Getting home after talking with Shawn on the hill, taking the scorpion hair pin out of her bag. As she went to put it away, she couldn’t help but stare into the jewels in it. They seemed to be pulling her in. Her mother broke in, her voice cold, “Welcome home, Anisa. I hope you kept enough time in your busy schedule to prepare yourself properly before our guest arrives tonight. I want you looking your best.”
Anisa sighed but nodded, her mother snapping a few times, urging Anisa to hurry despite the fact that the guest wasn’t coming by for three hours. She hated this. She hated how her mom treated her. Just pushing her along through her life. Looking into the eyes of the scorpion she realized that maybe she could do what her mom wanted and what she wanted. Putting the scorpion into her hair, she admired herself in the mirror before her world was filled with searing pain. And one voice...
You will never be alone again.
——————
Anisa looked through her box of gifts from her father, convinced it was in here. She had to kill that monster before it was too late. When she couldn’t find it, she turned the box over and dumped it on the floor.
Terry laughed awkwardly from the doorway, “You know when you called me desperately saying you wanted me to come with you to your house, this isn’t what I was thinking.” She continued to sift through the various relics on the floor, confused why it wasn’t there. Was it capable of walking away? She couldn’t be sure. Or did the lady with the silver smile take it? “Especially when I told you about the break up and you said that’s why you thought of it.”
She sighed, “Terry, I understand you are sad, hurt, and alone. Maria left you and Shawn is dead. I get it. I’ve got bigger things on my mind than hormones right now.”
Terry sighed, clearly not taking her attitude, “Alright, so you just played with my feelings for a free ride? That it? What’s got you so wound up?”
She turned and said coldly, “I’m trying to kill an alien parasite my dad found in some ruins before it finds a host and kills a bunch of people. Then I have to find a magic rock so I can scour the galaxy for where to put it to bring Shawn back from some deal he made with some kind of evil inter-dimensional merchant”
Terry’s face went from hurt and annoyed to deadly serious. He spoke shortly, “What does it look like?”
Caught off guard, Anisa stammered, “U-uh um, a scorpion shaped hairpin. It’s gold with red eyes.” He scanned the room, even smelling the air, almost like he was some master hunter. She watched in disbelief as he lifted her mattress quickly seeing all of the teen gossip magazines she had hidden under it. He put the mattress back down with gentle precision but didn't seem to register or care about her stash.
He nodded as if entirely certain and said, “Someone went through your room.” There was a long pause as she tried to figure out how he could tell. Before she could ask, he sat on her bed. “Shawn and I talked about a million of these kinds of situations. Alien brain parasites, time travel, dimensional rifts... and I made a promise that if any of these came up I would help.” He laughed, “I really didn’t think it would come up though. Thought it was just his story crap. But it was fun practicing with him.”
Anisa wondered if he could handle the whole situation but learning from Katsi’s reaction, she figured that it was better to measure his dedication. “So you believe me? Just like that? You don’t think I’ve lost my mind from grief? Denial?”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Terry shook his head, “You’ve always just kind of quietly been there for us all. So why would you make this crap up?” Realizing that it was better he didn’t know much beyond just yet, she was surprised when he said, “If that thing got away, then we are gonna have to find out where it went... do you know how to fight?”
Anisa pushed out the intrusive memory of her powerful hands crushing the windpipe of a dragon monster three times bigger than her. “A little, but I don’t want to kill someone.”
Terry laughed, “You are hilarious. Like life is a video game. Nah. But I have a cousin who can teach you some moves. Just enough for if we find the alien in their new host.” She didn’t have the heart to tell him how dangerous they would become, but remembering some of the fights that Shawn had gotten into with her before he had gotten his crystal. Maybe they had some time before it changed the host completely.
“Alright, so let’s say I go train with your cousin and learn to fight. Let’s say that we dedicate ourselves to this quest to save our friend. How are you going to make that happen?”
Terry thought hard about it and sighed with a shrug, “I don’t know. But I can’t do nothing.” He thought about it and sighed, “Maybe you can say you want to study abroad. Your mom strikes me as the kind of person who would let you do that. Train here with my cousin after classes until you graduate. Then we can look into this merchant and the rock and figure this crap out.”
Anisa sighed, trying to think of who could have taken it. Nobody had been in her room since before the funeral. Well, all she could do was prepare for when Sculptura came knocking. She would be ready because no one else could be.
——————
It’s so cute how you fight me. But it doesn’t matter. I’ve got a cosmos to remind I exist. How do I get off of your world?
You can’t. We don’t really do that.
Oh, that’s fine. I see in your mind a lovely team of heroes who almost certainly have the kinds of resources to get me where I want to go. Let’s pay them a visit, little vessel.
She felt her body moving without her will, her voice calling out to her mother, “I’ll be right down.” She saw her hand move in front of her face, a carapace slowly forming over her hand before she punched out the window and jumped. Before she knew it her body was already moving at full sprint towards the big city. She watched helplessly as she began to suspect who the alien was after.
——————
Anisa walked down the stairs with her backpack on, her mother returning from the funeral just as she reached the bottom steps. Her mom sighed, “I thought I was done with you coming home at odd hours of the night when your friend died. Now I see you have found a new one.” Terry laughed awkwardly, at first trying to make eye contact with her mother. Her gaze was scathing and destructive. He almost shied away, but remembering the situation, he refused, his gaze becoming stern and cold. Her mother snapped and motioned him out of the house.
Katsi looked nervously on in confusion before Anisa spoke up, “Actually he was going to take me to check out an extra curricular. He says it will help me focus on my studies more. I’m hoping it can get me back on track. After all, this death has already thrown off my school work.”
Katsi was confused and could sense something was weird in the air but let it go when their mother was satisfied, “Good. The sooner you move on and forget that boy the better all of us can feel.” She nodded and pulled her hood up, hiding her focused eyes from her mother. Katsi caught the look for a moment, but knew better than to draw attention to it.
When they got out of the house Terry asked, “You aren’t gonna tell her about the rest of it?” Anisa didn’t acknowledge him in the slightest. She just needed to get going. Before she drifted back into the new memories. Terry sighed, clearly realizing he had lost one crazy friend only to replace them with the other.