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Chapter 3
Cassandra opened slowly her aching eyes. The bright morning light which shone through the window hurt them. She sat up slowly, shaking her head and thinking: “what the hell happened?” There was no way she could remember how and when did she return home. She narrowed her eyebrows in an effort to remember. One thought came to her mind: “Danny…” she remembered his words: “I was just kidding when I asked you to marry me.” She felt her anger beginning to rise again. Her hands started to shake. “He cheated on me!” she thought. “He…” she stopped herself. There was no use to think about it and she better forget him. But still… it made her do something totally useless: to run through empty streets in the middle of the night. Suddenly she remembered she was stabbed in her back and panicked for a moment. She reached to her back. It was unharmed. This fact surprised her so much she jumped off the bed. Can it be she just dreamed it all? But… if that was a dream, it was defiantly an uncommonly realistic one. She shook her head, and this made something come to her sight. On the pillow was lying a knife covered in blood. She opened her eyes in horror. On the floor there was a shirt soaked with dry blood. She lifted the garment up. It was the shirt she wore for the airport. There was a cut in the back of the shirt, and all the blood was around it. Suddenly she noticed her reflection in the mirror, and froze in shock. Her skin lost its normal color and became as white as milk. Her curly brown hair straightened up and changed its color to deep purple. Her normal brown eyes became bright purple and their pupil lengthened. Her ears became pointed. She gazed in horror at her image, asking herself what the hell happened to her. Then she noticed the clock and cursed lightly. Sighing, she got dressed and went downstairs.
Cassandra was expecting to find her mother in the living room, waiting impatiently and ready to shout commands at her, but found no one. She looked around suspiciously. Her mother would always be home at such an early hour. She decided she better start her duties without waiting for her mother to shout them, and entered the kitchen. She opened the fridge, and screamed. A bloody, crushed dead body fell out. A very scared Cassandra escaped the house. The moment she was outside, she began walking really fast aimlessly. She was still too upset to think clearly what she should do.
It was already midnight and Cassandra still hasn’t found the courage to return home. She didn’t even think about calling the police. Meanwhile she found herself in the same alley she was stabbed in and looked around. There was a puddle of blood on the floor. Suddenly someone grabbed her and she felt a hand over her mouth. “Hey babe,” she heard a rough voice by her ear. “I want some of your goods.” Cassandra panicked for a second, but the attacker suddenly released her. She heard a scream behind her, and a thud. She looked behind, but for some reason she wasn’t surprised to find the attacker on the floor, motionless, his eyes wide open in a soulless, shocked gaze. She looked at the scorched body and said mockingly: “keep on wanting, a*****e.” This event somehow gave her the courage to check her home.
The scent of death already filled the house when she entered. She tensed up. The living room was dark, but it wasn’t empty. A pair of glowing cat’s eyes was looking at her. Cassandra turned on the light and leaped backwards. A man, about thirty years of age, stood next to the wall. Tall, pale, his hair was black and reached his square chin. What amazed Cassandra most were his eyes. Piercing green cat eyes. He was looking at the photos which covered the wall. Cassandra looked at him and asked angrily: “who are you?!” he glanced at her from the corner of his eye, and continued to study the photos. Instead of answering he said: “Nice family you have.” Cassandra snorted, annoyed, and said: “yeah, I had.”
-“let me guess,” said the stranger with a grin. “You weren’t exactly happy in it.”
-“none of your business,” answered Cassandra angrily and sat on the sofa.
-“that is where you’ve mistaken, my dear Cassandra,” he said in a somewhat snobbish voice. “That’s exactly my business.”
- “How do you know my name?!” Cassandra asked suspiciously. The stranger only widened his grin. “I haven’t introduced myself, have I?” he said.” I am Fleerwack, the Alta Qualeer of the Dark Clan.”
-“what’s Alta Qualeer? And what’s the Dark Clan?”
-“Alta Qualeer is my title. Qualeer means master, and Alta means I am the leader of my clan. The Dark Clan, that is.”
-“What kind of clan is it?”
-“A clan of Bessnakers.”
-“What are Bessnakers?”
-“Bessnakers are what you and me are, dearest. We are namely the gods of this world. We are immortal. We are forever young. We have limitless magical powers. We can do whatever we want, and you, my dear Cassandra, are the goddess of the gods. No Bessnaker has even half the power you have.”
-“what the hell are you talking about?”
-“your color, dearest. We come in all rainbow colors. Red is the weakest, blue is the strongest. And you, my dear, are purple. That means you are stronger than the strongest. The strongest that ever was.”
-“I still don't have the slightest clue what you’re talking about.”
-“you’ll see, dearest. You’ll learn.”
-“And I still don’t understand what you want from me.”
At this point Fleerwack, who was standing all the time, got down on his knees right in front of Cassandra and leaned on her knees. Cassandra hated it. She leaned backwards and exposed her teeth in anger and disgust. “Get off me!” she hissed through clenched teeth. Fleerwack only grinned with a mischievous smile. He said: “I’ve come here, dearest, to offer you to join my clan.”
-“what for?” she asked, uninterested.
-“you are powerful, my dear,” he answered, “But untrained. Until you’ll learn how to control your magic, you might cause a hell lot of chaos. I offer you to join my clan, and I’ll coach you.”
Cassandra thought about it for a minute. For some reason she had a strong feeling this man is trying to deceive her, and even if he is being honest, she didn’t like at all the idea of being tutored by this man.
“Sorry,” she said and shook her head. “Uninterested.” Fleerwack didn’t seem to be disappointed at all. He raised his thick eyebrows. “No?” He asked, unconcerned, and pulled out his pocket a silver bracelet with a little jade stone instead one of links. “Well, in case you’ll change your mind,” he said and put the bracelet on Cassandra’s wrist. “Just press on the green stone. It will transport you to my clan’s hideout’s entrance. Show it to the guard and he’ll let you in.” Cassandra nodded, even though she really didn’t think she might change her mind. Fleerwack smiled and disappeared into the thin air, leaving behind small spheres of green light which disappeared in a second.
Cassandra got out of the house, unable to bear the stench any longer. She was so filled of the weird conversation she forgot the origin of the smell. Once again she walked aimlessly in the dark empty streets.
“Hey, Erdika!” called a feminine voice toward her. Cassandra turned around to find the source. In the lights of a 24/7 restaurant stood a young looking woman. Unlike Cassandra, she looked completely normal except her eyes, dark yellow cat’s eyes. When she saw Cassandra had noticed her, she smiled a warm, friendly smile, and said: “hello!” Cassandra approached her and asked: “who are you?” the woman widened her smile and said: “my name’s Alitia. I’m of Yaliran’s clan”
-“what are you?”
-“I am a Bessnaker, just like you! Do you know what a bessnaker is?”
-“sort of… but you look completely different from me!”
-“of course I am! I am a light Bessnaker. You are a dark one. But heck, dark, light, life, death, what’s the difference? All are Bessnakers.”
-“The things you said are types of Bessnakers?”
-“Yep. Actually each and every Bassnaker is either light or dark, and either life or death. For example, I am a light death. “
-“and what is the meaning of the different types?”
-“Beside the appearance? I don’t really know, I mean, there has to be some more fundamental difference, but I never bothered to check.”
-“I see…”
-“anyway, I guess you want to learn more about Bessnakers?”
-“of course!”
-“then you can come and join my clan, if you want. It has a nice hideout, some really nice qualeers, Fun people. I think you’ll like it.”
-“and Yaliran is the Alta Qualeer?”
-“Yep.”
-“what is he like?”
-“he’s really cute, and smart, too. I think you’ll like him.”
Cassandra grinned. For some reason she really enjoyed Alitia’s friendly chattering.
-“well,” she said hesitantly. “That sounds good….”
-“great!” Alitia called happily. “I think you should see the clan for yourself, and then you’ll be able to decide whether to join or not. How’s that?”
-“sounds good….”
-“Great! Then come with me!”
Alitia offered her hand, and Cassandra took it, cautiously. Suddenly, the restaurant disappeared from her sight as a strange sensation passed through her.
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