force you to do anything,” he tried to convince me.

“But until then, I need to listen to her.”

I couldn’t prevent my voice from sounding sharper than I had originally intended.

“I only want what’s best for you. And it would be for the best if you would stay,” he admitted quietly.

“But why would it be for the best?” I asked dumbfounded.

Ramon’s behavior was so odd and unusual; there had to be a reason for it, but I couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong.

“You will only be annoyed and unhappy.”

“Right now, I’m annoyed as well.”

The words slipped out of my mouth without thinking.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. But, Ramon, for real, I don’t believe you. This can’t be the only reason. What is really going on with you? Why are you so concerned about my camping trip out of a sudden?” I immediately apologized for my harsh words.

I didn’t want to fight with him.

“There is no other reason,” he said only slightly convincing.

It almost sounded as if he didn’t believe himself either.

“I want you to be happy.”

I rolled my eyes.

These were horrible arguments. They didn’t count.

“Then you should accept that I will go camping with my family.”

The more he tried to prevent me from going, the more I felt motivated to go on that trip. I couldn’t even exactly tell why.

“Please,” he almost begged me.

I shook my head and got up from my chair.

I had to start getting ready if I wanted to arrive at school on time. And thanks to this awkward discussion, I didn’t want to be late.

“Do you trust me?” he asked after I had gotten ready for school.

“Yes, I do. But I still want to know the reason why you don’t want me to go.” I tried to be objective.

“I already told you I don’t have any special reason. Just trust me. It would simply be better if you would stay here.”

“Did you have another vision? Are you okay?” I asked out of a sudden because this was the only explanation for his strange behavior I could come up with. However, he hadn’t had any uncontrolled visions since our second encounter. At least that was what he always told me. So, his strange behavior couldn’t be caused by that. Unless…

Even though he tried to suppress it, he hasn’t fully recovered from that night in the mansion yet. He was still exhausted and weak. He, himself, claimed it was due to the fact that he had used his powers more than ever, but I couldn’t really believe him. It felt like there was more to it. And especially because I felt that way, it wasn’t completely far off that his powers were out of control when he seemed to have zero control over his body as well.

“No, of course not. I didn’t have any visions. Everything is under control,” he answered quickly.

“Then what else is wrong?” I asked and put on my shoes.

I couldn’t wait to go to school.

It seemed as if he was thinking about what to answer. He opened his mouth just to immediately shut it again.

“I knew it.”

I sighed.

“But if you can’t tell me what’s going on, you have to deal with me going on that camping trip.”

These were the last words I said to him before I made my way to school.

✽✽✽

It felt good to walk to school. I used to walk through these streets every morning. I knew them like the back of my hand, and everything felt so familiar.

So far, I haven’t gotten used to living on the opposite side of town. Our new home was far away from my school and therefore far from Ramon’s place as well, but at least now I lived closer to Jane and Finn. Everything had its advantages and disadvantages. Today, however, it felt nice to feel some sort of normality despite the odd morning.

More than just on time, I entered the entrance hall of our school, where I could immediately spot my friends. They were sitting at one of the tables in the back of the round hall. Just like they always did.

“Since when are you arriving on time?” Finn greeted me while laughing.

“Good morning to you too,” I grinned and hugged him as a greeting.

“Qualification Phase 2, baby!” Julius shouted from the other end of the entrance hall.

“And hello, Julius. I almost didn’t hear you,” Finn said.

I quickly joined Jane and her friends for some short conversation before we had to go to the assembly hall to receive our timetables for the new school year.

“What class do you have now?” Jane asked us.

I glanced at my schedule to realize that I was about to have biology class. Although I liked this subject a lot, it would mean that I had to go there on my own since none of my friends were in that course.

Finn and Julius would have physics next. They were so lucky to be together in class. However, I wouldn’t want to have physics as a subject in general, but I would have loved to start the new school year with some friends in my course.

“I have biology,” I sighed.

Finn petted my back pitifully. He looked even more full of pity when Jane announced that she had PE next.

Having gym class on the first day of school was about the worst thing that could happen. Nobody, absolutely nobody, carried sportswear to school when they wouldn’t know they belonged to the unfortunate people who had to do sports that day. The teachers, however, couldn’t care less about that, which meant the students would be running around with sweaty clothes for the rest of the day.

Jane definitely was hit the hardest by her timetable, so I really shouldn’t complain about my biology course. Despite my friends not being in that class, there were multiple other people I could talk to if I decided I wanted to.

Overly punctual, I made my way to the classroom. After all, I wanted to choose a good seat for the rest of the year. And if I was earlier than most of my classmates, I had a bigger selection to choose from.

Luckily, most of the other students took their time to walk from the assembly hall to our biology room which meant that I could choose my seat freely.

Most people probably wouldn’t even care about their seat. Unfortunately, I was a little more complicated. I only felt comfortable sitting on the side of the room, preferably on the opposite of the windows – so no one could expect me to open them – with a good view on the blackboard while at the same time sitting far enough in the back, so the teachers couldn’t tell if I was paying attention or drawing in my notebook instead. I simply wanted to avoid anyone noticing me. Surprisingly, class started with the teacher announcing the attendance of a new student. How was that even possible? I’ve always thought if someone would change schools during the Abitur phase, they had to repeat 11th grade. After all, this was one of my reasons for staying at this school despite our move; I didn’t want to repeat any grade if it wasn’t particularly necessary. My other reasons for not switching schools were obviously my friends. I had to admit that school had become more fun now that I had made some friends, and I was also sick and tired of being the new girl again. I liked my life the way it was; there was no need for any changes.

Immediately, everyone looked around, searching for the new student, just to realize that there was no unfamiliar person in the room so far. A sighed of relief went through the room. I guess most people were happy about the delay caused by the new student, since this meant class wouldn’t start immediately.

Suddenly, the door opened, and the new guy entered. I eyed him carefully. He was dressed fully in black, and when my glance arrived at his face, I realized that this person, who was still standing in the doorframe, wasn’t a stranger to me.

I could feel my heart beat faster; it started racing. I tried to slow down my breathing. I wouldn’t start having a panic attack. Not here. Not now. And definitely not because of him.

Everything inside of me felt the urge to storm out of the room and hide in the restroom until the day would be over, but rationality got the best of me. Or was I simply paralyzed by my fear?

“Great, you made it. Do you want to quickly introduce yourself to the other students.”

Our biology teacher greeted the new guy friendly.

“I’m Matt, and I’m now in your biology class,” Matt responded friendly.

What the hell was he doing here? I thought that he had run away after our last encounter in the mansion. Far away and preferably forever. I thought I had to never see him again.

So many thoughts were filling my head. Was this all just a coincidence? Was this planned? Was this another attempt by the magicians to pressure us somehow, or did he simply enjoy terrorizing people like me? Whatever occasion brought him here, I didn’t want to find out. I didn’t want to see him here.

Matt sat down on an empty seat, which luckily was far away from me, and unpacked his biology book as if it wasn’t odd for him to be here. As if he belonged here.

In the meantime, he didn’t pay any attention to me. Maybe he hadn’t seen me. Maybe all of this was just one massive coincidence, and he didn’t even know I was going to this school afterall. But why would a supernatural creature be interested in graduating school all of a sudden?

Our class felt like it lasted forever. And I couldn’t really focus on much either. Matt’s presence was distracting me too much. He made me feel restless, and my pulse still hasn’t calmed down a single bit. Even though I could proudly claim I didn’t have a panic attack, it felt like my body was prepared to run away any second. I was alert.

Fortunately, the first lessons at the start of the school year weren’t too important, so at least I wouldn’t need to feel guilty about missing out on important biology stuff due to being unfocused.

When class finally ended, I decided to follow my instincts. I was tired of feeling weak ever since that particular night in the villa. That was the reason why shortly after I had registered myself for boxing lessons. I wasn’t very good at it, but more importantly, it gave me the feeling of being in control again. So, I decided to use my newfound confidence for something good.

I didn’t stop observing Matt. Not when he packed his notebook into his backpack, and even less when he left the room. It wasn’t until then that I noticed I had forgotten to pack my own things together. Quickly, I threw everything that lied on my desk into my bag and left the room to somehow be able to catch up with Matt.

A lot of thoughts were filling my head when I walked up the stairs, but I still couldn’t answer the question of why I was following him. It probably was an incredible dumb idea to follow him all by myself without anyone knowing our shared history. I already knew he was strong. He was the reason why Ramon was still feeling weak. However, this was a school, and if he really wanted to kill me, he could’ve already done it in the mansion, couldn’t he?

Completely out of breath, I reached the highest floor of the building. Matt casually leaned onto some lockers and looked at me expectingly. Now there were no doubts about his intentions anymore. It wasn’t a coincidence that from all of the schools he could’ve ended up in, he had chosen mine. Of course, he knew exactly what he was doing, and he also knew I would follow him. He could read me like a book.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I pressed out from between my lips while I slowly walked towards him.

The corridor was completely empty. If he had the desire to hurt me, he could do it without anyone witnessing it.

“Neither should you.” He shrugged.

He was right. I shouldn’t be here either. I should be sitting in the entrance hall spending the break with my friends instead of following a stranger that could murder me any time if he desired to. So, everything was exactly the way it had been when I started to get to know Ramon.

“What do you want?” I asked demanding.

“I need Ramon’s help,” he answered with a normal voice.

I was surprised. Maybe I had expected everything from him but this. I didn’t know him like that. His voice had always been scornful, degrading, sarcastic, everything but normal. I was so stunned that I didn’t know immediately how to respond.

“Ehm,” I stuttered.

“What about ‘forget it’?” I added after a few seconds of awkward silence.

“I already expected you to say that, but why won’t you let him decide for himself? You just need to bring me to him,” he tried again.

“I will certainly not do anything for you. If I remember correctly, you attacked and hurt him during your last encounter. There is no guarantee this isn’t one of your mean tricks.”

“I already expected this as well. That you want to protect him,” he said more to himself than to me.

“Well, then you have to get used to that. Save your energy! I won’t let you get anywhere near Ramon.”

And with these words I turned around to walk back to the entrance hall.

I was a little bit proud of me. I totally left him speechless.

What a grand exit!

The next two hours of art class went by much faster, and luckily, I could spend my time with Julius instead of Matt. The fear of seeing him in other courses than biology was haunting me for the rest of the day. Fortunately for me though, I didn’t see him in any of the other subjects.

After school, Julius, Finn, and I were sitting at one of our favorite tables in the entrance hall waiting for Jane. We wanted to go out together and have dinner at a restaurant to properly celebrate the start of our last year of school.

“How long will she take?” Finn moaned in despair.

“Hungry?” I asked and laughed.

Finn was one of the most patient people I knew, but when it came to food, he could become incredibly fretful.

He only nodded saddened.

Luckily for him, it didn’t take much longer for Jane to arrive. But she didn’t arrive on her own.

“Can I introduce you to someone?” she asked excitedly.

I only looked at her in disbelief.

“This is Matt. He is new in our year. Isn’t that incredible?” She continued talking.

Matt only waved at us casually.

How could he dare to get anywhere near my friends? They had nothing to do with Ramon. How could he dare to get near Finn after all he had done to him? Still, I couldn’t let them know that something was bothering me about Matt’s pure existence. They would start asking questions. And I couldn’t give them any good explanations for that.

Even though I had promised Finn that I would explain everything to him one day, I simply wasn’t ready to open up yet. Fortunately, he was very understanding. A lot of things had changed within me since we left the mansion, and if I was completely honest, I still hadn’t figured out how to cope with everything.

There was more to the situation than just Ramon being weakened – and we still weren’t sure whether it was the magician’s work or not – there was also the fact that I wasn’t quite sure who I was or what I wanted from life. I mean, I was so certain my life would end that night. A near-death experience like that would leave some scars on the soul, this I was sure of.

Now things would change even more with Matt in the picture. Maybe I needed to rethink my morals and tell my friends everything. What would happen if he would tell them our secret first? What if he would hurt them? I had to warn them. I had to get rid of him.

“Hey, nice to meet you.” Finn greeted Matt friendly. If he would only know… There was nothing nice about it. And it wasn’t as random as it seemed to be either.

“I thought he could come with us. He doesn’t know anyone here and we could help him out,” Jane stumbled.

Oh, I hoped he wouldn’t do anything evil to her. I would pay him back double. Even though I had no clue how I could even hurt him, but I had to become creative if he would force me to.

Finn and Julius seemed to be excited about her idea, so I couldn’t say anything against it. It would have been too suspicious.

“What a great idea,” I answered, and I really needed to control myself to sound like I meant it.

We walked to the city center, and after discussing for a while, we decided to eat at a small Asian restaurant in the middle of the pedestrian zone. The others were eager to get to know Matt and to make him feel welcome. Why did my friend group have to be so open minded and friendly to everyone?

“How is it possible that you are new in our year?” I wondered out loud after we had ordered our food.

If nobody thought of it as weird, I could at least try to point it out for them. Maybe then they would realize that something was seriously wrong with Matt.

“I moved out of a sudden and your school has the best reputation in this city,” he answered neutrally.

One could really think we had never met before.

“But why our year?” I pushed further. “I thought if one switches schools during the last year, they have to repeat 11th grade and cannot directly start in 12th grade.”

His facial expression shifted from being totally relaxed to something darker for a second. I definitely made him feel uncomfortable, which felt like a small victory to me.

“There are exceptions where people don’t have to repeat 11th grade, and luckily, I had the right connections and marks to go straight to 12th grade.”

He looked comfortable again.

Damn. This time, he could save himself.

“Why did you need to move so suddenly?” I asked him. And I couldn’t care less about Finn’s confused glance.

“Luna, let him be!” Jane said strictly but friendly at the same time.

“Oh, it’s fine. I have nothing to hide,” Matt laughed and fixed me with his eyes. “If you really want to know the details, there were some complications within my family.”

“A tragic backstory?” Jane slipped out.

Matt shook his head while smiling.

He could seem so likeable. If I didn’t know him, I bet he could fool me too. But behind the friendly smile and the pretty eyes was an ice-cold murderer.

“It wasn’t a big deal. Just a few differences in opinions that could be solved only through moving away.” He reassured Jane, who already looked at him with pity in her eyes.

Differences in opinions? Was he hinting at the magicians or was he talking about Ramon? For now, it was better to lay low and not ask any further questions. Because everything I had done so far only allowed him to look even better in my friend’s eyes.

In general, the afternoon went okay. I tried to get a grip on me and leave Matt be, and to my surprise, no one noticed my resentment towards him. It was a success for me.

But the afternoon was a success for Matt too, because at the end of the day he was added to our WhatsApp group chat. He had me exactly where he wanted me to be.

Chapter 2

Iwasn’t happy at all about my conversation with Luna this morning, but what else was I supposed to do? I couldn’t bring myself to tell her about my vision. I couldn’t tell her that her life was in danger all because of me, a person whom she trusted. How was I supposed to explain to her that I was feeling miserable ever since we left my Grandma’s mansion? How should I explain this odd feeling that warned me that this was only the beginning?

I was positive she had already noticed I was going through something, but at the same time she couldn’t estimate how extremely crappy I really felt.

I felt weak. I felt strange. I felt like I was about to lose control again, and I didn’t even know why I felt that way. I had learned how to control my abilities before. There was no way I had to start learning this all over again. There was no way I was able to start over again. I was too exhausted. Too weak.

Overall, the situation I was in was hopeless, and I couldn’t or didn’t want to talk about it with anyone. Everything felt like a Deja-vu. A throwback to a time before I had started learning how to control my powers. But worse. More uncontrollable. And especially after all the progress I had made in the past, this setback felt like a disaster. And now I simply didn’t have the strength to start again. I couldn’t go on living like this for much longer.

But the closer the weekend came when Luna wanted to go on a camping trip with her family, the worse my nights were. I couldn’t sleep at all because I knew I had to do something.

I couldn’t let her drive away like that. And if I couldn’t stop her from going on that trip, I had to at least do everything I could to prevent her death. As much as I loved looking for similarities between Luana and Luna, I knew that Luna’s death would feel much worse to me than Luana’s death could have ever been. So, I decided to let Tim know about my vision.

I wouldn’t tell him everything, only the most important details. He didn’t need to know how terrible I was actually doing. I could simply use somebody calm that would come up with a plan.

Determined, I was on my way to Tim’s apartment. If I would come over to visit him, he wouldn’t realize that I was scared as hell and exhausted. Because if I was really feeling like crap, I would never have the guts to visit him, wouldn’t I?

“So, what do you want to talk about?” He greeted me friendly when he opened the door.

I sighed briefly.

He couldn’t even imagine how serious this conversation would turn out to be.

Quickly, he realized that I didn’t feel like laughing.

“I understand,” he murmured while I walked past him and sat down.

“What happened?” he sounded worried.

This was exactly what I was trying to avoid.

I took a deep breath.

What I was about to say wouldn’t be easy.

“I had a vision,” I started and observed how Tim opened his eyes and mouth in shock.

“Shit,” he whispered.

I nodded, then I cleared my throat before I could continue talking.

“I had a vision in which Luna died.”

My eyes filled with tears and I couldn’t stop it.

“Did you tell her already? Maybe we can prevent it. Maybe we can somehow change the future, or do you think you could have another vision, a more positive one where Luna survives?” He rambled without thinking too much.

It was obvious he was bothered by the situation as well. He was by my side when we lived through all of this for the first time, and if I was feeling too weak to start over, how should I know he wasn’t feeling the same way? We had been at exactly this point before. This couldn’t be an eternal circle. This shouldn’t be an eternal circle.

“I didn’t tell her anything so far,” I started.

But before he could question me further, I responded: “I don’t want her to think wrong of me. I’m scared she would think I want to see her dead, and I also don’t want her to notice how I’m losing control again. I don’t want her to walk away from me, and I don’t want her to be worried about me either.”

“So, you say you’d rather watch her die instead of her choosing to leave you?” Tim tried to summarize the situation.

I never looked at it from this point of view, but something about the way he phrased it was correct. It sounded horrible, and the situation was way too complex to be summarized in only one sentence, but the words had come out of my mouth, so they must’ve been at least slightly true.

“Of course, I don’t want to watch her die, but… I tried talking her out of going on the trip with her family without giving away too much,” I explained my original plan.

“She is going to die while camping?” Tim asked.

I nodded.

“Did it work? Could you stop her?”

I shook my head.

I didn’t know what else to say.

“Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here,” I sighed. “I hoped you could help me.”

Tim thought about it for a second, then he nodded.

“Of course, I’m going to help you. But firstly, we should tell her about your vision. I don’t think it will change anything if you explain the situation to her. I know you, and I know your powers as well. Whatever is going on right now, isn’t normal. This isn’t you.

Furthermore, she decided to help you despite your uncontrollable visions. You could’ve already killed her in the past. So why should she decide against helping you now, when she had already made her decision to stay at a time where you were doing much worse?” He was motivated and looked at me.

“What are we waiting for?”

Silence filled the room.

I didn’t know exactly how I could respond.

“Yeah, about that. I was hoping you could try to figure out where she would go, so we can follow her and prevent my vision from happening,” I tried to explain my new plan.

He just looked at me confused.

“Why don’t you try to figure it out yourself?” he wondered.

I had no other choice but to explain again, and with further details, how I had already tried to prevent her from going and how she didn’t like that. I had to admit that spending most of my life on my own had shaped me, and I sometimes had issues understanding how to react in certain social situations, but even I knew that it wasn’t good for our relationship if I would keep pushing myself onto her with the same topic.

“Hm,” Tim said. “Don’t you think your idea is a little bit, how do I phrase it nicely, creepy?”

“It’s not my best plan, that’s for sure. But please, let’s do it my way,” I beseeched him.

Again, Tim had to think about it briefly, but eventually he agreed. His only demand was that I would tell her everything about the vision once we saved her.

Nervously, I was sitting next to Tim while he was trying to figure out her parent’s camping destination during a casual conversation with Luna through WhatsApp. It was already Friday afternoon, and we were slowly running out of time. I didn’t know when their journey would start. I didn’t know their destination yet. And I didn’t even know when exactly my vision would strike. It could’ve already been too late.

Luckily, Luna wasn’t suspicious when Tim asked her about the camping trip, so she told him everything we needed to know for our plan to work.

I looked at Tim.

He looked at me.

“Let’s go!” I said and got up.

“We have a mission!” Tim screamed and followed me as fast as possible.

We jumped into my car and started driving. On the way to the campsite, I explained everything I had seen in my vision to Tim, so he could be prepared as well. We both needed to be careful about potential issues that could endanger our mission. We had to find her before my vision would become reality.

I already was a mental wreck. How much more did I have to bear until I would finally break?

We didn’t need to drive for long until we could already see the first mountains. Luna was right about everything. Her mother really didn’t seem to want to travel too far. Now we only needed to find Luna or her family, which was probably the hardest part of our mission.

“Where do we want to hide on top of the mountain, and where will we sleep?” Tim blurted out.

Damn. I haven’t thought about this at all.

In my head, everything seemed to be so much easier. But Tim was right, it was important to plan things like that in advance. We couldn’t risk walking around the campsite like regular campers.

If Luna would see us, everything would be over. And with all the stress, I didn’t even think about sleeping. I hadn’t expected this mission to take longer than one afternoon, which was careless of me. Maybe this was the reason why Tim usually made the plans.

“We can sleep in my car,” I suggested.

“Cool, I always wanted to sleep in a car,” Tim answered happily like a small child.

I didn’t expect such a genuinely positive response to my plan.

We started driving up the mountain, but we didn’t make it all the way to the top on purpose. We stopped the car at one of the multiple parking spaces next to the road that would lead to the peak of the mountain.

Dusk had already begun, and the odds were too high that somebody would notice us or the lights of my car. Today, and I was sure about that, nothing bad would happen to Luna.

My vision should happen during day light, and Tim was texting with Luna the whole time; she was still alive. More or less relieved, I stretched my joints and pushed the driver’s seat as far away from the steering wheel as possible so my legs had more space.

“We didn’t even pack anything to eat,” Tim complained eventually.

We probably couldn’t have been less prepared, but it was a life-or-death situation, it only made sense that I wasn’t thinking clearly. There was no time to think about something as ordinary as food, I had already lost too much time by hesitating to talk to Tim.

Eventually, we decided to search the mountain, firstly for some place where we could eat, and secondly for the hiking track I had seen in my vision. The first thing was surprisingly easy to find, and after we had dinner, Tim was keener on looking at all the hiking tracks that could possibly be the one.

It took us hours to find the right path, but eventually we found it. I could only guess that the adrenaline kept me going because my own weakness was, for once, not important to me. I couldn’t believe how active I could be if it was for the sake of another person that meant as much to me as Luna did.

Even though we had found the correct hiking trail, we got lost in the woods a few times on our way back to the car (despite using Google Maps). Exhausted, we finally went to sleep.

“Ramon, it’s 12 p.m.” I heard Tim’s voice.

He sounded dull and far away. I couldn’t open my eyes to see where his voice was coming from. I wasn’t feeling all too well, and if I was honest, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to save her anyway.

How should I be able to change anything if I wasn’t even able to open my eyes in the first place? My body was shaking. But I wasn’t freezing. It wasn’t cold outside.

Today was one of the few days this summer where the sun was supposed to shine. One of the few warm days in the past few weeks.

I fully woke up when Tim started shaking me. My mind was now completely awake, only my body was holding me back in my car seat like a magnet. I needed to get myself together. Just this one time. For Luna. After today, I could sleep for the rest of my life if I wanted to, but today, I needed to function. And while I was thinking about Luna, I finally managed to open my eyes.

“Damn, the night was a bit too long for me,” I mumbled still half-asleep. I tried to play down the seriousness of the situation. It was impossible to tell if Tim suspected anything, but even if he did, he stayed quiet.

We decided to drive a little closer to the hiking trail. On the one hand, because I was sure I couldn’t walk that far, and on the other hand, we would be way faster by car than by foot. And we needed to be there rather sooner than later, in case anything was happening. At this time of day, our car wouldn’t be as noticeable as it would’ve been yesterday night. At the weekend, a lot of cars drove up the mountain, it was a popular hiking and camping spot among tourists.

“Do you think today’s the day?” Tim asked carefully.

I nodded.

I could feel that it was true.

“Okay, then let’s not waste any more time,” Tim said and jumped out of the car after we had reached our destination.

I took one more deep breath to gather all of my strength. I didn’t know how exactly I should save her, but one thing was certain: I would save her. Even if that meant she would think of me as a stalker or a weirdo. She was worth it. Her life was worth it. I would do everything for her, even if I had to pay for it with my life. Finally, these thoughts helped me to leave my car as well.

Carefully, we moved in the direction of the hiking track. In my vision, her tents were close to the trail, so we had to be careful so she wouldn’t see us here. Even though I wasn’t fully sure if the tents from my vision belonged to her and her family, the odds were high that they did. And even if they had their tents somewhere else, we knew for sure that at some point, Luna would walk up this path, we had to be alerted all the time. We needed to be attentive while being invisible at the same time. Two things that neither Tim nor I weren’t particularly great at.

It didn’t take us long to find the tents from my vision, but Luna was nowhere to be found. Was it too late already? My heart started pounding, but my head was too rational to be panicky. As long as there was hope that it wasn’t too late, I would stand here and wait. If I had to, forever. I had time. As long as I didn’t know better, there was still a chance we could save her.

Luckily, Tim didn’t say anything that could possibly trigger my insecurities. Actually, he was surprisingly quiet and calm. Although he always was a calm and relaxed person, he loved putting his foot in his mouth. His silence could only mean that even Tim had understood the seriousness of the situation, otherwise he would’ve tried to loosen up the mood with funny jokes.

We sat down in the shade of a large tree to hide from everyone. And we waited. So many thoughts filled my head. Was this really the right place? It had to be here. I was sure. Very sure even. I had seen this exact trail in my vision. The other hiking tracks looked way too different; this was the right spot without any doubt.

So, we continued waiting. Silence. The only noises around us were birds, which were happily chirping in the trees.

“And you are certain this is the spot?” Tim asked skeptically.

“Pssht,” I said and put my finger on my lips to signal him to stay quiet.

We shouldn’t risk being noticed by anyone in case my vision wouldn’t happen. We needed to lay low, which meant staying quiet for most of the time. If Luna was really here, she could potentially recognize our voices.

“But yes, I’m sure that’s it,” I whispered.

Tim looked as tense as I felt. He had to be crazy to help me out this time. But on the other hand, he needed to be crazy to stand by my side for my whole life. And regarding that, it maybe wasn’t that crazy anymore that we were lurking behind the tree waiting for something to happen. Maybe we should’ve tried this way earlier, when I had other visions, to see if they had to always have a deadly end.

Carefully, I stretched my neck to look past the tree trunk, which I had used as a backrest a few seconds ago.

“Do you see anything?” Tim asked quietly, but I couldn’t answer. I was too focused on what was happening right in front of my eyes.

I saw Luna, and behind her a strange person appeared, who technically wasn’t looking all too unfamiliar since I had seen him once before; in my vision.

I gulped.

It would happen now. I could feel it.

I had to do something. I had to jump up and pull her away from the slope, otherwise it would be too late to save her. Everything that was happening in front of me was what I had already seen in my vision. My vision was about to become reality and it would, as always, end deadly.

It seemed as if the world was moving in slow motion, but I was motionless. I was paralyzed. Was it because of my weakness or fear?

Luna hiked up the trail, a bit too close to the descent right next to it, in my opinion. The stranger from my vision was walking right behind her. He was too close to her. He stumbled over his own feet and held onto Luna to prevent a fall. She, however, started to tumble. She lost her balance and fell down the hillside.

I jumped out of my hiding place and buried my fingers in my hair. How could I be so incompetent? I couldn’t let her die. I couldn’t lose her. Not this way. Not through one of my visions. Not through something I could’ve prevented if I had told her the truth right from the start.

Just before I could storm to the hiking trail, I saw a dark creature leap itself down the descent. Everything happened so fast that I couldn’t certainly say if it was real or just an illusion or even a dream.

The stranger that caused Luna’s accident ran away, in the direction of the restaurant where Tim and I had dined the day before. If he was really going to the restaurant, it would mean that we had enough time to look after Luna ourselves without anybody noticing us. I immediately started to sprint away from our hideout. Tim followed me. My heart was racing even worse than before, and I couldn’t deny the feeling of panic anymore. Still, I had to see her. Even if it was for the last time. I had to see how she was doing. Maybe there was something I could do for her. To save her. It wasn’t possible that I was too incompetent. The only reason I was here this exact moment was to save her, and eventually I failed.

I looked down the steep slope and saw her. Her body was all curled up on the ground, the same way as in my prediction. It was too late. She was… She was…

Tears were running down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. I couldn’t stand looking at her anymore. I didn’t want to look at anything anymore. Was there anything I could do in life, or was everything I started just doomed to fail?

I looked away and finally broke down.

Tim, who was still staring down the descent, carefully put a hand on my shoulder, but I just pushed him away.

I didn’t want to be touched by anyone ever again. Because this was exactly what would happen if someone came too close to me; they would eventually die.

I didn’t even bother trying to hide my tears. I couldn’t care less what the other hikers or even Luna’s family would think about me if they would see me here. I didn’t care what my father would think of me, in case he would ever find out. It was okay to cry and it was okay to break down if one lived through so many tragedies like me. But the worst of all weren’t the tears, it was the feeling of not feeling anything at all. Not even emptiness. Absolutely nothing.

How was it possible to show emotions and to be certain to have them, but you simply weren’t feeling them? Not even a tiny bit. My head had emotionally shut down; my body couldn’t bear the pain of another loss anymore.

“Ramon,” Tim said, but I ignored him.

No matter what he was trying to say next, nothing, absolutely nothing, would fill the hole in me that her death had left behind.

“Ramon,” Tim tried again to talk to me.

Why couldn’t he simply let it go? Why did he not let me go when I tried to push him away from me years ago? Because then I would have been all alone from the beginning. I would have never dreamt about starting a new and normal life. I would have never waited for Luna in front of her school to talk to her. Without Tim and Luna, it wouldn’t have been a wonderful life, but at least Luna would’ve been alive, and that would be worth all of that.

“Ramon, you should look at that.”

“What?” I yelled at him. “What should I look at? Her dead body? Well, I’ve already seen it all in my vision.”

“I don’t think you’ve seen this in your vision.” He stayed calm despite everything.

Still in tears, I let Tim turn my head to the side so I was facing the slope again. And when I looked down, I could see what he saw. Luna had moved. It was impossible. A death from this height must’ve been deadly. But she was alive.

Chapter 3

It was the first day of school in over a week. My mom made sure I was put on sick leave – even though the doctors reassured her that, against all odds, I was perfectly fine and didn’t even suffer from a slight concussion or anything else – so I could recover from the accident. I was annoyed that I wasn’t allowed to do anything, although I was feeling alright. Again, I felt weak, but not physically, and without any control over my life.

Every hour, my mom was entering my room to check whether I was still alive or had died from some unacknowledged internal bleeding. And even though I had told her multiple times that everything was fine, she didn’t stop. She could be as stubborn as me, but I was used to it by now. That’s why I was even more relieved when I finally was able to see my friends again after all this drama.

Obviously, they had already knew about the ‘Miracle in the Mountains’ – the media were talking about it every day, it was impossible for anyone to not have heard about it. But who could be mad about it? The most exciting things that were happening in this town were dogs running away or chess tournaments.; nothing exciting ever happened here.

But me surviving a fall from a height that was supposed to be deadly was some sort of sensation that