Voices

Chapter Four

When I wake up, I don't feel any less tired than I did before.

I rub my eyes as I sit up and look out the window. The storm has calmed down, but a gentle snow still falls. I get up and go over to the window, pulling the curtains completely away from the frosted glass. Over a foot of snow covers the ground and weighs down the branches on the trees outside. Movement catches the corner of my eye, and I glance over. A head covered in electric blue hair escapes my gaze as I find it. I try to find it again, to no prevail. I decide to brush it off and put on a heavy coat resting on a chair. I walk out onto the porch, the bitter cold air hitting me suddenly and harshly. I shiver and pull my coat closer around me.

Andrew is nowhere to be seen. I'm not sure if I'm actually thankful for what he did or not. Something about him feels wrong. A lot about him, actually, feels wrong to me. I'm just not sure what.

I observe what I can see of the forest around me. A few trees have fallen in result of the storm. I pull my heavy jacket closer around me as I step out into the snowy forest, snow gently crunching under my feet with each step I take. The snow slowly becomes thinner as the trees begin toshield the ground more, and the walk slowly becomes less tedious. After a few minutes of a less labored trip, I begin to hear a second pair of footsteps. Before I can brush it off, a young woman jumps out of the tree in front of me, causing me to yelp in surprise.

Her shoulder-length hair is an electric blue that could probably be spotted from ten yards away. Her skin is a healthy pale. Her eyes are a deep forest green, and she seems a bit unhealthily skinny. I take note of every detail in case any of it may be of use later.

"Who are you?" I softly ask.

Giving me a smile, she replies, "Mirana Hata. And you?"

"Isn't that the name of a minor goddess around here?" I hesitantly ask.

"Ah! You recognized my name. Yes, it is. And yes, I am here." My eyes widen a bit and she quickly goes to reassure me, saying, "But I'm not here to kill your or anything! I'm sure you still have a while before your lights have to go out."

 I slowly nodded. "I'm Mizu," I mumbled.

"Last name?"

"Boidu." 

 "Got it. Well, it was wonderful meeting you, Miss Boidu." She takes my hand and briefly shakes it. My hand feels like it's slightly burning in her grasp. "I'll see you around, yes?" Not even waiting for my response, she turns and walks away.

My hand still burns with her touch. When I look, instead of the burn marks I was anticipating, I see an eye-like shape made of something that looks between a cut and a bruise. I try to catch up with the woman, only to discover she's already gone too far for me to be able to ask any questions. I still follow her path either way.

She walked towards the beach in the west, where I sometimes spent my time during the warmer months.

Halfway through my walk, I feel a firm hand wrap around my wrist. I quickly turn around, instinctively taking out a box cutter and pointing it towards a boy's throat. His eyes are a mix of boredom and entertainment.

He looks young - definitely too young to be living out here by himself without someone else, probably around eleven or ten. His hair is white, even though he's quite young. It sweeps over his left eye, covering it from sight entirely. The visible eye is an almost hypnotizing shade of ruby red. His skin is ever so slightly tan.

He slowly raises both of his hands, holding them above his head. "Hey to you too, mate," he says. His Australian accent is a bit distant, like he's spent a long time away from another person with the accent.

"Hey," I say, my voice unintentionally soft. He raises his eyebrows as if to ask me what I said. I clear my throat as I feel my cheeks heat up from embarrassment. "Hello," I say, louder and clearer this time. He mumbles something as his ruby gaze drops down to the blade that's being held only an inch from his neck. He could easily just move away if he wanted to.

"Could you perhaps, close that, get it away from my throat, and pocket it?" He requests.

"That's quite the process, And I don't trust you yet," I reply.

"I guess that's a fair point." A silence hangs in the air before he seizes my wrist and twists it backwards. I let out a small yell of pain as he snatches the box cutter from me. I instantly begin to slightly panic, being stripped of my only weapon and in front of a stranger. I bring the back of my hand across his face, and he yelps as a reaction, bringing a hand to his already reddening cheek.

"You sure as hell are the most feisty one I've run into today," he mumbles. "You're not getting the cutter back."

"But, that's my only way of defending myself-"

"Don't care, honey. Things work this way. Don't forget that. Hey, why are you looking at me like I'm a little filth for?" I didn't realise I was glaring at him until he pointed it out with his question.

"You are a little filth. You're a little thief."

"Thief, assassin, and great at blackmail. No reason to look at me like that. My sis does it a lot though."

"Do you need something?"

"Boy, don't you sound irritated. Well, it's lonely out here, I don't wanna go home to a mother that'll neglect me and a bitchy sister, and I happened to see you wandering. Sooo, I bothered you."

"Peachy. Are you lost?"

"Nah. I know my way around. Have a name, or should I just call you by a nickname?"

"Why do you care what my name is?"

"Okay, so Honeysuckle--"

"Mizu. My name is Mizu."

"Last name?"

"Go away?"

"Pass. I'm Tyler." He took the box cutter out of his sweatshirt pocket and handed it back to me. "I should get going. My mom gets considerably pissed when I'm not home to help my sister with housework. Wish she would care for other reasons, but at least she realises I exist."

"Yeah."

"I'll see you around, Mizu."

"Unlikely."

"Sure it is." He turned and began to walk away, stuffing his hands into his sweatshirt pocket. I did the same, walking west again, in the opposite direction as him. I slipped my box cutter into my coat pocket, mentally noting details about the conversation, who he said he was, what he looked like. The essentials to calm my paranoia down at least a bit for the evening. For all I know, he could be what caused the shadowy figure.

With that in mind, I decide to treat him with caution and sit under a tree to rest for the night.