Zilferia
A Rude Awakening

“Crystal! Time to get up! You need to watch your sister while your father and I are gone!” Mom calls, interrupting the strange but interesting dream I was having. I quickly try to get back to sleep and dive back into my dream, but it’s too late. The dream has already slipped away, leaving behind a feeling of… belonging that I’ve never really felt before. I’m too out of place in my everyday life. I daydream about magical things, and my eyes put people off for some reason. I groan, feeling a strange sense of loss. I quickly shake it off though, knowing my mom will likely lose her patience.

Wearily climbing out of bed, I glance at my alarm clock. “Six thirty?! It’s the second day of summer break! Who gets up this early on summer vacation?” I groan, quickly brushing my long hair and putting it into its uniform braid down my back.

I go to the bathroom, stopping in front of the mirror on the way out. Peering at my reflection, I attempt once more to see what others see in me. Looking back at me is a girl with bright blue eyes with tiny specks of gold throughout. The sixteen year old is about 5’ 9” with brown hair that had lightened nearly to a golden color due to the large amount of sun that it was always subject to. The soft strands reach all the way down to her hips- another thing others tease her about. Why am I so different? I feel normal… so why am I always shunned? I know it can’t all be because I was adopted… I only found out myself a few months ago- no one else even knows.

The girl in the mirror is not wearing very nice clothes and is used to working hard, judging from the holes in the knees of her newest pair of jeans and her unusually muscular body. She doesn’t have huge, bulging muscles, but she’s obviously stronger than all the girls she’s ever met and a lot of the boys as well. She had worked on her father’s farm her whole life, and even though she hadn’t been a boy like her father had always wanted, she always had to do the hard jobs. That’s what made her so strong, as well as her martial arts class she took twice a week after school. Although work on the farm was rough at times, as a scar on her foot from baling hay and another long, white scar on her shin from the skin getting scraped off by an irritated bull could attest to. It was a tough job, but her father paid her well for the work that always needed to be done.

Although she worked even harder and was tougher than most boys, her mom always said that she was the prettiest girl she could ever hope for. Of course, that didn’t really say much because all moms were practically required to say that. She would also comment on her beautiful voice, which she claimed could charm the birds out of the trees- or the boys out of their houses. Although that certainly hasn’t happened yet… every boy I see makes fun of me, as well as the girls. The birds do seem to like my voice, however…

Shaking off these thoughts, I quickly check that I have everything I need to babysit my little sister Kiki- candy to keep her occupied for a while and my wallet, because she will most likely ask to go somewhere and/or buy something. I also grab a pack of gum to give me something to do while she’s playing around.

“Crystal! Aren’t you up yet? We have to go!”

“Yeah, dad! I’m coming!” I reply, quickly grabbing the keys to our old Nissan Maxima and running down the stairs, stopping at the bottom. My parents are standing at the door, waiting for me. They don’t look too happy with me at the moment.

“There you are!” Dad exclaims, opening the door. “We’re running late! Now remember to always keep an eye on Kiki, or she might get kidnapped or hurt.” A sarcastic grin flashes across his face. “And don’t wreck the car, or you’ll have to buy a new one!” he winks.

I watch as they climb into the van. Before my mom shuts the door, she yells out to me, “Be nice to your sister!” and suddenly they’re gone and the house is quiet.

…Except for the slow, soft footsteps behind me. It’s Kiki, trying to sneak up on me again. I’m not worried, but I suddenly have a weird feeling, pushing me to act. I spin around, crouch down, and hold out my arm, palm up, in one swift movement- without me having to tell my body; it almost moves for me. Not even a full second later, Kiki falls onto my hand, screaming. I stop her forward momentum before easing her back to her feet. I admit it’s a little strange, and if anyone found out about these urges I would be the outcast of the outcasts- or possibly even seen as a freak show- but I don’t hate myself for this abnormal ability. After all, it was only because of it that I was able to save someone’s life all those months ago.

Kiki’s brown eyes slowly soften as she realizes that she’s fine and unharmed. She then looks at me, surprise and a little fear lighting up her eyes. “H-how did you do that?!” she exclaims, jumping up and down now, excited. I’m suddenly jealous of the nine-year old’s seemingly never ending energy. “I was trying to sneak up on you, but then I tripped and I thought I was going to break my nose or something, but then you caught me and now I’m safe and how did you do that??” she stops for a second to catch her breath, then continues. “That was really awesome! You must be some kind of superhero… or maybe you’re a good fairy!” This seems to give her an idea. “Hey, maybe we can play a game where you can be a good fairy, and I can be a bad guy who wants to capture you…”

I roll my eyes. I knew she was going to go off like this, but not so soon! I don’t have enough candy to keep her quiet all day! Oh, well. I’ll just have to use it whenever she starts to not take breaks to breathe, I think, glancing at her. She’s starting to foam at the mouth.

Sighing, I stop her and say, “Hey, Kiki. Do you want some candy?”

She nods eagerly. “Yes! Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes…”

“Okay,” I interrupt, giving her a sucker. She quickly grabs it, tearing open the package, carelessly discarding it and attacking the poor candy, devouring it. Before she can finish it, I quickly ask her, “So, where do you want to go today, Kiki? The park? The candy store?”

She’s already halfway done with the sucker, so she decides that she can stop for a second to answer me. “Let’s get the candy first, and then we can play fairies at the park!” Resigning myself to a very long day, I grab my wallet and my driver’s license that I got just a few months ago when I turned 16 and buckle Kiki up in the back of the old car that dad bought in 1994.

I quickly give her another candy, since the sucker is already gone, and struggle with the door on the driver’s side. When the door finally pops open, I climb inside and open the garage door, then try to start the dumb car. It whines and kicks, but eventually starts.

When we get to the store, we go inside- after I give Kiki another piece of candy- and head for the candy isle. Turning a corner in the store, I accidentally plow straight into a guy about my age. He’s a little taller than me with light brown hair that goes down to his ears. He’s wearing gloves without fingers, like biker gloves. They match his light blue jacket. His twinkling blue eyes and charming smile makes my heart skip a beat and blood rush to my cheeks, causing a deep blush to seep across my face.

“Oh!” I exclaim, my heart racing. I shyly look at the floor, noticing that the boy’s groceries are all over the floor- because of me. “Oh! Oh my… I am so sorry!” I apologize. “I’ll help you pick up your things.”

“Thanks,” he says as we bend down and start picking some of them up. I carefully lift the lid of a carton of eggs and breathe a sigh of relief that, miraculously, none of them were cracked. They must have had a soft landing on the loaf of bread. “It was my fault, really,” the boy sighs. “I wasn’t watching where I was going. By the way,” he continues, “I’m Brandon. What’s your name?”

“C-Crystal,” I stutter, my cheeks still bright red.

Brandon laughs. It’s a beautiful sound. “Well, C-Crystal,” he jokes, “Do you have any plans tonight?” Stunned, I shake my head, not even thinking about how I have to babysit Kiki all day. “Great! How would you like to go and watch a movie with me? There’s a good show on at the movie theater at six fifteen. Meet you in the parking lot there at six?”

“Oh… okay,” I say, still stunned, the situation not having completely registered in my brain yet.

“Great!” he says again, picking up the last thing and helping me stand. “Here, just a second, I’ll give you my number,” he murmurs, pulling out a scrap piece of paper in his pocket and scribbling some numbers on it. “See you then!” he calls, walking away after I hand him his things. I simply stare after him for a while, trying to figure out what just happened as I clutch onto the paper. I hear a familiar little voice chattering in my ear again, piercing the haze that my brain seems to be in.

“Crystal, can I go with you too? Please? Oh please oh please oh please please please please…” Kiki! I completely forgot about her! Oh no! This will ruin everything! What am I going to do with her? I can’t let her come with me!

Thinking quickly, I tell her, “Maybe, but don’t you want to go to the park and play? That would be a lot more fun!” This seems to satisfy her- for now. And while we’re there, I can try and figure out what I’m going to do!

After I buy the candy, we hop back in the car and head to the park. Although she keeps trying to get me to play fairies with her, I finally get her to go and play on the playground with the other kids while I watch from a bench.

After a while, I decide that she’s safe and having fun, so I relax and lay down on the bench, closing my eyes. Listening to the sound of the birds singing, I let go of my worries and lay back on the bench. The laughter of little children playing and adults talking fades away as I unknowingly slip into a dreamless, peaceful sleep.

Suddenly I get a feeling that something is wrong. It jerks me from my peaceful nap and I quickly sit up, glancing at my watch. It’s nearly noon. I’ve been asleep for almost two hours! I quickly stand up, looking around for Kiki. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a black van pull up, followed by a white one.

Everyone else is gone, the park is empty. The others had probably gone home to prepare for lunch. I search for Kiki, my apprehension rising. I finally replace her curled up in the bottom of a slide, sound asleep. As I walk towards her, I notice a group of large men dressed in leather flowing from the two vans that pulled up. They are heading towards me. I sprint over to Kiki. Feeling bad, I gently pick her up and turn to go back to the car, hoping to escape before the men get too close.

When I turn, I take one step and run into something big and hard. Up this close, I can smell sweat and leather. Backing up a step, I can see a black leather jacket. I look up- right into a big, red, mean-looking man’s face. Around his neck is a black collar with sharp studs sticking out. Gulping in fear, I turn to run, but there’s another big, tough looking guy blocking my way.

We’re trapped.

Trying not to panic, I turn and wake up Kiki, ignoring the men beginning to surround us. I try to keep her calm, although my own heart is racing so fast I think it might jump right out of my chest any minute. “Uh, Kiki,” I whisper to her, “Time to wake up. I… need to show you something.” Fortunately, she wakes up quickly and doesn’t see the men surrounding us. Unfortunately, the thugs now decide to act; and the first thing they do is take Kiki away from me. One second she’s there, and the next she’s not. One of the thugs starts tying her hands behind her back and gagging her. She doesn’t resist, still confused and groggy from sleep.

I can’t do anything for a second because I’m paralyzed with fear, but then I spring into action. Leaping at the man tying Kiki’s hands behind her back, I quickly recall what I’ve learned about fighting people that are bigger than me- specifically men that are bigger than me. Running up to the thug, I do the first thing I think of and kick him in the fork of his legs. He falls to the ground with a grunt, releasing Kiki. She looks okay, but I don’t have time to check on her, seeing as I have bigger problems at the moment.

One down, three to go, I think, ready to finish off the rest and go home. But before I can move, I’m grabbed from behind. One big hand is pulling my arm behind my back and forcing my hand up toward my head, while the other is holding a knife to my throat, the icy blade stinging against my bare skin.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a deep voice warns. I freeze, pretending to acquiesce and submit to him. He grunts, happy that I’m no longer putting up a fight. What he doesn’t realize is that I’m really just waiting for a good time to strike. While he’s busy tugging me along, to one of the vans I noticed earlier, I suppose, I look around and quickly make a plan.

Now I just need a distraction… Even as I’m thinking this, I hear a car coming. Yes! That should work! But I’m quickly caught off guard as the thug holding me suddenly lets go of my neck and jumps to the side, ducking behind a large hedge to hide from the car. I fly after him, my arm being pulled so hard and fast it dislocates. It hurts so bad, and the pain is so unexpected, that I immediately start to scream, high and loud. But before I can get out much, he clamps his hand over my mouth. It’s pushing back so hard, I can’t move my jaw at all, and my scream comes out more like a choked gargle.

His hand is also covering my nose, so I can’t breathe. I struggle to take a breath. I can feel my body begging for oxygen- my lungs are threatening to burst. Then I start to get dizzy, purple spots swirling in front of my eyes. Getting desperate, I start kicking one of my legs back, trying to hit the thug behind me. With every kick, I get weaker. I CAN’T BREATHE. Now past being simply desperate, I hurt so bad I actually believe, wholeheartedly, that I am going to die.

Now completely overwhelmed with fear, the fear of death, I try to think through the panic, the pain. But it’s impossible without air. Right before I pass out, I swing my head back, hard, in a last, desperate attempt to live. I feel my head hit his, and then there’s a sensation of falling. After that, I don’t feel anything at all.