The Run-In

Eclipse

"Serris?"

I groan when a pounding headache crashes through my skull like a wrecking ball.

"Serris, wake up. I need you to hear this."

Ugh, the sounds hurt. I want to fall back asleep and never return.

"Shit," hisses the painful voice, making my ears ring. "You looked him in eyes, didn't you? Shit!..."

What? Who'd I look in the eyes? What are eyes? Ha, eyeballssss. Those are silky. I-I mean silly. Jimin is silky. And silly.

"You're an eyeballll." I drawl drunkenly, pointing my quivering finger at Jimin's enraged face. "Angry eyeballll."

"Why couldn't he stay away?! God, that ass—"

My head rolls back as I continue to giggle and snort, and soon I'm back in the cozy world of sleep.

•

Blinding lights and hushed voices flash by in a blur, the sounds all mingled and muffled together. I catch glimpses of the real world around me; glittery porcelain stars, cascading jewels, golden tiles and golden hair. Is this the real world? I don't know anymore.

"No, father, she is not a threat to us! She herself is in danger, and we need to protect her!"

Sharp voices jutt into my comfortable bubble, bringing back the pain in my ears and brain. I squeeze my eyes shut, the blinding glow of the room hurting my eyes.

"Her being in danger is a danger to our people! Don't you see that?" insists an orotund voice with with a timbre as deep as the ocean. "I simply can't allow it."

"Just because she is one person and our people are many does not make her life less important. The individual is equally as significant as the community."

"She is not a member of our community, child. She is human, which makes her invariably insignificant compared to us."

"How could you say that? You should be cherishing glorious humans like her!"

"Enough!" A booming noise resounds throughout the room. "My statements are final and utterly irrevocable. You will have her returned to her home by tomorrow night."

"I will not stand—"

"Am I clear, child?"

Silence fills the void in my ears.

"Yes, father."

"Take her to her sleeping chambers for now. I will discuss my disappointment for you once she is far away on Earth. I assume you will remain here at your real home after that is done?"

The speaker hesitates before muttering, "Of course, father."

"Excellent. Now leave— I do not wish for you to stand in my presence. You will be dealt with accordingly the next time you are."

Strong arms sweep up my limp body with a gentle gracefulness and carry me out of the tense atmosphere into into what seems like a garden. I hear a trickling fountain somewhere in distance, and the air smells crisp and pure, somehow like... vegetation? It smells like plants and leaves and water, soil and bark and sunlight.