29 Heading off to the opposite side (1/2)
AS I STEP INSIDE my late room, I realized that nothing has changed. Not a little bit, although the room was tidier than usual. The sheets on the bed were folded neatly above the pile of pillows, the books I've collected are still on the shelves, arranged just how I used to arrange them. I walk over to my cabinet that held most of my clothes and I'm not less than surprised to find that most of them are still there.
”We kept it just like how you left it in hopes that you'll be back.” I turn around to find Isabella standing and leaning against the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest. Gratitude filled my chest, making me smile contently.
I shake my head and turn around once again to examine the rest of the room. ”And you're right... Just like always... I'm back.” I trail my fingers over the top of my old table, a lingering thought in my mind. I push the mattress up to reach beneath. My hand roams around under until it finally felt something hard and rough in its grasp. I clasp the hilt of the very first weapon they gave me and drag it out from under the fabric case.
My free hand wanders around it, feeling the familiarity in it. I slide my fingers over the edge of its spade-shaped blade. ”Missed it, didn't you?” I look at Isabella to see her still leaning against my doorway, she's watching me with such expression on her face.
”Yep,” I said, popping the p.
”Are you scared of tomorrow?” I knew she's going to ask that but hearing it out loud causes fear to blossom in my heart, vanishing my smile almost instantly.
After I told them that I want to cross the border, of course, they protested instantly. Especially the team leaders because they said we don't know what's beyond the borders. The thing is, I want to tell them that I know what's beyond the borders but that will only spark up questions I'm not yet ready to answer. So instead I told them that I am not pushing anyone into going with me and that I can go alone and do this all by myself but of course my friends object immediately. They told Haida and all of the team leaders that they are ready to come with me. I told Haida my plan and she surprisingly agreed to it without having a second thought. But she sure gave us a deadline. That is, if we do not come back after 30 days, they won't offer us the help that we might need anymore. We all agreed, even Isabella, Aimee, Dani, and Lia even when Haida told them that if this mission fails they'll lose all connection they have with the hunters. So that's how we end up, me and my friends, going to the north first thing tomorrow morning.
”No, I'm not,” I finally said. It's all honesty. I'm not afraid for tomorrow and that we might encounter the entire army of minions of Sarah along with our journey. I won't be surprised if I found her battalion on the other side of the border. What I am afraid of is finding the truth about my parent's death. Or if I will find the right person who will provide me the answers that I need. Or if I am right in stopping Sarah. ”I am more afraid of finding out the truth,” I said after releasing an exasperated sigh. I sat down on the edge of my bed, facing her. ”It...it just...always seem to be running away from me. The truth. And then when it's within my reach, it'll take off, running away again and leaving questions in its wake.” I throw my hands in the air and slump down.
She moves from where she's standing to sit beside me. I look at her and I don't care if I look pitiful or not. She grabs my hands that are clasped in front of me and she uses her other hand to brush away the locks of hair that are fallen over my forehead. Then her arm went around my shoulder and I lean into her, resting my head on the crook of her neck. ”We are all afraid of finding out the truth. That's why it always run away whenever it's within reach because it knows that we are not ready to accept her yet. But that's also why we are doing this together right? We are going to unlock the secrets together. Then we're going to accept them, and move on because that's the only way we can get out of this dark twisted world.”
I nod and I hug her tighter, seeking comfort. Isabella has always been the sister figure to me whereas Juliana was my best friend. I remember her protecting me when we were kids. She's the sister to all of us. She takes care of us when we were sick or wounded or when the nightmare hunts us. She has always been there. She's the eldest so she's the mature thinker among all of us when we do something wrong, she'll scold us. When we make the wrong decisions, she'll set us on the right path. But I know, deep down inside me, she has her monsters to fight.
A knock came upon my wide-open door. We both look up at the same time and see Nate smiling at us. ”Am I interrupting something?” Nate said. Isabella and I broke apart with smiles on our faces and we laugh lightly at the familiarity of the scene we are in.
”No, you're not,” I assure him.
”That's right and I was just leaving.” Isabella stands up and head for the door but stop to pat Nate on the shoulder. ”Remember that I'll cut your b***s if you hurt her.” With that she walks away, leaving a wide-eyed Nate on my doorway.
”She's not joking, is she?” He asks as he steps in and locks the door behind him.
I shrug before replying. ”That's up to her if you hurt me.” Then I look up at him as he saunters his way to me and drops to my side, his arms outstretched behind him and he's leaning on the heels of his hands. I feel him shift his position as I chew on my bottom lip. A hand is placed on my cheek and he turns me to face him, his other hand freeing my bottom lip from my teeth.
”What is it?” There's gentleness in his voice that is not hard to miss.
”Will you hurt me?” I fixated on his forehead because I am afraid to look directly in his eyes.
”Look at me.”
”I am looking at you.” I insisted.
”No, you're looking at my eyebrows. Look in my eyes, Recca.” The nickname sent a warmth jolt in my heart and I was forced to look into his eyes. ”You are my siren, you know.” He said, putting his forehead on mine but I inclined myself from him.
”Huh?” I ask in confusion.
”While I was in the North, I kept hearing this siren. It was...I don't know...kind of calling me? That why I agreed with the judge in the first place. To come here. Because I felt like I need to be here. And I was right to choose this path because it leads me back to you.” I would have teared up by now if something in what he said didn't catch my attention but it did.
”Who is the judge?”
”I don't what his name is.” He raises his right shoulder slightly. ”We kept it confidential in the north. We are called by our codes. And this judge..he just...knows me. I mean, he knows that my name was Raven and he kinda knows everything about me. He's also the reason why I was away every time. I report to him about what's happening here in the south. But I stopped giving him information a little over a month ago. I was actually ought to come back after 50 days but I didn't, so I am sure that I am considered dead now.”
”Why didn't you come back?” I said as I cup his face in my hands.
”Isn't it obvious?” He laughs a little while I shake my head. ”Because you are my siren. The moment I saw you in the woods, everything felt right. Me coming here felt right. At that certain moment, I knew you were my siren, the one who's calling me all along.” Thick silence envelops us as our foreheads touch and our breathing turn in perfect sync. ”Do you remember the time when we were kids and we used to sneak out of our practice and go to our haven?” I nod as I giggle. ”And then Sarah'll catch us sneaking back inside and then we will be punished by having extra practice the same day but we wouldn't blame each other because it was all worth it. Do you remember that night when we broke the curfew because there was a meteor shower scheduled for that day?” I bit my lip and nod, slowly closing my eyes, allowing myself to reminisce. ”You told me that since it's a meteor shower we can make thousands and thousands of wishes. And then that time when we were practicing and Clain was trying his portal powers. He talked to Isabella for doing his test drive and he cut off Isabella's hair and he blames her for having such long hair. We laugh our asses out because Isabella looks ridiculous in her new hair cut and she would chase us with her papers.” We laugh at the memory. ”Do you remember that you used to creep into our room and we would hold back our laughter because of Stew's snoring habit? Then that time when you couldn't control your fear powers causing all the kids to have nightmares every night for five straight days.”
”Then you said it was because of you but I said it was because of me then Sarah got angry so we were both penalized.”
”Yeah. I can still recall that little origamis that holds our wishes, dreams, and everything that we can't say to anyone.”
”You remember that?” I snap my eyes open and he nods.
”I remember everything. Including that pinky promise that we made under the blanket of stars. You said that multiverse is real and every time we die, we get reincarnated to another different universe. You made me promise that if we die, and get reincarnated, we will find each other and we will be friends again.” My eyes water because he remembers. That laughable promise that we made. ”And I've found you now.”
”But this is not our second life,” I said in a small voice.
”But we can pretend. Right this moment. We can pretend that we've been dead and that somehow we found our way back into each other's arms again.” The first tear falls and he wipes it away and kisses the abandoned space by the lone tear. ”I love you, Recca, and I will never hurt you. I can't hurt you.” The sincerity in his voice is so crude that it makes my insides shiver.
I shake my head at him, realizing that we are so close to each other the moment our lips brush against each other. ”I love you too. But you don't make promises you can't keep. You will hurt me, Nate. Not now maybe. But eventually in a whole lot of a different way and I don't know if I can bear that kind of hurt again, Nate. So don't make promises.”
”Then let me rephrase that,” his hand going through my hair. ”I can't promise that I won't hurt you.” His voice cracks and I know that tears are forming at the edge of his eyes because we both know what we're talking about and it is not him walking away from me. It is the possibility that we might hurt each other when the out time comes to take us. ”But I promise to love you and protect you in any way I can.”
Our eyes lock and suddenly everything felt new. Raw but good. Better. Best. It's like there's no secret between us and there's none. We are each other's shield. We are each other's minds. Each other's body. We are each other's soul. And together we are one.