Hometorius : Coming Home

chapter 41 : A Striped Swimsuit

Marylin POV

It took me a moment to recover from the shock.

The Faceless Woman is my mother? The Faceless woman is Katrine Allworld, who has been dead for a few, if not a dozen generations? And what does this strange pain in the back of my skull mean? Why is everyone lying to me? And I just wanted to be a normal teenager. Partying every day, stupidly falling in love, doing drugs, maybe getting knocked up by some handsome guy... And now? I have to be on my guard all the time, avoid Victuvius, and constantly wonder who to trust. Life is unfair. I'm not an Existus at all. Nor am I an ordinary Hybrid. So why do they expect me to behave like others? I guess there's such a thing as freedom of choice, right? I chose to be the only representative of Marylinosis and just let it be. I've had enough of all the lies.

I walked slowly to the wooden door and pushed it forward. It didn't budge. I tried again. Same result. "What's up with this door?" Irritated, I was about to hang my whole body weight on the handle when the lock in the door gave way. "Ah, right, of course. I can't see the "pull" sign anywhere". I've been in a situation like this before. Even before I knew that I was what I am.

I went to a toy store with Kate once. I remember it as if it was yesterday. We were standing by a bookcase with singing porcelain birds and from under the entrance we heard that our moms had gone outside already. We didn't care, after all it was a toy store. A paradise for a few-year-old kid. We went around all the shelves several times and suddenly a young saleswoman approached us, I think she was an intern. She wasn't wearing the blue uniform like the other workers, but a green one. She smiled at us warmly when she asked if we were lost. And we, how stupid of us, we started to scream at the top of our lungs that our moms were outside, and they could come at her. Her face - priceless. I will never forget it. Her eyes almost came out of her skull. And her jaw dropped to the floor. Literally. It's true that she crouched in front of us so she could see us well and hence was closer to the floor, but that still counts. Shocked, she left, and we, pleased with ourselves, moved briskly to the door, holding hands. Small, plump hands. In those days, even my hands were not so bony.

Then I noticed a wonderful doll, bigger than me, but Kate walked past it. She left the store and I stayed. After a moment, Kate, with her nose glued to the window, started waving in my direction, urging me to come back. So I went to the door and pushed it with all my strength, and nothing happened. I was weak as the weakest dad jokes. I took a few steps back for better impact and ran into the delicate glass, but even that didn't work. The young intern was already walking towards me to help me, but I glared at her, and she turned back. I looked at my mother and Kate was literally rolling on the ground, laughing at me. She was pointing her fingers towards me. I thought that maybe something funny was behind me, that caused her to behave like that, but I turned around and found it was myself she was laughing at.

So, I went to the door again and grabbed the handle. As luck in disguise, I stumbled over a protruding corner of the carpet that was typical for such shops, and wanting to catch my balance, I tightened my grip on the handle. Despite this, I landed on my butt, but I also managed to open the door. I was so happy. I also remember that all the way back home Kate tried not to look at me. That was because whenever her eyes rested on me for even a split second, she would get a laughter attack, so strong it was hard to describe.

And as I was reminiscing about the old days, the first ray of sunlight fell on my face. I didn't sleep all night, and I didn't even feel the slightest fatigue. If I took a nap, I would certainly be more exhausted than I was now. Although with my illness, I shouldn't overstrain myself.

I carefully sneaked my hand through the door, and nothing happened for a moment. It was only after some time that I felt like someone poured boiling water on it. My skin was burning, and I don't mean it figuratively. There was live fire on my hand. I quickly whispered 'Icetorius' and my irritated skin got covered with a delicate layer of frost. "Excellent". Agis was supposed to take this charm off me but looks like he changed his mind. Katrine was here too, and she did nothing. "I guess I can only count on myself". I reached into my pocket, where, I don't know where from, I had my pen. I joyfully took it out and turned into a wand.