The Metal Children

15 Internal Wars

It had been a silent, dead air, in the children's bedroom of the old house at 17, Sultan Street. Taufik stood with his mouth agape, and his eyes fixed on her reflection, and she did the same on the rocking chair. Her hands were firm on the arms of the rocking chair, nails dug into the white-painted wood. Her cherry coloured lips parted as her chest rose and fell. She looked at him through the mirror as if studying him, but there was a hint of surprise in her expression. She was confused, but he looked more confused than she was.

"This wasn't something I expect," she finally said, her voice was deep and careful.

"What are you doing here?" He sternly asked, his hands beside him curled into balls of fists.

"I come here whenever I feel I need to," she replied, but her cheeks flushed with impatience and anger. "But it's none of your business. You are the one who have never been here."

Taufik snapped — yes, she was convincingly true. This house was abandoned for years, and it might have been hers to claim, but not for the reason that it was abandoned. It was for something else, something that had hit him so badly inside that his brown eyes widened.

"You have never been here, at all." She finally rose out of the rocking chair. Her pixie hair waved as she spun to face him, and he could see her face clearly now — more than just last night's shadows and gray outlines under pale street lamps. Her skin was tan, like the colour of a light strawberry tea. She looked much younger than he had guessed. The silver necklace, with a questionable pendant, hung on her chest, over the white tank top she was wearing. It glinted like silver glitter when its' shiny surface caught the bright sunlight. It glinted like her curious eyes under the same sunlight. "You've got it now, don't you?"

Taufik felt his breath hitched. "Haru," he began. "I heard The Red Heart called you that name last night."

"And you could've killed me, but you let me go."

"Your name was familiar." He swallowed a hard gulp. "I grew up muttering your name in my sleep, they told me - Haru, Haru, Haru. It was something I never understood. I can't kill you before I figured everything out."

"Have you figured everything out?"

Taufik nodded. "I do. I do now. You're... my sister."

It was Haru who fell silent now. Her bangs fell over her thick eyebrows messily, but she hadn't bothered sweeping it aside. She looked like a confident but vulnerable little child, although half of it was because of the clothing she wore. It was definitely less intimidating than the black leather jacket and heavy combat boots she had thrown on the previous night.

"You knew," he said.

"Not until today. I've been thinking of why you've let me go last night, given how you were this close to killing me. It was my own reflection that had led me back here. I thought I could dismiss the thought that you're him, but here you are. I didn't expect to find you here."

"But I am him." He brought out a hand to reach out to her slowly, which was as shaky as his voice.

Her eyes fixed on his hand, which was filthy dry with dust he hadn't wiped off yet, but her eyebrows furrowed. She was nowhere near being welcoming, and her pair of brown irises raised back to his. "Do you even want to be him?"

He sucked a breath. There was an overwhelming confusion inside of him now. He had discovered a remaining family member, the one tied with blood, alive and well. He even resembled her, very greatly, even the hair, the eyes and their slender figure. It was like looking at a distorted mirror of some sort - they looked different overall, but their details are like copies of each other. And he was glad, glad to find something of his past that was still alive, so he could ask questions of the first six years of his life that he had entirely forgotten. Even better — a sister. He was content with Barbs and Brenda, who grew up but this felt somewhat different. Like a mystery solved, like a puzzle answer unveiled. The relief took over what might have mattered in the first place — she is a Bender, and he is her greatest enemy.