My Lost Soul

Chapter 21 - Old, Red Spider Lily

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"Who are they all to define humanity? They—they who have thrown away their humanity to fainéant and rudimentary feelings such as hate, greed, and bigotry. They have no right to define what is human. Do you know what I think? We are all the same. "Omega", "Theta", "Lambda", or "Zeta". Those words mean nothing to me. The pressure that comes from these titles are what limit some of us, and uplift some of us. If there is any time to be united, it is now! We cannot watch as our people are tormented by their own race!" The television cut off.

"He makes quite the point, don't you think?" Steele put the phone up to his ear. "Yes. He sure does. Why does it matter to me?" A voice spoke back.

"Because he's returning to Abadd to run his political campaign."

There was a moment of silence, "Returning? What's his name?"

"Izaak Mandel."

Again, a moment of silence. "What is my little brother planning to do?" Her voice sounded blank.

" I'm quite surprised, Sheba. To think you wouldn't remember your own brother's voice."

"Like you have any right to say that. I haven't seen him in 10 years."

"Well, he's returning to his motherland after going on his lavish journey across the world. Izaak has become quite popular—no, not popular. Famous is more like it. I'm guessing the reason you never heard of his campaign is because of censorship."

"Don't talk about that on the line." She sounded annoyed, having to repeat herself.

"The only reason I haven't been able to intervene is because it would seem radical. I mean, think about it. A chief executive of some company wants to seek reforms in Abadd. Although I may be the most influential person in the world, I can't involve myself in national politics outside of Shacia." He sighed, laying his head on his hand.

"I won't need your help anyway, Steele. This works fine for me. If Izaak fails in Abadd, then I'll know what to do." Her confidence was like music to Steele's ears.

"I like to hear that, Sheba. But I don't think he'd fail, his ideals are so strong, after all. So strong that even I feel inspired. Especially after this new "Omega".

"What does that mean?" She sounded annoyed.

"It means I'm going to help achieve his goal!" He stretched his limbs out like a star on the couch.

"You're eccentric." Sheba hung up the call and put her phone on the table. She walked into the kitchen of her house to eat lunch. She ignored the people sitting down in the living room and grabbed a plate of her food. "What are you even going to that grievance thing for?" Sheba's father exclaimed. She ignored his question, "Izaak is coming home to run for president."

"Oh, well that's great. He best not show his face around here, though." Her mother shouted from the living room.

"There isn't room for him to stay here anyway. I'm not staying here any longer either. I'm cutting my visit short." Sheba proceeded to finish her food and as she turned to leave, her mother shouted, "I thought you said you weren't like him! That you wouldn't just go away on some "heroic mission" that you know won't work."

"I said that when I was 15. I'm 26 now. Plus, I only said that to please you." Sheba countered without facing her mother. She scoffed- but didn't persist to make Sheba stay.

Sheba went to her parent's room and searched through the cabinet. After a couple of minutes of searching, the door slammed open. "What the hell are you doing?!" Her father was already red in the face and pumped his skinny arms. "Looking for Izaak's old phone number. Maybe, he didn't change it when he went abroad," Sheba calmly replied as she continued to search through the cabinet. Her father ran up to her, "Thieving liar!" As he moved closer, he felt himself bump headfirst into some wall and fell. Found it, she thought to herself as she closed the cabinet and walked towards the door.

Her father got up from behind her and blocked the door. His face contorted in anger, but also fear. Sheba continued to walk to the door, almost ignoring his presence blocking it. He felt himself get pushed against the door until the door creaked and burst open, causing him to tumble backward. Sheba looked down at him and analyzed his expression, his loose t-shirt, dirty jeans, and messy hair. That was when she knew she couldn't ignore them anymore.

"I've had enough of you all's particularly wrinkled skin." Her father looked back up at her, sweat running down his neck, and fear in his eyes, "You have no power to change anything, so you think your kids can't either. When in fact, it's parents like you who drain the will of rebellion from their soul." She shoved her finger into his revealed neck, the sharpness of her nails digging into his skin, leaving a droplet of blood trickling down his neck. "You could have stopped the cycle, but you didn't. So I've decided it'll be me who finally puts their foot down in this lost place." Sheba walked off, grabbed a suitcase of her belongings, and walked out of the house, slamming the door behind her.