Midnight Academy. Born at midnight. Edgars Auziņš

which I would throw into the trash bin two houses away every time.

      I loved sweets, but I couldn’t afford to accept anything from strangers.

      Actually, I was just about to leave the house when I saw, through the gap between the thick curtains and the window, a black jeep pulling up at our entrance. It was not parked, the engine was running, as were the headlights, but it would not have been possible to see who was hiding inside even if one wanted to.

      The car turned out to be tightly tinted all around.

      “Mom…” I called quietly, first turning up the volume on the TV almost to maximum.

      Having taken my place, she also did not move the curtains, but as soon as she saw the jeep, she quickly pulled me by the hand, dragging me away from the window. I knew the next steps in advance, having lived through each stage many, many times.

      Whatever we were doing at that moment, as soon as a threat appeared, we dropped absolutely everything. The parent only took the laptop and bag in case of escape, and I took the e-reader and backpack. Things, food, water – the minimum set was available in each pre-prepared car. Well, my mother carried money and documents with her, preferring to keep them closer to her hands.

      Pull on cloaks, put on hoods. We didn't even take the time to lock the door. They either climbed out through the window or went down the stairs if there was a second exit at the entrance.

      There were usually pre-rented cars parked on each side of the house. Of course, in financial terms, such reinsurance cost a large sum, but more than once it came to the rescue and saved us from an immediate meeting with the pursuer.

      – Mom, maybe it’s just someone else’s car? Did any of the neighbors or guests come to someone? – I asked, sitting down in the front seat and buckling up. – Maybe this maniac has long forgotten about us, huh? And he lives his quiet maniacal life somewhere in a quiet place.

      – Don't be stupid, Sally! – she said sternly, sharply backing up and turning the steering wheel.

      I had thought before that my parent was simply sick. The older I got, the less I believed in the invisible pursuer who never caught up with us. Moreover, my mother said almost nothing about her childhood and youth.

      What if she spent them in some asylum? Maybe all these years she needed special medicine, the help of qualified specialists, and year after year I mindlessly continued to support her illness?

      “Mom, maybe we should just stop and find out what he or she needs from us?” At the same time, we’ll understand if someone is following us…” I suggested carefully, trying to track her emotions.

      Focused, confident, gloomy. She didn't look like she was mentally ill.

      – Never! – she hissed, no worse than a snake, clutching the steering wheel with incredible strength until it creaked. – Do you hear? Never dare to even think about it!

      I wanted to say something else, but in the rearview mirror I noticed that same black jeep. Exactly the same one, because I had a good look at the numbers, first trying to concentrate and at least see something through the tint. The car confidently increased speed and threatened to catch up with our car, but my mother did not give up. She pressed the gas pedal to the floor, driving out onto a suburban highway, mired on both sides in green fields, electrical towers and tall trees.

      There the car was rushing at great speed along a flat road, almost imperceptibly. But the road was easier for the jeep too. He was practically breathing into our trunk.

      – Mom, train! – I shouted, hearing the growing roar of the express rushing along the railway.

      Ahead at the crossing, a barrier was slowly lowering, serving as a barrier device. The traffic light was blinking hysterically with a prohibitory light. The train driver sounded a sound signal using a typhon.

      – Mother!

      She didn't respond, didn't say anything. At some point, for a split second, I even thought that this was the end. That I spent all eighteen years in prohibitions in order to die like this stupidly, running away from a monster that I had never seen with my own eyes…

      I didn't even have the courage to close my eyes.

      Our car managed to fly through the rails just a few seconds before colliding with the train, completely demolishing the barrier on both sides. At that moment I wasn’t breathing at all. And my heart seemed to stop.

      I desperately wanted to cling to my mother’s hand, but I perfectly understood that I could only hinder her. After what I had experienced, the last thing I wanted was to kill us.

      Looking in the rearview mirror, between the rushing carriages of the train, I saw only the shadow of a black jeep forced to stop. When we turned at the intersection, he was no longer following us, but I still didn’t dare say anything.

      The mother stopped only when we pulled off the road into a forest straight towards the lake, disappearing with the car behind the dense greenery of the trees. And that’s where her nerves gave way. Covering her face with her hands, she almost lay there for several minutes, leaning on the steering wheel.

      “Mom…” I wanted to apologize for the mistrust.

      But she exhaled sharply, straightened up and interrupted me:

      “Sally, this can’t go on any longer.” We need to hide you so that he can't get to you. I swear I didn't mean to bring you into this. I didn't think you'd spend your first eighteen years on the run. I wanted an ordinary life for you, like I once had. – Stroking my cheek with her palm, she smiled through her tears. “As long as you’re around, I can’t deal with him, because I’ll never forgive myself if I put you in danger.”

      – Mom, you speak in riddles. “I don’t understand anything,” I admitted, but tears stood as a veil in my eyes.

      Exhaling loudly again, as if she had gained determination, she started the car.

      – Go. I'll tell you something on the way. For starters…” she taxied back onto the highway leading to Ashwool. – You should know that our world has another – the Dark Side.

      Chapter 2. Polunochnikov Academy

      Silence. It was cold, like water in a barrel that had stood outside the country house all winter. She was tense – my nails dug into the flesh of my palms to the point of palpable pain, while I waited for the end of the conversation that was happening without my participation on the other side of the wall. It drove me crazy, because the unknown is the worst creation of our imperfect world.

      Out of the corner of my eye, noticing some movement on the dark, porous floor tiles, I suddenly jumped up and froze in horror. My lips immediately dried up at the sight of a disgusting white spider, which confidently moved all its legs, clearly intending to stroll past me.

      Or maybe to me! It was impossible to predict his desires from his beady black eyes. But I knew one thing for sure: I didn’t want to cross paths with this individual the size of my fist under any pretext.

      Because I was terribly afraid of spiders. To the point of muteness. Until loss of consciousness. As a child, this was my biggest fear. The babayka, the brownie and the under-bed monster weren’t even close to them.

      But this is in childhood. A large amount of free time and almost unlimited access to any literature through an e-book played a role. Using various methods, I was able to slightly reduce the degree of my relationship with these multi-legged creatures. Now I perceived them much easier. But if there was an option not to be in the same room with them, I did everything to get rid of these monsters.

      Because to preserve the psyche of both of us, we should have stayed away from each other.

      In one leap, I moved to the window, I opened it by touch, without taking my gaze off this big-eyed one. A light breeze with a pleasant evening coolness stroked my face and ruffled my hair, but I didn’t even think about wasting time getting myself in order.

      Instead, she blocked the white furry man’s path, decisively and boldly placing her foot in his way.

      Stopping abruptly,