Chapter 1
Classes were the same as always-P.E. was a pain in the butt, trig was a good rest, philosophy was the only good class, and English was so easy it hurt my head, lunch was spent on the roof, and Science was overly hectic. I made my way to my next class overly wary of my surroundings because of her.
“Hey look Geek White’s here just in time to hand us our homework,” a shrill and all too familiar and annoying voice boomed. Great, she’s here. I kept walking, careful as to not walk too fast, and pretended that I didn’t even hear her. But she’s persistent, and (surprisingly-not) called louder, “Geekerella, get your ugly ass over here!” she never failed to annoy the living crap out of me.
I turned with a perfect nonchalance and looked at her innocently. “Yes, Paris?” her face was sullen and triumphant that I wasn’t one of those people who beat the crap out of people for others just calling them names. She did a once over on me starting from the top of my Billy Boy cap to my Fake Heaven boy T-shirt, to my black and grey checkered belt from Hot Topic to my black faded boy jeans, and stopped at my black and white converse.
Assuring herself there’s no one like her, I bet. Oh, by the way my name is Christopher Ren Hirazaki. My first name is supposed to be from this angel or something like that (or maybe a relative or something-I don’t pay much attention to my own birth stories; it’s creepy is all), and my last two names are Japanese. I’m a pretty weird mix; half-Japanese and half-Cuban. Not often you see one of those, right?
Well to lay it out for you, my father is this rich business man from whatever company (I’m not that into whatever he’s doing-that’s his business, and, so far he’s had no reason to bore me with job details) and he’s Japanese. My mom is a super laid-back Cuban woman-she is really beautiful, too. My parents met back in her modeling days. She retired when she had me, my two brothers, and my sisters-at the same time. There are five of us and no nanny.
I can imagine my mother throwing on one of those bullet sash thingies but in place of the bullets there were baby bottles. I stifled a laugh while I handed the Bitch Witch her homework. She looked up as if she believed she could smell fear a mile away. “You can go, Geek wad.” I stopped myself from rolling my eyes at her, walked off adjusting my comb/headband thingy, and entered my next class, blissfully unaware of what was to come.
In the middle of Mr. Ferguson’s droll lecture, the vice principle walked in sweating like a pig. That’s figuratively and ironically, of course since she was obese and she wasn’t sweating as much. I’ve never seen her go faster than a walk in my entire life, and I don’t plan to (it will not be pretty). She glanced at me and she looked sorry, so I guess it had something to do with me. As soon as that thought occurred, I tried to push it back. Me plus the vice principle Harriett’s pity equals something bad-really bad. Harriett’s heart is about the size of a pea; and mine just sank into my stomach.
She slowly and warily walked over to Mr. Ferguson and whispered something in his ear, and immediately he went pale. She couldn’t have shared my personal life with him; she’s not like that, but judging from the look on his face I knew I was either in deep shit or something tragic happened. It’s hard to tell since the guy is so old his wrinkles cover all of his expressions. Mr. Ferguson ended my distracted mind babble by saying, “Christopher, you are excused from class. The principle needs to have a talk with you.” I started to get up and I heard him shakily say, “Please bring your things with you, too.”
Oh shit. One thing you must know is Mr. Ferguson makes Harriett look like Snow white. This is really bad; he sound sad, sorry, and pitiful. What’s worse is that it’s directed towards me-I can feel it. I tried to not look shocked into another universe and gathered my things, trying to keep my legs steady as I walked out of the classroom with Harriett.
The walk to her office was quiet, weird, wary, and for the most part, annoying. The lady wouldn’t stop side glancing at me as if I were going to reveal I was a terrorist. She’s not the kind of person who would judge on looks when it comes to things like that, but I was really annoyed so my face probably looked like something that would attack her. It happens when I’m really nervous and kind of pissed (it must be why people don’t go near me-especially if it can scare this woman).
When we got to her office, I swear you had to saw the tension in the room. I took my usual seat while Harriett sat with a solemn look to her face. She cleared her throat and paused for a long while before speaking, her words piercing the comfortable silence. “Chris, I hate to be the ultimate bearer of bad news…” she trailed off. Holy to the crap-never have I seen this side of her, and it’s scaring the hell out of me. She’s sounding and acting nice- definitely not a good sign.
I felt my face tighten and she flinched, and then continued in a smaller voice, “I don’t know how to tell you this, really. I don’t think there’s a way to sugar coat this, or even make it easier for you,” she looked guiltily down to her folded hands on her desk, and clenched her teeth twice before speaking again. “Christopher,” her voice cracked two times as she said my name, and I thought I saw wetness in her eyes. “You’re house burned down…” she trailed off.
What? My house burned down? How-more importantly all of my stuff is burned down. Damn. Mom’s going to breathe fire when I ask her to buy all of it again-no pun intended, I swear-and with 3 sisters and two brothers, ouch. This is going to hurt dad’s wallet, weather he’s rich or not. Mom’s always kept a tight lock on funding, telling us ‘to get your lazy asses up and learn the value of the almighty dollar or so help me I’ll starve you’ or something along those lines.
Oh yeah, mom. Hmm. “Do my parents know about this? Do any of my brothers or sisters…” I shut my trap. Her face displayed the one thing I’ve always wanted in my enemy: it was like the pillar of her meanness crumbled as the despair in her tears traveled down her face. My stomach sank into oblivion, as my guess of what she was about to say slithered its way from my brain to my now sinking heart. “Where are my parents?”
“I’m so sorry Christopher,” her voice was only above a whisper. “They’re dead.”


Chapter 2
Sitting in the principal’s office, you’d never expect to hear something like that-ever. Seriously, you’d expect to hear she’s a ninja that’s going to kill you before that. At least, that was just me trying to trick myself. “What do you mean? How? Why?” inside, there was a small hope that asking those stupid questions could make it disappear; what she had just said, the unnerving shock I’m in, the urge to vomit like never before, and most of all, hearing what I wanted to know in my heart the most.
“You’re mother was caught in the fire with your two sisters. The police are investigating how the fire started, and how they could have gotten stuck in there. They say it’s a wonder they couldn’t escape from the fire, unless the gas was on for a very long time-which they say is very likely-” I stopped listening and got up, deciding that seeing is easier to for me to believe. I gathered my things and left.
I didn’t hear her stop me. I’d almost forgotten that she and my mother were really close. I flinched; surprised at the fact I’m already using past tense with my parents. I want to know what the hell happened to my father, too. And another thing; what the hell? It was one thing that both of my parents are… but what about my sisters? How did they d-
I stopped myself from thinking that word. I am so not going to start blubbering in front of people-not now, not ever. People started to pull out of class. I rushed past everyone for the sake of myself. This time I’m not going to be caught by Paris-I’m a girl on a mission. Still, something felt weird. The plummeting feeling from before was gone. Why in the hell am I not as sad as I’m supposed to be?
Hearing what I’ve just heard, why am I not crying a river? As I entered the staircase, the same question echoed inside me, and I felt wrong; broken. I should be sobbing; sorrow should be riddling my body with a vengeance. Even though things are easier without my throat threatening to close off all words, leaving only cries of sadness left, tears threatening to overflow, my whole body screaming heartbreak for my mother, Mei, Rein, and my father, it felt so unbelievably wrong. I needed to cry, I needed my whole body to be racked with cries of pain so I could someday forget or at least ignore what happened to them.
I quickly spotted a boy in all black, and he looked like the poster child for Hot Topic. He was just about to get on his bike, and without hesitating, I ran over to him and grabbed one of the handle bars. “Sorry, can you give me a lift? I’m in a hurry.”
His face was a mixture of bored and pissed and his pale features looked thoughtful, like he was actually going to do it. Just now was a spur of the moment thing, and I realized that adrenaline was pumping through me. He turned his oddly demanding gaze on me. “Get on,” was all he said. I got on and he handed me a helmet.
I fastened the helmet and held on to him as he slowly lifted the clutch and pulled out of the school’s parking lot. “Where to?” his deep voice took me by a surprise.
My steady gaze met the back of his head. “My place,” I said. No specifics, which is stupid, but he went full off like he knew what he was doing.

• • • •

Surprisingly, he knew what he was doing. This guy turns out to be my neighbor; I’ve never felt as shallow as I have right now. He pulled into his garage, and before we could get in there, I took the helmet he gave me off and sprinted to a cop nearby. I took in the scenery reluctantly. “Oh my angels,” I whispered. There were about three cop cars, two ambulances, and two fire trucks. Our home wasn’t huge and flashy with a gate or anything, it was just big. It’s amazing.
I left this place today thinking I would return to a crap load of homework and loud music coming from my two sister’s cheerleading practice. I expected to come home and see the brightly lit yet elegant house I’ve grew up in. This… I shouldn’t have come home to this. No more color anywhere, anymore. The house was burned down so bad the grass and flowers around it were nonexistent. It looked like nothing would ever grow there again.
An officer pushed me back as a huge crack sounded. The hose the firefighters were using was shut off and everybody was backing up. Just then the roof collapsed under itself and as soon as soon as some of it hit the third floor, a blinding flash blinded me. I felt a crushing pressure, and afterwards followed a noise so loud it could only be compared to an explosion (I’ve never heard an explosion, but I’m guessing it would be this loud). Afterwards, the darkness came.

• • • •

“Chris, you okay? Chris?” the voice was mocking, and that of a child’s. “Chris, open your eyes.” My lids fluttered, and I opened my eyes. Everything was dark. “I said, open your eyes.” The child’s voice was now irritable.
“I already opened them,” my voice was a soft echo, and it sounded off like a sweet memory.
“No, your real eyes,” the child voice said. “Not those eyes. I’m talking about the eyes that have not been open in millennia. Wake up, Chris. Wake up,” the child’s voice floated of into oblivion.
“Wake up, damn it!” I felt a sharp pain on my cheeks. My hand reflectively balled itself up and shot upwards, and I heard a grunt then a thump. My eyes shot open and were in pain. I’ve never had eye pain before. My body hurt like hell, but I got up anyway.
Before me, a sea of fire angrily swayed and pushed at each other’s flames. Darkness swayed in front of my eyes, and everything after that was a swirling of the fire’s light and a dark figure. Something made me want to reach out to the dark figure and be swallowed up by it. Then it hit-hard.
My mother was dead.
My father was dead.
Mei and Rein was dead.
I had lost pieces of me; and they were gone for good, for forever.
I would never be able to see or hear their annoying lectures, or the laughter that set all my nerves at ease. I would never be able to hear mom’s comforting and sweet words, never be able to see her lively self in the best way possible: in person. I won’t be able to see my dad’s face stiffen with his nervousness whenever I joked about mom liking another guy; I will never be able to hear his protective reaction to boys. I will never be able to see Rein and Mei annoyingly finishing each other’s sentences and eat their love-filled but nasty-tasting cooking.
That’s just too much for me. I love these people, and unlike many others, we weren’t dysfunctional. We loved each other, and teased each other, and we watched out for one another. How could they leave us? Why?
The inner pain was like the outside pain rolled up into one times ten for everything I remembered. It hurt so bad I couldn’t even cry. Waves of pain sliced through me, and all I could do was whimper in the darkness’ embrace with one last look of all of my happiness burning down. My body was getting so cold, and I couldn’t tell there was physical pain at all. I might be dying.
Do I really care? No.


Chapter 3
The disgusting smell of medication in the air told me where I was. My body felt heavy and my head felt light. I could feel about three people in the room. I tried to open my eyes, but they just wouldn’t budge. “Will you stop that? It’s irritating me.” Someone sounds pissed. My chest felt heavy as I tried to breathe.
“I can’t help it.” That was definitely Seth. Seth is the oldest, and my big brother. “She’s just lying there with tubes sticking out of her. It feels like she’s going to go under cardiac arrest any moment.” He was worried about me. I tried to say ‘I’m sorry’ but nothing came out of my mouth.
“Chris… I really can’t believe she’s lying there. She looks so frail. She never looks frail. But right now, it looks as if you touch her, and she’ll break,” said Damien. Damien’s the second oldest, and he’s always honest believe it or not. Hearing him say this, I must look really bad. I’m never the fragile kind, and hearing them say that makes me uneasy.
I don’t want to leave them alone. Four of us are gone; I’m not about to make it five. I opened my eyes, and everything was blurry. I saw three splotches stir and move uneasily. “Chris? Chris, are you okay?” Seth sounded more worried now that I’ve opened my eyes.
“Calm down, you sound like you’re going to piss yourself,” I said. It came out weak and barely audible, but the place was quiet and they were listening.
“She should be fine if she can joke like that. She’s had plenty of rest.” it was Mystery voice. I remember that voice from the guy earlier who gave me a ride on his bike. Now he seemed familiar, like I’ve seen him before, but not exactly.
“What happened to the house? Dad… what in the hell happened?” my voice was still weak, but the demand was still there.
“Dad… dad died in an accident when he heard about mom and Mei and Rein. His driver was sick, so he drove himself to work instead of hiring another one. When he got a call about what happened, the person over the phone told me he sounded dazed and in shock. He told us it was normal, but he didn’t suspect that he would lose control and drive into the wrong lane. He was in a crash collision with a truck,” Seth’s voice sounded choked. I couldn’t stand it.
He’s unhappy and I can’t do much about it. I closed my eyes, wishing that when I opened them, they’d be up to the job. I opened them, and I saw everything clearly. Seth was sitting in a chair with his hands folded, looking at me with sorrowful eyes. Damien was kneeling at the bedside looking sad and a lot like a puppy, except for less hairy. The guy from before was leaning against the wall looking at me with the same bored and pissed face on him. His eyes were expectant.
I lifted my hand and ruffled Damien’s inky black hair. His usually pink stained cheeks were wet with tears, and his blue eyes looked up at me with open worry. He was always so honest it was embarrassing. He was the only one of us that was tan, but that’s only because he surfs and is a sports maniac. I’ve never seen him this dejected. I’ve also never seen him wear black. He was always in colors, jumping around and tying to cheer me up. I sent him an ‘I’m okay’ message through my eyes, and some of his worry went away.
I’m always good to my promises, he knows that. I looked over at Seth. His curly light brown hair was longer, and it was in his face as his winter blue eyes stared at me with open worry as well. That’s always a bad sign when it comes to Seth. When he’s down, he never lets anyone know, not even his girlfriends.
But I can always tell, so I make him a bowl of his favorite Udon noodles, and watch him eat. I just sit there and watch. I never have a smile on my face when I watch him; I purposely look determined. I want to let him know there is no problem he can’t solve over a bowl of Udon with me, because I believe in him and I take that sort of thing very seriously and selectively.
“Chris, get some rest. You’ve slept for a long time, but you need plenty of rest to recover. We’re going to make preparations.” His eyes told me what for. He got up and ran his pale fingers through his hair, and walked over to me. He bent and kissed my forehead. “I’ll see you later,” was all he said.
“Chika-chan, please rest well,” he looked at me expectantly. Chika-chan is his nickname for me because he thinks I’m already manly enough. I gave him the okay and he smiled and kissed my cheek. While he was on his way out following Seth, he turned back and said, “I’ll come back every day, ne?”
He was the most avid Japanese speaker aside from me. “Yeah, o daiji ni.” After telling my brothers to take care, I turned to the stranger. “Are you going to follow them out?”
He looked at me silently as if I didn’t say anything. His features turned calm. He slowly walked over to my bed, bringing a chair with him. I’ll take that as a no. he placed the chair by my bedside, and I sat up, bringing up the bed with the remote. He removed his coat and threw it over the chair, revealing a black short sleeve DEATH TO DEATH shirt, tight around his muscle ridden arms. He had intricate tattoos that swirled and flowed, but some were repeated and it looked as if they were placed in an organized order. It now looked like something was written there, in an ancient language even the gods have forgotten.
As I stared in intrigue at his tattoos he snapped a few times. He sat down and looked at me for a long time, and I saw a sparkle of something in his eyes. I took a good look at him. His hair was darker than Damien’s and it had a major contrast with the single white streak pouring down from his roots, and its length reached his shoulders. His eyes were hazel, and the most dominant color right now was some gold taking a peek at me.
He was pale, but not an unattractive pasty pale. It looked balanced, and he was toned in a good way-not in a muscle head way. His lips were a beautiful pink, and he truly looked like something out of an artist’s imagination. His voice was deep, like a lost melody in the forest searching for something, anything to cradle and call home. He looked mysterious, which is what a lot of girls go for nowadays. He looked like the kind of person that, when he smiled, he would look like a little boy.
The more my eyes explored him, the more I made guesses and wanted to stick around to see if they were right. His usual mix of bored and pissed was gone. Before, he looked older, but now that his features have smoothed over, he was… handsome. Beautiful. Hot with a capital ‘H’.
Uh-oh. That’s not good.
I’ve never thought of anyone as handsome, beside my brothers and my father. It was always out of appreciation for my family’s looks. I always thought each and every one of my family’s women is either beautiful or excessively cute-the same goes for the men in my family. Because of that I always compared the guys normal girls think are gorgeous or hot or whatever to my cousin or brother. That was always my pride.
I could be haughty about my family being beautiful inside and out, and no one could say anything about it. The only proof I need to make someone a believer is to invite them over for dinner. But that’s beside the point. The fact I think he’s handsome means girls are all over him all over the time. Well, if they can get pass his glare.
And I’ve seen how liking somebody can turn you into a complete bitch. I’ve also seen how it can tear you apart right after you’ve just reached cloud nine. It can turn you into something I don’t want to be, period. I have to be cautious around this guy.
“You look like you’re having your own inner dispute. How’s it going? Which side won?” he had one brow arched. He was half joking. His voice had a bit of humor in it, but he sounded like he wanted to know. I saw the makings of a smile somewhere there.
“It was too unanimous to be called a dispute. Reason won so easily it was pathetic. I need to watch more TV,” I said.
He leaned forward, clasped his hands together, and ducked his head inwards, as if to hide something from me. I heard a chuckle. Somehow I’m shocked. He seems like the kind of person who never laughed. Was I wrong? I sat up straight and realized pain was no more.
I was excited to hear his laugh. It tickled my stomach and it felt like cool ointment on a burning wound. “Sorry,” I said. He looked up at me suddenly. His face was a big question mark, and then it relaxed into knowing warmth.
“It’s okay; I kind of deserved it for hitting you that hard. You have a mean left hook though,” he said rubbing his jaw. “You’re a lefty, right?” I stared blankly at him. What?
“What do you mean? And no, I use both hands for writing.”
“What do you mean? I was talking about back at the house, when you asked me for a ride and your house exploded. I grabbed you and jumped out of the way, but you passed out. I slapped you a couple times softly. But you wouldn’t wake up, so I shook you then slapped you really hard twice. After that I was seeing stars. You woke up, but you looked dazed, so I carried you to one of the ambulances. The only injury I had was your punch, but that’s about it. Afterwards, you were taken to the hospital. They said you were physically unbalanced since you were in a state of shock. They said if you had plenty of rest you would recover in no time. Damien and Seth were busy with arrangements for the funeral so they couldn’t take care of you, and since I’m not your family I can’t take care of you.”
“Oh.” Oh. So that’s what happened. “When am I going to be able to get out of here?”
“In two days; it’s late right now so go back to bed. I’ll stay here until you fall asleep.” He went to turn the lights off, and then paused. “Why did you say sorry if you didn’t mean punching me?”
I paused, and tried to hide a blush. “I didn’t know you were our neighbor. To be honest, I randomly asked a stranger to give me a ride to my place this morning.” I gave a nervous laugh.
He looked pissed, and then dropped it, looking like he was going to talk to me later about it. “So you don’t even know my name?” I shook my head a ‘no’ and he looked pained. His bored/pissed mix was back, and he turned off the lights. I have a temporary night blindness, so I could only hear him walk over to the chair and sit down. I lowered the bed so I could sleep and I got comfortable.
I was itching to ask him, so I did. “What’s your name?”
It somehow felt like things fell into a small sorrow around me. “People call me Salvage,” he said. He sounded guarded, and it couldn’t hear it audibly, but he seemed sad.
I closed my eyes and tried to go to sleep. It was a no-go. Still, I kept trying, and relaxed more. Then I felt hot breathe above me. How long has it been? Has Salvage already left? Or was this Salvage?
The hot breathe traveled to my ear and soft lips pressed up against them. What followed shocked me. Salvage’s deep melodious voice was husky and low. “You’re my angel, my devil,” he said. His hot breathe traveled to directly above me, and it felt like it was coming closer. Then his lips were on mine, first soft and carefully, then forcefully; more needing.
I couldn’t help it. My plan was to pretend to be sleeping, but I couldn’t help myself. I softly returned the pressure. His eyes opened and he froze, looking at me. I’m sure I looked completely flushed, plus I was breathing fast. Then my eyes adjusted, and I saw his eyes soft, and even his ears were red. He didn’t look surprised to see me awake.
He lifted my head up and said, “Mark my words, Christopher, I will make you mine. I will forever bind us together. I will always protect you no matter what. You are my angel, my devil, my savior and my damned.”
I felt a shift in the air, and heat rose all around me. The air around us shivered, shifted, and danced as if it were flames. His eyes were determined, like he had more to say, but everything went dark.
• • • •
In the morning, Damien kept to his promise and came in with a big smile plastered to his face. He was wearing a long sleeve with silver necklaces, and his pants were black with chains and a piece of fabric loosely looping itself around to the other side of his waste. He held up a bag of apples and his fingers had silver rings on them, the ones you see Japanese rockers wearing all black wearing. “I brought something to eat,” he brightly said.
“Thanks,” I said. I motioned to his rings and said, “I didn’t know you had those imported. When did you get those?”
He looked down at his fingers. “Obaa-chan sent these to me a month ago,” he said. “She said that I would look cute with it on,” he said, looking at the rings with a blush.
“Knowing Obaa-chan, and seeing you now, she was right. Omai wa homono kawaii.” I can’t remember the last time someone said that to me. When I was five?
His blushed deepened with his smile. “Ah, but you’re really cute, too,” he said eagerly. Make that a moment ago, I thought to myself.
Although he was probably only saying it out of courtesy-I know of no one who could say that honestly. Plus it’s not like I really aim to be cute or beautiful. I’m content with being comfortable with myself; with not wearing really tight and revealing clothing, with not having to slather on makeup making my face heavy, with not having to put on shoes that make you look like a giant (and should also have a safety warning if you ask me-one trip and you might break your neck).
Damien sat down and attempted to make apple rabbits. He cut himself by accident numerous times, and was on his fourth apple rabbit. The other three looked messed up, but not as bad as it would have been if he hadn’t practiced, which he did. It was clear on his face as he tried to get the ears right and accidentally cut half of one ear.
“Give me the bowl,” I said. It’s nice to see him try this for me, but it was getting sad. Seeing the number of cuts I’d see it fit for me to step in. He handed me the bowl, the knife, and the apples. In no time at all, I finished the last apple rabbit and stuck tooth picks in all of them. I looked at his rabbit apples. They were disfigured, but really cute in a way.
I picked one up and began bringing it up to my mouth when Damien stopped me. “Ah, don’t eat it,” he said sounding disappointed. “It doesn’t look good to eat and it’s already gotten brown. Let’s just throw them away.” He sounded even more disappointed at the thought.
I shook his hand away and ate it. It was somehow salty and it lost some of its juice due to his hard grip, but I swallowed it regardless. “It’s good,” I said. It felt as if he visibly brightened.
We both finished the apple rabbits and were talking happily. When I was laughing at a joke, he suddenly looked thoughtful. “Hey Chris,” he said. “We’re moving to Japan after the funeral.”
“Huh?”


Chapter 4
We’re going to Japan after the funeral. Wonderful, I thought, just wonderful.
I rubbed the smooth surface of the box that Damien gave me earlier and sighed. It’s not like I’m ecstatic to stay in America. Japan won’t be bad. I’ve always loved going there. There was an air about it that welcomed me.
“Oh yeah, Chika-chan,” Damien said after a silence that seemed to last hours. “I’ve brought you this.” He held up an old looking circular box. It was ceramic and it was wide and round at its corners. On all four sides of the box, there were keyholes. Each of them was a different color; one was white, another was black, another was red, and the last was golden. I just stared at him with a huge question mark on my face.
“Um, the police found this and told me it was only a few of the things they could salvage.” He looked at the box. It looked like he didn’t want it. I took it from him with a huge grin on my face, and thanked him. “I saw it and had an urge to give it to you. I don’t know why, but I’m really glad I did so.” He smiled he smiled and continued, “Probably because your smile makes me happy!”
He excitedly hugged me. My smile got warmer, and my eyes thawed. I didn’t even know they were frozen over. Huh. “Thanks,” I said. “Damien, you’re really too much sometimes.” He just looked up at me and smiled deviously. He planned this.
Not many people could see through Damien’s plans; the guy’s smarter than anybody will probably ever give him credit for. I fiddled with the box, wondering if the keys melted in the fire. Or, they probably salvaged the keys and forgot to give it to Damien or something. Then something inside me clicked.
Everything about the world shifted slightly, and I became lightheaded. It wasn’t like things physically shifted. Suddenly the world shifting just felt like me. All of the sudden I was unbalanced and klutzy, even sitting. I was weaker and heavier. I got up, and took the box with me to go to the bathroom. I felt like I shouldn’t leave it anywhere without me around. I stumbled a few times, and set the box down on the sink, closing my eyes.
I don’t know why, but I felt like something was going to change. My head felt lighter, and the atmosphere was hard to breathe in; kind of like I would imagine being at high altitude would feel like. Then everything became slow and dreamlike. I felt a weight on my chest and I struggled to breathe. Then, as if it never happened, everything turned back to normal.
Then my body tilted-only in the slightest-and I felt as light as a feather. I opened my eyes, and all I could muster was my famous line: “Oh my angels,” it was a whisper. My voice rang with fullness, and it wasn’t a command but it sounded powerful, binding, and like it might add a pressure to someone.
I hadn’t believed it possible, but there it was. My skin was paler, but it wasn’t pasty and unattractive. I was paler than Seth and it looked beautiful. My hair was longer, still darker than black like it always was, but it was more like silk, and when I moved the ends looked ghost like. My eyes (inherited from my father, like Damien) were grey. Damien and I were the only ones with grey eyes.
It baffled the doctors, but my parents didn’t let them study us or conduct any tests. My mom is super over protective, and when my father heard I might become a lab rat, he released all kinds of hell on the doctors and scientists that showed even a smidgen of interest of dissecting us or something.
In the first place, it wasn’t common, or rather so, extremely rare for Japanese to have light eyes. The few Japanese people that do have light eyes, however, are always halves like us. I can’t wait for high school in Japan (note the sarcasm)-no doubt they’d be disappointed I don’t have blonde hair and blue eyes. They will pout and it won’t be my fault. I hope they have low expectations.
My steel grey eyes took in more of my body. What I saw was mildly shocking, to say the most. I was forming curves-they were small; a tiny tilt, but there nonetheless. Then I just got an idea. This would be fun. My pink lips curved up in a smile as I chuckled.
I went over to get my cell phone, and called up Damien. It rang for a second, and he picked it up. “Chika-chan?” he was exited. I smiled. He wouldn’t be disappointed. I instructed him on what to do, and it was almost as if he was here, the ends of his mouth slowly turning up in what looked like a sweet smile to other people, but to me it was a devious one. He knows what I’m up too and he’s interested. He’ll comply.

• • • •

He burst through the door thirty minutes later at full speed, skidding to a halt and tripping. He got up with a big smile on his face as he realized nothing was broken or damaged, and put the things on the bed. He lay everything down on the bed, one by one: medium stretch bandages, a pair of scissors for cutting hair, contacts, and a black T shirt with a grey kitten wearing red head phones with a smile and a Mohawk on it, loose black boy jeans (faded in some places), a few silver earrings, and a spiked heart necklace. There was more in the bag, but he left it in there.
He smiled at me and said, “Good thing you’re wearing the hospital gown right now.” he picked up the succors and fished out a butterfly and a comb from the bag. He pointed to the chair and I took a seat. Within a few minutes I saw a pile of long hair on the floor, and my head felt lighter. Unlike most girls, I had no particular attachment to my hair.
Damien threw the butterfly across the room when he had no further use for it, and combed my hair the way he wanted it, and trimmed my hair in the back. Then he set the scissors on the side after combing my hair a bit. He then brushed hair off of my head and gave me shampoo and conditioner and told me to wash off.
An hour or so later, I looked in the full length mirror. I was shocked how much I looked like them; Damien and Seth. If I were a boy I know I would be the link that made Damien and Seth look like clones. I look better as a boy then I doo as a girl, even though I dressed like tomboy when I was known as a looser girl.
Damien waggled his brows to show appreciation for his work. “You know, you would look ten times better in cute girl clothes with short hair,” Damien said. I turned back to look at him with ‘yeah right’ all over my face when I saw how serious he was. I sighed and blushed.
“I would love to be released early,” I said. “That would definitely make my day.”
He nodded his head a yes. “The doctors checked you a million times because of Seth, so I guess I’m free to just sign you out. They said you were fine a billion and two times, but in this sort of situation, Seth’s not really the listening type.”
I smirked. “I definitely can see that happening. Worry wart is totally cheesy, but it pretty much covers what he is-though I wouldn’t really blame him. I was so close to the explosion it surprises me nothing’s wrong with me.” He lifted one brow, and I laughed. “I want to have a bit of fun, sue me.”
I turned to the mirror once again, and felt light with some of the raw sorrow in me torn away by my idea. I was hurting, and more than I would let anyone know. I could live with the pain, as long as it couldn’t live without me. The pain was my balance; that’s how it’s been, and that’s how it’ll always be.
But as for now, I need to forget. I had that wrong feeling in me again; the one that made me feel no sorrow and allowed me to think properly. It didn’t seem weird to me either. It was just there, and somehow my being grew nonchalance for it, but it still left my mind successfully boggled.
Damien and I left to the desk on my floor so he could sign me out. We lucked out; there was a nurse there. When the blonde spotted Damien one of her brows lifted and she looked startled. Damien has that effect. I sighed and pulled a black and red beanie on my head and pulled and my loose studded chocker with a cross and a skull lain over it as the charm. The nurse’s blue eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly, but noticeably. Her cheeks were red, and her look said ‘I like’.
It seemed like forever since she first drooled over him, and then she took her eyes off of him and looked at me. The only way anyone could possibly describe her face is that it openly read ‘Oh. My. God.’ She turned completely red and she put her hand over her mouth. I look behind me and to the side to see if someone was behind me or Damien’s reflection in a glass window looked better than the real thing. Then I realized she was looking dead at me. Wonderful-just perfect.
It’s sad that this girl may be all over me, but not one guy thinks I’m worth looking at. Maybe it’s because I’m Asian. It’s either that or I’m ugly, which would be a big disappointment. The nurse looked away, looking very much like a twenty-something fan girl. She was fidgeting, which was a big giveaway to how much she was freaking out. Oh Angels, why me?
When I arrive to Japan, I should become a host. That would be a good laugh-I can just imagine Damien making fun of me for it.
The nurse looked back at me as if to check if I’m real or not, and I got a glimpse of her name tag: Brenda. Her lab coat was completely blank, and she had anime figures all over her desk, and since her computer was tilted our way, I saw that her mouse was a chibi character. Oh god. It can’t be, can it?
She spoke first. “How can I help you gentlemen?” she was stuttering and she held her hand out. It was more towards me than to Damien who had a boy Lolita face, but was still clearly older than me. Damien’s brow rose and a smirk teased his lips. I took her hand and it was wet with sweat. How nervous could she be?
She didn’t have to shake my hand either. Could I really be popular as a boy? Damien asked if it was okay if I was signed out and she pulled out my file. She seemed to miss seeing my sex because she was still nervous and as red as a tomato. Damien signed me out and as we were about to leave, she yelled at us to stop too loud. Everyone was looking at her but she didn’t seem to mind much because all of her attention was focused on me.
She spoke again but this time her voice was more nervous and shaky than before. “Is it okay if I take a picture with you? I would really love that because if I told my friend I met two bishounen she wouldn’t believe me. I mean, it’s not every day I get to meet guys of your caliber so-” I cut her off.
“Sure, do you have a camera?” for fun I added an accent ranging from Japanese to Spanish to give her a hint of our other half. It was my stranger accent. I used it whenever I met a stranger, because I was bored and I wanted them to think of me a little longer so I wouldn’t disappear from their thoughts so easily. I’ve been perfecting it for 4 years now, and somehow now it sounded seductive. I laughed mentally at Brenda for staring into space at me.
Then it was cut short by my disturbance of what she might be thinking about me. I gave a mental shudder. Oh Angels, stop thinking about it. Gross. I looked at her with a smirk on my face to hide my inner disturbance. “Miss Brenda, are you okay?” after I said that she snapped out of her fantasies.
I didn’t think it was possible, but she got even redder and for the first time, spoke to me weakly, as if she were at my service (okay I really wish I hadn’t finished that thought). “Y-yes, I’m fine. I’ll go get my camera.” She was behind her desk, so when she turned and went through the only wooden dresser there, I was shocked. On the back it said ‘Akihabara Otaku’ in Kanji. Oh Angels, she’s a freaking otaku. No wonder, I should have known from when she said bishounen. Scratch that-I should’ve known when I first saw the figures on her desk.
This day couldn’t get any better-not. I have an otaku panting over me thinking perverted thoughts, and now she’s going to show photographic evidence that she was in the same room with me. As soon as the picture is taking I’m jetting. I’m not about to become some otaku’s flower boy lolicon toy. Not now, not ever.
She finally found it and came over with it. She handed it to Damien and told him to take pictures with us in it first. We took a gazillion pictures together in a number of poses, and I was about to just run with her camera and Damien when she looked at Damien and said, “Okay, now it’s your turn.”
She didn’t sound as enthusiastic as she sounded with me (she sounded like a starved fat kid who was just granted an all you can eat coupon at a candy store), but she still sounded happy. That made Damien’s smirk tease up further and he smiled, only able to hold back a laugh. Oh hardy –har –har, so hilarious. I took the camera and looked through it to see about five pictures that were extremely perverted and the rest were pictures of me and her. I looked at the number of photos, and saw that there were sixty pictures. Damien must be working hard to keep from busting out laughing.
I looked over the pictures again, pretending to get the camera ready, and I confirmed what I had just seen. Oh Angels, this girl is a psycho. Then, Damien lifted the psycho otaku princess-style, and smiled. She looked surprised but nonetheless looked at the camera and smiled. I took ten pictures exactly before she interrupted me. “Okay, one more and I can let you guys leave.” Good graham crackers, what about your job? I hope she gets fired for being a psychotic otaku with lolicon tendencies.
I took the last picture in a hurry, purposely making it blurry and throwing the camera for Brenda the Psychotic Otaku with Lolicon Tendencies to catch, but she dropped it. Good, I hope it broke and all of those perverted pictures along with mine and Damien’s will be destroyed forever. I grabbed Damien and ran for it. It was several minutes when we reached a bench in a park. A sunset softly greeted me and Damien, and it shone as if it were by us, patiently watching us.
Damien and I looked at each other in unison. We both burst out laughing, remembering her figures and her lab coat. Oh Angels, what was that woman’s deal? Ten minutes or so later, we finally stopped laughing enough for Damien to say, “That women is absolutely psychotic.” He was still laughing, but it wasn’t as crazy as before.
I gasped for air. I was still laughing despite my position. “You saw how many pictures she got of me? And that look earlier-I may never be the same again,” I looked terrified for a second, and then we were off again.
“What was up with that accent? It was so weird. That lady was crazy, but I think you provoked it. It looked as if she was going to knock you out and make you her slave husband,” he started laughing even harder. I couldn’t laugh.
It sounded too possible.
A shiver went down my spine and I was pale. “Please tell me she didn’t whisper that to you when you guys were taking pictures,” I said terrified. He looked at me with a blank face for a while. Then his cheeks turned tomato red and he busted out laughing again. “Hey, that’s not funny! I’m seriously scared here,” I said whining. “It just seems too possible! Come on Damien, Stop laughing!”
His laughter died down enough to say this: “Chika-chan, you’re really too cute,” after that, he fell on the floor and continued to die of laughter. My worry died down and I laughed, too.
“The first thing I’m going to do when we get to Japan is get you stupid drunk, and bring you to Akihabara. You know what I’m going to do next?” I looked down at Damien, still laughing. Then I said, “I’m going to sell you to the otaku who bids the highest after dressing you up in cosplay. You won’t be able to come home until the next day.” He froze. Uh-oh. Then he looked at me, and with my best effort I kept the smile that was threatening to make me laugh my ass off. The smile on his face vanished.
“You’re not serious, are you?” he went pale. I looked too serious for him to laugh it off. To put up the final touches, I lifted my brow and got up. I walked at my normal pace and tries like hell to not smile, because if I did, I knew I would laugh so hard I would pass out. “Hey,” he called. “Hey! Chika-chan, please don’t do that,” he ran up to me.
Holy gumdrops. I can’t hold it. Holding on to any seriousness I could, I continued. I turned my head to look at Damien. “Only if you give me a treat,” I said. It took heaven and hell’s strength to pull off a devious smile instead of giving in. he stopped and thought for a second.
“What do you want?” he looked reluctant and thoughtful, and get this-serious.
I thought for a while. “Surprise me,” I said. I can practically imagine devil horns and a tail on me. It seemed as if it were a reflex, but he walked over to me, grabbed my left wrist, held my chin with his other chin, tilted my head to the side, and kissed my cheek. I froze.
My pulse quicken, and my face felt hot. I felt my breath leave my lungs and my heart thumped so hard I though Damien could hear it. My mind went blank. The only thing that crossed my thoughts was a big fat ‘huh’?
Then a ‘what in the name of the Angels is going on’?
And finally, darkness.

• • • •

When I woke up, it was completely quiet. I couldn’t hear anything at all, and my stomach dropped. Did I go def? I hope not. I love music. I could never live without it in a million years. It would suck total monkey butt if I was def. Oh Angels, please let me not be def.
Just then, I heard a chuckle. I breathed a sigh of relief and laughed at myself. That was stupid of me. Wait, where am I? And who just chuckled? I heard a door open and close, and what soon followed shocked me. I heard two voices going at it.
“What did you do? She couldn’t have passed out for just anything. You touched her, didn’t you?” This voice was familiar; it was Seth. He sounded pissed and incredulous.
“I couldn’t help it. Soon she’ll know that we’re not her brothers, and she’ll freak out. So far she’s completely oblivious, but I’m telling you, Red, we have to slowly break her in.” That was Damien. Who in the hell is Red? It sounded like he was talking to Seth, but I couldn’t be sure. Then it sunk in.
Not my brothers?
I listened more intently to the conversation, not wanting to miss one bit of information. “She is not one you’re girls, Fate! Soon she’ll find out, but it can’t be now! There’s no doubt she’s the Fated Descendent, so we have to handle this as cautiously as possible. We can’t mess up this time!” Seth was yelling now, and my heart was booming in my chest.
“Damn it, I know. But can the elders honestly expect two candidates to watch over her without trying to make a move on her?” Damien was yelling now, too. They were talking about me, that much I was sure of.
“YES! You know why? Because we’re the fucking A class! We’ve been trained for this since we were able to fucking walk! There are only six people able to enter A class!” Seth took a deep breath, trying to control himself. I let everything he said sink in while he calmed himself down. Holy mother of all Angels.
They’re not my brothers.
Then I remember what happened right before I passed out. Damien kissed me. Damien may love me, but in a brotherly-sister way. The way my pulse quickened, how my body heated up… I shivered with involuntary pleasure. I froze.
All of that because of a peck on the cheek? Moreover, I thought he was my brother by then. Once again I was upset by my not being able to freak out or cry, frustrated with my simple acceptance of what simply couldn’t make sense.
“I told you, I lost control. I wasn’t thinking,” Damien said softly. I mentally scoffed at my misuse of my brother’s name.
Don’t you mean Fate?
I froze mentally and physically. Did I just hear a little high pitched voice in my mind?
Yes, you are.
I must be going crazy. I stopped myself; a small feeling of realization hit me. I’m dreaming. I waited a while, but that didn’t feeling write. As soon as I thought it, it became untrue and silly. Those two words were surfaced only in an attempt for me to try and deceive myself. It wasn’t working.
I set the voice aside for now and listened to the silence between the two boys who weren’t my brothers. One of them sighed, and I suppose it was ‘Red’ because he spoke next. “What are you going to do if she finds out? It’s going to be both of our asses on the line.”
“She won’t,” Fate said. “We’ll just pretend the psychotic otaku knock her out or something. It’ll be fine.” There was silence. I felt heat lick at me.
I’m pissed.
I crawled out of the bed and realized I wasn’t dressed in my clothes before. I had Seth’s pajama bottoms on, which were too long and loose, and one of my black T shirts. I lifted up my shirt to see if my underwear was still the same. I breathed a huge sigh of relief as I saw my black lace underwear was still on. I scratched my head and wiped away any sand and eye boogers that were chilling on my face.
I could still sense Red and Fate outside of the door, paused in fear of the sounds I had just made. I took one glance around, only taking in the fact that everything was elegant, dark, and looked like a four star hotel. They must have found this as a quick place to stay.
I focused back on Fate and Red, and twisted the knob. I knew when I saw them that both of their stomachs dropped to the ground as they realized I was awake. It wasn’t visible on their faces, just apparent on their body language. Red gave me one of Damien’s killer thousand watt smiles, though it looked dim to me because I knew the real Damien could do so much better. But nonetheless, my pulse quickened when I remembered the peck.
The voice from earlier giggled. You’re so innocent, Chika-chan. I winced mentally at the mention of Damien’s pet name for me.
“Ah, you’re finally awake Chika-chan,” Fate sounded enthusiastic. I felt revolted.
“I heard the conversation from before, shit bag.” I glared at him with all of my might, and I swear Oda Nobunaga had nothing on me.
He looked taken aback. So did Red. I slowly moved my poisonous glare to meet Red. Heat rolled off of me. My face was expressionless besides my extremely pissed off, I’m-going-to kill-someone-if-I-don’t-get-answers glare. “Were in the hell are my fucking brothers?” my voice was below freezing and cut far deeper than any blade could ever wish to. Both Fate and Red winced at my demand.
Uwaaa! The voice in my head exclaimed. Chika-chan, you’re so scary! The voice giggled, and it sounded like broken glass gliding across a chalkboard–not audibly, but the feeling it gave could only be described in that manner.
I didn’t flinch inwards or outwardly. My glare was steady, holding Red’s gaze as he was too cautious to turn away from me. A handful of emotions flickered crossed his face, and he straightened, readying himself to get some answers. “How much did you hear?” he lifted one brow.
My voice was low and dangerous. “Everything, Red,” I said. Somehow the words came out like honey and pierced like daggers, and it sounded seductive and personal. I felt a far off wonderment at myself for sounding like that.
He visibly paled, but his facial features were solid, like a statue. He didn’t even blink. “Where the hell are my brothers,” I growled. I sent poison through my glare. I could never do this to someone who hasn’t crossed the line. Right now, they’re bordering me going insane.
“You must listen to us first,” he said. On the surface his voice sounded calm and collected, but I knew better. He was scared. I felt another wave of heat roll off of me, but decided to listen anyway. If I’m going to get Damien and Seth back, I might as well listen to their stupid excuse for a laugh.
“Fine,” was all I said. Red gestured to the left and nodded towards what looked like a living room. This ought to be good. I stalked into the living room, sitting down on the only loveseat there. Both Red and Fate sat down gingerly on the grey couch across from me, mimicking the loveseat I was now residing on. “Now, explain.” And then Fate and Red looked at each other as if to say, ‘where to begin’?
“Well, I suppose we should catch her off guard so there’s no ‘you people are crazy’ talk later,” said Red. His face–my brother’s face–looked as if he was suggesting it to Fate. His blue eyes blazed with meaning behind them.
Fate looked thoughtful for a while, and then the corners of his lips turned up slightly. They looked so much like Damien’s. He looked so much like Damien. How in the pit of all that’s evil is that possible? “Yeah,” he said. All I could hear when he said that was Damien’s voice. How did they do that? Fate looked at me with his steel eyes seeming to melt–visibly. “You know, we’re not your brothers.”
I cocked up one brow. “Really, now? I had absolutely no idea. You guys had me a hundred percent fooled, there. Cause, you know we’re sitting here for tea and biscuits,” I said. I felt like my face had a big ‘duh’ on it. Fate’s eyes were still melting-but it was only the colored part; the rest remained indifferent as to what was going on with the center of his vision. I must be seeing things.
Oh no, Chika-chan. Your sight is one hundred percent efficient!
Then I’m going insane. Back at the office when Harriett told me my parents were dead, I must have blacked out and this is a dream–
You can feel pain. Remember when the house exploded? It was a really big boom! ‘Member, ‘member?
The voice was excited at my denial. It had a smile in its voice, and it was laughing now.
You’re not normal at all, are you, Chika-chan? Alright! I heard a clapping sound. It’s decided! I’ll hang out with you for a while! Hey Chika-chan, what do you think about that?
“Oh goody,” I muttered too low for anyone to hear. I snapped my attention back to Fate and Red, who were standing. Okay. I’m confused.
Red lifted his left hand as if showing off a ring to me. There was nothing there. A second later a wind picked up, and began to lazily swirl. It soon began to pick itself up and in no time the wind was ravaging around Red’s ring finger. My eyes went wide. At first I thought a window was open, but now that thought was tossed away because of its obvious draw back; there’s no windows in the living room. What in the name of Angels is happening?
The air got faster and faster as it started compressing itself towards Red’s ring finger. The wind got as small as my thumb, and then something as extraordinary as that happened: the wind burst into excited flames, encircling Red’s hand. Then, in a flash it all ran into a circling figure on Red’s ring finger. Red blew on it, and a white-hot ring appeared, shining with excellence. Red wasn’t even fazed.
As for me? I was ready to puke of astonishment. I didn’t think it was possible, either.
Red wiggled his fingers and pulled his hand into a fist. He muttered fiery words of another language (he didn’t sound angry–the words somehow took on a charisma of their own as they left his mouth) and a hyper light emanated from his ring. The light soon embraced his body, and it was as if there were pieces of the light working over his body. With a jolt the light jumped off of Red’s body and softly sprinkled down and disappeared.
Looking up from the floor, I faced Red and –Oh. My. Angels.
He’s… oh gosh. No words to describe this guy without sounding superficial or corny. It’s unbelievable. His messy fiery red hair fell over his face –at the beginning, straight, but then at the ends, curly and pointing to one side, framing his blazing orange eyes. He had a light tan and his face was perfectly angular. His plump lips turned up in an unwilling smile, and his dimples were clearly visible. There was amusement in his eyes as he looked down at me through his long eye lashes and the hair that gently fell over his eyes.
He was tall –it looked like he was around six feet two. He had a perfectly muscular body –it wasn’t crazy muscular, but the ripples of muscles throughout his body were clearly visible. He was wearing a necklace with characters on it that reminded me of Salvage’s tattoos. The chain was silver molded into the same characters over and over again. The charm on it was a big circular locket with a carved character on it. It reminded me of the ones on Salvage’s arm too.
But wasn’t that a dream? Probably the rest of what happened was a dream –there’s no way that would actually happen to me.
I looked back at Red’s eyes after noting a few heavy looking silver and leather belts with similar inscriptions on them, hanging loosely on his waist where his midnight black jeans were threatening to slip off. I also had a peek of his briefs that were pulled slightly above the top belt. His muscular stomach had a large angry inscription that reminded me –like so much else on his body–of Salvages tattoos. There were similar ones on his arms and a long slim one on one side of his face that I had just noticed was there. He had silver and black earrings with some on there, too.
It looked like it started high above his right brow because it got thicker as it went up, and it went through his right eye, too. It ended at the bottom of his jaw, and as it traveled down his face, beautiful swirls and angles were placed strategically, making his face look exotic as if it already hadn’t on its own. His right eye was yellow, and what I assumed to be the pupil was oval–like and spiky.
I guess I know why his name is Red now.
I hardly noticed that I was looking at him with such awe until he clear his throat. I felt my face get warmer –only to realize I was blushing before. I can’t believe it. He’s more staggeringly beautiful than celebrities and my family. If I hadn’t just witnessed it, I’d say it was impossible. “Fate, it’s your turn now,” he said. His voice was alluring and satisfied. It gave off a smooth silky feel, and calmed me.
Fate smiled and Damien’s dimples came out of hiding. If I weren’t so mellow because of Red’s voice I would have punched his guts out. How did he end up tricking me? Moreover, how could I fall for his act? Red plopped himself down on the couch and it looked graceful. I must be going insane. A teenage boy? Graceful? Yeah. That’s got to be it. The voice only adds to the theory.
Aw, you’re so mean Chika-chan! Besides, you’re not insane. All of this is really happening! If you believe you’re insane, I won’t be your friend anymore!
I ignored it. It just seemed stupid to listen to it at this point.
Fate excitedly got up and held his hand outwards as far as possible, pointing straight with his hand in a position for a make –believe hand gun. He then pulled his other hand back as far as possible, and muttered some foreign words, just like Red had did only a minute ago. He closed his eyes and I realized he looked like he was readying a bow and arrow for the kill, and all around him wind picked up –but this time it was swirling aimlessly. He shouted the last few words as he let the imaginary arrow go, and too my surprise, the wind shimmered and followed the imaginary bow. It had quite a bit to go –around twelve feet, I’d say (this was probably the penthouse) –but it reached the wall in well beneath a second, it was so fast.
As soon as it hit the wall, it rippled as if it were water disturbed by a single drop of water. Immediately a dark purple light shot back at Fate, who still had his eyes closed and was now standing with his hands at his side in a relaxed stance. Like the imaginary arrow and the wind following it, the slim dark light hit Fate and his body was engulfed in the light that seemed to be alive. Like the light that swallowed Red, this light seemed as if it were working over Fate’s body. A few seconds later, it split in two and separated from Fate’s body into two small circles and exploded into tiny fireworks balls. The remaining light slowing drifted to the ground as the light before had.
Fate’s eyes opened and looked at me, and I couldn’t help but be as stunned as when I saw Red in his form… or whatever. His blazing dark violet eyes were fixed on mine, the pupils the shape of a six –sided star, and I couldn’t help but notice how sexy and seductive they were, let alone how they wanted me to decipher his message. Five six –sided stars lay directly under his eyes on both sides of his face bending their flow to frame his dangerous looking eyes –ten if you count both of his eyes. His skin was pale –not like mine –a few shades darker, and it made mine’s look unfavorable now. His ears were occupied by earrings similar to Red’s, but on him, it made him look… forbidden. I continued to greedily take in his appearance, reluctant to take my eyes away from his. He didn’t seem to notice. His lips weren’t plump, but they weren’t thin either. They looked just the right size.
His posture was laid back, like he didn’t care much about anything around him to be affected by it. If I thought Red’s face was perfectly angular, then I take it back. It was ridiculous how charismatic and outright sexy and handsome he was. He was wearing a skin tight black tank top, and a long leather necklace that was looped around his neck numerous times, and lying on his strong collarbone was an onyx locket with one of those characters –runes would be a better befitting name, as they seemed so ancient. His waist was riddled with leather and chains, and his long fingers –I couldn’t help but notice that it was on his ring fingers –were fitted with two thick onyx rings with silver runes on them. It was from his ring fingers that his tattoos rose and grew thicker, making him look even more forbidden.
It made him look taboo.
At the end of his dark loose pants I spotted steel toed combat boots, and noticed for the first time that I saw Red with the same pair too. My eyes didn’t trail away from Fate’s body. It would seem wrong to. I brought my eyes willingly up to meet Fate’s, and realized he had hair darker than mines are, with the occasional white highlight. I find it absolutely impossible that he was a human. He was too beautiful, too much like something out of the wildest imaginations of Angels, too much like something that was especially hand carved by Iophiel–the archangel of beauty–himself.
For the first time, I was completely captivated, and for the first time, I didn’t mind. Red’s silky laugh interrupted my thoughts and I inwardly pouted.
Remember why they brought you here, Chika-chan! You can’t forget about your poor brothers! If you do, I won’t be your friend.
Oh great. I have a pouting voice inside my head that’s actually making a good point. But the thing is I’ve never met people as beautiful as my family. They were always the talk of the town, and even a few towns over whispers of rumors about the family with it all; looks, money, luxuries, you name it we had it. I inwardly sighed at my thoughts. I’m absolutely insane, but honestly –why not go along with it for a while? Seriously, what’s the worst that can happen?
Maybe I’m still sleeping in astrology while Mr. Ferguson goes on about black hole and nebulas in his default monotone voice. Maybe none of this is happening right now. If this is a dream, I’m definitely going to make the most of it. I played back the events so far and decided that I was the heroine in all of this mess. I obviously had love interests, and from the looks of it, two of them. Even though Red is otherworldly hot, he just didn’t send me sparks. Well, not that many compared to Fate.
Don’t get me wrong, I would be either absolutely stupid or psychotic not to fall for Red’s looks, but that beside the point. If only I could feel nonchalant about this instead of everything else. Like the pain in the ass voice in my head.
You’re so mean, Chika-chan. From now on, I won’t help you anymore!
I sighed inwardly and mentally slapped myself for mentioning it. Of course it’s going to talk back to me. It must have been provoked.
Stop it. Just because you can hear me in your head, doesn’t mean I’m not real. You should know what you’re doing.
I sighed and tried like heaven and hell to ignore the fact that I have two people hotter than anything I’ve ever seen in my room. Well, in the hotel’s living room. But still. The fact is that they’re most likely using my father’s money.
Then it clicked. They’re using my father’s money; my dead father’s money. They have no right! Heat rolled off of me in waves. My face was back to its emotionless mask. I was their piggy bank. I hardly knew what was going on but I still felt betrayed. My eyes blazed with anger even though the rest of me was placid. I felt so stupid for letting loose my anger and my guard for even a second.
Just then, a door hurriedly opened and closed and footsteps sounded. They were coming towards us in long worried strides. Instinctively, I felt compelled to look but I crushed the need. I would see whoever it was through my peripheral vision. I heard a thump and thought that the person may have crashed into the corner. There was some silence and I decided that he or she was taking in the scene. I felt an eye roll and heard a sigh.
“Really,” sounded the lulling voice that I suspected I only heard in my dreams. It had annoyance in its lulling allure. “I turn my attention away for only a few hours to put down some demons and here you are, all transformed ready to–” I looked over at him the same time he did. My jaw dropped.
Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh.
Was that Salvage? No. Maybe?
It didn’t look like him, but I felt him there somehow. His hair was the same color of Fate’s, only with some white specks in it. The white specks looked like stars in the darkest of night skies, and it made him look mature. His eyes had a deep black border, and were a light grey inside. His pupil was the shape of a plus, but not quite. At the ends it was sharp enough that I thought maybe it could cut, and I felt an unceasing cautiousness when his eyes moved slightly. His lips were like Fate’s; absolutely perfect. He was more toned than Fate, but damn did it look good. He was wearing no shirt, but had one of those odd necklaces that both Fate and Red had. Only it had white speck in the onyx, which was kind of impossible, I think. But then again, two guys just abracadabra-ed and poof, they made hotter guys then the world’s top male models. Not that I read those sorts of magazines. My mom just left them around for a while and I was bored, so I looked at the pictures, that’s all.
I automatically stopped myself. It felt wrong to let my thoughts stray from him. My eyes traveled from head to toe, and if my eyes were greedy with Fate, they were absolutely gluttonous now. His pants were only haphazardly held up with one black leather belt and an odd chain with ‘runes’ on them. I lingered on his belt buckle for a while, and then when I realized I was, I blushed and took in his black jeans and grey converse. He seemed more like a man. Oh gosh, why did they look so sexy on him?
It seemed like these boys were dripping with charisma. And sex appeal. That is so wrong.
The voice was the same, if not more alluring. Before it was like a simple melody to put children at ease, but now it was dangerous, and it made my skin crawl. I shivered when it did. When he spoke it made me see a forest, and he’s the melody you follow. The one that lure’s you to your death. It was somehow pleasurable to hear it. My cheeks heated up as the look in his eyes turned from incredulously to intimate and seductive, and I knew what he was thinking somehow.
I looked away as to not be sucked in to him. Something in me moved when he looked at me. It made me want him to the point I could die. I barely even knew the guy and I was thinking that. What the hell is wrong with me?
Not a moment later, my eyes returned to his. I wanted nothing more than to melt into him; to run my hands all over him, and for him to do the same. I also wanted to slap myself for thinking such embarrassing things. All I can think of to utter is thank the angels they can’t read my mind. I already have one pain in the ass that can do that much.
As if on cue, it laughed. Such dirty words for such a pretty girl like you, Chika-chan. Wanna know my name, huh? Wanna, wanna?
I couldn’t care less. But you’re probably still going to tell me.
It giggled. Yup! How’d you know?
I mentally rolled my eyes. A lucky guess, I suppose.
Well, I guess I don’t have a name. That’s really for you to decide!
I held back the increasing urge to sigh. If I was going to have a voice in my head, why couldn’t it be reasonable? Or maybe even a shy one that didn’t like talking much? Seriously, is that too much to ask?
I turned my attention away from the happy-go-lucky voice in my head that apparently couldn’t shut up. Plus, it still felt wrong to let my thoughts stray from this unbelievably charismatic guy right to the left of me. When I stared, he didn’t smirk or smile like the other two had done. A secret message past through his otherworldly eyes to me, and I wished like never before that I could decode it. A knot formed in my stomach, and I decided to try and figure this-whatever the hell ‘this’ is-out.
“Okay, start talking. What in the hell is going on? And this doesn’t answer my question. Where are my brothers?” in the beginning, my voice was just annoyance. As it traveled to the end, it became laced with poison. I still felt uneasy keeping my eyes away from him. So, when I talked, my body unconsciously leaned towards his.
I looked at Fate and saw that he looked a hell of a lot like Salvage. If the guy who just entered was Salvage; I was still unsure, really. Though they looked enough alike to be twins, only Fate was younger. Like my age younger.
“Sal, I know how this looks, and-” the guy who just walked in cut him off (was it really Sal or was it short for Salvage?). Red put his hands up as if already surrendering.
“And what? The head mistress is going to have your head for this. We can’t lose her because of you two idiots.” His voice was heavy with command, and somehow I was sure it was Salvage. It was like an unsaid confirmation to hear his voice low and as poisonous as I felt.
“Yeah yeah, I know. We were just about to explain it to her. She wants to know where her brothers are. We’re simply giving her what she wants. An explanation.” Red lowered his hands to his sides, waiting for Fate to back him up.
“It seemed we were careless. She was awake when we were talking,” Fate said calmly. He was steady and unflinching. His demeanor only could be described as stone-like. Curiosity poked fun at me, but my face didn’t even flinch.
“I’m going to say it one more time,” I sighed even more frustrated with not knowing what the hell was happening. They’re taking forever to explain. “What in the hell is going on?”
Red and Fate looked at one another, and then looked at Salvage. I tried to avert my eyes, but to no avail. What the hell is wrong with me? I’m drooling-no, better yet, pulsing with want over this stranger. All I know is his name and nothing else. Yet I felt a raw desire to be next to him.
Red and Fate sat back down, and Salvage took long strides to the dark coffee table where the couch and loveseat was pointing to, and sat on it. I couldn’t help but notice how his strides looked dangerous and set out for me. My heart pounded loudly in my chest, and I was almost dumfounded. But the feeling didn’t quite reach me, and flew off to somewhere out of my reach. The heat I was feeling vanished slowly and again I was frustrated with myself for not feeling what I should.
Then I waited for my want for Salvage to go away, but it didn’t. It was the only thing that stayed.
Salvage sat down in the middle of the table then Red and Fate got up to sit by his side, their eyes trained on me. Not one pair of eyes left me. I almost felt nervous, but that feeling was squished by me. No time for those thoughts. They’re about to give it to me. Salvage spoke first. “Christopher,” he said. His deep lulling voice tingled all over my body when he spoke my name. That feeling didn’t go away either. “Have you ever heard of the supernatural? Things like mythology?”
“Yes,” to my surprise, my voice was calm and my face was blank, but relaxingly so. The poison was gone from me. I felt nonchalant, as it showed on my body language. The only thing out of the ordinary was the feeling he gave me.
He leaned forward, his arm muscles rippling as they were propped elbows on his legs, hands folded. His head was steady as he looked at me as if it were a spell to keep me calm, to keep my mind open. “Good, this will make explaining easier.” Then he shifted to a more intense demeanor, which I had thought impossible until just now. “Everything you’ve ever heard about monsters, demons, angels, and everything in between-it’s all false. They have never looked or thought like the stories you’ve heard when you were a child. Nothing you’ve ever heard has any truth to it. It’s all wrong.” He paused.
I let it sink in, and after a few moments all that surfaced was a big question mark. It must have been apparent on my face because Fate began to speak. “You know the stories of the boogie man you’ve heard when you were just a little girl? Prayers to the angels, and God? Everything was fabricated by humans a long time ago because they needed something to hope and dream for. They wanted someone more superior than them to bring everything into order-less killing, more kindness. To balance everything out. It was subconscious for them to want something like that, but it struck our race as something tremendously amazing.” He sighed.
Fate then looked at Red, while I was still processing this. Red continued for him. “It was amazing so much so that we appeared to them even more than we sought to be before. It was so amazing because the God they spoke of resembled the firstborn of our race, Detacher. He is the most powerful of us all, and he still lives to this day. He can part the seas and the sky itself. Human society was built on his power. More accurately putting it, it was like the humans took him and just changed his name, and claimed he did a lot of things that he didn’t. He didn’t create the human race, but inherited them from the one who created him.”
“So technically speaking,” Salvage said. “We’re Demigods. If you put it in human perspective. There are few of us, and Detacher has meant for things to be that way. But you, Christopher, are something else. You weren’t created by neither our Detacher nor the Evil One. No, you were especially hand crafted by the Great One who created Detacher. You’re a God from a human’s perspective. Well, technically speaking a Goddess. And the first one, to boot.” A few minutes passed, and it still made no sense. I wasn’t religious at all, but still. Wouldn’t that be like yanking the whole world out from under someone who is?
And the ‘Great One’-isn’t he God? He created Dispatcher. Dispatcher inherited the humans from the ‘Great One’. So that must mean that he’s God. What they’re saying makes no sense. Isn’t the definition of God the one who has created us? And how would I be a Goddess? As if reading my mind, Salvage spoke. “The human’s idea of their God is that he must be feared and loved by all so that they may join him in the afterlife. It doesn’t work like that with the Great One. He wants them to be good as natured as possible, so that in their afterlife or beforehand they don’t get corrupted by the Evil One. The Great One does not wish to be feared or loved-he simply wishes to save the human souls from the worst possible end.”
Salvage ran his big hand through his hair, his long beautiful fingers combing his dark abnormal hair. “The Evil One makes the human’s Devil look like a sweet walk in the park. Bottom line, you don’t want to even hear his name. This is why we call him the Evil One.” His gaze bore through me, and it shook me in a way nothing else could. “Come with us, and you will get answers to all of your questions and more.” He looked at me, expectant of my answer.
My parents and two sisters were announced dead not even a week ago, and now my two remaining brothers were missing. I couldn’t grieve for them because I felt no loss, which frustrated me. I couldn’t shed a tear or wail out to release the sorrow I’m so frustrated I don’t even have. I wanted to cry out, but I couldn’t. I wanted my parents and my sisters and my brothers. But I couldn’t have them.
I was in a corner. I was being picked up by three crazy hot boys-that were crazy in the mind too, to boot. And so was I. I believed them.
I felt the familiar frustration roll all over me because I couldn’t seem to reject what they were saying. And when they said that the human’s God didn’t exist, it seemed correct. Like I couldn’t deny it no matter how hard I tried. It just seemed to fit.
I sighed and decided I had nothing to lose. Not anymore. “Okay, fine. But this better end with me knowing my brother’s whereabouts.” I got up and motioned for them to lead the way. Then I remembered something. “Wait, I’m a Goddess? How does that work?”
“All in good time,” he said. He smirked. “Something tells me you won’t mind the life you will lead in the future.” A sort of darkness pulled itself over him while he looked at me with a secret in his abnormal eyes.
I could only hope that what he just said was true. And that my life ahead included my remaining family.
Chapter 5
It was like I was a ball of stress each time I almost felt afraid of falling off the great black beast that steadily galloped to our destination. It was neither a dog nor a bear, though it looked bigger than a bear. It was a fox. Or at least it looked like one; Salvage said it was one of the Night Beasts. Humans had mistaken them long ago for a dog the size of a bear that preyed on humans; what we define a werewolf. In fact these particular ‘Night Beasts’ prey on a certain type of demon-just one type of the Evil One’s minions. It had looked at me with inquiry in its eyes, and just made a sound that was quite a bit similar to a snort, or maybe a scoff.
Fate said they could be tamed by demigods, and quite a few have tamed one. Only one person has tamed more than one, and it was someone who was in the A class, the group especially trained to handle me. I didn’t even attempt to dote on that last part. I’m riding a black fox the size of a bear, if not, bigger. Plus there’s the transforming in the hotel thing to worry about, plus the whole humans-are-wrong-about-God thing.
My inner babble was interrupted by the beast executing a large jump over a cliff. When in the hell did we get to the forest?
My stomach clenched and I held on for my life, releasing a piercing scream. I could feel the beast rumble beneath me, as if it were laughing at me. I wouldn’t doubt that theory.
It landed, and I was shaken with shock. It looked way deeper from the beginning. I mustered up the strength to look down, and saw that there was still a long fall. I looked up.
We had only fallen about fifty feet or so, and we had landed on a rock. It looked stable enough, but I know better to trust things just based on looks. The beast coiled, and then proceeded jumped with great strength straight downwards. My stomach clenched into a tighter ball and my scream became even more strained as I realized there were no more ledges to land on.
An explosion of light blinded me, and after a while everything went black. I’m sure I’m still conscious, though.
Yup, you’re pretty conscious alright!
Oh boy. Forgot about that.
I ignored the voice, and after a few seconds my lungs were burning for air. I realized then that the beast was on top of me. And it weighed about a million and a half tons. I made grunting noises and pushed against it (it was only bound to be futile, I may add), but it didn’t get off until I was on the verge of passing out.
I breathed in the sweet, sweet air and coughed a little. That beast stinks like nobody’s business. I turned my glare to the beast, and it looked like it smiled. This is really how far I’ve sunken? I’m being mocked by a freaking over sized fox!
A small light illuminated and gave out a sudden burst, nearly blinding me. This is probably the third time this has happened this week. Well, at least I know I can count on them for something other than nearly freaking me out and looking really nice doing it.
I was nearly crushed by a few dark figures and one blazing red figure falling from above, but I quickly jumped out of the way. Red, Salvage, and Fate landed on their feet automatically, but with extremely accidentally looking grace. The two giant foxes they were riding also landed on their feet with a bored expression.
I’m assuming that the one I was riding did that on purpose. To confirm this, I looked at it. It was grinning. My eyebrows immediately went down. I was biting my lip in a scowl. The fat bastard fell on me on purpose.
I rolled my eyes, and froze for a second. I wasn’t really aware of where we were until I saw the intertwined green and the greenery bursting from the flowers and fruits that didn’t even look like real fruits. They didn’t look like plastic though.
The flowers made the ones I’ve seen before look like haggard, withered weeds. They were all odd shapes and designs, some forming a circle, others forming swirling motions when the wind blew. And those were only the stems.
I observed a flower nearest to me. The inside of the flower was puffy and soft looking, while the leaves on the outside looked smooth and protective, as it curled around the inside. I poked at one smooth leaf, and immediately pulled back. The leaves wiggled a bit, as if it had an animal mind.
I looked at my finger to confirm what I thought to be a cut. It was.
I stared at my finger with aw, studying my blood. As I recollect, I’ve never bled before. Thinking that this soft, thick white substance is my blood, and it’s been running through me my whole life was kind of odd to think of. I’ve never seen blood before, but I’m guessing by the surprised looks of the Night Beasts this is not normal. “What?”
Salvage just nodded his head, with a surprised look on his face. “Of course,” he said, astonished. “It makes sense you would have the blood of the Gods. It just validates what you are,” he looked expectant at me. I was just looking confused while Fate and Red nodded their heads in agreement.
I turned my head back to my finger. The little drop of white fell to the ground, and greenery flourished not ten seconds after the blood hit the grass. We all backed off, as a few trees were growing in ultra fast motion, merging with each other.
“What the hell,” said a deep, husky voice. I looked behind me, and there were two boys where the Night Beasts should have been. One was big and beefy, not over doing it, just medium bouncer size. His long, dark curly hair framed his face like one of those ancient Roman statues. His eyes were a shocking icy blue, with a slated pupil-kind of like a cat’s, but not quite. His eyes were glowing. For a second I was transfixed, but then a huge crack sounded.
My attention was quickly turned to the now merged tree, still growing and cracking the other branches of trees. My stomach knotted in my panic. Did I cause this?
If I did, how could I stop it? My thoughts were interrupted by another crackling noise. The ground became unstable, rumbling and shaking under my uneasy feet. A crack in the ground started to form, rich soil separating and dancing along with the shaking, oddly colored grass. The soil turned black, and the dark blue grass shimmied with each other, casting a few fire flies to shoot up in unison.
The fire flies’ light was white, so the ground kind of looked like space. I bet it would be even more beautiful from above. I shook myself mentally from the strange things around me, and how easily it came to me to just think of it as normal.
I turned back to Salvage. “What’s going on?”
He looked thoughtful, then back up. More strange flowers were blooming, only larger. A dark tree root came from one of the cracks on the ground. “I would say because of your blood,” he said, dodging another array of flowers. “It seems the earth element is strong in you. That, on top of you being a goddess now makes this whole place holy ground now. It’s under your complete control since your blood touched this place and made all of the Wild Iryses grow.”
“Wild what?” another tree root surfaced, only this one was right beneath me. As it moved upwards, I crouched down so I wouldn’t fall. It didn’t work. Before I could hit the ground, a dark figure surrounded me.
I looked up to see a man with dark skin, icy blue eyes that glowed with a certain kind radiance only a true beast could emit. His face was pulled into a scowl, and his lips were pulled back to show his grotesquely sharp incisors in a threat. I heard a gasp, realizing it was me. I was surprised.
I stared in awe at him, his tropical beauty something I haven’t come across in a while. I’ve only seen people like him on TV. His dreadlocks were pulled back in a short pony tail; his face was angular with no trace of an immature boy. I was in his arms, but I could tell from looking up at him he carried himself with a lot of pride. His eyes perceived that, too.
His mocha colored skin in contrast with my own moon pale skin was striking. I found it unpleasant, and it made me a bit irritable. I couldn’t tan for my life. His blizzard-like glare was turn unto me. “Are you well, Milady?” his deep voice bellows, and I can feel it’s rhythm throughout my body. My cheeks flame. Oh my Angels, I thought. He has a British accent.
The flames in my cheeks quickly extinguished, and my surprise vanished. The feeling slipped through my fingers and out of my reach. Again, I was frustrated. Again, it went away. “I’m fine,” I said with fading irritation. He handed me over to Salvage and jumped over to where this strange man was. He looked shocked, and definitely not human. He had long pointy ears and moon-pale hair pulled back into a pony tail. He was tall, with spider-like skinny pale fingers and rusty brown eyes. The dark man said something to him, and his eyes darted to me with surprise.
“Ask it to stop,” Salvage said. I almost jumped; his lips were to my ear and he kept whispering the same thing.
I just looked at him. “How,” I said.
He gave me a slight smile. “Ask it to stop with your heart.”
Just then, my heart started beating fast, and my blood called out to the strange growing plants. Everything slowed down, and I felt every heart beat individually. The rhythm was slow and calm, and one heartbeat was loud and chaotic: stop.
For a split second the giant tree pulsated, and afterwards it stopped growing. Completely; not even the pace of a normal tree. I stared in awe, and realized the other plants had stopped as well. Within the last few days, odd things happened. I tried denial even though it didn’t work that much and I still believed this was kind of real. But this took the cake, and I mean really took it.
Nothing better than power to snap your eyes, open I guess. Feelings came rushing back to me-shock, embarrassment, anger, disbelief, and the greatest one of all: sorrow. If I weren’t being held by Salvage, I would have crumpled to my knees and cried until I died. Well, apparently I took the alternative, because when I woke up I felt a lot better.

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 07.05.2010

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