Chapter Twenty Nine : 

The Warning / 

We returned home safely, unbothered by whatever else was creeping around the forest. The thought hit me as soon as I stepped foot on the deck and was about to go into my house. "Wait... We need to bury Mirai." I stated sadly. 

After searching for about a half hour, we still hadn't found her. "This is ridiculous, she was just here." I fretted, pacing back and forth in the area we had last seen her in. "See, this is definitely where she was." I gestured to the flattened and stained grass. "I'm not crazy..." 

"Of course you're not," Dolion assured me. "It's late, we should get back so you can sleep."

I had this weird hollowed-out feeling as we walked home for the second time that night. Something wasn't adding up, I just didn't know what. Nothing in this twisted world made much sense, but I had some foreboding feeling about what had been happening these past few days... And what these events would lead up to. 

When we got home I brushed my teeth and changed into pajamas; a peach colored oversized T shirt and soft shorts trimmed with lace. I was almost too tired to brush my hair, but I didn't want to deal with it in the morning. After brushing it, my pale hair lay long and straight over my shoulders, shining in the light above the bathroom mirror. I didn't hate seeing my altered appearance now, I thought my dark purple glittering eyes were kind of pretty, my long blonde-white eyelashes emphasizing their color. I wondered what my parents would think of me looking like this. Would they accept me, or would they hate me? Would I change back to the way I used to be after I fixed all of this?

The questions are always endless ( I know how this works ), so I had to choose to go to my room and rest. When I opened my room door, I sighed. I had everything everywhere to clean up before I could sleep. Shattered mirror pieces and my broken lamp, books sprawled out along with my torn curtains and other objects I had thrown. I yawned and stepped in to get my blanket and pillow. Then I went out and shut the door. 

Downstairs, I lay on the sofa across from my parents. I tried not to pay them any attention but failed. I got up and sat between them, not sure if the tears would come or not. I peered into their fogged-over eyes, wishing they'd just come out of whatever trance they were in. If I really focused, I could still smell my mother's perfume, light and floral; like a cloud of honeysuckle. I laid my head on my father's shoulder, breathing in the laundered smell of his clothes. I felt safe here, but... Was I? My parents couldn't do anything to protect me. I could hardly even protect myself, I relied on Dolion.

As if it heard my thoughts, Dolion walked into the living room. "Can't sleep?" 

"Well... My room is kind of a mess, so I came down here instead." 

It nodded. "You miss your parents a lot. I'm sorry - I know that causes much of your emotional distress."

"Yeah. But it'll be okay, I'll figure things out and my parents will return to 'normal.' Everyone will."

 We sat in silence for awhile. "I'll try sleeping in my parents' room - I don't think I'll get any sleep in here." I said. 

"Goodnight." It told me.

I got up from the couch and stood in the doorway for a second, not sure if the words I planned to say were the right ones. "I love you," I murmured. 

It looked over at me, no visible emotion in its eyes. "I love you too." It replied, its silver eyes glimmering and that small smile on its mouth. 

Maybe the decision to sleep in my parents' room wasn't the better one, because as I lay there, all I could envision were memories. Pillow fights in the morning, the time I made them breakfast in bed and accidentally burnt the toast. Almost every night, before I went to sleep, my mother braiding my hair as I sat on the edge of her and dad's bed. My father reading me stories...

Glowing letters on the wall in front of me wrecked my train of thought. "LEAVE. NOW." They were composed of the gleaming butterflies that used to surround Mirai. I wondered why they would still associate with me, because she was gone, but I could sense the urgency from their letter formation and I knew I had to go. 

I got out of bed to get Dolion, but they blocked the doorway. "Why not?" I whispered. "RUN." Was their only reply. I heard clattering from the front of the house, and my mind raced as I tried to make the choice. Then it wasn't just clamor, but that awful humming, reverberating off the walls of the house. I opened the window and jumped out of it, sprinting into the woods and not looking back.