(Vera N.)
I trembled under the bed. “If only we didn’t use the bus…we wouldn’t be here right now.”
Anita put a finger to her lips. “Shh! We’re fine, okay? We’ll just wait until they leave and then we’ll escape.”
I saw feet enter the room. I bit my nail. Great. Now they’re in the same rooms we're in. It’s over! It’s all over! We’re doomed!
It seemed as though they were talking to someone. But I couldn’t pick out the other voice.
“Sounds like a young girl,” Anita whispered. “The one talking-I mean. But I couldn’t hear the other.”
“Maybe the other one just isn’t talking?” I whispered back.
Just then, my nose twitched. Don’t sneeze. Don’t sneeze. I ordered myself. It kept twitching and Anita noticed. She waved her hands around to motion me to hold it. I nodded, plugging my nose. Tears filled my eyes. My nose was extremely itchy. I could no longer hold it.
“ACHOOOO!”
“What was that?” The voice asked. Their feet were pacing around the room.
I looked over at Anita whose face was planted down onto the carpet. “We’re dead.”
The source of the voice looked under the bed. It was a girl with short red hair, red eyes, and sharp teeth. She screamed and backed away. Instantly, I crawled out of the bed while Anita followed.
Traumatized by our appearance, she managed to point at us and yelled, “Intruders!” I noticed that she had fins on her arms and the back of her legs, like a shark. I shook my head, “We’re not intruders! Well-technically we are, but it was a misunderstanding-”
“Possessed item!” She screamed pointing at Anita’s flower. Before I could do anything, she rushed over to it and ripped all the petals out. “Hahahah! Now you can’t harm us!”
Anita stared in horror at the mess. She fell to her knees with the pedals in her hands.
“Hey!” I yelled at the shark girl. “That thing wasn’t possessed, it was special and is connected to her.”
The shark girl snapped back, “That’s what intruders get.”
“Now, now, Ren. If they claim they are not intruders. It’s best to believe them.” A calm voice said.
I flinched. “Who was that?” Please not a ghost.
“B-But…this…isn’t their home.” Ren reasoned, adopting the childish pouting look.
That’s when I turned to who she was talking to. Long dark hair and a cotton sweater with a skirt. But there was no body. To my eyes they were just floating. However, there was a mouth. “Ah-!”
“Hello,” I saw her sleeve wave. “Sorry for that introduction. Let’s start over. My name is Akari. Pleased to meet you. The shark girl is Ren. Welcome to our home.”
I knew it was a shark, I thought in shock. I didn’t know which one to be shocked at. Probably both.
“We’re welcoming them?!” Ren asked aghast.
“Yes. I’ll make tea. Ren, can you help them get seated?”
“Sure.” She replied, before letting out a growl.
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“May I ask, how did you find this place?” Akari asked, once we were sitting together on the floor of the bedroom. I didn’t want to admit that the carpet was comfy-I figured it was bad timing to do so. “We happened to see weapons from your window on the wall,” I explained. “We thought it was a store.”
“Were the weapons for fighting?” Akari asked.
“Well yes, you see, we betrayed the council and we’re working with two other people. I am sure you have heard of the wanted ones.”
“You’re working with wanted people?”
“It’s a long story. Anyway, we got split up at one point and we’re trying to get back.”
“That’s brave of you.”
“Our families are out there,” Anita replied, voice low, and I could sense a dark aura coming into the room. “We were supposed to have a vacation here but the border closed up.”
Akari frowned.
Ren spat.
I turned to Ren. “Are you looking forward to it shutting down?”
“Duh!” She replied, before gulping her tea down. “It’s annoying!”
“How about you join us!”
Simultaneously, Anita and Ren yelled. “No!”
“I don’t see the issue with working together.” Akari said.
“I was going to use my flower to knock out the guards in some way so we can take down the borders,” Anita replied sharply. “That flower was connected to my blood. And now that it’s fully ruined, it’s going to take six months to grow back.”
Akari frowned at Ren. “You should apologize. It’s true that this isn’t their home, but you shouldn’t destroy something that belongs to someone else.”
“What’s apologizing gonna do?”
“Show that you care.”
Anita finally stood up, clearly irritated. But she somehow managed to speak with a swift and calm tone, “It’s fine. If you don’t actually feel sorry, then why say it?”
She left the room. “Come on, Vera.”
When she was gone, I gave them pleading eyes. “We’ll work it out. Please come with us.”
“I agree.” Akari said. She took Ren’s hand and they followed me out of their house.
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