The Ally

Chapter 5

I kept replaying the many possibilities in my mind, wondering what I could have done differently to avoid this whole situation. Maybe if I had gone with Crystal to run errands with her mom, Xynar would have become someone else's problem.

"Ria?" My voice faltered, turning the name into a question but deep inside I was merely affirming my own shocked realization. My hand instinctively flew to cover my mouth, fingers pressing against my lips as disbelief washed over me.

"What?" He responded, using Ria's voice so perfectly that it sent chills down my spine. He even wore the exact clothes she had on today, down to the smallest detail.

"That's Ria." I said, more to myself than to him.

"I know." he replied, his tone almost amused by my astonishment. "Once I shapeshift into someone else, I already possess a portion of their knowledge. She is indeed quite intriguing, I must admit." His casual acknowledgment of such a profound invasion of privacy unnerved me further.

The sense of confusion overwhelmed me, thickening like fog around my thoughts as I slowly shook my head, unsure of what course of action to take at this point.

"I know a part of you too, you sad thing you." Xynar's mocking tone hit me like a sharp jab, his words cutting through the air with a bitter edge.

"I have loving family and friends to be 'sad'" My response carried a defiant edge, pushing back against Xynar's taunts with a reminder of the warmth and support I found in my relationships.

"But do you have a loving boyfriend?" He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at me in Ria's know-it-all face. The mention of my boyfriend hit a nerve, stirring up a mix of emotions. I struggled to find words, feeling the weight of his question bearing down on me.

I tried to answer but I was just speechless. Xynar's probing gaze seemed to pierce through my defenses, laying bare the inner turmoil I had kept hidden. It was unsettling, to say the least, to have someone, especially an otherworldly entity, pry into the depths of my thoughts and emotions.

"Nobody gave you the permission to go through my head." I said, my voice tinged with annoyance as a wave of anger began to rise within me.

"I just asked a question." Xynar fired back. It angered me more because it felt as though Ria herself was aware and engaging in the conversation, blurring the lines between her identity and his disguise.

"Xynar, stop it. Transform back," I said, my voice edged with frustration and hurt as I grappled with the sudden reality of the situation.

Xynar just chuckled, unbothered and with no regrets. "I swear," he said as his voice transitioned from Ria's voice to his. And before I even knew it, he was back to his true form. "Humans can be rather pitiful at times. I've overheard my birth-givers discussing it, but I didn't realize it was to such an extent."

"Just bring Ria back." I defeatedly requested. "We'll just hide in one of these bushes and you do that thing with your watchumacallit and we'll figure out what will happen from there."

He smirked and shrugged.

Guiding me towards a nearby clump of thick bushes, he suggested we crouch down to stay hidden. We nestled ourselves among the leaves, trying to make ourselves as small as possible. With a sense of urgency, he held up the 'glow cylinder', as I called it, and pointed it toward the middle of the pathway. A blinding flash of light momentarily lit up the entire area, cutting through the daylight with a surreal brilliance.

I barely held in a gasp as Ria materialized out of nowhere, right where the light had been.

She was completely drenched, her clothes sticking to her skin, water dripping onto the ground, creating small puddles at her feet. Confusion and panic washed over her face as she let out a startled cry that oscillated between low and high pitches.