Star-Crossed

Part 43

After walking to the park and following the path along the hill, I reach a lookout point where there's a bench and an incredible view of the city.

I sit on the bench, cross my legs, close my eyes and start breathing. In and out. In and out. In and out. I can feel the droid mimic my actions. At first, this annoys me to no end, but after a while, I let it go.

After breathing many, many times, the sounds of the city begin to fade. Then, the nearby sounds of birds chirping and squirrels scurrying also come into focus and then fade away.

Dozens and dozens of disparate thoughts swirl through my brain like grains of sand blowing in the wind.

But, with time, my thoughts begin to slow down and, one by one, a few of them drop away, until there are only a handful left, meandering here and there through my mind.

First, I imagine Pikar as a little girl. I remember the last image I have of her on the beach the day I was captured.

We were building sand castles together, and she kept putting the pail on her head - it was hot pink with a yellow handle. It fit her head perfectly, and she would march around with it on, like a Queen, laughing and pointing to things.

Now, she has grown up to be this amazingly fabulous, incredibly beautiful and talented, world-famous pop star. Not so far from the Queen she pretended to be on the beach.

I decide I'm not going to tell Pikar anything negative about our parents or about the danger her Elixir is in until I solve everything. It's not worth it. She seems to be doing so well. Why burden her with such negativity? At least one of us should enjoy some bliss.

And truth-be-told, it seems like she's been able to move past, well, the past. It would be selfish of me to rope her back into any present drama.

I'm going to do everything in my power to protect her, so that at the very least, she can lead a calm, happy and fulfilling life with as little heartbreak and sorrow as possible.

I hear a rustling sound, and I open my eyes. The sun is just beginning to set. A fiery golden glow is starting to emanate from the very tops of some of the skyscrapers in the city center.

Glancing to my right, I see that the droid is still sitting with its eyes closed, meditating. I wonder where that rustling noise came from?

Then, I hear a familiar voice say, "Karina."

I turn around and see Zayn, bathed in the glow of the sunset. He looks like a prince.

"Zayn?" I say, confused. "What are you doing here?"

"This is one of my favorite spots in the city," he answers. "What is he doing here?" Zayn points to Niko - the droid - and frowns.

Niko opens his eyes and scoots over, making room for Zayn on the bench.

"Zayn, sit down," I say. "We need to talk."

He hesitates for a second but then obliges.

"Niko," I say to the droid. "I'm going to tell him everything, ok?"

"Ok," it agrees.

I begin to tell Zayn what the droid just told me. Niko is dead. The thing sandwiched between me and Zayn is not a human, it's a droid.

"What, no way!" exclaims Zayn. "That's nuts!"

He starts to pinch Niko's arm and poke at him, intrigued by the fact that he has a real-life droid sitting next to him. Zayn really is such a dork sometimes.

After the novelty of Niko being a droid starts to wear-off for Zayn, I get up from the bench and stand in front of both Niko and Zayn. I start to pace back-and-forth.