"What do you think happened last night?" I heard a girl whisper from behind. She was talking to her seatmate. I think their names were Kelly and Harriet. The other girl, Harriet, hushed her loudly but continued to talk about it nonetheless.
I was already inside the classroom, waiting for five minutes to be over so the class can start. Although it probably would not, since Mrs. Pace always wants to be late so she doesn't have to wait for the late students.
"The beta's son is really something!" Harriet whispered loudly and I hear her hiss in pain. I wondered what a beta is. Was it some kind of title? It didn't seem like a name. Would Sam's emergency be connected to this?
I shook my head lightly at the thought. I should not meddle into the business of others. I sighed and stared out the window to distract myself from the whispers of the people behind me. The weather today was quite gloomy, looking like it was about to rain. I was thankful that only a light breeze was present for I did not have anything thicker than what I was wearing. My home kept me warm all the time so there was never really a need for thicker clothing.
The windows were closed and yet it felt like I could feel the breeze creep up my skin through the gray sweatshirt that I was wearing. My hair seemed to want to sway with the wind despite the coldness my body would feel. I only watched as the wind tried to break off small branches to no avail.
Carter arrived later on, but spoke very little. I could tell that he was bothered about something. He glanced at me and smiled but it did not reach his eyes. He looked exhausted, as if he did not get to sleep last night.
"Ramona said that you'd probably need to buy some food soon." Carter spoke after the morning classes. We were already on our way to eat our lunch. Ramona was right, I was contemplating yesterday to ask Carter where I can get some food since there were only a few canned goods left. I just couldn't ask since I was thinking where I could get the money. My father had taught me that everything could already be bought with money.
"Father, what are those small green papers?" I pointed to the thick stack of papers on his desk. It had a face on top with numbers on the side. I observed the details inscribed on it.
"These are called money, pumpkin." Father picked one up from the top of the pile and handed it to me. He let it drop on my open hands. It smelled strange and funky.
"Can you write on money?" I asked, noticing there there were only little blank spaces left on it. It seemed that the details were printed and each one of the papers were identical to the other.
"No," he gently took the money off of my hands and lifted it directly towards the light bulb. A very light image appeared on the largest blank space.
"Whoa." I whispered and Father gestured me to hold it myself. I observed every line that had appeared. It was not as shiny as the printed details on the surface but it was still fascinating.
"Money has value in the outside world, Alina. These numbers tell so. The bigger the numbers are, the more value it has." Father pointed to the biggest numbers on the paper. It was a 100. I nodded and he pointed to the disappearing image.
"In the outside world, there would always be something hidden. Either you look for it or you ignore it."
I stared at my father's face which looked strangely in pain. He was trying to cover it up though. "Does everyone in the outside hide something?" I asked and my father nodded. "What are you hiding, father?"
"You."
"Hey, are you okay?" Carter tapped my shoulder. We were already at the line. I did not even notice that I was already holding a plate. Carter must have handed it to me and I took it instinctively.
"Yes, sorry." I smiled and nodded. I proceeded to get food with Carter following. I wanted to look behind me to see if Sam and Amon were already sitting on the usual spot.
But they were not. Carter noticed my look and went on ahead to sit. I took a seat as soon as I got there. "Are they not in school?" I asked Carter who was about to take a bit of his burger. He did bite first and looked at me. He swallowed like he did not just take such a big bite.
"Yeah, they had business to attend to." He said with an apologetic look, which I replied with a smile. I began to ate as well. "Anyway, you probably did not hear me awhile ago but I'm taking you shopping. There's a small town nearby and--"
Before he could finish, I nearly choked on what I was eating. Did I hear him right? "What?" I asked with wide eyes. He looked at me like I had done something strange and gave me a bottle of water. I heard it crack as I twisted the cap open.
"Ramona told me to take you since we can't buy your groceries for you. We don't exactly know what you need." Carter explained and I nodded, distraught. A wind blew past us and I shivered very lightly at its touch.
"Would..." I whispered but Carter did not seem to understand it well. "Would it be fine for me to go there?" I asked in a clearer voice. My father's words echoed all over my head, making my head ache. I miss him even more. Although my father is not here nor will he know that I would be going out, I did not want to worry him. I had hoped I would be less of trouble to the people around me and my father who might already be worrying about me.
"Yeah, Ramona told me that I should take you as fast as possible so that you won't be uncomfortable." Carter sent me a small smile and he resumed eating. It was nice of Ramona to say that but I was already uncomfortable even when we have not gone to the town yet. "If it makes you worry less, the town is small so there'd be very few people."
I merely nodded at Carter's words, trying to process the information. I needed to calm myself until later so I would not mess anything up. I had already been trouble enough for Sam yesterday and I would not like to trouble Carter as well.
Would this really be alright, father?
Father had told me to trust Ramona. I know that and that should help me ease my nervousness. Yet, my father's worried face flashed in front of me and I was reminded of the scene where I had tried to escape my home without my father's knowledge. I missed him terribly and I hoped he would be here to guide me as he always did.
I slowly resumed eating my lunch, not wanting it to go to waste. As I took a bite of the strange green-colored pasta, I remembered something important. "Carter, I do not know where I could get money from." I voiced out and Carter nodded.
"Don't worry, Ramona gave me money." Carter took out a small thing from his pocket. It was clearly not money and I craned my head slightly to observe it. Has money changed this much? It was not even paper anymore, much less green. There were no figures on it, just a line of numbers. It had very little design and seemed to be in a solid gold color.
"Is that how money look like already?" I simply liked the paper better for it had a more desirable appearance. Carter laughed and handed it to me. It was hard, clearly not paper anymore. It was also maybe about less than half the size of the paper money I had seen before. I flipped it and saw a strange solid black line across it and some small letters that stated the owner's authority over the card and what to do with it if found by someone else.
"It's not money, but it contains it." Carter explained, having me even more confused. The thing clearly did not open and it was so small. "It's called a card and you can only access it with a machine." What Carter had said finally made sense. I did not know that there were already things like these. It was amazingly convenient. With this, there would be no need to carry such huge stacks of paper money.
Is the long line of numbers its value? The value was huge, reaching billions. Such a huge difference from the one I held before. I immediately gave it back to Carter. Such important things should not be handed to anyone. I wondered if Ramona was really fine with this. I already have so much debt and I wonder if I should buy something for her.
I slowly ate my food and Carter happily got another as he waited for me to finish. I felt exhausted from the nervousness and worry that I could not brush off of my mind. My father flashed inside my head, making my heart ache in longing.
"As long as you live, you will stay hidden."
YOU ARE READING
Ethereal Mortal {DISCONTINUED}
Werewolf"As long as you live, you will stay hidden." The words constantly rang into Alina's mind. She was not against it since it was her father who said it. It seemed like a last will. For as long as she remembers, she has always been at their huge home. T...
