The Importance

The Truth Can Always be Shaded

"We'll be there soon. Don't worry. I'm sure it'll be enjoyable. A big family gathering. Aren't you glad?"

"Yeah. Sure." I had said, forever an expert on masking my thoughts.

"Aunt Cindy and Uncle Fred will be there. Grandma and Grandpa will too." Mother said.

Mother hadn't been around much due to her job as a......Cardio......Cardiothoracic surgeon. She had studied it in college. Then she met my dad and took up his "hobby" of science. Now she has drifted back to being a surgeon. The kind of doctor that constantly had to deliver bad news to people. I would never do that.

"Plus, it is the beach. When was the last time you were there? And we get to celebrate your tenth birthday with everyone in the family," Aunt Louisa told me from the seat behind my father, who was driving our car.

Aunt Louisa was hitching a ride with us to the beach where my whole family was waiting for us.

"Are you okay, Alexia? Your father finished."

I am no longer in the sad car ride as my eyelids slowly lift to reveal blurriness and then clarity. Devland is crouching in front of me like a youngster. It is then that I notice he is the boy that I saw when I touched him.

"Your father finished! See, I am all better. I am glad I killed my father for what he did to me."

I scramble away from my captor, feeling the concrete wall of my cell behind me.

"You are no longer my prisoner. I will return you once I can get you back without being noticed. Okay?" Devland sounds so cheery. "Will you work with me here? I am not the bad guy in all of this. I know I can be a little harsh sometimes. But... I wasn't the original one to capture your parents."

He has completely lost me at this point. I just woke up from who knows what, my head throbs, I am beginning to see black spots, and I feel terrible like I was stabbed at least a million times with a needle.....

Maybe I was. Shouldn't I be healing though? Is it possible to be sore when you are immortal? I mean, if your cells are constantly repairing..... I can feel pain though...

"Alexia? You don't look very good...." Devland holds one of his newly restored smaller and less chubby hands up to my forehead like my mother used to do when she had time for me. He quickly wrenches his hand back as if he has just been seared with the warmest fire in the world though. "That can't be good. I am going to get your Dad. Okay?"

"No," I snatch his forearm and unintentionally dig my nails deep into his skin the same way I did with Alex, "I will be fine. No reason to...." My speech has already started slurring when I am accompanied by the same endless darkness that has been with me for so long.

"Alexia tried to spend some time with all of us. Don't go off on your own like you normally do. Okay?" Mother asked.

Aunt Louisa was sleeping and Dad was singing along to the radio quietly, like a deliberate fly that isn't annoying anymore because the sound of its buzzing has dimmed in the back of my mind.

"Okay," I mumbled, staring out the window and sensing the heat creeping into my eyes.

I wish she were here more so she knew what I was like and why I acted as I did. What right did she have to order me around when she was never there to understand me?

Dad's phone rings and we all go quiet.

"Hello, this is Dr. Michael Decello...." A pause, "What? You must have the wrong person detect.....Yes, I understand....." Dad's voice caught and he pulled our car over. The sound of the tires rolling over gravel sounded. "Are you sure?"