Underground

30

Estelle
"E." August prods my cheek, smiling down at me. "Are you awake?"
"No." I groan, flipping over and burying my face in the pillow.
"Estelle, it's Christmas." August whispers, yanking the covers off me.
The cold hits my legs first, making me curl up into a little ball.
"C'mon, everyone's waiting for us." He says, jittery with excitement.
I push myself off the bed, scratching the side of my head.
He pumps his fist in victory, before grabbing a throw blanket from the bed and wrapping it around my shoulders.
We walk down the stairs and into the living room, where everybody else sat.
I sit next to Sam. "I like your shirt."
She looks down at her shirt, which displays a chubby guy with a long beard wearing a fluffy suit, holding up his middle finger. "Thanks."
"Who is it?" I ask.
She raises an eyebrow. "Santa Claus?"
I lean over to August. "Who's Santa?"
Sam chokes on air, then starts laughing hysterically. "You seriously don't know who Santa is?"
"Who is he?" I ask again.
"It's a children's tale, its a guy who watches kids all throughout the year and then brings them gifts depending if they're naughty or nice." August explains.
"Because that's not creepy." I say, raising my eyebrows.
"Yeah it's pretty messed." Sam agrees.
Mary walks into the living room with a tray filled with mugs. "Coffee." She simply says, giving a closed mouth smile.
We all grab a mug from the tray that gets passed around.
Then, she grabs a gift from under the tree for everyone, handing them out.
***
At the end of it all, I got a few gifts, like clothes and jewelry but that's really it.
Now I'm just standing on the porch, wrapped in many layers of warmth, staring into the distance.
"Something tells me you're  not from around here." Sam says from behind me. "And it's not the accent."
I look behind me, just enough to meet her eyes. "I'm from Wiltshire."
"Don't lie." She says. "Maybe you can fool some idiots but not me."
I turn back to looking forward. "And I have a feeling that you didn't get attacked by a two-clawed bear, but I'm not questioning it."
"Where are you from?" She asks.
"Pangaea." I say.
"You're not from the bloody super continent." She snarls.
"The earth is hollow. I lived underground." I start. "I broke the law and got exhiled."
"Prove it." She challenges.
I turn to her. "Do you have a pocket knife of something?"
She reaches into her pocket and tosses a camping knife toward me.
I open it and press it softly to my open hand, before swiping across.
Warm purple blood gushes from the wound, staining the snow below it.
"Oh my god." She gawks, more surprised at the fact I'd just cut myself than the purple blood.
"Now explain the scars." I demand, wadding one of the blankets in my bleeding hand.
"Uh, okay." She murmurs. "I guess I should start from the beginning. My mom was homeless and abducted off the streets by some scientists. Apparently they had been watching her because her genes would go perfectly with the other test subject they'd kidnapped from his farm. Basically, I was conceived in a test tube. They merged my DNA with some falcon DNA, then they put the embryo in my mom. 9 months later my mom gave birth to a mutant, but died in the process." She unfurls two giant brown and white speckled wings. "They were going to train me to be a soldier, but they through me out because they thought I wouldn't fit the role, so they did the classic leave-the-baby-at-a-doorstep. I live with an elderly couple just outside of Boise." She furls her wings into her back. "But if anyone asks, I got mauled by a two-clawed bear."
"Oh." I say. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine." She sighs. "Can I have my knife back?"
I close her camping knife and toss it toward her. "I'm gonna go get patched up."
"You do that." She says, walking inside.
I follow her and walk back into the bathroom, looking in all the cabinents for gauze and bandages.
Eventually, I find a roll of pink bandages. I wrap my hand tight, making sure to tape the ends.
Then, my phone rings.
Logan.
I click the green answer button. "Hello?"
"Merry Christmas, Estelle." She says, her voice full of joy.
"Merry Christmas. How have you been?" I ask.
"I've been good, kinda hoping you'd spend Christmas with Mom, Dad, and I." She says.
"I thought they were away for the holidays?" I ask.
"They were, but my dad wanted to scold me in person." She laughs.
I smile to myself. "I miss them."
"They miss you too." She says, then pauses. "I'm sorry I tried to kidnap you."
"It's okay, I know what you were getting at."
"I seriously think that you should come and see Titanios." She sighs. "He's a nice dude."
"I feel like he'll hurt me." I admit, scratching the back of my neck with my wounded hand. 
"He won't, he's promised so many times I can't even count it on one hand." She says. 
"I dunno, Lo, I feel like I shouldn't." I pace across the tiled floor of the bathroom. 
"Look, all hes said is that he wants to give you advice and some list of names, that's it." She explains. 
I click my tongue a few times. "Will you be there?" 
"I'd have to be there, I'm your sister." She says. 
I stand there for a few minutes. "He used to suck people's years out of their life." 
"I'm aware." 
"He could make me an elderly woman in like four seconds." I clarify. 
She sighs. "I won't let that happen. You know me!" 
"Sure I know you, but I don't know Titanios." I say. 
"Please." She says, desperation clear in her voice.
"I dunno." I say, just repeating myself. 
"C'mon! Please." 
"Fine. I'll join you once we head back to Oregon." I say, before hanging up and slamming my phone onto the counter. What have I gotten myself into?