The Helerian

5. My white voodoo eyes

5. My white voodoo eyes

"Actually, his name is Faiz and not Tristan," Amyra mumbles. But her words are unheard by Talia and me as we continue staring at each other. There's a kind of bond between us, both of us can sense it. But how is it even possible, I'm meeting her for the first time in my life. Though, I can't dismiss the thought from my mind that I've seen her before. Who is Talia? And why do I feel like I know her?

"Um sorry. I'm Faiz," I tell Talia extending my right hand for a handshake.

"I should be the one to apologize, I don't know why I blurted out the name Tristan. It's like something compelled me to say Tristan and it's funny because I don't even know any person named Tristan," Talia smiles sheepishly and accepts my handshake.

Our little exchange doesn't go unnoticed by Amyra and Sabina who are watching the two of us in puzzlement. Sabina looks genuinely baffled but Amyra has a weird expression on her face. Then her face scrunches up in mischief and a twinkle appears in her violet eyes. "Does Faiz have a crush on our dear friend Talia?" she asks in a sing-song voice.

Sabina chips in too, saying, "And from the looks of it, Talia is smitten too."

They both laugh at their lame kiddish joke. Meanwhile Talia and I look at each other for a second and quickly avert our gazes.

"Shut up, you two," Talia scolds her friends. I stand there awkwardly, thinking about how to get out of this uncomfortable situation. But this time god is on my side, because the three friends have already started discussing some other topic. It isn't much of a change as they're still talking about me, but at least they aren't making fun of me like before. I let out a sigh and sit on the couch with Sabina on my right. Amyra is filling the other two in about how I ended up at her doorstep, how I can speak Heleria and mostly how I'm from a different Earth and a different time period. Both of them are taking the news splendidly. If someone had told me something this bizarre, I'd have flipped out. Another time? Another earth? Another species? Knock off dude.

I also can't get past the feeling that Talia and I are somehow connected. This is so confusing. While I'm lost in my once again useless thoughts, the three friends are staring at me expectantly.

"Uh what? Did you ask me something?" I ask them. Sabina smirks, "Yes dumbass. I asked if you could remove your shirt so that Talia can also feel that you have only one heart."

What?

I instantly turn red. Seeing my shocked expression and my reddish skin tone, all three of them start laughing. Oh, there were just messing with me. Again.

"Okay, so I asked about the last thing you remember before your accident, or anything else which could help us in understanding how you got here. You can return the same way," says Sabina. I try to think about what went down that night. I definitely remember driving in my drunkenness. Such a classic idiot decision. Drinking and driving never has a good outcome. I'm surprised I'm alive after that crap. When I try to concentrate harder on remembering, something happens. I get a flash of a vision and I'm pulled into it. I see the empty upside-down car, surrounded by pools of red, my own freaking blood. There are two cop cars. An ambulance can be heard.

The vision suddenly ends as I'm being shook. My eyes comes into focus and I see Sabina shaking my right arm, while Amyra's ready with a glass of water, ready to dump it on me.

"Whoa, what are you guys doing? And Amyra don't you dare. Put down the glass," I warn.

"What in the world just happened Faiz? You were mumbling something and your eyes had turned completely white. It was spooky," she shudders.