Vylt: The New Dawn

Chapter 12: Doubts

Having reached the lake, we decided to spend some time resting under the shade of the trees and enjoy nature. At least that was the idea. Mary wouldn't let Allison, Anna, and Lily alone with her incessant questions about their new appearance, and Mom still had her phone ready, waiting for the best moment to take a picture. Dad was the only one relaxed enough to lie down on the soft grass and take a nap.

Allen sat next to me at the edge of a small pier, and we admired the view together, far from all the rabble. My brother then leaned back on his hands and broke the silence. "Nice little garden you've got here. Pool and all."

I smirked and kept looking forward as I answered. "Yeah, I can't complain."

Silence came back after my reply. For a couple of minutes, his eyes kept shifting between the lake and me. Although his head never stopped facing forward.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, concerned by the unusual silence.

Still refusing to move, he asked, "How are you doing? With your changes, I mean."

This question again...

My answer had actually changed since Lily asked it. I gave him a reassuring smile and replied, "I had some bad moments, but I'm mostly okay with it now. It's a bit scary how easy it was to get used to it after a while. I won't lie, I think the virus itself played a huge part in that. Being able to see the changes as they happened probably helped me a lot, too."

"Okay with it, you say?" He made another pause before finally looking my way. "So you don't want to go back to how you used to be. Not at all."

I didn't like the way he phrased it, nor his tone. "I don't think it's possible to go back even if I wanted to. Do you... do you hate my appearance?"

"What!? No!" Allen shouted and shook his head. I looked around, but no one seemed to be listening to us. I couldn't see Mom, though I could tell by the crunch of the occasional leaf or twig that she was still too far to hear us.

"I just don't think you're being honest with yourself right now. I'm worried for you," he added.

"Honest?" I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure how to say this..." He scrubbed his face and looked down. "I've always admired you, sis. I know I don't show it, but it's the truth. You used to be so cheerful and positive; always trying to help someone." He chuckled. "I still can't understand why you never turned me down when I asked for something, considering how much I teased you. I guess I took you for granted. This last month without you has been the weirdest. Probably in more ways than one."

That took me by surprise. We got along most of the time, but this was the first time he ever said something like that. In fact, I couldn't remember the last time he used such a serious tone with me.

"When I got home that day and found out Mom and Dad left you somewhere in the woods, I panicked. They told me you were sick, and that you wouldn't be the same when you came back. The strangest part was that they were barely concerned about it. Can you imagine Mom acting so indifferent?" Not giving me time to answer, he continued, "Even worse was that whatever they had seemed to spread to me shortly after. Was it magic? The government? Did someone mess with our heads?"

Should I tell him it was Jack's doing?

How would he react?

"No matter. Honestly, I'd rather not know the answer. I'm just glad that, whatever that was, disappeared the moment Jack told us your transformation was almost over. We were truly excited to see you again. Then we came here, and all I saw was..."

I immediately winced and shrunk to myself, trying to hide my demonic features as best I could. Seeing this, he slammed his hand hard on the wooden floor. His voice rose. "That! That's what I'm talking about! All I see now is a kid who is too afraid of whether we, her own family, will accept her appearance or not!"