Chapter 3 : Sweets Dreams are made of This


"So, who's starting?" Mina asked.

"Hold on a second," Nathan intervened coldly, "what kind of nightmares are we talking about, exactly? Those who happen after you watch a horror movie or just randomly once in a while?"

"The king that has nothing to do with a horror movie." Alden answered, rolling his eyes.

"And which happen several times a week." Sonya added. "For me, at least."

Nathan, almost offended, had a doubtful look and laid back on his seat.

"Three for me, too," Roxanne said. "Sometimes four."

"For me as well, I think." Kenna added after thinking about it.

"Two." Alden spoke. "Or three."

It was four for Raphaël, who now seemed torn between fascination and confusion, and five for Mina and Sebastian. As for Nathan, he remained silent until Kenna asked him.

"Three," he sighed, "but it's not like I've counted them every week."

"And did it feel reel for you guys too?" Mina interrogated.

They all nodded or mumbled a "Yes".

"I have to admit", Roxanne started, "that these dreams weren't always nightmares for me. I had some rather enjoyable, but it was rare."

"Same for me!" Sonya exclaimed.

Mina realized that she was in the exact same situation. After all, the dreams she had did not seem so terrible to her…Just…strange. The nightmares, besides being strange, left her disturbed for the rest of the day. But the four boys did apparently have only nice dreams.

"Alright," Nathan retorqued coldly, "there are not always nightmares, so what?"

"We could tell each our dreams," Kenna proposed. "I don't know about y'all, but I didn't tell anyone about it – my mother would have sent me to the aisle immediately, and my idiotic sister would have laughed at me."

Nathan rolled his eyes, which made Mina, who was annoyed by his behavior, want to hit him. But they all accepted, Sebastian even proposing to start. He said that in his dreams, he was usually alone at the top of a tower, in an office, in a town that very much looked like New-York City. He described the office as large, with a very advanced computer and on the right, several sofas, and a TV.

"I'm sure I already saw this place somewhere," he finished, "but I don't know where."

"You live near New-York", Mina told him gently, trying to comfort him. "And you often went there as a child. It's understandable. And for the office, you're probably in your dad's or a place that look like it."

"Maybe", Sebastian admitted. "But last time I checked; my dad's office wasn't at the top of a tower."

Sebastian's father was the CEO of the family business, Grey Corporation, which created different things for the wizards' world and was very famous for both wizards and Mortals. And his office was indeed in a tower, but on the third floor. Sebastian also told them that, sometimes, he was running after something in the middle of a general panic and people running the opposite way, but he never saw what was at the end of his run, just feeling that he had to stop something – or somebody. Raphael then spoke, speaking about how him too was in New-York in his dreams, and speaking about a more or less slight noise that seemed to come from the sky and that he was only one who apparently was able to hear it.

"What was the noise like?"

"I don't remember it very well," Raphael confessed, "but I'm sure I already heard it somewhere. It's really weird."

"Well, when I dream about New-York, I go to its Fashion Week." Kenna laughed. "But me, I dream about a gigantic castle, and most of the time I'm alone. I heard somebody calling for me, and I look for that person, but I never find them, it's frustrating. Oh, and sometimes," she said excitedly, "I dream about a dark basement that is suddenly illuminated by a red light that comes from a laser – at least I think. It doesn't come from a lamp, you see?. Oh! I almost forgot; call me crazy, but when I'm in the castle, I'm sometimes wearing Hogwarts' uniform."

"That's just because you're obsessed with Harry Potter", Nathan retorqued. "The Three First know why, by the way."

Kenna had a shocked "Oh!" and gave her boyfriend a little slap in his shoulder, and everybody laughed. Mina didn't not blame her friend, because she, too, had a certain passion for that franchise. It was actually the first thing in common Mina and Kenna discovered four years earlier and made me considerably close.

"What about you, man?" Sebastian asked Alden.

"Oh, me, I…I dream about ants." Alden answered with a dreamy tone. "Like, a thousand of ants."

Mina couldn't help but shiver – she had always hated insects, especially when they were several of them at the same time.

"And plants, as well," he continued. "All kinds of plants – and let me tell you, only half of them really exists."

"And we trust you on that," Roxanne said. "As for me, I'm often in a sewer with a spider and sometimes creatures that look like little lizards."

"And your nightmares?" Mina questioned.

"Well, I'm in a white room and some spiders come from everywhere and bite me on all my body. The pain is awful. And I try to pull them away, but they won't move."

"Aww."

Mina squeezed her best friend's arm, and saw Raphael give Roxanne a companionate look. She made a mental note to tell it to Roxanne later, and it was now Sonya's turn to talk about her own nightmares. She was in room whose hygiene was just dreadful, without a door but with dirty windows that overlooked a lawn and a barrack. She was trying to get out while a loudspeaker that was giving what seemed to be an alert message in German and heard people she couldn't see from the windows running away. She then looked out the windows and saw a falcon going around in circles in the sky.

"The atmosphere was…horrible. Really sad, and tense. Wizards can feel that kind of thing, you see? Especially in places with only Mortals. And the sky was grey. And considering how the room's furniture was, I'm sure my dream took place in the forties."

"I dream about the forties, too", energetically said Roxanne. "And in those dreams, I'm super cold."

"And you, hun?" Kenna asked Mina.

They all turned towards Mina, and she felt embarrassed. She had never liked being the center of attention. As if he just felt her embarrassment, Sebastian caressed her shoulder gently, and Mina felt grateful to him.

"I dream, like Kenna, that I am in a castle. I'm not wearing a Hogwarts uniform, but I have a magical wand in my hand. And as you know…"

"We don't need it." They all completed with a same voice.

"Exactly. Someone – I don't know who, but I dream I do know who that is – calls me for help and I'm running around, panicking, but never find the person. They scream in pain and I can't save them. Sometimes, the castle is ruined, as if a battle just took place here.

"What about the nice dreams?"

"There are different sorts. I'm either in the castle with a boy whose face is blurry, I hug him" – if Mina turned her head, she would have seen that Sebastian suddenly had a weird look on his face – "and I feel happy, just like all my problems had disappeared. It feels so real. Also, I'm in some kind of mansion and I hear a voice in my head laughing and tells me to come to them. And I always wake up before seeing the person."

Raphael frowned, and thought for a few seconds.

"Write all of that on a paper, and give it to me. I will do some research once we're at school."

"I'll help you." Sonya quicky told him. "There must be some books that talk about dreams at the school's library."

"Good idea," Alden approved. "But in my opinion, we should all get on it."

Mina agreed.

"Do you guys think that those dreams could be premonitory dreams?" Alden asked.

They all shook their heads in denial. Wizards could indeed have premonitory dreams, but those dreams were known to be extremely rare and never identical.

"I think it just mean we're crazy as hell" Nathan laughed.

Mina and most of the others rolled their eyes, and Sebastian gave him an acerbic gaze.

"By the way, Moore, what are your sueños about?" he asked coldly.

"Lightning." Nathan answered with the same tone. "And thunder. I'm sure it's because I was scared of storms as a kid, though."

"Well, we can't say that you're afraid of being an idiot now," Sebastian mumbled with such a low voice that only Mina heard him, and she couldn't help but have a smile.

"Is that all?" Raphael was surprised.

"Sometimes, my hands hurt extremely bad, especially my phalanges. It's awful."

Sebastian raised his shoulders, and Mina guessed he probably thought that Nathan was not saying everything. The rest of the travel went on with a good atmosphere, and when the snacks' bar was announced, Sebastian proposed to go, and everybody kind of ordered.

"You know what, I'll just take a bit of everything. I'll be right back."

"Mina, you want to watch The Amazing Spider-Man?" Roxanne said joyfully.

"You already know my answer."

A big smile on her face, Mina took out of her bag a small computer and her headphones and gave Mina one. After putting the computer on the very small table, started the film. To say that Roxanne loved this movie was a euphemism. It was the first movie she ever saw in a theater, and it had helped her through difficult times at the orphanage. Mina really loved that film, too, just like Raphael, and there couldn't be one month without Roxanne and Mina not watching it. Focused on the movie, Mina barely saw Sebastian coming back, his arms full of sweets, which he let go on the small table with little care.

"Serve yourselves."

"Say, you took basically the full bar." Raphaël said admiringly. "Thanks, bro."

"Yeah, thanks, Seb."

"No problem."

They each avidly took some sweets and little cakes, and Sonya took out her wallet and handed Sebastian two green banknotes.

"Thank you, but no. I was glad to please you guys, and it cost me barely anything."

"Yeah, we're not all lucky to have multibillionaires as parents," Nathan snapped, which resulted on some exasperated comments.

"When are you gonna shut your mouth?" Kenna retorted.

Sebastian, too used to such words from Nathan and not really caring about it, remained calm, and even had a smile.

"As if you had to complain, Moore. But since you brought that up in such an elegant way, let me remind you that you still owe me fifty hundred dollars and twenty-four cents."

"Why am I the only one that must give you your money back?" Nathan exclaimed. "As if you actually need it!"

"Because you can – and will – repay me. It would be immoral to ask Raph' to repay me, and absolutely not elegant to ask Sonya. So, you better give me back my money soon if you don't want your mom to know that some of your video games, the last one included, aren't actually gifts from Kenna or Alden."

"You know, Seb," Sonya spoke a little voice, blushing, "I could totally repay you."

"Absolutely not. I was taught that a gentleman never makes a woman pay."

Mina had always admired and loved how generous Sebastian was. He never hesitated to help financially his friends when needed, especially Roxanne and Raphael, who weren't exactly rich. He had been raised in a way Nathan called "old fashioned", but Mina really thought it was truly adorable. Once, for Raphael's younger twin sisters' birthday, Sebastian bought them expensive dolls, and always refused anything from Raphael or his mother in exchange.

"You should take some notes." Kenna told Nathan. She sounded like she was joking, but she was actually serious. "I still haven't forgotten that time when you made me pay for the ice creams."

Sebastian and Raphael starting chatting, and Mina snuggled up to him a little more, and focused again on the film. One hour and a half later, the train started slowing down, meaning they were arriving. Leaving their seats, they all tried to put away the sweets and little cakes they had left wherever they could, therefore their pockets and bags, and Mina had to call Roxanne's name several times, as she was too focused on the film, which was almost finished.

"It's time, Rox."

"Oh, already?"

Roxanne quickly put back her computer in her bag and got up. Once the train was completely stopped, they took their bags and left the train, all the other students doing the same around them. Sonya took a deep breath and smiled.

"It feels so good to be back to school."

"Said no one ever," Nathan, who was in a bad mood, mumbled.

Sonya ignored him but Alden gave him a dark gaze.

"Totally agreed," he told Sonya. "I can't wait to start class."

Sonya smiled at him, and her cheeks became pink.

"Me too."

"Welcome, everyone!" said a loud and severe voice behind them. "Come closer, please!"

All obeyed the Miss Gardner, the Head of discipline, and formed a tight rectangle in front of her.

"Stay calm, if you please! Very well, follow me now."

They followed her on gravel that made leading their bags difficult. All around them stood a large forest. After walking for ten minutes, they saw a high, gold, rusty, gate which had "Eagle School" written on its top.