It was the weekend, and I was out with Mom and Dad shopping when something caught my eye from a shop's display window, a white stuffed rabbit.
I let go of my Dad's hand and stared at it, mesmerized.
"... Caem, what's wrong?" my mom asked, breaking off her conversation with Dad.
He didn't respond to her.
He instead watched me as I stood entranced by a plushie for a short while.
"Honey, don't let go of my hand. I don't want you to get lost," he said gently, reaching for me. I turned to look at them.
My dad was smiling. His thick dark blue hair was braided at that time, and his bright blue eyes seemed to shine against his umber skin.
My mom, on the other hand, was scowling.
"I'm sorry..." I whispered as I took Dad's hand, avoiding her gaze.
"Do you want that toy?" Dad whispered.
I nodded and couldn't hide my excitement.
He immediately entered the shop to buy it for me.
When he returned, I hugged the rabbit close. I loved it... My first toy.
"Don't lag behind or you'll worry your father again," Mom snapped.
I reached out to grab his hand again, but she took mine instead and squeezed. Her nails pricked into my skin so hard it hurt.
The next morning, I woke up to find my plushie burning in the fireplace.
Dad was at work.
My Mom sat calmly in front of it, using a poker to push it deeper into the flames and watching it burn.
"Oh, hi. I was just getting rid of some trash," she said casually, turning to look at me. When she noticed my tears, she smiled, saying,
"Oh, don't cry, sweetie. It's just a stupid toy."
That's when I woke up—a hundred years into the future in a comfortable bed, which I'm still struggling to get used to, with a white lace canopy hanging above me.
I haven't thought about that day in so long.
That was a sucky dream to have. Why would I remember that right now? There was a knock on my door.
"Snowe... are you okay? You were yelling."... It was RJ's voice. I got up from bed and opened the door to see both RJ and Zai standing there with worried looks on their faces.
"I just had a nightmare... I'm okay." I stated, in order to reassure them. Zai ruffled my hair.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked sweetly. I felt warm affection coming from him, and considered opening up, but RJ swatted his hand away, disrupting my thoughts.
"Don't touch her," RJ demanded aggressively. It was jarring because it felt like this reaction came out of nowhere... and I'm not emotionally stable enough to handle it right now.
Zai looked at RJ in a way that sent chills down my spine. I had no idea he could look so... terrifying, but a second later, he sighed, and his expression returned to normal.
"My bad... Snowe, if you want to talk about it, call me," Zai said calmly, while walking away.
"What do you mean, call you?" RJ asked while following after him, but Zai didn't respond.
I closed the door and sat on my bed quietly...
I've been here almost three months now and... I should try to go back home.
My fingers trembled as I put the GPS coordinates into my phone and got dressed.
Phones from my time weren't so fancy, but I think I have all the new features figured out. It's time to go. I like being here too much, and if I procrastinate anymore, I'll never leave. Reluctantly, I texted Zai and said,
"Hey, could you give me a ride?" He replied right away as if he was waiting on me this whole time.
"Sure. Send me the address."
I did.
Later, we met in the garage. Zai is usually fully covered, but today he was wearing a blank tank top, openly displaying the lightning marks running down his arms. He also had on Neon Pink sweatpants, the brand name was in bold black letters running down the right pants leg, and his piercings were missing. This should be considered casual wear compared to what he usually has on, but seeing him like this has my heart racing, like seeing him for the first time did. There were 4 cars, 1 White, 1 Silver, 1 Red, and a Black one. Zai got in the Black car, so I hurriedly got in the passenger side.
"Thank you for the ride," I said as soon as my seatbelt was on. Zai didn't respond. His brow was furrowed, eyebrows down. I'm not used to seeing Zai look so upset. If this were Raijian, it would be normal... The trip was 2 hours long, and it was 45 minutes before Zai spoke by asking,
"Are you coming back?" That's when it hit me... he must've realized where we were going.
"Do you want me to?" I asked in return,
"What kind of stupid question is that?! Of course, I want you to come back!" Zai has completely lost it; he's angry, but even so, he kept his eyes on the road ahead.
"Then I will... I'll make sure to come see you when I get my life sorted out." I don't want to leave, but I need to know what has happened since I've been away... I can't keep putting it off and, even though I hate to think of it, and... I shouldn't keep living with Afarions. Their culture is barbaric, gaining strength through blood sacrifices and rape, they still practice every form of slavery, and issue punishments without trials... including public executions... I should reconnect with my people and find a place on my own.
"I'm not mad at you..." Zai clarified, then he took one of his hands from the steering wheel and placed it on mine, and said,
"I'm just going to miss you..."
Is Zai... really from a place like Afaria? It's hard to imagine someone so sweet and comforting being from such a horrid planet.
He intertwined our fingers.
"I'm going to miss you too..." I admitted... I didn't want to mean it. In fact, I should probably cut my ties with him right now... but there's no doubt that this man will be on my mind constantly.
When we pulled up at the Identification facility, Zai released my hand.
"Looks like this is where we say goodbye..."
He didn't look at me. I feel like I should say something to him. The correct thing to do would be to say goodbye
Yet all I want to do is kiss him and hug him until he stops looking so upset.
"Bye," I replied and rushed from the car before I completely lost all rationale. Once inside, the receptionist asked me to show my true form and reveal my wings. I had my human glamour up so long that it felt weird changing back to normal now. I saw strands of my hair change from Black to white, floating in front of me, and it felt good to see my wings.
"I'm going to review your information, and I'll call you when they are ready to see you." She handed me a ticket number and then yelled "Next" into the microphone, so I made my wings vanish and sat in the lobby to wait. Wings aren't part of our body, but they're something we learn to summon from a young age. There was a man sitting across from me, he stared at me for a few seconds before coming over and sitting in the empty seat beside me.
"Is this your first time on Earth, too?" I nodded, "All this legal stuff is frustrating right? I had to drive 5 hours to get here; you can't even fly without a permit. I feel like I've been here forever." He groaned.
"Yeah..." I didn't know what else to say.
"I'm Poet, by the way, what's your name?" He seemed friendly enough, so I answered him
"Snowe..."
"That's a cute name... You chose it yourself, right? What was your name before your transformation?" I frowned... I don't even like to think of the name my parents gave me. "Oh... I'm sorry if you don't want to talk about it... By the way... do you have a partner?" I lifted my head and looked at him "I know we just met, I'm not usually this forward but, we might not meet again... so... are you single?"
"I'm seeing someone." I lied.
"Oh." He replied, then he got up and returned to his seat. A woman with long golden hair took his place.
"Wow, men can be so pushy. Sorry you had to go through that." She stated soothingly while smiling at me and placing her hand on my knee, "Maybe you'll have a better time chatting with me?" It was at that moment that a voice yelled
"Number 505! Snowe Stratus!" The voice sounded panicked, which was weird since I didn't know the man who was yelling. I got up quickly and rushed to the front desk.
"Wow. It's really you...come with me."
The man was tall and built, his build was more like a pro wrestler's than Zai's body, which was closer to a basketball player's or swimmer's. Why am I comparing him to Zai?! I slapped my cheeks and then followed him to a back room. One of the walls was covered in glass; I could see my reflection and assumed it was actually a two-way mirror.
"Where have you been?" he asked while sitting down and pointing to the chair across from him.
"I..." Should I tell him I have time powers... how will he handle it? "I'm not sure, I can't remember anything for the past 100 years... I'm drawing a blank, honestly."
Even if someone in the other room is a lie detector, this should be true enough to pass the test.
"What is the last thing you remember?"
I hung my head. I hate to have to recall those events ...
"Qon Ark was put in prison for your murder," he continued,
I gasped and looked up at the man in front of me.
"There were signs of a struggle, and your blood was found in his home. The royal family made a big fuss about finding you. Tracked your phone and found a lot of incriminating evidence. They gave him a life sentence instead of the death penalty in hopes that he'd confess to your location one day..." the man explained further.
My feelings on this information are so conflicted... This means that Smoke reinforced the search for me... he sought justice for me, and yet I'm here letting an enemy sway my heart. I'm awful.
"I escaped from Qon, I don't remember anything after that... he... assaulted me and blackmailed me... so he's not innocent..." I don't want him to be pardoned from everything just because I'm alive.
"Yeah... the evidence supports that... I also have some... OTHER news to give you." I prepared myself mentally for whatever he had to say, then he slid a tablet across the table. It was clearly tech from Infaniya, and on the screen was a news article about my mom. "A week after you left, your mother caught your father with another woman and stabbed him over 100 times.
She also pierced the stomach of his lover with multiple glass spears.
It appears as though they fought back, since ... the limbs were severed from both bodies.
My mother immediately confessed, and was given... the death penalty." No amount of mental fortitude could prepare me for this...