Daniel Taylor and the Dark Legacy Read Online Free

his chest. In the two months during which he had been made to repeat the courses from the previous year, he had made no new friends. Here there were only old hierarchies and established cliques, like the cool kids with their expensive clothes and stylish haircuts, and they just cracked stupid jokes about him. Here they were, leaning against their lockers, arms crossed, chewing their gum and watching him with eyebrows raised in derision.
    Even before the boys opened their mouths, Daniel’s pulse raced; he knew exactly what was coming. It was as though he could hear what they were thinking.
    “Hey, Taylor, next time you throw out your clothes, take them off first!” yelled Sebastian Woolridge over the jumble of voices.
    His friends roared in laughter over this joke, and Jason, his best friend, added loudly enough for everyone to hear: “Bastian, I know that Taylor can’t possibly be as dumb as he looks — at any rate, he’ll be staying with us for a while longer!”
    Daniel ignored the snorts of laughter and strolled on, hands balled into fists in an attempt to keep the rage that was rising within him under control. If he wanted to, he could destroy all these idiots. Why did he always attract so much attention? He didn’t bother anyone, and stayed out of trouble.
    He felt a scratching sensation in his palms, as though he were crushing an army of ants. These days, he often had this almost electrical sensation in his hands. It wasn’t unpleasant, just odd. Sometimes he thought he could see sparks jumping from his fingertips. He was changing.
    Maybe I’m becoming a superhero; they’re all losers in real life. He pondered this idea intently. Had he been bitten by a radioactive insect, or had he perhaps been exposed to an intense electric shock? It really wasn’t normal, what he had been experiencing in recent weeks. The voices in his head, growing ever clearer, this girl from hell …
    At first, Daniel had believed that he was suffering from a mental illness. He had pored through his parents’ medical books and done research online, but he hadn’t found anything that could explain his symptoms. Superhero — that’s the only answer , he thought, smiling. He would have liked to cackle like a madman. One of the bad guys …
    Unfortunately, all the signs pointed toward the bad guys, not the heroes.
    The next group stationed outside his classroom were the jocks. Football players had gathered around some cheerleaders to fool around and talk about the latest game. At least they left him alone. Daniel had never shown any interest in sports, so he certainly didn’t belong among their ranks, although the school’s coaches were constantly trying to win him over. “You’ve got the size and stamina to make it in the pros,” Coach Wilkes had said to him more than once.
    Well, that option was always open.
    Of course, as in every school, there was also a group of nerds at Little Peak High, but nothing in the world would convince him to join them. Anyway, his grades were far too low. These kids had long ago entered the classroom to discuss the day’s assignment and current events, subjects that didn’t interest Daniel in the slightest.
    Well, what did interest him, other than his computer games? It was no wonder that he didn’t fit in anywhere. I’d rather be alone anyway; I prefer the peace and quiet , he thought half-heartedly.
    As he walked through the group of chattering students, they drew back from him and fell briefly silent, but as soon as he passed them, they went on talking as though they had never been interrupted.
    Only one of the cliques, a group of constantly giggling girls, paid him any notice. But would he want to be the rooster in a flock of cackling hens? What a nightmare!
    No one accepted him for who he was, and even his classmates from the previous year kept their distance from him.
    Daniel was lucky to find a coveted seat by the windows, as it was brutally hot in the classroom. It also allowed him a view