Voices in My Head

Chapter 12: Secrets

The house was empty when I left it.

I have to meet Oliver at his house to work on the project.

I don't have a license (it's not something I want in the hands of Raiden) so I just walk to places. Takes a while, yes, but I enjoy the time I get to myself to just feel at peace. Especially if I'm wearing earbuds, like right now (come to think of it, I almost always have my earbuds on me).

I pressed a playlist, allowing the music to envelope me, as I headed towards the address Oliver sent me over text.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

I took my earphones out of my ear as I stood, waiting, in front of the door.

The door open to reveal a sleep-deprived teen.

"I gotcha, woman. Stop nagging in my ear." Oliver sighed in frustration before grinning me tiredly. "Sorry about that. Little sister is giving me an earful right now."

He gestured me to come in and closed the door behind us.

"Olly, who was at the-oh." A girl the exact copy of Oliver walked towards us. They had the same shade of hair, same eyes, and even the same height. The only difference was she had long hair pulled into a ponytail, and her voice was just a tiny bit higher than Oliver's. And that she looked at me, displeased like I did something wrong but I had no idea what I did.

Her voice was cheerful, but I wasn't fooled. The strained smile on her face hardly hid anything. I wonder what I did to make her so mad, so disgusted at me.

"You were born."

She tidied her apron and held a hand out to me. "Emma Hanson, Oliver's little sister."

I glance questionly back at Oliver who shook his head sadly. "No, we're not twins. She's four years younger than me."

I look at Emma again before glancing back at him who said, "My growth is stunted, okay. I'm forever short."

He must get those questions a lot. Fake cheerful voice hiding behind his words. I could tell he was still slightly hurt by the assumption.

"Olly," a small bundle shot forward towards them. "I missed you so much."

"Hey, little man." Oliver smiled and ruffled the boy's blonde hair. His bright brown eyes sparkled with excitement. He looked around 5 years old or so. He hid behind Luna's legs when he saw me, one hand clutching a teddy bear close to his chest.

"It's okay, Arthur. He's a friend."

How can he call me a friend so easily? He doesn't even know me for that long.

He put a cheerful grin on his face as he addressed his sister. "Emma, this is Allan, my classmate who's here to work on a project. We're gonna go to my room now. Watch Arthur. Bye."

I nodded politely to Emma who looked like she wanted to object before being dragged away by Oliver who led me to his room.

He let a breath of relief as he closed the door. "Sorry. I love my siblings, but sometimes they can be so much trouble to handle. Like Emma worries about me too much. And it's so hard to get her off my case."

He sounded cheerful, but I could hear the trembling in his voice. Almost as if he feared something. I wonder what he's so afraid of.

In the back of my mind, I felt a slight tingle as if I was supposed to remember something. But I couldn't figure out what.

I sat on the bed, looking around.

"Sorry place is a mess. I didn't get a chance to clean it."

I shrugged. It's fine. It wasn't that messy. Just papers strewn all over the desk. Clothes piled up in a corner. Bed was not done. Just a normal teenager's room.

"So what do you wanna do for the thing? I got the rubric here. Well, here somewhere." Oliver started rummaging around the papers on his desk, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

I watched him, amused at the little comments he muttered under his breath each time he thought it was the rubric, but it wasn't.

"Ah-hah!" He yelled in triumph as he held a sheet of paper high in the air as if it was a trophy made of gold.

"Wow." I stifled a laugh at his antics.

Oliver looked at me, surprised written on his face, as if he couldn't believe I talked.

I looked down, ashamed at myself. One of the reasons I don't talk is because I hated when my words were used against me.

"I heard you call her a nightmare to deal with. How could you say that about my best friend?"

I only said she was unbearable to deal with because she kept bugging me with all these annoying questions.

"You know what? You don't want to hear my opinion. Fine then. I won't hear yours."

That wasn't what I meant. I just said I disagree with your point.

"Well, excuse me for being dumb. Not everyone can be as smart as you."

I was only trying to help by pointing out you made a mistake.

"You're worthless. Nobody will miss you."

I started rubbing my left wrist.

"He won't ever accept you. No one will."

"Here."

I was shaken out of my memories.

Oliver held out a notebook and pen.

I looked at him.

He grinned. "So you can write your thoughts down. You don't have to talk if you don't want to."

I looked back at him.

No one ever did this for me. Whenever people noticed I wouldn't answer, I wouldn't talk, they just put a strained smile on their face or sigh in frustration and talk to other people. I always kept quiet and hid the hurt behind the music. But here was a person who didn't question me, who accepted my odd ways, and even tried to reach out for me.

I cautiously took the notebook, felt the worn blue cover. I grabbed the pencil in his hand, turned to a new page, and started writing.

He glanced curiously at the page, but my hunched frame kind of hovered over it. A second later, I showed him.

Thank you. It read.

It wasn't specific on what exactly I was thanking him for, but I think he got the message because for the first time today, he gave a me a genuine smile.

"Get too close to people and they will end up dropping dead like insects."

My hand froze, poised in the air, about to write something else. I couldn't help but get goosebumps when I heard it.

"After all, this is our punishment, or rather our curse."

A new voice. An icy, distant tone looking down on the inferior.

Who are you?

"Noah, if you must know."

Another one. Just how many are there?

"Do you really want to know the answer to that question, host?"