The mistery of Haruna's Star - 40 first chapters

35

Haruna sat down on the wooden chair, looking at the closed door. Her face had the same expectation on it as the day that Harun met her for the first time.

"Is Harun coming?" -I asked

"Yes," she said.

"That's strange because he didn't tell me anything."

-"It won't take long now."

In a matter of minutes someone knocked on the door. Three quick raps, the code Harun used when he lived here with me.

I did not expect to see his face so gaunt, with those enormous dark circles. From the moment he said "hello" I felt that his voice revealed another Harun, one who did not know himself. He greeted me coldly. That did not bother me, but it did affect me that he hadn't greeted Haruna. He picked up another wooden chair and sat down in front of her.

"I need information, Haruna. The beeps are assailing me every night in my dreams. They affect my work, the relationship with my girlfriend, my whole life."

Haruna raised her eyebrows, not knowing what to answer. She bit her lip. It was the same attitude a six-year-old girl would have if one of her parents rebuked her when she did something wrong.

"You know us, but we do not know you. Your genetics are strange, the crystal that Diana told me about is strange. Your appearance in a basket, the message in it. There must be something you do not want to tell us."

My daughter lowered her head and for the first time I saw she was nervous. This made me afraid because Harun was partly right. What if she was hiding something from us? I have always been a very trusting person and Harun was the one who helped me see people more thoroughly. When we were a couple, I almost became a friend's business associate and Harun did not stop until I abandoned the idea. Years later my friend had swindled her partner. That happened to me more than once with Harun, so his mistrust towards Haruna hurt. The possibility that he could be right hurt me.

"I still do not know what I'm looking for, but I know I'll find it, I have to gather information," Haruna said slowly, her voice low and her eyes lowered. My intuition told me that she was being sincere, but at the same time, how could we be sure?

All these days I have lived without worrying about understanding the existence of Haruna, because I wanted to live it fully, to recognize her as my daughter and to teach her everything I could, but I never saw all the possible scenarios. Was it not possible for the crystal to be a dangerous weapon?

"I do not believe you, girl! You're playing with us!" Harun raised his voice so loudly that Haruna covered her ears and closed her eyes tightly. "You need to survive for now, right? When you become a woman and no longer need us, you could probably kill us all!

"Harun, don't talk to her like that," I said quietly, but firmly. I was playing close attention to Haruna. In a matter of seconds I came up with the wildest thoughts. What if she took the crystal out of the pot and electrocuted us all?

"I do not believe you, girl!" Shouted Harun, and Haruna started to cry like a baby, turning red, drooling helplessly, always covering her ears. I hugged her immediately and rubbed her back. Out of the corner of my eye, I looked at Harun with a frown.

"Get out," I said, still hugging Haruna. Harun shook his head and left without saying anything. The whole scene had affected me, but not as much as the fact that I was embracing my crying daughter for the first time. Since the first time I saw Haruna in her basket she had never shed a tear. She is human, after all, I thought. She could cry and be affected by other people's behavior.

Above all else, Haruna needed me. Her energy had connected to my energy, as if she had come out of my belly, or created a parallel world where I was her biological mother. I could not doubt Haruna anymore, because I was already part of her.

She slowly stopped crying and almost fell asleep on my shoulder.