Love is a Saving Grace
Long awoke in the morning when he rolled off the couch and onto the floor. He groaned and mumbled a bit, and then tried to stretch and cried out in pain as his back made a very audible snapping noise.
"Miserable woman. I hope she appreciates what I'm doing for her." He moaned and groaned pitifully and did more stretches, trying to relieve the sharp ache in his spine. "Damn couch... I knew I never should have brought her here in the first place!" He groaned again and started up the stairs, only to find his sister standing there giggling at him and scolding him for being so grumpy in the morning, 'like always'. He hastily told her to leave him alone, and then walked past her to his room. He opened the door carefully, trying not to make a sound. He made very little noise and was sure he hadn't awakened Alica, but she seemed to be awake nonetheless. She was lying in the same position he'd laid her down in the night before, staring blankly up at the ceiling. It made him wonder if she'd ever slept at all. He quickly crossed the room and knelt down by the side of the bed, watching her with concern clearly mirrored on his face. He gently took her hand in his own, and ran his other hand across her forehead, to make sure she didn't have some kind of fever, and she didn't.
"Alica, why don't you get up now?" he asked, wondering if she was even listening. "Lying around like this, it isn't good for your-" he stopped himself there, contemplating what he'd intended to say. Perhaps that it wasn't good for her mental health, or sanity? But it wouldn't do any good to mention such things right now; he didn't want to chance saying anything that might offend her. He patted her hand a bit before getting up; assuring her that he'd be back. He went down to the kitchen and made her a nice hot cup of herbal tea and then brought it up to the room. Once there he gently slid one hand underneath her and helped her to a sitting position before handing her the tea, cautioning that it was still hot. She looked down at it as he set it between her fingers, seemingly barely aware that it was there although she must have felt it's warmth. "This is all my fault." Long assumed. "I never should have-" She set one hand on his arm, interrupting his speech with her touch.
"It's not your fault Long. Maybe, if I wasn't so hopeful..." she let it trail off, unable to finish the sentence.
"There, you see?" he said, shaking his head in shame and regret. "I never should have gotten your hopes up like that. If anyone is to blame-" She threw her free arm around him then, hugging him close and trembling, also losing a battle to keep the tea cup from spilling all over her lap. He reached out to steady her, one hand wrapping around her back and the other underneath her own, preventing the cup from falling. They held the embrace for a moment before Alica was able to pull back and sit herself up. She carefully steadied her shaking, calming enough to be able to take a sip of the tea without spilling. She sighed as the bittersweet liquid drained down her throat, bringing warmth and comfort.
"Thank you for this." she said, lifting the tea cup in reference to it.
"It's not a problem." he replied, smiling up at her sadly. He was still worried of course.
"I can see why you like this so much." she commented, glancing down at the cup. "It's very comforting, even to crazy people like me."
"I never said you were crazy."
"You were thinking it." she stated. "I'm used to it, you know. The way people look at you when they think you're completely insane. You've looked at me that way before... but you never said anything bad about me. I really appreciate that." She finished her sentence and took another sip of the tea, allowing it's warmth and smooth flavor to soothe her again. Long slipped one hand over her arm, and she looked over at his sorrowful and worried expression. "You're right, I am crazy." she admitted. Long looked like he wanted to protest, but she shook her head to stop him because she wasn't done yet. "I'm so crazy that if I don't take my medication I'll run wild and attack everything in sight. I attacked you, and I've attacked others before. Maybe I even killed my own father, and I don't even know it..." she trailed off and took another sip of her tea. "I'm dangerous." she finished. "I'm just as bad as everyone else at Tylon."
"Your very admission proves you wrong Alica." he disagreed. "Think of Fox and Bakuryu and all the other murderers working for Tylon. Do you think any of them would ever admit that they're wrong for what they're doing? Never! They're proud of it; they brag about it every chance they get. Perhaps they're not completely sane, but they know well enough what they're doing. From what I know of you, Alica, I am certain that you would never enjoy committing such a vile act while fully lucid."
"Maybe..." she replied, taking another steadying sip of the tea.
"At any rate you're more sane than I am." he added.
She chuckled in ridicule of the comment. "More sane than you are?" He didn't know what it was like to have to take medication everyday or run the risk of completely losing control over his mind. He didn't understand what it was like to turn into some wild beast that attacked everything in sight. "You must be joking." He still had control over himself, so how could he possibly understand? Then she shook her head in disagreement.
Long's gaze turned towards the floor, as though he were contemplating something. He'd never really considered opening up to anyone about the problems he was having, in fact it was like pulling teeth just to realize that they were there. He could tell Alica that he was losing it, that he was beginning to enjoy the killing as a form of releasing his anger. He could also tell her how he often completely lost control when he went into a rage, morphing into his beast form and killing everything in his path. But he wasn't ready to confess such things even to himself, let alone anyone else. In any case, he assured himself that proving to her that he was going crazy wouldn't help her feel any better about her own situation. It wouldn't accomplish his goal, so there was no reason for it. So he decided to change the subject a bit.
"You had plenty of reason to be upset yesterday." he excused her. "You were let down, but it's not your fault that you can't find your family."
"True..." she reluctantly conceded, draining her cup of tea. She'd been watching him of course, and noticed that there was certainly something on his mind. "I'm sorry for dragging you into all of this Long."
"It was none of your doing." he disputed, taking the empty cup from her hand. "Believe me, if I didn't want to be involved with you at all then I wouldn't be, and you certainly wouldn't be here at my family's house. It's no fault of yours." She nodded despondently, knowing that it would be foolish to do otherwise. Long then offered her his hand and she took it, allowing him to help pull her off the bed and onto her feet. "Perhaps it's best if we simply gather the things we need and leave as quickly as possible." he suggested.
"Don't leave early on my account, if you want to stay here." Alica requested. "There's no hurry to get back to Tylon. Even in my present state I'm better off anywhere else but there."
"Alright." he agreed with a nod, wondering where else they could go. She was right about Tylon; there was no reason to go back there any sooner than they possibly had to, but he didn't want to force her to stay with his family too long either. He was sure it would only deepen the wounds she felt about losing her own family, and he didn't want that. He supposed that he could possibly take her out somewhere, but he felt it would be ludicrous timing for any kind of leisure outing. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at his door, so he went to answer it and found that his sister had come to announce that it was time for breakfast. He replied that they'd be down in a minute and helped Alica up from her bed. "Do you feel like eating breakfast?" he asked, still watching her with concern.
"I... am a little hungry." she admitted, allowing him to take her hand and lead her down the stairs. They sat down at the table with Long's sister and his mother arrived shortly with enough boiled eggs and noodles for all. They waited patiently until everyone had their food to start eating. Alica picked up the chop sticks and started eating slowly before her appetite finally kicked in. Long's mother and sister started talking about something, but Long was busy eating and didn't seem involved in it at all.
"I had a dream last night." she stated, getting tired of sitting around in an uncomfortable silence. He sighed, relieved that she actually had gotten some sort of rest the night before. His mouth was full of noodles, so he turned towards her and nodded to show that he was listening. "I think I had it because we visited their old house the other day, I think it might mean something." She paused to check if he was paying attention and found him looking back at her. "It was a bit strange..." she admitted, looking off into the distance. He took a sip of tea to wash down the noodles and kept his attention on her.
"I will listen to it if you'd like to talk." he offered.
She nodded and continued her story. "I dreamed that these people were invading my house, trying to kill my family. They were all Zoanthropes, and my mother and I hid my little sister in her room and tried to fight them off." She stopped for a moment, reviewing the dream in her mind and thinking of the best words to describe what happened next. "Their leader was this huge lion Zoanthrope, my mother went over to fight him herself, but she... wasn't strong enough... and she died. He killed her." She paused again, remembering the horror she'd felt in her dream as she watched her mother's bloody, lifeless body fall to the floor. Long gently patted her on the back, urging her to continue. "I was so angry. I felt the anger swirling inside of me, as though it were alive and I felt like I was being consumed by it's fire." she stopped, reliving this feeling as well as she glared up at her mother's killer. "Then I morphed, for the first time. I was only ten."
"That is a bit earlier than most." Long conceded. "If I remember correctly it is always painful, the first time."
"I ran up to him, jumped onto his face, and scratched one of his freakin' eyes out!" she growled. Long's mother and sister looked up from their conversation, wondering what she was yelling for. He briefly made some excuse about the fact that she was unable to find her family, and they both gave her genuinely sympathetic glances before returning to their breakfasts and their own conversation. Alica quieted down some, thankful for their compassion even though she felt she didn't deserve such kindness from people she barely knew.
"What happened after that?" Long asked, seeming sincerely interested in the dream.
"He threw me off of him and howled in pain." she remembered. "Then I ran, because the others were coming, starting to circle around me. The only way I could run was upstairs, so I ran to my sister's room. I was going to pick her up and leave, maybe jump out the window if I had to. But they were following me... and she was afraid of my beast form. She started crying and they found us. I tried to morph back so that my sister could recognize me, but I wasn't sure how. So I turned to attack the others, knocking a few out before I finally ran out of energy and morphed back. I went to her, she was too busy crying to notice who I was. They were about to attack us again when the leader came and ordered them back. It must've been the lion Zoanthrope in human form, but I couldn't be sure because I hadn't seen him before. He said something about not turning into baby killers, and then they all left. I wanted to go after him, but I had to stay with my sister."
"It is an odd dream." he agreed. "Do you think it may have actually happened?"
"I don't know." she admitted, shaking her head. "The scary thing is that I might not remember even if it did. You'd think someone would remember something like that."
"If something like that did happen it may be more likely that your father brainwashed you." Long suggested. "He wouldn't want you to have such disturbing memories of your past while residing with him."
"Maybe..." she admitted, having never really considered the possibility before. "I hope I'm wrong though. I hope they're both still alive somewhere... because if they're not, then what would've happened to my sister? Do you think my father just took me away and left her alone in an empty house with my mother's dead body, or that he dropped her off at an orphanage somewhere?!"
"I think it's useless to worry about something you have no proof of." he replied, secretly thinking to himself that such doubts would be all the more reason for her father to brainwash her.
"You're right, of course." she grudgingly admitted, turning back towards her breakfast and playing with her noodles.
"I think that unless we find any proof of this, it's best to simply consider the entire ordeal nothing more than an extremely disturbing nightmare."
"It sure feels as though it really happened." she finished. There was silence after that as they both went back to eating. Long's mother and sister kept talking for awhile and soon they were all finished with breakfast. Long excused himself and Alica from the table and they went back up to his room to continue packing. It was a particularly dull task today; having already inspected most of his belongings Alica didn't see anything even remotely interesting anymore. Her mind wandered as she folded up his clothes and organized various items in his suitcase. She couldn't get the dream out of her head, it had all felt so real and she was convinced that it meant something. She just couldn't figure out what that meaning might be. She still held to the belief that the dream hadn't actually happened, hoping against all odds that her family was alive and well even though she had no idea where they would be.
After several hours they stopped for lunch, eating a modest meal that Long had cooked before resuming the activity. There wasn't much left to pack at that point, and they finished their work quickly. They'd just barely gotten downstairs and sat down on the couch by the time Long's mother and sister got home from work and school. Long's sister seemed pleased to find him downstairs and gave him a great big hug as soon as she'd set her backpack down. He smiled down at her lovingly and petted her head. Alica studied the expression on his face as he did so, and thought that it had been the first time she'd seen him look so happy and peaceful. Her own heart ached for that sort of love, and for just a moment of time with her real family.
After a moment Long's sister pulled back a little bit, then reached over to tickle his underarm. With a shout of surprise he pulled to the side and launched a counter-attack, tickling her side. Their mother smiled as she watched them play, a sort of melancholic smile that suggested such moments came much less often than they once had. Then she walked off into the back rooms. Meanwhile the play-fight continued. Long could have easily overpowered his sister at any point and ended the entire thing, but instead he allowed her to keep making lunges at him while he carefully dodged to the side, drawing her away from the furniture and out into the open floor. Finally he stopped dodging and took the full force of her tickling, pretending to be overcome by her. He tumbled to the floor and raised his hands, waving them in a motion of surrender. She laughed and softly kicked at his side, scolding him for letting her win so easily. He sighed, got up, and stretched his back. Then he walked over to the couch and sat back down by Alica.
"You know, I never did get your sister's name." she pointed out.
"It's Song." he replied absently, watching her as she looked through her backpack and got out a book, a pencil and some papers. She set them on the coffee table and then sat down next to her brother, grabbing the remote and turning the TV on. It was all in Chinese of course, so Alica couldn't understand much of it at all. At the very least it was something to watch, and a bit better then sitting around doing nothing at any rate. Long's sister proceeded to do her homework, occasionally looking up from it to glance at some sort of drama that was on the TV. Eventually Long got tired of the program they were watching and changed the channel. By the time his sister next looked up from her work a news program was on. She complained and changed the channel back of course, which started a bit of an argument with both of them tugging at the remote. Eventually their mother yelled at them to knock it off and Song regained control of the remote, setting it back on her channel. Long sighed in dismay and shook his head.
"What's so bad about whatever she's watching?" Alica wondered.
"It's a soap opera." he explained, making a face. "As if I don't have enough drama in my life already." Alica laughed at his comment. They had no choice but to sit through several minutes of the soap opera while Song did her homework. "If you ask me I ought to get control of the TV since she's busy doing her homework." Long complained at one point. Alica just shrugged in reply. As soon as his sister was done with her homework he stole the remote back, so she just packed up her work and put it away while talking with their mother about something. Alica watched as they discussed whatever it was, and after awhile asked Long about something as well. She wondered what the conversation was about, but was too polite to butt in.
"How would you like to go out shopping?" Long asked.
"It would be nice to get out and do something." she admitted.
"My mother and sister invited you to come along with them, they said you looked bored."
"Aren't you going?"
"I don't do shopping." he informed, deliberately turning his attention back to the TV.
"I wouldn't really feel comfortable going alone."
"You won't be alone, they're going with you."
"But I can't even speak the same language!"
"You'll get along fine... besides you were just saying that it would be nice to get out, right?" Alica sighed in resignation, realizing that it was useless to argue the point with him any further. It wasn't that she felt uncomfortable with his mother and sister, but she was afraid of doing or saying something wrong. She just didn't know how to communicate with them at all, and she thought she'd much rather stay home if Long wasn't coming as well. Judging from his reaction to the idea though, he wasn't budging from the couch. How typical, she thought. Long quickly told his mother that Alica would be joining them, and shoved her off the couch as they headed for the door. She glanced back at him, still looking a little unsure about it. "Don't worry; they'll take good care of you."
"Alright...." Alica replied, hesitantly walking towards the door. Long's mother was there, waiting for her to exit before locking the house back up. Song was waiting at the car as she got out, motioning for her to sit up in the front next to her mother. Alica smiled to thank her before sitting down. She stared out the window in a dream-like trance, still feeling more than a bit awkward at being left alone with Long's family members. Soon they stopped off at what looked to be a large department store. Things went pretty smoothly at first, Song was picking out supplies she needed for school.
They put a bunch of paper, pencils, folders, and other such things into the cart before moving on to the clothing section. Alica just sort of followed them around, glancing about the store. While Long's mother and sister looked at some of the girl's clothes she wandered into the ladies section and looked at a few dresses. She couldn't read any of the tags of course, but it didn't matter since she didn't have any Chinese currency. Eventually they caught up to her, having purchased a few articles of clothing themselves already. After having a chat with her mother, Song pointed towards the dressing rooms, trying to signal Alica to go and try a few things on. Alica shook her head. "I don't have any money." she explained. Song didn't seem to understand, and signaled a few more times before taking Alica by the arms and pulling her towards the fitting rooms.
Alica reluctantly tried on a few dresses, upset that she wouldn't be able to buy them. She went out and modeled each of them for Long's mother and sister. They cheered and nodded their approval of a few of the good ones, and Alica concluded that it wasn't such a bad idea after all. When it was all over she went to hang them up on the reject rack, but Song stopped her. She picked out a few of the dresses, holding them up as though asking Alica to pick one. Alica didn't really understand what was going on, but she picked out her favorite anyway. Song then lead her back towards her mother's cart and motioned for Alica to put her dress in it. "You're offering to pay for it?" she asked, even though she knew they didn't understand English. They smiled and nodded their heads anyway, and she smiled back, touched by their generosity. She couldn't wait to get it back and show Long.
Back at the house Long was busy cleaning. He'd already picked up most of the junk off the floor of his room in the process of packing it up, so he went through the process of cleaning everything else. He sorted through his desk and packed up anything important; he checked his closet and drawers and cleaned them up as well. He even cleaned out underneath his bed, disposing of most of the trash lying there and wondering what he ought to do about his little box of dirty magazines. He could put them back where they were, but the problem was that someone knew that location now. He thought about hiding them in his closet, but he couldn't think of a place to put them where they'd be completely safe. I'm not gonna rent a goddamn safety deposit box for this junk, he complained to himself. Finally he decided to just take it with him. He figured that it would be safer around him than if he left it anywhere... at least, that was his excuse anyway. In the back of his mind he knew he wanted them somewhere close by in case he felt the urge to look.
As soon as he'd finished sneaking it into one of his suitcases he heard the sound of the car pulling up in their driveway. He made his way downstairs as he heard the engine die and the car doors open, and by the time they'd reached the front door he was standing there waiting for them. They walked in the door with a bunch of shopping bags, a smile shining one Alica's face. Long smiled back, happy that she'd enjoyed the trip as much as he'd hoped she would. She took her dress out of the bag and proudly held it up for him to see. "I knew you'd enjoy yourself." He commented, briefly looking over the dress even though he wasn't really interested in it.
"Nobody's ever taken me shopping before." she explained. "Let alone somebody who's almost a complete stranger…. They're both so sweet. You're really lucky to have them, Long."
"I know." he replied, turning to watch them unpack their bags. He couldn't help but think and of the price he paid for them. He knew that some would criticize what he was doing and tell him that protecting them wasn't worth the lives of so many, but they were so dear to him that he couldn't bear even as much as the thought of letting them go. Every drop of blood I shed for you is worth it.
"Miserable woman. I hope she appreciates what I'm doing for her." He moaned and groaned pitifully and did more stretches, trying to relieve the sharp ache in his spine. "Damn couch... I knew I never should have brought her here in the first place!" He groaned again and started up the stairs, only to find his sister standing there giggling at him and scolding him for being so grumpy in the morning, 'like always'. He hastily told her to leave him alone, and then walked past her to his room. He opened the door carefully, trying not to make a sound. He made very little noise and was sure he hadn't awakened Alica, but she seemed to be awake nonetheless. She was lying in the same position he'd laid her down in the night before, staring blankly up at the ceiling. It made him wonder if she'd ever slept at all. He quickly crossed the room and knelt down by the side of the bed, watching her with concern clearly mirrored on his face. He gently took her hand in his own, and ran his other hand across her forehead, to make sure she didn't have some kind of fever, and she didn't.
"Alica, why don't you get up now?" he asked, wondering if she was even listening. "Lying around like this, it isn't good for your-" he stopped himself there, contemplating what he'd intended to say. Perhaps that it wasn't good for her mental health, or sanity? But it wouldn't do any good to mention such things right now; he didn't want to chance saying anything that might offend her. He patted her hand a bit before getting up; assuring her that he'd be back. He went down to the kitchen and made her a nice hot cup of herbal tea and then brought it up to the room. Once there he gently slid one hand underneath her and helped her to a sitting position before handing her the tea, cautioning that it was still hot. She looked down at it as he set it between her fingers, seemingly barely aware that it was there although she must have felt it's warmth. "This is all my fault." Long assumed. "I never should have-" She set one hand on his arm, interrupting his speech with her touch.
"It's not your fault Long. Maybe, if I wasn't so hopeful..." she let it trail off, unable to finish the sentence.
"There, you see?" he said, shaking his head in shame and regret. "I never should have gotten your hopes up like that. If anyone is to blame-" She threw her free arm around him then, hugging him close and trembling, also losing a battle to keep the tea cup from spilling all over her lap. He reached out to steady her, one hand wrapping around her back and the other underneath her own, preventing the cup from falling. They held the embrace for a moment before Alica was able to pull back and sit herself up. She carefully steadied her shaking, calming enough to be able to take a sip of the tea without spilling. She sighed as the bittersweet liquid drained down her throat, bringing warmth and comfort.
"Thank you for this." she said, lifting the tea cup in reference to it.
"It's not a problem." he replied, smiling up at her sadly. He was still worried of course.
"I can see why you like this so much." she commented, glancing down at the cup. "It's very comforting, even to crazy people like me."
"I never said you were crazy."
"You were thinking it." she stated. "I'm used to it, you know. The way people look at you when they think you're completely insane. You've looked at me that way before... but you never said anything bad about me. I really appreciate that." She finished her sentence and took another sip of the tea, allowing it's warmth and smooth flavor to soothe her again. Long slipped one hand over her arm, and she looked over at his sorrowful and worried expression. "You're right, I am crazy." she admitted. Long looked like he wanted to protest, but she shook her head to stop him because she wasn't done yet. "I'm so crazy that if I don't take my medication I'll run wild and attack everything in sight. I attacked you, and I've attacked others before. Maybe I even killed my own father, and I don't even know it..." she trailed off and took another sip of her tea. "I'm dangerous." she finished. "I'm just as bad as everyone else at Tylon."
"Your very admission proves you wrong Alica." he disagreed. "Think of Fox and Bakuryu and all the other murderers working for Tylon. Do you think any of them would ever admit that they're wrong for what they're doing? Never! They're proud of it; they brag about it every chance they get. Perhaps they're not completely sane, but they know well enough what they're doing. From what I know of you, Alica, I am certain that you would never enjoy committing such a vile act while fully lucid."
"Maybe..." she replied, taking another steadying sip of the tea.
"At any rate you're more sane than I am." he added.
She chuckled in ridicule of the comment. "More sane than you are?" He didn't know what it was like to have to take medication everyday or run the risk of completely losing control over his mind. He didn't understand what it was like to turn into some wild beast that attacked everything in sight. "You must be joking." He still had control over himself, so how could he possibly understand? Then she shook her head in disagreement.
Long's gaze turned towards the floor, as though he were contemplating something. He'd never really considered opening up to anyone about the problems he was having, in fact it was like pulling teeth just to realize that they were there. He could tell Alica that he was losing it, that he was beginning to enjoy the killing as a form of releasing his anger. He could also tell her how he often completely lost control when he went into a rage, morphing into his beast form and killing everything in his path. But he wasn't ready to confess such things even to himself, let alone anyone else. In any case, he assured himself that proving to her that he was going crazy wouldn't help her feel any better about her own situation. It wouldn't accomplish his goal, so there was no reason for it. So he decided to change the subject a bit.
"You had plenty of reason to be upset yesterday." he excused her. "You were let down, but it's not your fault that you can't find your family."
"True..." she reluctantly conceded, draining her cup of tea. She'd been watching him of course, and noticed that there was certainly something on his mind. "I'm sorry for dragging you into all of this Long."
"It was none of your doing." he disputed, taking the empty cup from her hand. "Believe me, if I didn't want to be involved with you at all then I wouldn't be, and you certainly wouldn't be here at my family's house. It's no fault of yours." She nodded despondently, knowing that it would be foolish to do otherwise. Long then offered her his hand and she took it, allowing him to help pull her off the bed and onto her feet. "Perhaps it's best if we simply gather the things we need and leave as quickly as possible." he suggested.
"Don't leave early on my account, if you want to stay here." Alica requested. "There's no hurry to get back to Tylon. Even in my present state I'm better off anywhere else but there."
"Alright." he agreed with a nod, wondering where else they could go. She was right about Tylon; there was no reason to go back there any sooner than they possibly had to, but he didn't want to force her to stay with his family too long either. He was sure it would only deepen the wounds she felt about losing her own family, and he didn't want that. He supposed that he could possibly take her out somewhere, but he felt it would be ludicrous timing for any kind of leisure outing. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at his door, so he went to answer it and found that his sister had come to announce that it was time for breakfast. He replied that they'd be down in a minute and helped Alica up from her bed. "Do you feel like eating breakfast?" he asked, still watching her with concern.
"I... am a little hungry." she admitted, allowing him to take her hand and lead her down the stairs. They sat down at the table with Long's sister and his mother arrived shortly with enough boiled eggs and noodles for all. They waited patiently until everyone had their food to start eating. Alica picked up the chop sticks and started eating slowly before her appetite finally kicked in. Long's mother and sister started talking about something, but Long was busy eating and didn't seem involved in it at all.
"I had a dream last night." she stated, getting tired of sitting around in an uncomfortable silence. He sighed, relieved that she actually had gotten some sort of rest the night before. His mouth was full of noodles, so he turned towards her and nodded to show that he was listening. "I think I had it because we visited their old house the other day, I think it might mean something." She paused to check if he was paying attention and found him looking back at her. "It was a bit strange..." she admitted, looking off into the distance. He took a sip of tea to wash down the noodles and kept his attention on her.
"I will listen to it if you'd like to talk." he offered.
She nodded and continued her story. "I dreamed that these people were invading my house, trying to kill my family. They were all Zoanthropes, and my mother and I hid my little sister in her room and tried to fight them off." She stopped for a moment, reviewing the dream in her mind and thinking of the best words to describe what happened next. "Their leader was this huge lion Zoanthrope, my mother went over to fight him herself, but she... wasn't strong enough... and she died. He killed her." She paused again, remembering the horror she'd felt in her dream as she watched her mother's bloody, lifeless body fall to the floor. Long gently patted her on the back, urging her to continue. "I was so angry. I felt the anger swirling inside of me, as though it were alive and I felt like I was being consumed by it's fire." she stopped, reliving this feeling as well as she glared up at her mother's killer. "Then I morphed, for the first time. I was only ten."
"That is a bit earlier than most." Long conceded. "If I remember correctly it is always painful, the first time."
"I ran up to him, jumped onto his face, and scratched one of his freakin' eyes out!" she growled. Long's mother and sister looked up from their conversation, wondering what she was yelling for. He briefly made some excuse about the fact that she was unable to find her family, and they both gave her genuinely sympathetic glances before returning to their breakfasts and their own conversation. Alica quieted down some, thankful for their compassion even though she felt she didn't deserve such kindness from people she barely knew.
"What happened after that?" Long asked, seeming sincerely interested in the dream.
"He threw me off of him and howled in pain." she remembered. "Then I ran, because the others were coming, starting to circle around me. The only way I could run was upstairs, so I ran to my sister's room. I was going to pick her up and leave, maybe jump out the window if I had to. But they were following me... and she was afraid of my beast form. She started crying and they found us. I tried to morph back so that my sister could recognize me, but I wasn't sure how. So I turned to attack the others, knocking a few out before I finally ran out of energy and morphed back. I went to her, she was too busy crying to notice who I was. They were about to attack us again when the leader came and ordered them back. It must've been the lion Zoanthrope in human form, but I couldn't be sure because I hadn't seen him before. He said something about not turning into baby killers, and then they all left. I wanted to go after him, but I had to stay with my sister."
"It is an odd dream." he agreed. "Do you think it may have actually happened?"
"I don't know." she admitted, shaking her head. "The scary thing is that I might not remember even if it did. You'd think someone would remember something like that."
"If something like that did happen it may be more likely that your father brainwashed you." Long suggested. "He wouldn't want you to have such disturbing memories of your past while residing with him."
"Maybe..." she admitted, having never really considered the possibility before. "I hope I'm wrong though. I hope they're both still alive somewhere... because if they're not, then what would've happened to my sister? Do you think my father just took me away and left her alone in an empty house with my mother's dead body, or that he dropped her off at an orphanage somewhere?!"
"I think it's useless to worry about something you have no proof of." he replied, secretly thinking to himself that such doubts would be all the more reason for her father to brainwash her.
"You're right, of course." she grudgingly admitted, turning back towards her breakfast and playing with her noodles.
"I think that unless we find any proof of this, it's best to simply consider the entire ordeal nothing more than an extremely disturbing nightmare."
"It sure feels as though it really happened." she finished. There was silence after that as they both went back to eating. Long's mother and sister kept talking for awhile and soon they were all finished with breakfast. Long excused himself and Alica from the table and they went back up to his room to continue packing. It was a particularly dull task today; having already inspected most of his belongings Alica didn't see anything even remotely interesting anymore. Her mind wandered as she folded up his clothes and organized various items in his suitcase. She couldn't get the dream out of her head, it had all felt so real and she was convinced that it meant something. She just couldn't figure out what that meaning might be. She still held to the belief that the dream hadn't actually happened, hoping against all odds that her family was alive and well even though she had no idea where they would be.
After several hours they stopped for lunch, eating a modest meal that Long had cooked before resuming the activity. There wasn't much left to pack at that point, and they finished their work quickly. They'd just barely gotten downstairs and sat down on the couch by the time Long's mother and sister got home from work and school. Long's sister seemed pleased to find him downstairs and gave him a great big hug as soon as she'd set her backpack down. He smiled down at her lovingly and petted her head. Alica studied the expression on his face as he did so, and thought that it had been the first time she'd seen him look so happy and peaceful. Her own heart ached for that sort of love, and for just a moment of time with her real family.
After a moment Long's sister pulled back a little bit, then reached over to tickle his underarm. With a shout of surprise he pulled to the side and launched a counter-attack, tickling her side. Their mother smiled as she watched them play, a sort of melancholic smile that suggested such moments came much less often than they once had. Then she walked off into the back rooms. Meanwhile the play-fight continued. Long could have easily overpowered his sister at any point and ended the entire thing, but instead he allowed her to keep making lunges at him while he carefully dodged to the side, drawing her away from the furniture and out into the open floor. Finally he stopped dodging and took the full force of her tickling, pretending to be overcome by her. He tumbled to the floor and raised his hands, waving them in a motion of surrender. She laughed and softly kicked at his side, scolding him for letting her win so easily. He sighed, got up, and stretched his back. Then he walked over to the couch and sat back down by Alica.
"You know, I never did get your sister's name." she pointed out.
"It's Song." he replied absently, watching her as she looked through her backpack and got out a book, a pencil and some papers. She set them on the coffee table and then sat down next to her brother, grabbing the remote and turning the TV on. It was all in Chinese of course, so Alica couldn't understand much of it at all. At the very least it was something to watch, and a bit better then sitting around doing nothing at any rate. Long's sister proceeded to do her homework, occasionally looking up from it to glance at some sort of drama that was on the TV. Eventually Long got tired of the program they were watching and changed the channel. By the time his sister next looked up from her work a news program was on. She complained and changed the channel back of course, which started a bit of an argument with both of them tugging at the remote. Eventually their mother yelled at them to knock it off and Song regained control of the remote, setting it back on her channel. Long sighed in dismay and shook his head.
"What's so bad about whatever she's watching?" Alica wondered.
"It's a soap opera." he explained, making a face. "As if I don't have enough drama in my life already." Alica laughed at his comment. They had no choice but to sit through several minutes of the soap opera while Song did her homework. "If you ask me I ought to get control of the TV since she's busy doing her homework." Long complained at one point. Alica just shrugged in reply. As soon as his sister was done with her homework he stole the remote back, so she just packed up her work and put it away while talking with their mother about something. Alica watched as they discussed whatever it was, and after awhile asked Long about something as well. She wondered what the conversation was about, but was too polite to butt in.
"How would you like to go out shopping?" Long asked.
"It would be nice to get out and do something." she admitted.
"My mother and sister invited you to come along with them, they said you looked bored."
"Aren't you going?"
"I don't do shopping." he informed, deliberately turning his attention back to the TV.
"I wouldn't really feel comfortable going alone."
"You won't be alone, they're going with you."
"But I can't even speak the same language!"
"You'll get along fine... besides you were just saying that it would be nice to get out, right?" Alica sighed in resignation, realizing that it was useless to argue the point with him any further. It wasn't that she felt uncomfortable with his mother and sister, but she was afraid of doing or saying something wrong. She just didn't know how to communicate with them at all, and she thought she'd much rather stay home if Long wasn't coming as well. Judging from his reaction to the idea though, he wasn't budging from the couch. How typical, she thought. Long quickly told his mother that Alica would be joining them, and shoved her off the couch as they headed for the door. She glanced back at him, still looking a little unsure about it. "Don't worry; they'll take good care of you."
"Alright...." Alica replied, hesitantly walking towards the door. Long's mother was there, waiting for her to exit before locking the house back up. Song was waiting at the car as she got out, motioning for her to sit up in the front next to her mother. Alica smiled to thank her before sitting down. She stared out the window in a dream-like trance, still feeling more than a bit awkward at being left alone with Long's family members. Soon they stopped off at what looked to be a large department store. Things went pretty smoothly at first, Song was picking out supplies she needed for school.
They put a bunch of paper, pencils, folders, and other such things into the cart before moving on to the clothing section. Alica just sort of followed them around, glancing about the store. While Long's mother and sister looked at some of the girl's clothes she wandered into the ladies section and looked at a few dresses. She couldn't read any of the tags of course, but it didn't matter since she didn't have any Chinese currency. Eventually they caught up to her, having purchased a few articles of clothing themselves already. After having a chat with her mother, Song pointed towards the dressing rooms, trying to signal Alica to go and try a few things on. Alica shook her head. "I don't have any money." she explained. Song didn't seem to understand, and signaled a few more times before taking Alica by the arms and pulling her towards the fitting rooms.
Alica reluctantly tried on a few dresses, upset that she wouldn't be able to buy them. She went out and modeled each of them for Long's mother and sister. They cheered and nodded their approval of a few of the good ones, and Alica concluded that it wasn't such a bad idea after all. When it was all over she went to hang them up on the reject rack, but Song stopped her. She picked out a few of the dresses, holding them up as though asking Alica to pick one. Alica didn't really understand what was going on, but she picked out her favorite anyway. Song then lead her back towards her mother's cart and motioned for Alica to put her dress in it. "You're offering to pay for it?" she asked, even though she knew they didn't understand English. They smiled and nodded their heads anyway, and she smiled back, touched by their generosity. She couldn't wait to get it back and show Long.
Back at the house Long was busy cleaning. He'd already picked up most of the junk off the floor of his room in the process of packing it up, so he went through the process of cleaning everything else. He sorted through his desk and packed up anything important; he checked his closet and drawers and cleaned them up as well. He even cleaned out underneath his bed, disposing of most of the trash lying there and wondering what he ought to do about his little box of dirty magazines. He could put them back where they were, but the problem was that someone knew that location now. He thought about hiding them in his closet, but he couldn't think of a place to put them where they'd be completely safe. I'm not gonna rent a goddamn safety deposit box for this junk, he complained to himself. Finally he decided to just take it with him. He figured that it would be safer around him than if he left it anywhere... at least, that was his excuse anyway. In the back of his mind he knew he wanted them somewhere close by in case he felt the urge to look.
As soon as he'd finished sneaking it into one of his suitcases he heard the sound of the car pulling up in their driveway. He made his way downstairs as he heard the engine die and the car doors open, and by the time they'd reached the front door he was standing there waiting for them. They walked in the door with a bunch of shopping bags, a smile shining one Alica's face. Long smiled back, happy that she'd enjoyed the trip as much as he'd hoped she would. She took her dress out of the bag and proudly held it up for him to see. "I knew you'd enjoy yourself." He commented, briefly looking over the dress even though he wasn't really interested in it.
"Nobody's ever taken me shopping before." she explained. "Let alone somebody who's almost a complete stranger…. They're both so sweet. You're really lucky to have them, Long."
"I know." he replied, turning to watch them unpack their bags. He couldn't help but think and of the price he paid for them. He knew that some would criticize what he was doing and tell him that protecting them wasn't worth the lives of so many, but they were so dear to him that he couldn't bear even as much as the thought of letting them go. Every drop of blood I shed for you is worth it.