AI debut

[safeashouses]

I was no stranger to waking up disoriented and in new and unusual places but this was a stretch even for me. I had grown used to the island, the ins and outs of it, and while it would never be ideal (I was missing some very important members of my family, after all) it was something that I could live with. If nothing else, I felt guilty that I had a place that was safe from Souls and any other external threats where I could live openly as a human and not have to worry about getting hijacked again.

I had a little hut with a garden that I shared with Wanderer and I spent...an inordinate amount of time with Nick and for the first time since the Souls first showed up on earth, I was happy, relaxed and free to do anything I wanted. So of course that all had to come crashing down on me, didn't it?

It started with disappearances. People were being snatched up left and right and I lived in constant fear that Wanderer or Nick was going to be next. I didn't know how to ensure that they would stay on the island with me because it seemed like the disappearances didn't care about families at all; a mother might disappear and leave her children behind, a father next. I didn't want that for my little family, small as it was, and I didn't know how to stop it.

So I fought. The only thing I have ever known how to do in my short life was fight and I took my aggression out on Nick's heavy bag more often than not. I didn't put a dent in it, thank god, but between the two of us it got plenty of work. I had just finished working it over something good and had headed up to the Compound for a shower when it happened. One second, I was pulling open the door and expecting the fresh, cold air of the air conditioning to hit my sweat-soaked face and the next I was faced with air conditioning...but not the right room.

Instead of the haphazard quality the Compound always had with so many people living there and using it at any one time, this was a cool, quiet hotel lobby. There was a clerk at the desk and a few people milling around and I panicked, remembering the night I had originally been caught by the Souls when I was trying to hide my brother. Was I back home? Were these people or had they already been caught? I ducked around a corner into a hallway and backed up, running straight into a laundry bin full of dirty towels. Great. Even better was the fact that I had been spotted and I instantly cast my eyes down, hoping they hadn't noticed I was missing the tell-tale ring around them.

Maybe I could just hide under the towels until everyone left.

Comments

[tenthlife]

"You and me both," I agreed. "At first, I thought I'd died back in the caves and this was another part of the after life you kept thinking about when Walt and Wes died. But that thought ended pretty quickly. It's just more of the same weirdness."

I looked at her closely. Smiled. "I missed you, Mel."

[safeashouses]

"Missed me? I've barely been gone," I said, confused as to how she could miss me if I had only seen her a few minutes ago and then came through the door to this place. It couldn't be more than a few minutes, could it?

[tenthlife]

That confirmed what I'd thought - that she'd come straight from the island just as I had. I didn't know how to account for the time difference, but at the same time, I didn't know how to account for being here in the first place, so I wasn't going to worry about it too much.

"I haven't seen you for a long time. You disappeared from the island. I had thought you'd stayed at Nick's but when I went to see you, he said he'd been alone. We searched, but we both knew. It felt like a very long time, months probably, and I stepped through a door and found myself here."

[safeashouses]

It was the one thing I never wanted to happen. I never wanted to abandon Wanderer or Nick, whom I had only just gotten to know in the context of a relationship. I couldn't figure out how to express myself without making incoherent noises of rage so instead I grabbed my sister and folded her into a fierce hug.

[tenthlife]

I managed a soft "oof" sound when Melanie's arms came around me, but then seconds later my arms were around her as well, returning the embrace. I decided then that I wouldn't tell her any part of my reaction after she left the island. It wasn't something she chose to happen, she didn't need to know all the details. It was still strange to me, being able to keep secrets from Mel at all without intricate walls built in my mind.

"I'm so glad you're here."

[safeashouses]

"I'm sorry I was gone," I said, still immeasurably guilty about that even if it wasn't something I could control. It didn't matter. I didn't abandon my family, ever, and I had done that by leaving the island and leaving Wanderer and Nick behind.

"I wish I could say I would never do it again but I don't know if I can promise that."

[tenthlife]

"You're here now, that's all that matters," I promised her with a smile that, as always, caused my eyes to leak. I reached up and brushed the liquid away with a watery laugh. "I still don't have the crying thing under control. Maybe it's just the body, but it seems to be the default setting."

[safeashouses]

"Some people just cry easier than others. My body is notoriously hard to make cry," I said, priding myself on that point. "But yours? It likes to cry, I guess, and there's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with feeling everything as strong and as passionate as you feel them."

[tenthlife]

"I remember," I smiled ruefully. "It was, and still is, the most unusual feeling, being in a body that doesn't react the way I'm used to. More unusual, even, than waking up as a different species. There are all these expectations of what I can do, than end up frustrating me. That's getting better, though, with time."

[safeashouses]

"Maybe someday you'll figure out how to make it do what you want," I said, laughing. "Otherwise, you can cry whenever you want. I'm not offended."

How could I be, when she was my sister?

[tenthlife]

"I've almost reached the point where I've stopped apologizing when it happens. I still do at first, but if it happens again, I just shrug. If the other person can't handle it, then that's on them, right?"

[safeashouses]

"You're finally learning how to be more like me," I said, proud of her. Standing up for herself and thinking about herself first is something that I wouldn't ever associate with my sister but I'm glad she's started it.

[tenthlife]

"Maybe I'm finally getting a little more human, huh?" I said with a smile, one that pulled the corners of mouth up the way very little had in a long time. "Better late than never?"

[safeashouses]

"As human as it gets," I agreed. There was nothing more human than being selfish, though I wouldn't tell Wanderer that. In her case, being selfish was good because she gave and gave of herself until she had nothing left.

"Congratulations on being like the rest of us."

[tenthlife]

I laughed then and hugged my sister tight. "I should probably show you around a little, see if we can get you a room close to mine." I paused. "Or closer to Nick's? He's here, you know. I probably should have told you that earlier."

[safeashouses]

"Close to you," I said without much thought. "Nick can find me easily enough and I would rather be close to you if you need me."

[tenthlife]

I smiled and nodded, happy to have her close. The room next to me is empty. Or, I think it is. I've never seen anyone coming or going from it. I can introduce you to the few people I've met here if we see them. Maybe even Eric."

I pulled out my phone from my back pocket and checked the time. "Might be too early for that, though."

[safeashouses]

I arched a brow. "Eric? Who's Eric?" I was always wary of my sister meeting new people I hadn't personally vetted yet and this Eric was one I couldn't have, since I had only shown up. How many people had taken advantage of her in the time she'd been here and I wasn't?

[tenthlife]

"He's a friend of mine here," I respond and then remember, a little late, Nick's reaction to Eric. I sighed then and turned back to Melanie. "And if you're anything like Nick, you're probably going to get angry about him, but I don't want to hear it."

[safeashouses]

"That's a little feisty," I said, equal parts proud and wary as to why she would immediately say I wouldn't like this guy.

"What's his deal, then?"

[tenthlife]

I thought for a moment about lying to her but I knew that wasn't going to work. I couldn't lie to begin with, and I especially couldn't lie to Mel.

"He's a vampire," I said on an exhaled breath, then wondered. "Do you know what that is?"

[safeashouses]

I had heard of vampires back when we still had movies and they were something made up to be scared in. "Are you kidding me? You're friends with a vampire? He's not feeding on you, is he?"

I feared the answer was yes.

[tenthlife]

"He's not as bad as you're thinking, Melanie, and he's terrified Nick is going to turn up one day and break him in two. He, Nick, had about the same expression on his face as you do right now when I told him Eric was the first person I met when I came here."

I was avoiding her question and we both knew it, but I wasn't going to answer what she already knew.

"You should at least meet him and give him a chance before you decide to start getting angry about it."

[safeashouses]

"I'm going to be angry about anyone taking advantage of my sister," I said, absolutely livid. The idea that Wanderer could be hurt or taken advantage of pricked at me and I was glad Nick, at least, seemed to be looking out for her interests even if she refused to.

"Thank God for Nick."

[tenthlife]

"He's not taking advantage of me," I replied, knowing I'd have about as much luck convincing her as I did Nick. "He told me everything about what he was asking, he even tried to dissuade me on more than one occasion. But I can help him, Mel. How can I not?"