[Legacy of a Martyr #2] Liberation from the Masquerades (A Key Keepers novel)

Episode 87

I didn't feel like eating when I woke up this morning, so I went to the front room to lay down on the couch. After a few minutes, my stomach began to hurt. That wasn't fun.

I groaned and rolled onto my side. Why was it hurting? It wasn't that time yet, so I didn't know.

The pain didn't keep me from falling asleep, but I wish it had. What would come wasn't fun, and I wished it hadn't.

I found myself in the bedroom I hadn't foot in for four years, maybe five. It was the one I had slept in when I was a little girl. Zane's bed was still in this room. I hadn't seen it in six or seven years. Mom and Dad took it out after he was gone.

Even now, I could remember it clearly. His sheets were blue and had elephants on them. His bed was a mess, but Zane didn't usually make it unless our parents told him to. It was one of his least favorite things to do.

Zane shot me a glare. It reminded me of how Masquerade was around Marsh... "Oh, it's you..."

A squeak escaped my throat. Zane had never spoken to me like that before.

"So?" He crossed his arms. "What to do you want, little runt?"

Tears dripped down my cheeks. "Zane..."

"What do you want?" He turned his back to me. "Do you even miss me? You haven't visited me like this in months!"

Of course, I did... I bit my lip. How could I ever not miss my big brother? He loved me and went out of his way to protect me from all the scary things.

"Well?" His eyes were cutting into me with knives I couldn't see. "What do you have to say for yourself, little girl?"

My lip quivered. I wanted to tell my brother I loved him and always would but couldn't. I just couldn't.

My eyes shot open. I was back in Alain's house. Zane was gone again...

Duke and Marsh were watching me from across the room. I could feel a chill. They were worried.

"You alright, kiddo?" Duke came over and knelt beside me.

My mouth opened but no words would come out, so I still couldn't talk. That was always frustrating...

Marsh got down next to Duke. "It's alright if you don't want to talk. You don't need to."

They held their hands out.

Since Duke asked the first question, I'd answer him first. I cut words to make this easier, but I basically told them I had a bad dream.

"Oh?" Marsh brushed my hair out of my face. "Was it about Zane?"

I nodded.

"Can you tell us what it was about?" Duke asked.

I took Marsh's hand since he was more used to me doing this. I told him about the house and our room and how the dream Zane wasn't being very nice to me.

"That doesn't sound like fun." He gave me a hug. "You know you don't to think about him all the time to love him, right?"

I nodded again.

Duke gave me a hug. "Are you ready to have breakfast?"

I spelled out later and smiled. I didn't want it since I just wasn't hungry yet.

"Okay." Duke patted my head. "Come find me when you're ready. I'll make you a nice meal then."

I laid back down and the boys left. I stayed there since I felt like being lazy.

Phoenix came up and sat beside me. "Feel better?"

Since I didn't feel like talking, I used telepathy. 'Yeah.' I smiled. 'I'm glad Marsh and Duke were there when I woke up.'

"What was that thing you were doing before?"

I tilted my head. 'What thing?'

"That thing..." He furrowed his eyebrows. "Were you writing on their hands? I wasn't sure since I'm not great at letters, but that's what it looked like."

I nodded. 'When I get nervous and stuff, I'm not very good at talking. That was what I did to get around it.' I furrowed my eyebrows. 'Since we have phones now, maybe it would have been easier to talk to them with mine...'

"Maybe."

I wish I had thought of that when we were talking. It probably would've been less time-consuming.

"Could you show me what my name looks like? I wanna see how that works."

What his name looked like? I didn't think that was quite what he meant to ask. It would be hard, if not impossible to see it written like that. Still, I didn't mind doing this when he was helping me better with my powers.

This was when I finally got my voice back. I spoke slowly as I traced the letters. "P-H-O-E-N-I-X."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "My name is weird... T's shown it to me before, but I thought it started with an F..."

"It sounds like it should." I laughed. "The word 'elephant' is the same way." I spelled it out the same way. "E-L-E-P-H-A-N-T."

"That is so weird..." Phoenix grabbed a nearby pen and scrap of paper. He scribbled something down. He held it out to me. "So, this is what my name looks like?"

I lifted my head. My eyes got big. It wasn't very straight, but it was clear enough that I could make out the letters. "Yeah, it is..."

"I have to show this to Ain and T!" His eyes were sparkling. His eyes looked even more like a fire than they usually did. "They're going to be so surprised!"

I blinked a few times. I was sure they would. I had no idea how that even happened. Of course, I was happy for Phoenix, but why would that happen now if nobody else could get him to do that?

Since my head hurt thinking about that, I went to find Duke. I wanted to see what he had in mind for food. It sounded like he had something special in mind. That made me super interested.

***

Thoughts? Theories? Predictions?

~Shino out!