Black Tiger 1 Coming Home E-Book

TWINS

• Herausgeber: BoD - Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: Black Tiger
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 96

Beschreibung

Kathleen is looking forward to finally seeing her friend Claudia again and spending her vacation together in her village. She actually gets what she was hoping for - sea, beach, party, fun! And much more, because she meets the mysterious Marcello, who has a secret surrounding him. Together with him and his friends, a few wild, unpredictable days begin. But despite the lightness of summer, Kathleen senses a threat in the air - is Marcello in danger? And what is section B all about? The more the days pass, the more she learns about the lives of the people in the village. And not everything that seemed to be fine at first remains so. Marcello and Kathleen grow closer and a passionate love flares up between them. But is their love strong enough to make up for the differences between them and can she accept him for who he is? Volume 2 Marcello: Both Marcello and Gregory try to win Kathleen over, who will she choose? And can she accept Marcello for who he is?

Leseprobe

Previously published by TWINS as a print book and e-book in the Black Tiger series:

Book 1 Coming Home

Volume 1 Arrival

Volume 2 Marcello

Then a movement, a small animal scurried across the path in front of us.

"What was that?" I asked.

"A little wandering mouse."

"What animals are you hunting?" We set off again.

"Everything, but mainly large animals. There's a forest not far from here. I usually hunt there."

"How often do you do that?"

"Every three days."

"And do you sell the meat?"

"No. I eat this on my own. Straight after hunting in the forest."

"Oh, so you'll grill it right there? I didn't know you were allowed to do that."

"I don't grill it."

I stopped and let go of him. "Then how do you eat it?" I stared at him.

Marcello glared at me, his eyes sparkling in the darkness. "Well, like this."

"Raw?" I exclaimed in horror and he nodded. "But that's not possible!"

"My stomach can handle it. It's different to your stomachs. My father did it the same way."

"Okay." I kept walking, was there really such a thing? Special people who ate raw meat? So, he sat in the forest and cut pieces of meat out of the animal, which he immediately ate with all the blood on it! I shook myself! And I had thought he was a vegetarian! No wonder the others at the table had laughed at me! He tried to put his arm around me again, but I shook him off.

"What is it?" he asked.

"That's why Gregory calls you Tiger! Because you eat like a tiger!"

He shook his head. "No, he calls me that because I'm a tiger." Another piece of nonsense.

"Yes, he said the same thing when I asked him. What do you mean, you're a tiger?"

He stopped, I stopped too and looked at him curiously. Suddenly his outline blurred and a black tiger stood in front of me! Then everything blurred again and he stood there again. "Do you understand now?" What had just happened? Had I just seen a black tiger? "I am a tiger," he said calmly.

I shook my head. Okay, I was dreaming. The date with him was still pending; I had fallen asleep and dreamed everything. Or I was still lying on the bed. There was a thunderstorm outside and of course, he had left and what a pity, we hadn't kissed after all. Too bad, but what a lovely dream!

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"Yes, this is a dream. You're not real and I'll probably wake up soon, because that's always the case when you realize you're dreaming."

"This is not a dream."

"Yes, yes, says the dream Marcello!" I glanced around. It was really impressive what the human mind could come up with! I could have bet that it was all real.

"Kathleen, don't be afraid."

"I'm not! It's a funny dream, can we fly too? I love flying in dreams! C'mon, let's try it!"

He laughed. "I can't fly. Shall we keep walking?" Somehow the flying thing didn't work out, never mind. Funny that I hadn't woken up yet.

We walked on and I hung on to him. "Tell me about yourself, how did you become a tiger?" I mumbled sleepily.

I felt him shrug his shoulders. "I was born like this and have been a tiger since I was a child. My father was a tiger too. And my children might become tigers too. It's in our genes, my father always said."

"Aha. In the genes. Very funny!" What an extraordinary dream fantasy I had, awesome!

"And isn't anyone afraid of you?"

"Why would they?"

"Because tigers attack and kill people!" Hopefully I'd remember the dream a bit, then I'd tell him tomorrow and he'd have a laugh about it. Although, he'd probably be mad at me for leaving him out in the rain; so, I'd just tell Debbie and Claudia.

"Neither my father nor I have ever attacked people! I hunt for my food in the forest and it's all animals."

"And why are you walking around as a human if you're a tiger?"

"Because it's easier. But my true form is the tiger. I also work as a tiger in the shaft and I am a tiger when I'm alone. Only in company do I adapt." Interesting, now my subconscious had even processed the horror when I had discovered the screen in the tunnel and thought I was seeing an animal there.

"And why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you blending in? Does someone have something against your true form? Or doesn't everyone know?"

"Everyone knows it. Nobody has anything against it. It's just easier. As a tiger, I can't sit on a chair at the table. I can also talk better as a human."

"You can talk as a tiger?" I laughed; I hadn't dreamt anything so silly and stupid in a long time!

"Yes, but it's more telepathic. You'll then hear my voice in your head." This just got better and better! "We're back."

I glanced up, that's right! We were standing in front of Claudia's house again. "It's incredible how realistic this all looks for a dream!" He fell silent and I regarded him. "What's wrong?"

"Kathleen, I'm sorry," he sounded worried, "but this is reality. You're really not dreaming!"

"Yes, yes!" I yawned; I was tired. He took me in his arms and covered my face with kisses; I smiled. Please don't wake up now, please! I loved dreams like that!

"See you at the movies tomorrow?" he whispered and I nodded. Cool, my subconscious had even memorized that! "Good night, city girl!"

"Female miner!" I objected.

"Okay, female miner!" He grinned; I could hear it in his voice.

"See you tomorrow, Marcello!" We kissed and I wished it was real. But it was all just too good to be true. Then he was gone and I stepped into the house through the patio door, which was still open. So now I would go to bed in my dream. How absurd, but I did and fell asleep.

Bright sunlight woke me up! I smelled coffee and opened my eyes, where was I? Oh yes, with Claudia! Why was I wearing my clothes? Then I remembered that crazy dream from last night with Marcello and that he was supposed to be a tiger! I laughed, pure madness! I remembered everything and it was so crystal clear, amazing! Then it was no wonder that I still had my clothes on; I really had fallen asleep listening to music. It was just funny that the cell phone was on the bedside table; I must have put it there in my sleep. Next time I should put my dirty dishes next to the bed. Maybe I would wash them while I was sleeping and grinned. That would be something, a useful sleepwalker! I wonder if there was anyone like that? I'd hire him right away! Doubly effective! He would clean and tidy my house day and night. I lolled on the bed, that had been a wonderful dream! I hadn't flown, but Marcello and I had kissed the whole time, that was so lovely! And then the romantic walk through the forest at night, maybe I continued dreaming tonight?

The smell of coffee hit my nose again, now I realized - Claudia must be back! I immediately jumped up, I was already dressed, and ran down to the kitchen, and right! "Claudia!"

"Kathleen!" We fell into each other's arms. "I hope I didn't wake you up?"

I shook my head. "No worries! How are you? How's your father-in-law? How was your trip? Oh, you wouldn't believe how happy and delighted I am to see you!"

"Yes, I'm very happy too!" We had now greeted each other enough and let go of one another. "The journey was good and we're all doing well under the circumstances. I'm tired but glad to be back. Dirk has stayed with his father and his condition is stable. He's going to stay there for a while, also to support his mother; she's still pretty down with nerves."

"Oh dear, the poor thing," I sighed sympathetically and stroked Claudia's back. "I hope he gets better soon."

"I hope so, too. Now tell me, I heard you were at the mountain with Uncle Ben?"

"At the mountain?" I laughed. " I wished! I was IN the mountain!"

"Not really?"

"Yes, deep down in the tunnel!"

"What? I wasn't even there yet!"

"Really?"

She laughed. "Well, you've really impressed the men with yourself, haven't you?"

"Mind you! I'm one of them now, they said! I've been in the Father's with several miners!"

"Oh, the shabby pub!"

"They have good food!"

"Pretty meaty, you know Dirk is a vegetarian. So, we never eat there and our close friends don't necessarily hang out there either," she grinned. I understood what she meant. I'd given Gregory a similar answer yesterday when he'd asked me what I did with my friends in the city. But this wasn't the city and it had been really cozy with the men there. And Moni had already become really likeable to me in the short time with her warm manner. I also had the feeling that I belonged, as if I was part of a team. I didn't have that feeling at work and even with my friends it was as if we were together and yet everyone was on their own. Not so yesterday in the pub. Everyone somehow stuck together, but of course only if you were part of it!

"Debbie came in and was totally bullied!" I said gloomily.

"Yes, her fiancé is in prison," she nodded.

"So what? That's no reason to bully someone!" I got upset.

"It's a small village, people talk. That's the way it is here. I try to stay out of the village gossip and remain neutral."

That sounded very sensible, but I wasn't like that - I was far too curious for that. "Then you haven't heard of section B either?"

"Section B? Isn't that where Marcello's father had an accident?"

"Exactly! Speaking of Marcello, what do you think of him?"

"Did you meet him, yes?" she smiled.

I nodded; I could come back to the details later. "And what do you think of him?"

"He's a handsome one! And quite hard-working! Do you like him?" she continued smiling.

"Yes, but I really scared him off yesterday. We had actually arranged to go for a walk."

"Oho! So?"

"I canceled."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want an affair. I want a relationship." She nodded sympathetically. "It's obvious that there's not much of a future with a miner from here," I added.

"Don't say that!" she teased me. "Later you'll find the love of your life and move here! Dirk and I would be very happy!"

"And Debbie too!" I added. "Do you do a lot with her?"

She shook her head. "Since the thing with her fiancé, she keeps to herself a lot. We see each other when we go shopping and exchange a few words, but apart from that we don't talk much."

"But you're neighbors!"

She nodded. "I don't have that many close friends here in the village, most of them are quite simple-minded. My friends live in the larger neighboring village, where Dirk also works."

"Marcello is not a simple person," I replied. She certainly didn't mean it that way, but some-how the description of the villagers sounded derogatory to me. I wonder if she would describe her uncle in the same way? Probably, although I had thought something similar.

"He's very intelligent, he could easily have gone to university!" she agreed.

"I think so too! Why didn't he?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I think he wanted to stay here with his family and friends in his village. He would have had to move to the city to study. Most people stay here and the only job opportunities here are in mining."

"Hm, that's right. I really have to tell you about my super funny dream, it was really intense! I dreamt that I was going for a walk with him and we were kissing. Suddenly he turned into a black tiger and said it was his true form! Crazy, isn't it?" I laughed, such nonsense, but she remained serious. "Isn't that hilarious?" I chuckled.