6

The drive took about twenty minutes. The cars drove smoothly, not bouncing on bumps. Technically, this world is quite advanced, too. Another piece of good news for me. When we started to turn into the gated community, I looked out the window to get a good look. The house was large, several stories high, and ornately decorated. A wide staircase of several steps led up to the entrance of the building. Balconies on the second floor were supported by white columns. The second floor itself was painted red. Strange, the entire first floor was white, but the second floor and above was bright red. It didn't look very pretty, but who was I to judge the tastes of the locals.

I was led inside the building. At the entrance was a large hall with two staircases up on both sides. The railings were in the shape of some kind of animal. Again red, as was the carpet in front of them. The owner of the manor must be very fond of this color. There was nothing else of note in the hall, and there was no time to look at it, for I was led straight to one of the staircases leading upstairs. Once up, one of the men led me down the corridor ahead, while the others went to the other side of the building. We had almost reached the edge of the hallway when we stopped in front of the doors. The man opened them.

- Your room, young master. Get a good night's rest. Dinner is still a few hours away.

At the mention of food, my stomach cramped with hunger. I'd never had a decent meal at the hospital. I was starving. I could eat a whole mongul, like I had in my last life. But what could I do? I'd have to be patient.

The room was quite spacious, but to me, the interior could use a change. Everything was decorated with some statuettes of brilliant yellow color, on the wall a picture with an unknown man in rags. A massive table of unknown material and an equally massive bed. Next to the bed is a bedside table, and on the other side of the bed is a large closet with a full-length mirror. All the furniture is painted a dark brown color. The furnishings are for the amateur. For me, the place was a bit gloomy. So the first thing I did was to open the heavy curtains and open the window to air out the room. It felt like no one had lived here in years, the air smelling dusty and musty.

Putting my things on the bed, I could finally see myself in all my glory. There was no mirror in the hospital. So, what can I say? There's nothing to be impressed with. A very skinny guy of average height, about five feet tall. Dark hair, gray eyes, face a little drawn down. Jaw a little massive, sharp cheekbones, straight nose. Would be considered smarmy on my planet, but here I don't know. Could be either handsome or ugly. We'll see.

I was a little confused. I'd been home for about half an hour and no one had visited me. Strange parental behavior. Okay, my father may be too busy or perhaps not home right now, but my mother should have come. Wives of powerful people usually don't work. Okay, we'll find out the reasons later. How long until dinner? A few more hours? That's fine. I know what I can do.

The first thing I have to do to develop my own abilities is to stretch my mind. What's that? The ability to accelerate thought and nervous processes, because manipulating psi energy puts a lot of strain on the brain and body. And you can do that with meditation and special training that Elaine taught me. Meditation is, as you might say, immersing yourself. It's like looking at yourself from the outside in. It doesn't sound complicated, but it's actually quite difficult to immerse yourself. Meditation is actually hard work that requires maximum concentration and focus. And, of course, patience, because you can't look into yourself all at once. It might take me a few months before I could do something.

The time flew by. As I had expected, I didn't succeed at the first time, but I had a headache. I got up from the bed where I had been sitting cross-legged all this time and was about to rinse my face in the bathroom adjoining my bedroom when there was a knock at the door.

- Young master, your father invites you to dinner.

Finally, I've been drooling. This time I was sent for by an ordinary servant, judging by his uniform. He wore a white shirt, brown vest and brown pants. I don't think that's his everyday clothes. I never changed my clothes, walking in the same clothes I'd come in. Just now I'm thinking I probably should have changed. I hadn't even looked in my closet once.

We went downstairs and turned into a room to the right. It turned out to be a dining room with a large table. There were three people sitting at the table-a man, a woman, and a girl of about fifteen. If I understood correctly, the man was my father. Slender, with lush dark hair and dark eyes. Unremarkable face. I couldn't tell anything about his height because the man was sitting up. His clothes were different from mine. I guess it's customary here to change clothes before meals. If they ask, we'll write it off as amnesia.

I could see the woman a little better, since she was sitting sideways to me. Like her father, slender, with breasts about a size three, and long, brown hair. On the face, she was very pretty - plump lips, small nose, and eyes that stood out. From this distance, I can't see the color of the eyes. My mother is quite pretty.

The girl looked more like her mother than her father. The same beautiful hair and pretty face. I don't know who I am with my light-colored eyes. Probably my grandmother or grandfather. When I entered, all three of them were discussing something cheerfully and laughing.

- Mr. Dmitri Solovyev.

The laughter stopped at once, everyone fell silent. Their behavior seemed very strange to me. None of the trio showed the slightest bit of joy. Their son, who had been in a coma for almost six months, was back, and their faces were indifferent, bordering on disdain. This is not how a loving family behaves. In silence, I sat down at the table. Father spoke first.

- What, Dimitri, have you woken up? I was informed that you have partially lost your memory. Is that true?

- Yes, but the doctor assured me it's only temporary.

- Well, in case you've forgotten, I'll refresh your memory a little. My name is Anatoly, I'm your father. This is your mother Elizabeth and your sister Anna. Obey them unconditionally and don't annoy me with your behavior.

- Okay. - I answered in bewilderment. That's it? Not much. And for the rest of the time that followed, the three of them acted as if I wasn't there. The smell of the food was mind-blowing. For dinner, they had some kind of small animal roasted with vegetables. It tasted delicious. I concentrated on the food, trying not to focus on the behavior of my "family," but I was finally convinced that something was wrong. My father and mother were treating my sister very differently. They were smiling at her, asking her about things, and not paying any attention to me at all. That's what I needed right now. I was too afraid to give myself away with words or behavior, but seeing their attitude towards me relaxed me a little. They just don't care. And I could fill my stomach with delicious meat in peace.

And that's how my first dinner with my family went. At the end, just as I was on my way up, my sister approached me.

- Hey, you'll find your way to your own room, or have you forgotten too?

My mother smiled, my father let her words pass her ears. I concluded to myself that my sister seemed to be forgiven a lot of things.

- I'll find it.

No one said anything else to me. I got up and walked back to my room, finally feeling satiated. It seemed like I hadn't eaten in forever, and my mood even lifted a little. And I had the strength to dive into myself again.

As expected, another attempt failed. Yeah, it doesn't look like we're going to make much progress. Well, I'll just have to live with it. I should get a good night's rest and try again tomorrow. I showered before bed, put on something like a sleeveless shirt I found in the closet, and lay down on the bed. The smell of damp had weathered a little over the few hours with the window open, so there was nothing to keep me awake. All night I had strange dreams. I dreamed episodes from the life of the guy whose body I was currently in. It was like I was going through it all with him.

I dreamt about a wedding. My father is dressed nicely, standing and waiting near a strange man. A woman I don't know is walking toward him, and the hem of her dress is held up by a girl with the same hair as the woman. Now this woman is my new mom, and the girl is my sister.

Here I dream about my sister, and she throws her hands in my direction. I suddenly feel sick, nauseous and sick to my stomach. She's laughing. I rush to the bathroom, realizing that she's poisoned me again.

Then I dream of my father praising her, smiling, stroking her head, and I feel a burning envy. I want to be strong like her, too, so that my father would look at me with the same pride and pat my head. Next, everything blurs and then becomes clear again. I see myself seeking my father's attention, following him, but he doesn't see me. I see my father telling me what bad people my grandfather and grandmother are. All my troubles are because I have their blood in me. And I'm beginning to understand why my father doesn't love me. It's because of them. It's because of them. I want my father to love me. Yes, it's them. I can see my father getting fierce when he hears my grandfather and grandmother's names.

I dream I tell my grandfather in full voice that he handed me the trash, and without even opening the box, I throw the gift through the window of the big hall where my birthday was celebrated. Father is pleased, I can see it in his eyes, and I am bursting with pride in my deed. Father, I did the right thing.

Next I dreamed of trials, two in a row, and in both cases I humiliated my grandmother with my refusal. It's her fault that my father doesn't love me. I'll never go to her, no way. It's all her fault.

Next I dreamed that I was hiding the things dear to my heart in my room in a secret place under the bed. This is my treasure, for my father gave me this knife. I will cherish it for the rest of my life, and care for it. In a niche behind a painting of a strange dude, I hide strange magazines, comic books. If my sister finds them, she'll poison me again and tell my father. And he'll punish me severely. I have to hide everything very well, or I'll be in trouble.

I woke up abruptly and sat up in bed. These dreams are memories, I realized it at once, but still a little doubtful, because I could not understand the relationships in this family. But the truthfulness of memories is easy to check.