𝔹𝕖𝕥𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕍𝔼𝕀𝕃 𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝟙
~ 28 ~

I shot up on the couch my heart racing as I looked around the living room, the early morning sun gleaming through the windows as it lit up the space.

What did I just see? Was that real and who were the voices? I thought as I rubbed my eyes and stretched.

cyber stream partially blocked by the morning sun; the recent episode paused with the continued watching button flashing on the screen to get me un pause it.

I slowly rose from the couch, a small gem falling from the couch as I got up.

What’s this?

I knelt down to pick up the small gem to see a small blue heart, it was shiny almost cosmic with its stars and colors that swirled inside of it like a physical gif in my hand.

Whoa! Is that? … This looks like the…

The image of the heart of the universe flashed in my mind as it shone in my mind, the several planets spinning outside of the galaxy of the glass box I was in.

I guess there is no saying that was just a dream huh, then that means those creatures are really after me.

What the hell am I going to do? There’s nowhere to run they apparently know where I attend school and who knows where they are right now, they could even be outside my house as I speak.

The thought made me jump as I looked around my living room as if they could just manifest into my living room and snatched me.

“How am I going to get groceries today or even go to school with those things running around the town trying to find me? I don’t even know how to protect myself from them, all I can do is scream and pray to God they're not some sort of magical creature and eat me whole.

I shuttered as I nervously went to the windows, checking what I could see out the window for anything out of the ordinary.

I sighed in relief as all I saw was people walking down the street, cars driving by minding their own business as they did their daily activities.

“Zaphira, just relax it’s daytime there’s no way they would be stupid enough to cause a problem in the open like that, if I go to school quickly will have the school protecting me, I don’t think any of the teachers would allow the student to go missing on their premises.”

I checked the time before scurrying to the cupboards and looking for anything to eat, coming across a small bag of chips I must’ve forgotten about a while ago.

“It’s not exactly healthy but it’s better than nothing,” I said to myself as I stuck it in my bag.

I glanced down at myself the close from yesterday still on me.

“It’s been a while since I passed out in clothes from the day before,” I said to myself as I put my bag down on the chair and quickly ran to my bedroom looking for something to wear.

I jumped the last landing to the bottom, my bag sitting on the chair waiting for me. I was going to grab my bag when my phone started to vibrate.

I sighed as I looked around for the sound, my phone flashing on the living room table trying to get my attention.

I stood in front of the table and looked at the caller ID Blaine flashed on the screen, the photo that I used the last time we went to the carnival. He smiled with that goofy grin of his holding a giant stuffed animal I said was too heavy to carry.

Nope, not answering, I told him I was going to leave him be I don’t want to talk to what I have to do is try to get a hold of Elizia. Damn! What a shift or avoid like the plague can she just listen to me?

I stuck my phone in my pocket and tried to ignore the vibration in my pocket. I grabbed my bag and opened the front door, the exposure to the outside making me nervous as if my house could protect me from the creatures that hunt me.

I’ve never felt so scared to leave my house before, it’s daytime Zaphira don’t worry about those people may be their nocturnal and they have to hunt that night. I said to myself hoping it would make myself feel better.

I walked along nervous journey to the school feeling jittery at every sound, to every car that drove by. Only feeling reassured as the school came into view.

“I’ve never been so happy to see the school in my life.” I said to myself as I started to enter the parking lot a massive crowd circling the school as they whispered in talk to themselves about something.

“What’s going on? I asked as I walked up to the crowd, Elizia stood with the girl from yesterday as they stared at the thing.

“Somebody came to the school yesterday and destroyed most of it,” Elizia said turning to me, have focused on the destruction of the school. “Whoever did it busted the whole second floor and must’ve tried to burn the school down because the doors are practically melted off.”

I looked at the school, the door practically melting and cracks through the windows. I looked up to see the second floor almost entirely gone. It looked like somebody just grabbed a wrecking ball and slammed it into the second floor.

“Holy shit! How is this even possible?” I said still staring at the disaster of the school.

Oh my God, to those shuttered figures do this? Is it their warning to what they would do if they found me?

I shuddered at the thought, my mind thinking of what the voices told me. Telling me that I should leave that I should run.

If this is the destruction, they could do to me than what good does running serve? They could just keep hunting me down until they eventually find me and it could be a lot worst death than just being found the first time.

“I don’t know,” Elizia finally said turning her attention to me, and normal expression on her face before realizing who she was looking at and talking to. Her face scrunching with disgust as she huffed before turning away.

“Elizia wait!” I said grabbing her arm, I could see the look of shock on her face before it turned into anger. “Please you’ve gotta listen to me, I do not like feeling that and I can guarantee you he does not like me like. He was—

“He doesn’t like me like that either I know,” she said venomously as if it was my fault. “He likes some other girl right? You can keep saying all you want that you don’t like that way but I could see the look on your face when you talk to him, you were upset that he didn’t see you like a woman she only saw you as a mere child.

If you didn’t like him that way then it wouldn’t bother you, you lied to me Zaphira.”

“I didn’t lie to you I can explain why I was upset, why I want him to see me as more than just some child that he grew up to Elizia pl—

“Just shut up Zaphira! I don’t care what you have to say you lied to me, Blaine may not like me at the moment but that crush with the girl may not last which gives me still a chance but you… I don’t ever want to talk to you again.”

“Hey, guys! I heard from the teachers that schools canceled since half the school is missing.” A boy said coming from the damaged ruins of the school.

I stood in the crowd of kids as they howled and cheered that school was out. I could see Blaine standing with the other half of the soccer team, his attention focused on me, I glanced at him for a moment before turning away and leaving the school.

Great there goes the sanctity of the school, now how am I going to protect myself from those creatures with that level of destruction? It’s a good thing they didn’t show up during school hours there’s no way the school could’ve protected me if they did look what they did.

“Zaphira! Wait.” Blaine called out.

I glanced in his direction briefly as he quickly tried to catch up to me. I could see Elizia looking in my direction heard devilish eyes watching.

What changed? Has she been keeping this hatred inside have we ever been friends to begin with? Is that why she suddenly got angry, because she never liked me?

“Zaphira, please! Can we at least talk?”

I could feel a small pang in my chest, the sound of sadness in his voice as he called for me. I clenched my fists trying to prevent myself from turning around.

Just keep walking, just keep walking. If you turn around now and then it’s like he won, he will never see you as a teenager or anything other than a child if you turn around now. I said to myself practically forcing myself.

I need that if I turned around, I would have hugged him and apologized for being stubborn then tell him about all the weird things that have been happening, and like Blaine, he would try to fix it or tell me it’s okay and continue to treat me like a child that needs protecting.

I exited the school, not even looking in his direction or looking at Elizia. My heart aching at the betrayal I was feeling.

I walked silently down the street in the direction of the grocery store, not caring about what I could run into or how heavy the grocery bags would be.

“You look miserable are you okay?”

I didn’t have to turn to know that it was Valentine, his voice sounding familiar yet different from Blaine’s.

How long has his voice been like that? His voice is deeper somehow than Blaine’s, Blaine’s voice is soft or somehow gentler than Valentine's. Is that one of the differences that separate the two?

“How could you tell?” I asked as I stopped at a red light.

“It’s one of my gifts, I’m very good at telling a person’s motion I’m also really good at reading their aura or energy.” He spoke.

“Gift? Like a person who’s a genius?” I asked curiously.

Valentine laughed as he walked with me, he was holding some books in his hand, that looked old but very pretty. For the first time since actually running into him, I noticed him and how different he really was from Blaine.

How did I ever get confused between him and Blaine? And how did I ever not notice how blatantly obvious he looks? He looks like an anime character, he looks like somebody from the medieval era but like… More well-kept than what is portrayed in the history books.

Maybe it has something to do with the magic in their world, maybe the magic is why he looks so…

“It’s a natural skill that I developed as a child, all children are born with a skill some are born with more than one but the skill you are born with you have more of an affinity to than the ones that you learn at school, the school can help hone in those skills or learn new ones entirely.” He said yanking me out of my thoughts.

So, you’re saying you have a natural affinity to read people?” I spoke.

“Yep, I’m very good at it like even though you are very sad you are also very stressed and worried.” He spoke.

Is it really that obvious?

“It’s just…” I began as I walked across the street.

“Is it that friend of yours?” He asked sounding sympathetic.

“Yeah, him and another one of my friends or… Ex friends I should say.” I said.

“You could tell me if you want,” he said politely. “I promise I won’t say anything.” He said with a grin.

“Yeah, like you’d be able to tell them.” I joked back.

“So what’s going on? Did you and your friends get into an argument or something?” He asked as he stopped in front of something period.

“Not necessarily,” I said as I got closer to the grocery store. “It’s just… When I got to school today there was this massive destruction to the building and I thought maybe my friend and I could talk but, in the end, I just found out that she hates me.” I said feeling my eyes water.

“Hates you? Why would your friend hate you?”

“Well, she told me once that she had a crush in my friend, I told her I was okay with it and I didn’t care but… I found out talking to him that he didn’t like my friend that way and… That he also didn’t see me as a fully mature teenager.” I said feeling the pain again as if I had just talked to him.

“So, you haven’t talked to him about your feelings? If you just tell him that you want them to see you other than an annoying sibling maybe you should talk to him like I said unless the guy that looks like me is stubborn.” He spoke.

“He can be, but I just don’t know every time I look at him it just makes me angry, and now my friend thinks I am a massive liar because she thinks that I want more from Blaine. I’ve tried talking to her but she refuses to believe me, apparently, she might not have ever liked me at all, I don’t know what I did to sever our relationship so deeply like this.

All I know is that she doesn’t want to talk to me anymore and I am this big liar and she would rather continue to get Blaine’s attention than…”

Valentine said nothing as he looked ahead, he had that same look that Blaine had when he was deep in thought.

“I’m not sure if you want to know this or not but maybe your friend there… Maybe that friend was never really friend,” he said. “From what it sounds like she seemed to only have it for my look-alike, I don’t exactly know when your friend started to like him but… It sounds like she was only your friend to get to him.”

“But that doesn’t sound right we’ve been friends forever and she’s had multiple boyfriends before liking Blaine.”

“Oh yeah, his name is Blaine… I kinda forgot what his name was I know he looked a lot like me which is why you mistake me for him.” He said sounding completely surprised.

How did he forget I told him he shared the same name as the hand did and I? I swear I did. Or maybe I thought I did.

“Well, anyway that’s all I can say it just sounds like that all you can do is find out for yourself if she’s not going to tell you then at least find somebody who can, or if you’re lucky, cross it on her own.”

She really only my friend because of Blaine? I thought we were getting along this entire time. Then again, I guess that it explained quite a bit of her, she never really wanted to do the things that we invited her to. She always said she was busy with her dates and or snagging a boyfriend to get one.

But then why is she targeting Blaine now and why is she reacting like this? I mean I just recently found out it’s not like I knew this entire time.

“So can I ask you a question?” Valentine asked.

“What is it?” I asked as I walked into the grocery store my talking to Valentine distractingly made it to the grocery store.

“Where exactly are you going? You’ve been walking for a while and I’m just curious.”

“Oh, yeah I was heading to the grocery store to pick up some food,” I said as I pushed the cart trying to remember what I didn’t have in the house.

Damn, I really gotta start remembering to make a list, it would be so much easier to go down knowing what I have and what I don’t have at the house.

“Grocery store? As in like the marketplace?”

I looked at him perplexed, my mind thinking back to where he was from.

Oh yeah, they don’t exactly have grocery stores yet in their world, it’s more like a giant Central market where you can buy everything outside. Oh, how time has changed for us, the joys of knowing that our food is fresher than our ancestors.

“Something like that, it’s just a really massive building filled with food separated and aisles a lot like the marketplace but stored in a much better environment and out of the rain,” I said as I walked down the Dairy Isle. “The stores separate the food based on its purpose, at the opening of the story you have your fruits and vegetables, then you have your bread and baked goods.

Then in other aisles, you have your dry foods, like canned foods and cereals and I guess if you are like me your junk foods like chips and soda.

Then at the back of the store you’ve got your cold things like your produce, like your milk and eggs and your frozen foods.” I said fully aware that he had no idea what I was talking about.

“So fascinating, would you explain what any of that meant?” He asked.

“Sure, once I’m done getting my groceries and if you stay long enough,” I said as I stuck something the cart. “This would be one of those things that a little bit more complicated to explain and would take a lot more time to talk about.

Valentine nodded as I got close to check-out checking the cart once more to make sure I had everything.

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