(Trigger warning: murder mentioned)
———
What the hell just happened?
My eyes rank his body from head to toe. He’s an ordinary human, I’m sure of that. He doesn’t ooz the weird aura that people with supernatural abilities do. So, what’s wrong with him? Why can’t I control him? Is it me? Have my powers gone rusty?“Go on, I’m listening.” June crosses his arms, notebook still in hand. “Tell me, what were you doing just now?”
I look everywhere, anywhere, but him; from the bleachers, to the field, to the dark sky—to the dark sky? Oh, I’m late! Everyone must be waiting for me at home.
As if on cue, my phone starts vibrating from my seat, but June reaches it before I do.
“Your dad’s calling. What do you want me to say?”
I glare at him. “Nothing. Just give me back my stuff.”
“No, not until you tell me why you’re acting so weird. First, you say you’re observing me, but you haven’t written a thing down—asides from some erotica.” His eyes narrow. “Then you try and—and, I don’t even know what you were trying—oh, wait. Maybe you were trying to kiss me.”
I scoff. “I have no reason to kiss—”
“Don’t lie. Your ‘observation exercise’ was just an excuse to get me alone. And this erotica,” he says, opening the notebook again. “You probably wrote it imagining me, although I gotta admit, I prefer to eat a woma—”
“Shut up.”
He looks up at me. “What?”
“I said, shut up.” I kneed my temple. “You’re such a nag, I feel sorry for the person you’re going to marry.”
“I’m not gonna get married.”
“I don’t care. Give me my stuff.”
“So you’re not going to deny what I said?” he asks.
Honestly, he’s way off, but it’s not like I care. As long as he doesn’t suspect me of anything, or god forbid, find out about my ability, I’m fine with what he comes up with. It’s not like I’ll see him again. I’m in second year, and he’s in fourth. We won’t be crossing paths.
“No, I’m not. Can I have my stuff back?”
He raises an eyebrow, closing the notebook. “So you were trying to kiss me.”
I bite my bottom lip. My pride is about to get hurt. “Yeah, I was, but it didn’t work out, big deal.” Saying that leaves bitter taste in my mouth.
He tilts his head at me, and for a second, something flashes in his eyes, but it’s gone before I can figure it out.
I don’t wait to for him to reply. “My stuff?”
He hands me my phone just as it starts to ring again. I sigh. I have to go home quickly.
“I’m keeping the notebook.”
My head snaps up in surprise. “Huh?”
He shrugs. “I liked the story and I wanna read it. It’s about me—”
“No, it’s not.”
“Oh, really?” A dark smirk makes its way across his face. “‘I weave my fingers through his brown, luscious hair as he thru—’”
Not wanting to hear it anymore, I cover my ears. “Stop! You’re not the only one with brown hair, idiot.” I huff, uncovering them. “Keep the notebook, I don’t care. I’m leaving.”
I turn around and stomp down the stairs. What an idiot, a complete imbecile. How dare he mock me like that.
“Thank you for the free story!”
Ignore him. Just ignore him.
“I’ll return it to you tomorrow! Promise!”
“leave me alone!” I yell back.
He only laughs.
384Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSRbZOS3MVp
When I arrive home, a lovely surprise is waiting for me.
I’m being sarcastic. There’s nothing lovely about angry parents waiting for you by the front door the moment you enter.
“Where were you?” My father has his arms crossed with a deep scowl plastered on his face.
I glance at him, taking my shoes off. “I was at uni.”
“This late?” My mother looks sceptical.
“Yeah, I had a test to catch up on that I didn’t finish. My teacher gave us extra time.” Even I’m surprised by how smooth of a liar I am, but I don’t show this. Instead, I walk past them and into the living room, and they follow behind. They’re still grumpy; their thoughts say so.
“It’s dangerous being out this late,” my father says.
I take a seat beside Lily, my six year old sister. She wraps her thin arms around mine and rests her head on it.
“I missed you too,” I say, patting her head.
“Ar, we’re talking to you. Listen,” my mother says. She and father both take a seat on the couch across from me.
I look around the room. The rest of my siblings, even my grandparents, aren’t here. “Where’s everyone?”
“They already sat through the meeting. We couldn’t wait for you to come home,” my father says. “Your grandparents had things to do too.”
Fair enough. Although, I do feel guilty that I made them worry and wait for me. It’s all because of that idiotic month. If only he minded his own business. Why was he so curious about what I wrote? Obviously, I understand that I was ‘observing’ him, so he would be naturally curious, but he was beyond dramatic. It was a pain.
“Sorry, I promise it won’t happen again,” I say.
My parents nod.
“What we’re about to tell you is important. It stays in this house, understand?” My mother says. She says this every time we do a meeting. It’s a reminder that we aren’t ordinary humans.
I nod. “What was it you wanted to talk about?”
My parents glance at each other. They look wary.
Lily tightens her arms around around mine. Even she looks nervous. I can just find out what’s happening by peaking in their minds, but I don’t want to do that. There’s nothing worse than having your privacy invaded.
“Amon came over today.”
My eyes narrow. Amon is our...messenger? I don’t know what to call him, but he keeps tabs on other supernatural humans. My father says it’s always good to look out for one another, especially for the unfortunate and less privileged.
“And?”
My mother clears her throat and looks away from me. Her eyes look red, as if she hasn’t been sleeping for days, or as if she’s been crying.
“He found one under the bridge in town this morning.”
My entire body becomes rigid. He found one. He found another one of us, under that cursed bridge. Dead.
“You’re joking,” I say.
He shakes his head, clasping his hand tightly with my mother’s.
“That’s the third one this month, though.”
“We know,” replies my father. “Amon’s doing as much as he can to find out—”
“Amon can’t do everything on his own, father. Shouldn’t the police be involved?”
He sends me a dark glare. “No. The only ones who can know are us and the others.”
He always calls other supernatural humans ‘one’ or ‘others’. It’s weird. I mean, we don’t have a specific name, but still...
“No humans, understand?”
I sigh. “Yes.”
“We want you to take care of yourself, Ar,” my mother says. “We may not know who they are, but the victims have all been young women.” Beaten to death.
I shudder. Poor things. Who would do something cruel like that? Target supernatural humans—supernatural women?
“Don’t stay out late.” Father gives me a stern look. “And from now on, Ben will take you to university.”
My back straightens. “What? No!”
At my outburst, Lily jumps. I wraps my arm around her shoulders in comfort.
“Don’t bother arguing. It’s already been decided. Ben will drop you off first and then your siblings.”
I shake my head. “My uni’s too far away, father. It’s not fair on Ben or my siblings. They’ll be exhausted by the time they get to school.”
He frowns. “Okay, then he’ll drop your siblings off and then you.”
He stands up. I let go of Lily and do the same. “I’m not going with Ben and—”
“Don’t bother arguing.”
“But—”
“Ar.” Girls your ages are being targeted, and you’re here worrying about driving to university. His glare feels like it’s burning through my skin. Worry about your safety for once. You’re not as powerful as you think you are.
And then he leaves the room.
I look down. He’s right, he really is. But he’s constricting my freedom because he thinks I’ll be targeted. I won’t. I know I won’t because I can take care of myself. I always have.
A hand rests on my shoulder, and I look up at my mother. She’s giving me a sympathetic look. “It’s for your own good,” she says. “We want you to stay safe, Ar.”
She plants a chaste kiss on my forehead before leaving.
A tired sigh escapes my lips, and I turn to Lily. She’s not there. No, she is there, but she’s invisible. She does that when she’s upset, nervous or scared.
I kneel down in front of the couch. “Lily?”
I can see the outline of where she’s sitting.
“Yes?”
“Do you want to share a bed tonight?”
Instantly, she appears, sitting on the couch with her legs tucked underneath her. She looks like a lost puppy. “Can I?”
“Of course.” I grin. “I’ll even let you look at the stars.”
I stand up and grab her hand. She doesn’t protest, and together, we climb the stairs to my room.
Once we get ready for bed, I tuck her in and lie down beside her. She cuddles against my body. What a baby. I want to laugh, but I don’t. Although she doesn’t look scared, she is; her thoughts say so.
I think that’s one of the reasons why I dislike those ‘family meetings’ a little. Everyone has to be present, no matter how gruesome or inappropriate the conversation is. My father says it’s better to know everything than find out later when something wrong has happened.
“I like the stars.”
I hum, looking up at the ceiling where the glow in the dark stars and planets are. Lily’s liked them since she was two, always coming into my room to see them. They calm her down.
I don’t start up a conversation, but I hear her thoughts. Her mind’s working too hard for a six year old, though I don’t say anything. She doesn’t like to talk when she’s staring at the stars. Eventually she’ll calm down and fall asleep.
I have four younger siblings: Mivah, who’s seventeen; Jimi, who’s fifteen; Alec, who’s nine; and Lily, who’s six. They’re annoying, but I wouldn’t swap them for the world.
It isn’t long before Lily falls asleep.
I stay up though. I can’t sleep, especially when there’s a murderer on the loose.
It started at the beginning of the month. I don’t know much about it though. Whenever Amon comes over, I can’t read his thoughts. The only thing I know is that they were supernatural women who ran away from home at a young age. All their bodies were found in the same place though: under the bridge at Pandora Spring Park.
Their bodies were sent back to their families.
I sigh, looking over at Lily. I really can’t sleep. Maybe I’ll write somethin—oh wait, I can’t. The idiotic month has my book.
I groan. This is so unfair. Why did he have to take it? When I’m stressed or worried, I write...stories for adults. Because I’d be too focused on what I’m writing, I forget what’s troubling me.
I glance at my side. The time on my clock tells to get the fuck to sleep. No, literally, it says, ’get the fuck to sleep’.
Perks of having rich parents—you can get a lot of customised gifts.
I can’t believe tomorrow I have to go with my siblings. If only Amon didn’t—wait.
Wait.
W a i t .
Amon was the only person whose thoughts I couldn’t read. He always said, once you learn to control your thoughts, you can easily block others from seeing them.
The ‘others’ being me.
But it’s hard to do that; you have to have a lot of self-control and awareness to do that. You have to learn to not think at all, and that’s impossible, especially if you’re human.
So...so does June? Is June...?
What the fuck, I’m confused.
————
I think the story’s becoming a little dark...
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