Multi

Chapter 7

I woke up to the sound of chirping birds. I smiled at the pleasant sound. I rolled over and the next thing I knew, I was falling. That woke me up as I tried to focus enough to get a platform. No such luck. I slammed into the ground hard. That is not how I like waking up in the morning. And it was off to such a good start. I glanced at my watch. It was 10 AM. That was much later than I meant to sleep. Well done, genius. I stood up and leaned against the tree waiting for my head to stop spinning. Once it did, I made a platform and went up to grab my stuff. I decided to go get some form of entertainment. Books are the safest bet since they can't be traced. I'm going to go with that. I started to worry about price for a second before remembering I had plenty of money. I also decided to buy brunch. I'm going into public anyway. Might as well preserve my snacks for when they're actually needed. I should be far enough away that even if anyone was following up on what happened in the coffee shop, it'll still be safe.

I kept flying for about an hour until I saw a small town below. I landed in an alley before walking out amongst the crowd. I decided to get books first, so I can read and eat at the same time. There was a small store called the Book Nook I found close by. It was one of those places you could trade in gently used books for store credit. While I didn't have any books, I had cash. When I walked in, a small bell rang.

"Hi, welcome to the Book Nook. Do you need any help finding something today?" a woman's voice asked.

"Just browsing, thanks," I said. I immediately realized something was wrong with my voice. It was much higher than it normally is. The woman came into view. She was probably in her late 20s. She had soft features, very wavy chestnut hair, and was much taller than me. I accidentally made eye contact and shyly lowered my gaze. The ground seemed to be much closer. Okay, there's something really wrong here.

"Oh, are you lost? Do know where your parents are?" she asked with a kind smile. I dug out my mirror shard and held it back to see my face. The first thing I noticed were my chubbier cheeks and the absence of dark circles under my eyes. The next were the freckles scattered across my face. Then I turned my head to see blue-black hair going down to my shoulders. My eyes I almost missed since they were back to their milk chocolate brown color. I looked to be about eight years old if I was giving a rough estimate. I was still wearing the same clothes. They were just smaller to accommodate my smaller size. This didn't matter though. I was a kid! How the hell am I supposed to fix this?!

"No, I'm okay," I responded while putting my mirror piece away. 

"Shouldn't you be in school?" she asked. Crap, I can't pull the same trick I did with the security guard. Well, I guess I'm going to have to lie my ass off. I started crying.

"My dad would always hurt me. He would lock me up in the dark. One day, a man came yelling at him before shooting him! I wasn't locked up, so I ran! I didn't know where to go!" I said putting as much quiver in my voice as possible. That should do the trick. The woman knelt down and embraced me.

"How many days has it been since it happened?" she asked.

"Five."

"You know what? My shift ends soon, so you can come stay with me.  You're too young to be alone. Do you remember where you lived?"

I shook my head.

"That's alright. How about we find you a good book to read while I finish up here?"

I nodded. I figured the less I talked, the better.

"Before we do that, can you tell me your name?" she asked. Shit! Think of a name! Think of a name!

"Daisy," I said. Wow, I could have done so much better. I guess I'm stuck with it now.

"Daisy, I'm Megan. It's nice to meet you," she said holding out her hand to shake. I took it.