I redid this chapter because I'm not happy with it, and I'm hoping that it'll get more reviews now, because I have exactly 2. Please review, I'm really worried about this one, folks.
By the time that I was 10, I stopped talking to Anat in public. My teachers started to look at me strangely, and my mother had sent me to various psychologists and counselors, thinking that my insistent clinging to a childhood fantasy was the result of my father walking out on our family.
Because no one can see Anat, she still speaks with me, gives me advice, but when I'm at school, I can't talk back. Even at home, if Mom isn't at the university, I have to pretend to speak on my phone if I don't want her to get suspicious.
Last month, she appeared on my bed (I don't know where she goes when she's not around; but Anat likes her privacy, just as I like mine, and neither of us pries into the other's alone time, when I turn to my books or to hang out with my few friends, and she sinks into the shadows and goes away). Before Anat appears, there is always the smell of lotus blossoms, cinnamon and myrrh, and the softest whisper of her gown.
I've always thought that Anat is beautiful; bronzed skin like light mocha, long, soft black hair that shines like the moon is trapped within, long and straight and scented with oils that have always seemed exotic to me. She's tall and lean, and she has this way about her that is above the physical realm.
"Hey, Ana," I greeted casually, using my old nickname for her. Kiara looked up from her chem Textbook. Kiara can't see Anat, but she likes hearing me talk for her, and the occasional things that Anat makes happen without explaination (or warning).
"It is time."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, ignoring the questioning glance from Kiara.
"The Gods have shown me that Fate has intervened. We must go where we are called." When Ana talks about Fate and the Gods of Egypt, she gets this glow; her eyes gleam, and she gets this serene look. I'm not sure if I believe in all of that, but I'd listen to Ana talk about them all day; she's a great story teller.
"What does that mean?"
"Our place is no longer here, Raven; Domino City is where our journey begins."
"Are you fucking crazy?" I demanded, making Kiara bust out laughing.
It goes without saying that my Mother absolutely loved the idea of her 17 year old daughter, who may or may not be unstable, moving to Japan by herself.
Mom tried to turn on the 'Mom Guilt' at full power; oh yeah. Anyone who's ever had a disagreement with their mother will confirm that they have this tendency to pull out all the stops in their crusade to persuade you not to do something; they will dig into the depths of your psyche, because, let's face it; Mother's know EVERYTHING. Oh, and she turned on the heat; "is it something I did?" "why are you doing this?" "are you trying to send me into an early grave?" oh, she used all of it.
I've always been a compliant child, but this time I stood my ground. Anat had said she couldn't tell me everything, only that if I didn't go to Domino, the results would be catastrophic.
Kiara, unfortunately, had to bear witness to all of this (Anat had gotten so panicked as she tried to explain and avoid an explanation that I marched downstairs to tell my mother the news). She watched the argument for awhile, sipping her mug of coffee.
After my Mom burst into tears, last resort, and I was fighting them as well, she intervened with a gentle; "I'll go with her, ma'am."
Maybe it's got to do with the fact that Kiara just screams 'responsible', while I scream 'trouble magnet'. Or how she's always stood up for me. Maybe it's because she thought I'd be safe with a friend. I still don't have a clue how, but she wound up consenting that I could move, if Kia got permission (she did).
My Mother started crying again, and I decided to just end this early and phoned my Uncle.
(Line)
I like the airport terminal; it's so crowded, I get to see the many facets of human nature. Kiara left to use the bathroom, so I stand with my couple of suitcases and a messenger bag covered in pins. It's very clean but crowded; I see businessmen walking briskly, speaking into their phones; a family greeting each other; friends loaded with shopping bags leaving; a couple giggling as they hurry to get a cab to get to a hotel as quick as they can; a girl in punk clothes with short, spiky purple hair is embraced by an elderly couple in drab clothes, and a street performer sings some blues song in the corner. The air smells of tired perspiration, fast food and interest.
Uncle Jake hugged me the moment that he got a glimpse of me a few minutes later, seemingly appearing out of the crowd just to sweep me into a big hug.
Uncle Jake is my mother's younger brother, and there's never been two more different people, but I think that's just how they were raised; see, Mom and Jake's parents died when Mom was 14, and Jake was 8. They were bounced around from foster home to foster home until Mom was 18 and got custody of him. She had to school and work, and she had to take care of him. Having to always care for her brother, it seriously shaped my Mom's personality; she constantly worries about my younger siblings (Carrie and Jeremy) and I, and she still worries about him, but Jake ran off to travel after they had an argument when he graduated high school. My Uncle wanted to work with technology, but my Mom said it wasn't a stable career and tried to talk him into something more practical; he had the grades to get into medical or law school. But Uncle Jake didn't listen; he got a master's in computer programming just as the jobs took off and there weren't enough people in the field; he got a job at some company in Domino that first provided military technology to the highest bidder, and then it became a gaming company. Mom's since apologized to him for doubting his dreams, but things are still tense.
"Hey, crow," he greeted, grinning at me.
People have told me that I look startlingly like my Uncle; the both of us have palish skin with olive undertones from an Italian grandmother, as well is broad, round faces and large, almond eyes the color of a stereotypical cat (golden green-brown) and long eyelashes. Uncle Jakes's hair and mine are black brown, like ebony in the sunlight, and both of us wear it long, his reaches his shoulders while mine is past my shoulder blades in jumbled curls.
"Hi, Uncle Jake." I chirp, leaning up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek; her grins, exposing bright white teeth.
"How was the flight out, where's Kia?" Uncle Jake treats Kiara like she's his niece, since we're so close and have known each other since before grade school.
"Kia's in the bathroom, the flight was okay. I missed you." He kisses my forehead and twirls a lock of hair around his finger; we have the same hands; long thin fingers and palms.
Jake's wearing a bright neon green T-shirt and washed out blue jeans and flip flops, he looks like an overgrown kid, really.
"So, what brought on this desire to change scenery?" Jake asks, smiling slyly, I shrug.
"Maybe it's your genes?"
"Don't play coy, Crow. What are you up to?" Uncle Jake is under no illusions about me; we're a lot alike in that way; we love people for who they are, but we know what they're capable of.
It's hard to meet his eyes and lie, the only thing that gives me strength is the way the Anat looked at me when she said we needed to leave.
"HEY!" Kiara shouts from across the crowded terminal, "YOU BETTER NOT BE LEAVING WITHOUT ME!"
She waves at Uncle Jake but doesn't hug him; now that we're almost adults it's a bit awkward. Kiara brought less then me, she only has a small carry on and a suitcase.
Because we're both pale, tall and dark haired, people sometimes think that Kiara and I are related (the fact that we're almost always together enforces the idea, now that I think about it), but that's about all that's the same between us. Kiara's taller, and slimmer; despite her height, she's got a face that's best described as pixie-like; with small, delicate features and big, fawn brown eyes that always seem to glitter behind her glasses. Her hair is shorter than mine (she got tired of how long it was, and having to pay the earth for some idiot to 'style', and took a pair of kitchen scissors to it; she couldn't get it even and wound up cutting it to her ears. It turned out really got, but it's finally starting to grow out again, and it reaches her chin), and it's more of a blonde black, if you know what I mean? Besides, it's straight, unlike mine.
Kiara's wearing a pale blue checked shirt and jean shorts, she looks like a regular tomboy.
"Hey, Kia. So you're following my niece into trouble again?" Jake teases, Kiara shrugs; neither of us wants to tell Jake how close he is to the truth.
We're going into this (what the hell is 'this' supposed to be, anyhow? Anat absolutely refuses to give me a straight answer) blind. For all we know we could wind up in serious danger. But Anat was so afraid...
"Come on, I think you'll like the apartment..." He singsongs, I grin at his childish behavior, same old Uncle Jake.
(Line)
"Holy-"
"Watch your mouth, young lady. Your Mom may not be here but she's trusting me to take care of you-"
"Whatever Uncle Jake; she's only letting me stay here because Kiara volunteered to come with and you know it." He blushes and mumbles something in minor dissent, but there isn't real protest.
"This is awesome. How did you get the money for this?" I demand, looking around in awe; Jake had gotten us a two story flat in a pretty decent neighborhood, not that far from the school we would be attending tomorrow morning.
"Are you kidding? I'm one of the best at work, they pay me to stay there and not head to Industrial Illusions."
When he sees my raised eyebrow, Jake sighs and pats my head. "I forget that you don't know anything, hon. Let's just say they pay me a lot and I have very few things to spend on. Besides, you guys are paying the rent, I just covered the security deposit."
"And you bought the furniture, made sure our stuff got here safe and you-"
"STOCKED THE FRIDGE!" Kiara shouts, rounding the corner and grinning ear to ear. "YOU BOUGHT JUST ABOUT EVERY PIECE OF KITCHEN EQUIPMENT THERE IS!" I looked at Jake, he shrugs, but he's still smiling.
"I didn't know what you guys needed. Anyhow…um, I'll leave the two of you alone to get unpacked." Jake hugs the both of us good bye (forget the awkwardness), and left.
Jake took care of everything; he enrolled us at Domino High, he left a list of numbers and addresses on the fridge, as well as some seriously cute magnets. He let us order furniture on his credit card, and he oversaw that everything was put in it's proper place, as well as leaving our rooms alone so that we wouldn't feel like he was controlling us; our rooms were stark white, but he said he was taking us to the hardware store this weekend to pick out paint and then we could do with them what we wanted (for now our beds are just mattresses on the bare floor with a comforter and sheets).
Kiara and I made dinner, just some sandwiches because we were so tired and we didn't want to overdo it.
"Can't believe we need to wear uniforms." I mumble, yawning. It's only 7:30, but it's the jet lag catching up, I think. We're cleaning up now, so we can just head to bed.
"Did Anat explain about what we need to do yet?" I frown and shake my head. It's been bothering me that she refuses to answer why we're here, or why she's so afraid.
The thing about Anat is that she doesn't usually explain how she feels; I just know her well, and she has these tics that reveal her emotions. When she's worried, she bites her lip, when she's angry her eyes actually glow…stuff like that.
"No, she says that if she tells us anything everything'll be fucked up." Kiara looks at me and I raise my hands in surrender. "I'm paraphrasing, okay?"
"You shouldn't curse; your mother doesn't like it."
"Yeah, yeah." But I decide to cool it with the cussing; Mom told me once that girls who talk like that are trash. They aren't the ones that boys bring home to their mothers. I see the point in that, and I usually restrain myself, but dammit I'm tired and annoyed and worried.
"Hey, Ray?" I look up at Kiara, she's looking down at me with a really soft look. "Do you think…do you think that our dreams have anything to do with what we're looking for?"
For the last month, Kiara and I have been having shared dreams. We can't remember much of anything when we wake up, but…
There really isn't a way to explain the dreams, maybe Kia can, but not me. I wake up short of breath, covered in sweat and feeling like I'm trapped. I remember…I remember the smell of oil, and rough cloth on my skin, just brushing against it…I remember a set of eyes the color of pressed lavender, and a scar. I don't know what else to make of that.
Kiara told me once that she remembered the smell of incense, but that's all that she informed; whether or not she remembered more is still a mystery to me.
"Maybe…Anat said we'd understand in time, but…" I let the sentence die, and so did she.
"Let's get ready for bed." Kiara suggested, and I shrugged.
In a lot of ways, Kiara and I take care of each other; sometimes I get really emotionally immature, and she's the one to keep me from being stupid. When her boyfriend (now ex) was a jerk, I came over with some sappy chick flicks and Ben&Jerry's. We've known each other for longer than forever sometimes, and more than once we've guessed what the other's thinking; we ground each other; she keeps me from drifting into the clouds and I keep her from staring at the earth too long.
My room faces the sunset, but there isn't one here. There are no trees in Domino, and I miss them already, I'll tell you that much. Kia's and mine's family grew up in a backwater town in New England. We grew up with trees and scenery and countryside, so this whole cityscape thing is brand new to us. I'm still not crazy about living in the heart of a huge city, I mean, in the country, everyone minds their own business and our neighbors fired off their shot guns at two in the morning at the deer that tramped through their vegetable garden; my dad got into a war with the raccoons that ate the bird feed 5 or so years ago and literally killed 34 in one night. Here, there will be no privacy.
The sky should be dark, but it's still as bright as day with all the lights from the street and passing cars. Jake didn't think to get me curtains, so I have to make a note of it, otherwise I won't be able to sleep tomorrow (right now I could probably think a bed of nails is comfortable).
There's a single dresser in the room that came with the apartment; it's cheap, but our clothes came ahead of us, so they're still in the boxes scattered in the room. Right now, the only thing in there is uniforms.
I haven't gotten a look at it yet, but I am curious as to what I'm gonna have to dress in; Jake said it was in the top drawer…
(Line)
I stare at the pink jacket in numb horror; the white shirt, the pink jacket, the blue short skirt…ugh. What are they playing at? This uniform could belong to some chick in a hentai manga, ew." I drop the thing onto the floor.
I dig through the drawer for a longer skirt at least, but they're all carbon copies! This is ridiculous, I'm 17 years old and I actually feel tears pricking my eyes like I'm some toddler. What is wrong with me?
"The uniform is horrid." Anat says quietly, materializing in the corner.
"Tell me about it." I grumble, I'm about to give up on the whole thing when I see a bundle of blue and a square of white.
The blue turns out to be a long pair of blue pants, a blue jacket, and between the two is a longsleeve white collar shirt. A boy's uniform?
I set them down and examine the note.
Crow,
The school messed up on your enrollment forms; they send a uniform standard, and they sent a boy's by mistake. I had it corrected, but they wouldn't take back the uniform. Thought you'd find a use for it, at least.
Uncle J.
I can't help but laugh. Oh, this is perfect.