Jusuf took Zaz and Eve to his home, while dad took mom and me to his home. The night-sky smiled down on us with stars and moon, as it was still dark… Dad had a so-called “garage” next to his house, there he had a variety of mechanical knick-knacks, big and small. We parked the skeletons there at least, then went on in. That’s when I remembered Zaz had my clothes… Oh well… The suit looked cool enough anyway…
We were all tired. It was no big surprise where mom would sleep, I had to sleep on the sofa. Wasn’t a bad sofa either… I fell asleep on it, that was good enough for me. I think mom and dad had sex… Can’t blame them…
Having a relationship with your hand is one thing, but I guess the real thing is much better. Two bodies snuggling up against each other… Kissing… Fondling each other sensually…
I want to have sex…
I miss Zil already… She was probably the closest I came to a woman, and I had her within range for a few minutes.
A few freaking minutes… I hope I might meet her again some day, and hope she will still want me when I do.
Now the dilemma will be if either of us meet someone else, because if I do, I would feel I had broken my promise to her… If she meets someone, I don’t know what to believe… It would probably break my heart…
The dream I had that night on the couch, was very confusing.
I met a Moon-Dreamer girl, I fell victim for her beauty and was crazy about her. But I returned to Zil, alongside me was the new girl… That’s when they face each other, then look at me as if I was to choose one of them…
And I had a dream involving sex…
Then I woke up to the rustling of a kitchen.
It was Star… I hadn’t seen her for over 10 years, and she was even more beautiful than I could’ve imagined. Her hair was black now, not red like it was when we were small.
Maybe it was a bit of bad timing to start talking to her when she was cutting bread, but I was too happy to see her again to think of such details…
“Star?” I classically make an entrance from behind her.
She turns and immediately shows how much she missed me. “Who the hell are you?!” The breadknife in her hand shook with… shall we say joy?
“It’s me! Fredrik!” I try to explain. “Wasn’t your fur red?” she shakes her head. “Wasn’t your hair red?” I retaliate.
“Oh…” I’m not sure how long it took for her to understand that I was her brother. She kind of just stood there, looking at me. I wasn’t any better myself. Her fashionably tight clothes, her black hair, her “femininity”, they were all new to me… I guess we were thinking the same thing; “What happened to the person I once knew…?”
“I-uh… got to get to school…” she interrupted our quiet moment. I nodded.
She went into the hall, picked up her bag and opened the door. “Soooo… When did you get here?” she asked. “Late this night…”
We were twins, but it didn’t have to mean we knew how to communicate…
She nods thoughtfully. “I guess I’ll see you later…” she says, I nod and she’s on her way to school.
I have a sister… Wow…
I fumbled about a bit in search of a porcelain throne, but could finally share a burden with the world.
Dad’s got a nice house…
I go back the sofa, try to catch some more sleep before anything happens.
Several hours later, dad felt like waking me…
I was hungry anyway, so I followed him into the kitchen.
“What can I give you?” he says, while digging about the fridge.
Before I could answer he threw a strange, red thing at me.
“Blood-plant. Tastiest, most nutritious vegetable you can find,”
He already knew the answers to my unasked questions…
I sunk my teeth into the soft skin of the veggie, and a cool, thick sauce ran down my tongue. It tasted like sugar mixed with blood, a bit morbid but really good…
“It’s said to boost your sex-life… And you have a girlfriend you say?” He munched on his blood-plant quite slowly.
I swallowed, then answered “No…”
“Liar…” dad smiled. “Her name is Zil, a bit shorter than you, blue eyes, long and fair hair…” “Enough,” I snarled.
As if his description really helped my current relationship with her…
“Oh… I see… You were…” “YES!” I snap at him, he read me like an open book. Too bad he couldn’t help reading out loud…
Big boys don’t cry, big boys don’t cry… Why must I be a man?
Tears trickle down my cheeks… I really loved her… I felt torn up inside…
Dad didn’t smile anymore… I felt he knew what it must be like for me…
Blood-sauce ran down my hand, dad was ashamed of himself. I lick my hand and continue eating, or at least try to. “Is there anything I can do to make you happy?” As if he hadn’t ransacked my soul and knew every little thing I wanted, I started to laugh a bit beneath the tears.
“I was thinking we could take a trip to town, and buy you some stuff,”
I wiped my eyes as best I could. “Sounds great…”
I was tiring of this stupid, black pilot-suit.
It was clear to me that my father never was a good dancer, he was much better at stepping on his partner’s feet…
The day was now ruined… Zil was all I could think of. And when thinking of her, I realized what I would miss out on if I never saw her again. Those thoughts had occurred before, and would taunt me every time I heard her name.
The ten-minute walk from dad’s house to downtown gave me enough time to dry my eyes. We left a note for mom, so she wouldn’t worry too much.
Downtown wasn’t too big. Shops lined up on either side of a road, Star’s school was at the beginning of it. Just as dad pointed that out, we saw her standing outside talking with her friends.
“Good morning, ladies,” Dad opens a conversation. “Hi, Mr. Storm,” The two friends said. Star just smiled. “Listen, Star… You got time to help your brother with some shopping? You know I’m not all into fashion...”
“Well… I haven’t got any classes in… one hour or so…”
“We can do it, Mr. Storm,” the taller and darker of the two friends say.
Dad smiles. “Great, Jool, thanks. As you girls know, I’m a…” “A very busy businessman… We know…” The trio said, and laughed a bit…
Dad pats my shoulder. “Okay if I leave you with these sirens?”
“I think I’ll manage…” I respond. Dad pulls up a small item and holds it to his ear as he walks.
“Why didn’t you tell us about your brother, Star?” Star got a treatment not unfamiliar to me… “Well… He was SG until now…”
They all look at me. The skintight pilot-suit pretty much revealed my physique. “I think he looks cute…” the shorter and lighter says.
I stretched out my hand and introduced myself.
Jool Stone, brown hair and eyes, dark gray fur, about my height.
Careen Kox, blond hair, blue eyes, gray almost white fur, a bit shorter than me. Star I already knew…
“Pity that Kitty ain’t here to see your brother…” one of them said.
Star picks a small gadget out of her bag. “I know… She hasn’t returned any of my calls either…”
Kitty… Now there’s a cute name…
“Who is this ‘Kitty’?” “You’ll meet her soon enough… Let’s hit the shops,” Star took the lead of the small group. I tagged along.
I could feel the girls were dressing me with their eyes…
One good thing about having an influential father, is that all you have to say is “Put it on his tab”.
MD-fashion differed a bit from SG… Boys here were to use baggy clothes, either that or very tight. My choice was obvious. The girls even helped me pick out underwear… The giggling lasted from the very minute I stepped into the first store, till I was on my way home loaded with bags, but I didn’t mind.
At my new home, dad awaited.
“Your mom’s lazy… You know that?” he chuckled. “Snowen was here with your stuff, and some CD’s… And some steroids…?”
“Snowen?” “Zaz, I mean… He helped me fix you a room as well,”
Dad took me and my load down to the basement. “I’ve never really used the basement for much, so you’ll be getting a really big room…”
The basement was divided into three rooms; Stairs, bathroom and my room… It was big…
“We’ll have to do something about the walls, but it’s a bed at least…”
There was a queens-bed in one corner of the room, a desk in the other, and other than that there was a dresser and a stereo.
“On the desk there’s a cell-phone and a wallet from me, and some stuff from Zaz… I’ll go wake your mom…” he said and left.
Now I too have one of those strange things I saw dad and Star holding, a phone… Cool…
There were a few CD’s. The shocking thing was that they were signed… As were the posters. The Red League, Klockwork Foxx, M.A.X., Blue Alliance… All my SG-favorites.
The Red League even wrote me a letter, saying they would like to write a song about ME! They asked if I could write down some emotional factors, good and bad, and they would try to piece something together…
I seriously hoped Zaz didn’t hold a gun to their heads for this.
Mom was lazy, yes, but this time she had a hole in her abdomen. The 20-13 unit was filling the gap, and doing what it could for faster recovery. If Zaz were to use the 20-13 for the same purpose, it would take a minute or so… But he’s got some implants that gives him greater control of it.
It was quite sick to see mom with a silvery worm sticking through her body, but I guess certain people would have paid a fortune to get a piercing like that. Mom didn’t exactly like my new, baggy clothes, but she really liked my black shirt with a white pentagram. So did I…
She was impressed by the size of my room, said I now had “a place of my own”.
I had a feeling that I had missed something, so I checked the drawers on my desk. Sure enough… I found a contraption I mean that I have seen uncle Zaz use sometime, and attached was a message; “Insta-school! Use with caution, as with any of the chemicals I put in your backpack. If you plan on using anything by yourself, please run the field-medic program first. Love, Uncle Zaz. P.S: Keep it away from your parents.”
The Insta-school device looked pretty much like a walkman, even plugged into your ears. So I did it, ran the medic-program…
Suddenly I knew so much more… I opened my backpack. On top, there was a high-tech syringe-gun, further there was half a meter with multicolored vials on a belt. Then there was my stuff, topped with my class-photo and Zil’s “I like you”-note…
I quickly put both things face down on my desk.
I stashed the stuff from Zaz in the middle drawer of the desk, then locked it.
Dad came down to me and said he was taking mom out for a walk.
I suddenly had the house to myself… What was I going to do about it? Nothing… I just took a nap on my bed, while my stereo softly played Red League.
I dreamed of a girl, a Moon-Dreamer, with brown eyes and brown hair, like my own, only longer. We were the same height and fur-tone, and there was a bit of chemistry between us…
We were at a Red League concert, and Zil pops up from nowhere and stands next to the other girl. There was a feeling of déj\xE0 vu in the air… They both stared at me, as if they waited for me to say something…
I never got that far…
School was out, and Star and her gang was rummaging about my room.
How rude… I like them more and more…
What woke me was that Careen kissed me… “Hey, look! Just like the fairy-tales!” She laughed afterwards. As if I was a handsome prince… Heh…
I blushed a bit though…
“What kind of music is this?” Jool was looking at my CD’s.
“Cute guys, though…” Star was taking a peek at my posters.
Careen looks at my SG-class-photo, and the bloodstained note underneath…
“Hey… Look at this…” she says very interested.
The little bloodstained piece of paper was probably most interesting. My guess was that they stood there guessing who wrote it, they whispered and giggled a bit within their circle. Star turns to me. “Where’s dad, by the way?” “He’s out with mom,”
Her eyes widen and her jaw drops. “She’s here!?” “Uhm… Yeah,”
“Why didn’t you tell me!?” “You never asked…” I had an evil smile from ear to ear…
I sat up in my bed. “So who’s your darling, Joon?” Jool asked.
“You…” I said casually. “Cute…” Jool smiled “But seriously?”
Girls had some sort of special security-clearance in my subconscious-mind.
“Alright… See the girl in front of me?” “Yeah…” “That’s not her… Do you see the one who snuck her hands onto my shoulders?” “Uhm… Yeah…” “That’s her,”
I managed to suppress the painful memories seeping into my mind, just so much that I wouldn’t be caught crying in front of the girls.
“Wow…” Jool said. “She’s so pretty…” Star said. “How long were you a couple?” Careen asked. “Five minutes…” I was choking up “Last time I saw her before I had to come here…”
We had a leak in the western part of my top-floor…
“That’s so sad…” Careen said caringly and sat down beside me. I nodded. She put one arm around my drooping neck and rested her head on my shoulder. There was a little comfort in her sympathy…
Damn the random-button on my stereo… Suddenly, the most tragic lovesong The Red League had produced started playing… How cliché is that?
Jool follows Careens example. I’m now a sandwich… Many a boy’s dreams are similar to this, but this is a quite other scenario.
Star’s phone started ringing. “Star here… Oh, hi Kitty. Yeah, sure. We need help cheering up my brother… A-ha… Long story… Yeah, bye…”
“What’s up with Kitty?” Jool asked. “She had a touch of moon-sickness, but she’s alright now. Coming over too…”
Star couldn’t help but feel sorry for me, just like Careen and Jool. They planted me in front of the TV, even brought me food… Those girls sure was something…
“Why are you being so nice to me?” I just had to ask. “Well, I’m your sister… Your problems are my problems…” Star said as we all watched some sort of comedy. “And you’re our best friend’s brother,” Jool said “And her brother’s pain is our pain also…”
“I think you’re too cute to cry…” Careen says and snuggles up against my arm.
I sensed the underlying basics of organized crime radiate between the girls, though a little less from Careen… Or maybe I’m just confusing it with a good heart. I’m not at all used to this treatment. I wondered if their view on me would change if I told them how many guys I’ve killed, but I didn’t dare to find out… Not this early at least… We sat there, silent as mice, staring at the dramatic life of a female, human lawyer…
“Excuse me,” I said as I tore my ass away from the sofa. Nature called.
While standing there, emptying my tank, the doorbell rang. I’m pretty sure Star opened up for Kitty. She had a nice voice, I could hear how she told her friends about her strange dream… Something involving a handsome guy with brown eyes and hair… blabla, “my height,”. While washing my hands I think I heard her say “blood of six on his hands, one on his tongue…”
She couldn’t be thinking of…? Nah… There are tons of murderers in this twisted world. What else did they create that news-channel for?
I came back to the living room, and there stood the girl from that dream… Damn… Her eyes locked onto mine as I closed in on her, as did mine.
I guess it was love at second sight for both of us, ‘cause I was planning on saying a pathetic “Hi…”, but we had already busied our lips…
I could hear Careen whisper to Jool; “Does this mean he’s gotten over that SG-girl?”
That was actually far from the truth, regrettably… I think I’ve said this before, but my life is turning into a soap-opera more or less. I now have two women to choose from, as shallow as it might sound. One chosen by fate, and the other… I guess fate is working against me on this.
When we finally got disconnected from each other, I kissed her hand and introduced myself. “Katania Koru, just call me Kitty,” she smiled. All eyes were on me…
“What?” “Your fly’s open…” Jool smirks.
Fate plays me as a fool… In a game of Russian roulette, I would be the one of six loaded bullets to pull off a flag saying “bang”…
I zip up and sit back down in the couch where I left off.
Between Careen and now Kitty.
Something felt seriously wrong about choosing Kitty instead of Zil…
Don’t know what was wrong, but the feeling was there… I just had to break it off while it was still young.
“Uh… Kitty…?” “Yeah?” “Before we do anything stupid, I just gotta say that I can’t… eh…” It was hard to break the news, as it was quite heavy stuff I was dealing with. “WE can’t get into a relationship…”
“Oh…” Kitty’s sigh was cold and blue. “I’m sorry if this isn’t what you had foreseen… But… Yeah…” I tried to bring a bit warmth to her body. “No, it’s okay…” I could feel it was everything but… “I’ll be there for you, if needed…” I put my arm around her. Tears were in the eyes that looked into mine, both belonged to Kitty. “Thank you,” she says a bit choked and rests her head against my shoulder.
“So this means you’re not seeing anyone for the moment?” Careen whispers in my ear. I put my other arm around her, and she snuggled up against me accordingly. I guessed that it was what she wanted…
I felt like the warm little center of the world where I sat. Kitty and Careen in my arms, Jool next to Kitty and Star lying on top of the back of the sofa…
I wish someone had taken a picture of us in that moment…
We were dropping like flies… I guess Kitty fell asleep first, then Careen followed shortly after. My eyes were getting heavy and blurred, so I guess I dozed off third… Jool and Star joined us eventually.
While out, I felt surrounded by warmth and love. It was a really good feeling, best feeling I have had up until now… I think I dreamt of angels. Angels painting my body with fire, drawing radiating stripes in a quart-circle on the upper-left side of my right eye. I felt more focused. They also dipped my hands and feet in the bowl of fire. Turning them black, similar to a SG’s natural fur. This made me feel stronger.
They blew a kiss at me, released a blinding light.
I snapped out of the dream and found myself still in the sofa, with a girl in each arm. My wish had come true though… Dad had snapped a few pictures of us sleeping on the sofa.
“Congratulations, Fredrik,” Dad said “The angel’s tattooed you I see,”
“H-what…?” I was a bit groggy… I pulled free my arm from Kitty’s weight, and saw my hand was pitch black. Looking down at my feet I saw the same thing…
My eyelids were still quite heavy, this was not a normal kind of tiredness. I could feel it.
“Why am I so tired?” I asked dad. “Hmm… I thought you would be immune to it… It’s nothing serious, Fredrik. It’s just moon-sickness, it’s quite normal for your age,”
I was tied down to the sofa, as Careen and Kitty were clinging to my arms. They were smiling in their own little dreamland, everyone but me.
“Full moon tonight,” Dad said. “Problems sleeping when it’s full?”
I nodded. “Seems you’re more like me than I first thought… You should be fully rested at sundown,” he said and picked up his phone. He pressed a few buttons and started talking.
“Hey, Joel, Joon here… Called to say Jool be coming late… Yeah, one of the girls must’ve had it and spread it. Hehehe… Yeah both my kids look so darn cute where they lay… I have a son too… Oh, a long story. Got a picture of them all together, I’ll make extra prints so you others can get one. Yeah, see you at Z tomorrow? Great, maybe I’ll bring the boy… See ya,”
He was truly become a parent. Even though past the age of eternal cuteness he still adores simple things we happen to do… I like that. I saw a few pictures of Star a bit earlier on around the house. She had truly evolved…
I dozed off again, as dad was about to call one of the other parents.
I felt like I was flying… The free fall, wind beneath my wings…
Then I crash-landed into the real world again, some hours later.
The sky had turned a bloody red, as the sun crept slowly down behind the horizon. I felt rested, charged with more energy than usual even.
The girls were still sleeping. The house was dark and quiet.
Careen woke up, looked up into my eyes and said; “I had a dream about you…” then she smiled. Then she suddenly had a puzzled look on her face. “What has happened to your eye?” “Angels have painted me…”
I knew it made no sense to her, it barely did to myself, but that’s what I said.
“Cool…” she said quite quick.
I tore away from the comfy clutch of sofa and girls, to ask dad if he knew why MD’s reacted like they do when the moon was full.
I eventually found him outside, looking at the sunset with mom. I popped the question, and he just shook his head. “It’s always been a human cliché that beasts grow strong and savage during a full moon, but I don’t think that it has anything to do with our kind,”
I still found it a bit mysterious, as to why MD’s are affected by the moon.
“Nights like these you should try to express your feelings in some kind of way. You might have some loose ends you would like to fix. You get my point?” Dad said telepathically and winked at me. I went to my room. The gray, naked walls, the cold concrete floor, all in all a quite inspiring environment.
I settled down on the chair by my desk, rolled over to the dresser and dug out the pilot-suit. There were two big lumps inside of it I wanted to get out. Eventually I managed to get the silenced SMGs out. I examined them for a while. The clips were marked MegaClip\x99, even had a tiny display showing remaining ammo. 999999 bullets remaining on each. I put the SMGs on the desk and took out a notepad and pen.
TRL wanted a fragment of my soul to fuel their engine of success.
I scribbled down a short summary of my life so far, reminded me of many bad things…
I didn’t think it was any good, and threw it away.
I started over, only this time I started fantasizing about Zil.
Still just crap coming out of my pen, at least in my eyes…
It was strange, I thought, that none of the girls had come to check up on me… All of them seemed eager to get close to me, in many ways.
That’s when a thought struck me…
I put on the pilot-suit, equipped the SMGs, the chemicals and the Insta-School.
I was going back…
Paper did my soul no justice.