Tales & Time (Lost Time Academy #1)(2)

“Hey, Madi. Happy birthday!” Quinton, my boyfriend, says down the line in a cheery voice. He is one of those morning people too.

“Morning, Quin, and thank you,” I reply, hearing his laugh.

“Are you eating chocolate cake yet?” he asks. Quinton has been my friend since we were little, and then we started dating a year ago when our friendship just turned into something more. I knew I loved him as more than a friend when he climbed through my window, like he did every weekend, but seeing him soaking wet from the rain he must have walked an hour in to get to my house, and the look I remember him giving me, changed things. That night changed everything between us, and neither of us would change a thing about it now. I love him.

“Nope, no cake today. I’m not happy,” I say, making him chuckle.

“Aw, I will bring you cake later and your present,” he replies.

“You didn’t have to get me anything,” I gently say.

“You’re my girlfriend, so yeah I did,” he tells me. To be honest, I would be happy with the cake as he really didn’t need to get me anything. Quinton works part-time to afford food for himself and his mum, as she can’t work. Not by choice, but her love of alcohol gets her fired from every job she has ever had, and the moment Quinton could work to help them, she didn’t stop him.

“Meet you at school in an hour, yeah?” he asks. I look at the box on my bed, knowing I might as well open it and then escape to school to see Quin.

“Sure,” I reply to him, yawning loudly. Maybe I could take a nap today as well.

“Oh, and Sleepy?” he says, using that damn nickname that he and only four other people made up once, and it stuck.

“Yes, Quin?” I reply, trying not to yawn to prove the nickname’s point as I’m still tired.

“Actually, it doesn’t matter. I’ll tell you later. Bye, Sleepy,” he says, his tone a little off. I frown as the line cuts off before I can reply to him. I wonder why he is being weird? I shake my head, sliding my phone into my back pocket as I walk back over to the box. I pick it up and sit on the bed before undoing the ribbon. I lift the lid off the box, and inside is an old gold book. That is certainly not a car. The book has a symbol on the front that is a half-moon in a circle with flowers and swirls inside the moon. There’s a cat drawing sitting on the moon, its head looking up at the top of the moon. Why the hell would they give me an old book with a cat on it, when I’m allergic to cats? Actually, I’m more than just allergic. Cats have a habit of going crazy when I’m near them and trying to bite or chase me. Cats are my enemies…and my parents know this.

I reach my hands in and pick the book up, surprised by how heavy it is as I place it on my lap after pushing the box onto the bed. I open the cover slowly; the pages are made of thick, soft material that I don’t really recognize. The moment I look down at the first page, it starts to glow a soft gold colour, and my hands suddenly feel locked onto the book as the gold glow starts travelling over my hands. I scream in a panic, trying to let the damn book go, but it doesn’t work; my hands feel tied to the book no matter what I do. I stand up, trying to shake the book away, but that doesn’t work. I hear a strange, sweet noise as I run to the door then look down at the open book as I realise the book is making the sound. The book starts to get blurry only seconds before I feel myself falling back while hearing a deep voice shouting words so fast I can just barely catch them:

Two hundred years since the last descendant rose, and a beauty that only sleeps is found. For sleep makes beauty possible, and sleep is needed to break the curse. Only her heart can save us from the curse. Only a Sleeping Beauty descendant can stop what is to come.

I snap my eyes open and drop the book, moving back until I fall onto my bed and stare down at the book on the floor. What the hell is wrong with it?

When I move my arm to wrap it around myself, I realise it hurts slightly. Looking down, I see the half-moon in a circle tattooed in the middle of my wrist, the one off the cover of that book—and the damn cat on it. I have a cat tattoo when cats hate me…flipping brilliant. Quin is going to laugh his head off or think I’m crazy when I explain how I got it. I’ve always wanted a tattoo, but not this way…or of a bloody cat of all things. I get off the bed, keeping my eyes on the creepy book until I get to the door, and only look away to open it. When I glance back at the book, it disappears into gold dust. I try not to scream as I run out the door like the book itself is chasing me. I jog down the stairs as fast as I can and into the kitchen where my mum is cutting a big chocolate cake on the counter.

“Oh my god, she is a descendant!” my mum exclaims as her eyes lock on me, and she runs over, pulling me into her arms. I look over at dad sat on the stool, reading his newspaper like he does every morning. Like nothing just happened. What the flipping hell is a descendant?

“What is going on, mum? What is that possessed book that gave me a tattoo and disappeared into dust?” I ask, pulling away from her. “Wait, that makes me sound crazy…but that book is not right!” My mum lets me go a little, squeezing my shoulders, and she looks over to my dad, clearly giving him a look that suggests he answer.

“It’s our family book, and it is not possessed. The book is just full of ancient magic from the first of our kind. It appears on the birthday of every descendant in our line and disappears when they have opened it,” he says and then turns the page in his newspaper like he is explaining an everyday event.