Track 07
The next morning I woke up scared and confused.
Scared: because of a nightmare. Well, a terrible set of nightmares; one involving my family, the next was a repeat of recent terrorism, and the last was of Axel… an Axel who wouldn’t wake up no matter how much I tugged.
Confused: because I woke up holding a stuffed wolf plushy, staring at the ceiling of an unfamiliar room at an angle that slanted everything in a way that suggested I was halfway away from the floor. Then full-way on the floor.
“Aah-h-h-ooww” I groaned. Then rolled over. One more time. I rolled until I was back on my back to groan some more. I pulled myself up, rolling my aching neck around, and yawning, then stretching, and blinking my confusion away.
It took a while, but I convinced my legs to work. I couldn’t laze around in another person’s house the way I did in my own. I needed to change and get out as soon as I could and thank them both for letting me stay the night. After returning Kiba to the bed, I trudged to the bathroom across the hall. If there were any foreshadow-y sounds of preparation for what was to come of this morning, my drowsiness didn’t allow me awareness of it. I reached the bathroom and brushed my teeth in a falsified, civil, chaos-free state. Then, I tended to the impressive display of modern art that had formed on my scalp; ‘bedhead’ brought to you by the demons of the Underworld.
I exorcised the dark arts that defied the laws of gravity in my hair, and built up the courage needed to speak to Axel’s mother about leaving - using the mirror’s help.
...I should have brought my clothes in here to change, I telepathically told my bag-eyed reflection. We glared at each other for a moment out of mutual discontent. I decided to be the bigger person here, and left to get my clothes with a heavy sigh. Before I could reach the guest room, my eye caught the slightly opened door to Axel’s room. A flash of his KO’d face swept through my conscience. This made me freeze up and clench the fabric at my tummy.
I peered up and down the hall, one side was the presumably empty store, the other was the bright glow of their kitchen. I pinched my lips together. I just wanted to make sure he was safe and sound. It would only be a little peek, nothing more. My hand pressed gingerly against his door, thankful for its lack of creaking, not that he’d hear it anyway with his forever-radio . . . I shouldn’t joke about that… not even telepathically.
When I looked to the bed and didn’t see him, distress and relief smacked me both ways across the face. If he wasn’t in bed that meant he was well enough to be up and about, but at the same time, if he wasn’t in bed, it could mean he wasn’t well enough to stay home. What if he was sent to the hospital? What if the events of that incident affected the way he tolerated survival without his headphones? Was that a thing? Could that happen? I wish I understood sell-soul bodies.
I widened the door a bit more, hoping to see him next to the piano-desk area, where he was not. Relief was out of the picture now, there was only anxiety. I retreated from his door and looked to the kitchen. My side quest, of changing back into my own clothes and looking presentable, was abandoned. I’d grown blind with the dire need to see him okay.
He’d be in the kitchen for sure. It was natural for home-inhabitants to venture to their kitchens in the morning, right? He was just hungry for breakfast and therefore in the kitchen eating breakfast, it made sense…
…So why were my steps so slow? Why was I so afraid to walk through that doorway? To round that corner and see or not see the kindest people I’ve ever met, why was that so hard?
“Good morning.” A voice zipped past me. I blinked many times before I managed to follow the voice and see Axel’s mom. She was wearing a plain loose black tank top that showed off her melodic tattoos in full galore, as well as a white apron tied around her waist. I blinked. “Hope you like pancakes~” I was too stunned to respond. It was like someone left the dream world entrance in my brain ajar and all those bizarre nonsensical thoughts were floating around distracting me from reality.
Atop the high chairs, to my right, sat Axel with his back towards me and his legs arched up to the chair in front of him. Both headphone muffs were covering his ears; he wouldn’t hear my ‘good morning’ unless I waltzed over there and tapped him to his senses myself.
I let my shoulders relax. I was just glad to see him alright.
“I’ll ship the pancakes off to dreamland for you.”
“Oh, ah- sorry, good morning! Y-yes, pancakes are fine. Thank y-… GAH! Wait no-”
“You don’t like pancakes?” She practically dropped her spatula to the frying pan in defeat.
“No! Yes! I like- That’s not what I- pancakes are great! I like pancakes very much!”
“Then there’s no problem if I make you some.” She continued her cooking as if nothing happened. Likewise, Axel was scrolling through his phone as if nothing had happened since I entered in the room.
“But- but I don’t want to intrude any more than I have already. I’ll just change and make my way back to my place. I really appreciate the offer, though.”
“Who’re you, Miss!?” a little voice from behind me made me jump forward and fling my arms up in surprise. Under my flailed arms, I saw a little boy child staring up at me with curious and mystical little eyes. My eyes were snared in the wondrous look that flooded his gaze. Who? What? When? How? …Who?
“Oh Keita, you’re here early.” He dashed past me towards the kitchen. I dodged out of his way and leaned my arms to the other side. “Aunt Kaiaaa!!! You’re making pancakes?!” He jumped up and down beside her. His tiny auburn coloured head of hair was bobbing up above the island.
“PANCAKES!!!” yelled someone else. I made another leap out of the door frame, making way for the boulder of a man who manifested there.
As retro as it was, the moment I saw him, I thought: Hulk. This would be an accurate statement if The Hulk were human sized, brown-skinned, young, and beautiful. Oh and if the Hulk wore actual fitted clothing, like this casual loose, open-button grey linen shirt - fit for a model - hanging in front of me.
Behind his head I barely caught glimpse of the coloured hair band that loosely held a short ponytail together. He stopped just in front of me and looked down at my miniscule figure. “Hi.” He blinked. I blinked back. I forgot how to English. As well as how to bring my arms back down to my sides where they belonged.
“Who’s this?” He looked over me to Axel’s mom, to pose the question. If I could, I’d evaporate where I stood. It would be what I’d sell half my soul to do. The man in front of me was sooooooooo intimidating, like he popped straight out of a classic Bollywood movie about body-building. I pictured him stepping out of a multi-million dollar car as the camera rolled up to his face, and then he’d rip off his sunglasses, and chuck his keys to some off screen nobody like me.
Something the mother said or did behind my back made him grin and raise his pinky in a mischievous sort of way. He then proceeded to lower a hand down to me; a friendly gesture I was meant to return. Though, it took my brain a while to understand how to perform the simple handshake.
“I’m Sunal nice to meet you.” His mighty fists completely wrapped around my single puny hand. “She’s cute, Kaia, where’d you find her?”
Cute?! I added this to the list of words I’ve never been called before entering this house/shop/place-thing.
“As shocking as it may be, I had nothing to do with it this time. Axel’s the one who guided her here.”
“Axel did?” There was a pause as everyone in the room, even the kid, peeping over the table, stared at Axel’s unaware figure. “Even though he’s like that?”
“Yeeeppp~”
What was this motherly betrayal happening behind me. I’d been stuck in my handshaking position even though the muscly-man had moved away from me long ago. It was not until she started discussing yesterday evening that my senses were snapped back into place. ” Rei-chan came looking for him all thanks to his quote on quote – ahem – ’slightly attract-”
“PANCAKES SUDDENLY SOUND GREAT! I would love to have your pancakes Axel’s mom! Thank you.” I shredded the words through my teeth.
“Great! This one’s yours; there are strawberry bits inside, because the world can use more strawberries~ Oh, and please… call me Kaia.”
“Aunt Kaia! Aunt Kaia!” said the little jumping head behind the counter.
“Or Aunt Kaia if you really want.” She placed the boy’s strawberry pancake on the counter and lifted him to sit next to it. From that angle Axel should have been able to see the kid, but he stayed invested in the virtual world in his palm.
“Did the rest of the boxes arrive, Kaia?” said the Bollywood star.
“Oh yes, I left all the heavy one’s for you. Thanks.”
He almost looked excited hearing that. As he breezed by Axel towards the back door, he ruffled, roughly into Axel’s hair. His head was pushed down from the weight and the bridge of his headphones leaned down in front of his face. He looked up ahead in annoyance, but nowhere else.
He started to fix back his headphones without aware-ing himself of everyone else in the room, but I wanted to get his attention, because he was currently the only one here who I wasn’t fearful of. I took a few steps towards him and hesitated. I regret hesitating.
The moment I retracted my hand away from his shoulder, this sudden, random kitchen party grew a member. Some rude chick shoved her way pass me and grabbed Axel’s arm, leaning her… chest area against him.
“Good morning Axelle. How’re you today?” He barely reacted to her leeching onto his arm like that, and he definitely didn’t notice when she shoved me to the side. I was still pretty sure he didn’t know I was there.
“Excuse me.” I directed this at the random girl who so rudely interrupted what was going to be a refreshing conversation. She cocked her head to the side, angling her chin up to Axel’s shoulder and lowering a dark fuchsia coloured contact lens on me. She had long beige hair, hung in two high pigtails that reached to her back. Peeping above the bundles of hair were two golden hairpins with hoop shapes on top.
Her clothing was black, pink, and neon pink, with silver bangles that covered her neck, ears, wrists and waist. Beneath her skirt, she wore diamond-shaped, pink on black lace stockings that filed into long high heel boots. She wore a sleeveless open jacket with a ripped black undershirt that had one long sleeve still barely attached. On the hand without the bits of a sleeve, she wore a black glove that stopped being a glove where her fingers began. Overall, she was the kind of girl I could never get along with.
Lo and behold, the first thing she said to me was proof that I was right; “I’m sorry, did I interrupt something, it didn’t look like Axel was paying you much attention, so I assumed you were just some wandering stalker maybe.” she threw a daggered side eye my way.
“Excuse me!?” I repeated. I shouldn’t have taken offense to her comments since they were true; I was practically a stalker… by accident, but was this the kind of thing you say to someone you’ve never met?
“Oh, you’re excused. The exit is that way.” She pointed an impressively manicured finger in the direction of the front of the store, behind me. I twitched.
“You’re playing a dangerous game little girl.” I stalked up to her crossing my arms and craning my head down in an emphasized manner, though she wasn’t that much smaller than me thanks to those heels. She moved from Axel and put her hands on her hips twisting her neck up high to lean threateningly close to my face. If nothing else caught Axel’s attention, this did. He was facing us with one of his ear-cushions shifted off his ear.
“Little girl? Don’t you need your eyes checked? I’m way more of a woman than you’ll ever be.” She was referring to her curves. In that sense, she hit the nail.
“Oooh~ this looks fun.” The Bollywood star reentered with boxes in his arms.
“I’m not very good at pulling my punches so if I were you I’d just apologize to the woman standing above you. The woman you don’t even know and are foolishly picking a fight with.”
Her eyes tightened for a moment, then an eyebrow rose. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”
“Aren’t those my pajamas?” Axel interrupted, adding to the raised eyebrows sniping in on me.
“Your pajamas?!” I exclaimed.
I looked to my right where Kaia the culprit was supposed to be, with the kitchen and the pancakes and whatnot, but all that stared back at me was the counter-seated child holding a strawberry pancake between his two hands and mouth.
“Fine! You’re right! I’m crazy!”
That was… a familiar voice.
“I’m delusional!” the voice continued.
In a cringing fashion, I began to turn my head to the left, peeking around to the dining table where Kaia sat with folded legs, smiling down at a tablet in her hand. A tablet that needed to shut up,
“-Much too sick in the head to answer all your stupid, self-answering questions!”
That familiar voice was my voice, the me that was ambushed by media parrots in a hospital, during a morning migraine. I peeked at Axel who was staring wide eyed at the backwards, holographic image of me throwing a pillow at the camera.
“Oho” laughed the Bollywood star. “This ones got spirit.”
“You’re the gif-girl!” said the child. His excitement made his words swing in that innocent way children voices did. Axel and the pig-tailed rude one were stone-cold frozen in shock.
“Wait, wait, the full version is better.” Added Kaia as she rewound the video: “As much as the news tries to censor great material like this, the internet always has your back. You’ve gone viral Rei-chan.”
“What would you like to say to the police force for saving your life?”
“What? No. It wasn’t the police force; it was that kid with the headphones.” Almost everyone’s stare went to Axel who had his face in his palm at this point. The video continued; “Where is he? You should be asking him the questions, not me.”
“Axel you were there?!” yelled the rude girl. “At that crazy event!?”
“How could you have gone without telling us? That was dangerous!” Added Sunal. “Kaia aren’t you upset about this!?”
Kaia shrugged. “Any anger or concern I may have felt while hearing this yesterday died off when I realized Axel made a friend from this experience.”
“Pfft what friend? It’s just some stranger that he sav- Wait! You saved this girl? But then-” she shut herself up while rudely eying me from head to toe.
“Does this mean Gif-girl knows we’re all Sell-souls?!”
I – including everyone in the room – turned to the child on the counter in blatant bewilderment. Then there was the distinct sound of someone slapping their palm against their face.