Gold Fever (m×m) ✔

IV: Elian Phoenix was here

《 ELIAN PHOENIX 》

I had never been to Asheville before, but I think that in any other situation I would have enjoyed it. It was far from a concrete suburb, where all the buildings were identical and lacked personality. This part of Asheville, the heart of it, had an edge in it. I decided I loved the city, just because it wasn't quite like any other place I had seen.

I could imagine it when the streets were still bustling with people, and how their laughter filled the air. We passed rustic brick buildings, murals, a building with a bright pink facade, loads and loads of colorful sunshades, restaurants with terraces.. It was a drastic opposite to my hometown Charlotte's shiny, identical buildings.

We took refuge of the night, keeping our hoods on and heads down in the hopes of not being recognised. It seemed to be working, as the only passers-by just scuffed past us with hollowed eyes, like the living version of the living death. Everywhere I looked, I saw gold glimmering in the last light of the day, revealing just how many people must have been there when The After began.

Guilt was a curious thing, living in my chest rent-free and spiking up every time I spotted one of those hollowed out people or didn't look away fast enough from those golden relics. The only way I could still function was to squelch the emotion, lock it into a nice little box and bury the box somewhere so deep no one would find it.

We passed one of those camps where people sat around a fire, huddled against each other and murmuring in quiet voices. There was little laughter left in this new world. A man with a shaggy, gray bear was handing steaming cups to everyone in need. My stomach rumbled when I smelled the luscious aroma of baking bread and warm soup, but I knew that any standing camp slash street kitchen wasn't going to serve us.

Some people had stayed in the comfort of their homes, scavenging nearby stores and growing vegetables in their backyards, but some were migrating like us. Either they had relatives to find, or they remained skeptical about the extent of Gold fever and were still looking for a place where everything was just as before.

After what felt like forever, we found shelter for the night. It was in the backroom of a coffee house, dusty and void of the scent of coffee and bakery. Although, on second thought, smelling those all night without actually getting to have them would have been torture. We had portioned the last of our water, each having just enough to not pass out from dehydration. So, we were down to dry oat flakes, and I was so hungry I was holding back tears.

"I will go ask, if they have anything left to spare." Rain offered, rubbing his hands together. He looked so exhausted it was a miracle he was still standing, but we all knew it had to be him. Out of our group, he was the least likely to be recognised; Najwa with her platform shoes and alternative clothes, Rio with their white hair, strikingly light eyes and fairytale clothes stuck out like a sore thumb.

And I was, well, me. That was reason enough for me to not show my face anywhere. I had already changed my hair, but other than that there wasn't much to do to disguise my features. I still had high cheekbones, now only more prominent than they used to be, and an ugly scar marring the pale skin of my neck. I was still a head taller than most, and my feet were comically big like I was wearing flippers.

You already know that I am a walking catastrophe, so I guess there's no point trying to hide the rest of it. The worst of it, some might say. When my magic made money disappear, it came with something you could call a signature.

The money disappeared into thin air, and apparently my face and my name flashed in everyone's mind that same second. You know, like a tag saying Elian Phoenix was here and just so that it is clear to everyone, this is what he looks like. I didn't exactly plan on doing it, but somehow I managed to announce the whole world I was the one who fucked it up.