Free Preternatural (Worlds & Secrets) by Lloyd Harry-Davis Page B

underarms for warmth whilst we walked with bowed heads. Mum was otherwise; headstrong and walking upright, completely unaffected by the drops of what could have easily been acid that fell from the sky. Mum’s normal piercing light-blue eyes had changed though. Maybe it was just the lighting and the darkness that had fallen around us, but her glacial blue eyes didn’t seem to look human anymore. They contrasted with the environment and simply stood out from her, especially her black pupils which were very visible from where we stood. She took the car key from her pocket and pressed the button – the car clicked and unlocked as the headlights flashed.
    “ Hop in,” mum commanded.
    Jaden and Jade went i n the back seats from each side and I went in front. As soon as we slid in, mum started the engine and turned on the radiator. We gave a sigh of relief before she reversed the car and left to go home. Jaden looked at Jade with a narrowed expression.
    “ Jade, we just walked through heavy rain.”
    “ You’re a very observant boy, Jaden. We get it. What’s your point?” she snapped in a moderate tone.
    “ But you’re not the least bit wet,” Jaden concluded. Jade looked at her arms and rubbed her hair, noticing that Jaden was right. Not a single sign of the water’s touch. She was as dry as a bone. Whilst on the road, the silence between us was broken by the raindrops that bulleted on the car’s rooftop, the windows and the windscreen.
    “ So, A.J., what was it you wanted to tell me earlier in the hallway? Something about 2014?” asked mum.
    “ Well – um…yeah – so anyway, I was asking whether or not we were in 2014?” I asked.
    “ I already told you, no,” said mum, “why; are you already counting down how many years you have before you leave home?” she added with a scoff.
    “ Well, let’s just say a series of inexplicable oddities have been happening to us. And when Nicholas gave us our clovers – already being strange because only seniors get clover crests and we’re in year nine – it said on it,” I pulled out my clover crest, “ senior Year 10, Academic Year 2014–2015: Cressile International School . Everyone had theirs stitched on, further implying that they had had them for some time,” I finalised.
    “ How did they get theirs stitched on already?”
    “ Well, we’re in October. If we really have advanced a year, one should assume the school year obviously started in September, at which point they would have already had their clovers stitched on,” Jaden said.
    “ Yeah, alright shut up, Jaden. You and your big English,” I muttered.
    “ Don’t worry. Nature doesn’t have glitches. I’m sure this is all a little science fiction from you boys,” mum said with a grin. We really hoped it was.
    Bef ore we knew it, we were at home; still underneath a blanket of sheer dark clouds in a bleak sky. It was getting hard to tell whether it was night or if the sky was still gloomy. Mum parked the car outside our house. All of a sudden the sound of the raindrops stopped. We stepped out of the car and observed the skies. Thunder roared but was muffled by the thick layers of clouds and gases and what seemed to be lightning flashing every so often to lighten the sky to grey. But suddenly, as if dissolving into the atmosphere, the clouds were clearing up and the sun was peeking behind them. In no time, the sky was a stunning azure again.
    “ Well, what do you know,” said mum with her hands over eyes, looking at the sky observantly. The colour of the sky merely seemed to be reflected from mum’s Antarctic-coloured eyes. She brought her head down to look at us and threw Jade the keys.
    “ Go open the door. I’ll catch up,” she ordered.
    “ Wait! Where are you going?” Jade asked.
    “ I’m going up to Tantrus and Anne’s. I need to speak to them very quickly,” she answered. “Just…go home and eat some snacks and watch television or something,” she said hurriedly as she rushed