~ LAST CHAPTER OF PART ONE ~
A/N - REYNA WAS BORN IN 1994. FLASHBACK IS IN 2006
"Only bad books have good endings.
If a book is any good, it's ending is always bad - because you don't want the book to end."
― Pseudonymous Bosch, The Name of This Book Is Secret
(TIME PERIOD : 2006)
C H A P T E R T W E N T Y - F I V E
FOR HER TWELFTH BIRTHDAY, JASON AND REYNA WENT TO GO SEE THE BABILONIA BROTHER'S TRAVELING CIRCUS.
There was many reasons to have a deep affection for the circus where weird and odd people were praised as jewels in the Sahara desert and magics of all sorts tumbled through the closed shutters of the stage. Reyna went down the stairs with her pass in her hand and Jason's pass in his. They gave their tickets to the man in the booth with grins filled with excitement on their faces as Hylla led them inside the circus.
Reyna's hair was pulled down and strapped with two bobby pins included with a brand new striped shirt and jean overalls that Jason teased her on since she appeared to look like a farer but Reyna liked her clothes so she ignored his halfhearted teasing.
She watched in wonder, her eyes gazing around the scenery as if she had never seen anything like it in her entire life. Which she hadn't since this was her first trip to the circus. The acrobats flew across the sky and she looked fixedly at the lions as they roared while the crowd shook with a mixture of awe and fear. She chewed her lip, her eyes widening,hands shaking as they held her bag of popcorn, as the tightrope walker tiptoed across the tightrope with her leotard, her eyes completed with concentration and Reyna imagined the lady falling (but she never did.)
After the show, the two of them held out all their coins and counted them out in all and went out to play some of them games. For a few minutes, Reyna and Jason worked together with the toy guns to earn a stuffed animal until Jason said he had to take a short bathroom break. She ate her pink cotton candy and walked around the place. Families passed by her with their kids' faces covered in face painting comparable to a cat or butterfly.
Since Jason had gone off, Reyna decided to inspect the area without him. Finally after a few minutes of looking, she gave up and made her way toward a tent in big purple letters written as CASSANDRA'S PHYSIC & TAROT CARD READING.
She pushed the curtains backed as they jingled, the light beaming on the supernatural glitters covering the area. The small room was dim lighted except for a few lit candles and a weird globe seated on top of a circular table covered in purple silk. What Reyna guessed was supposed to be a gypsy of some sort who seemed to be named 'Cassandra', was on the chair smoking a pack of cigars.
Seated on the table was a globed ball and Reyna noticed it was a Crystal ball like the ones in the movies. The lady's head was covered with jewelry and a scarf covering most of her black hair and in her hand a cigarette. When she saw her come in, she squished the cigarette into her pot and clapped her hands together as the brackets wrapped around her arms jingled.
"My name is Cassandra." The lady spoke; cue the thick and abnormal accent. Her voice sounded husky and the accent was most definitely fake. Her face was elegant and narrow, her cheekbones prominent and her eyes a green color. Reyna suspected the husky voice came from too many cigarettes.
Reyna looked around the area once again. "Are you like a mind reader or something?"
She titled her head to the side,nodding. "I do that too but so much more."
Reyna chugged out the coins from her overall's pocket and counted them out in her palm. "How much do I pay?" She asked, watching the very peculiar lady. Reyna had never seen anyone like her, much less dressed in the garments as hers.
The lady shook her head and raised her hand up again. "Worry later. Sit down now."
Reyna grabbed a seat and scooted it closer to the table. Reyna adjusted her position and folded her arms gazing around the room.
"So?"
"Patience." Cassandra licked her lips.
"Is Cassandra your real name?"
"What, you gotta be kidding me? Of course it's not. Name's Betsy." She said and her accent disappeared and Reyna's perspective of the place changed but she guessed it was too late to leave.
"Anyways." Betsy--or fake Cassandra--trailed her voice going back to her stage accent. "Let's do the reading, yes." She grinned as her teeth flashed and Reyna's body shivered at instinct.
Betsy noticed her worried look.
"Child you have nothing to worry except for your past actions or the actions you will do in the future. Or as we say in Romania, Cine s'a fript cu supa, suflă și-n iaurt. A burnt child dreads the fire. In other words, Learning your lesson after the deed has been done." She put her hands on the crystal ball barely touching it, her fingers traveling across the surface in the air as if the globe was the Earth and she was slowly earning its power.
Reyna didn't believe her eyes at first when the ball started to glow and she gazed at it in awe. Thousands of the thoughts past through her and she couldn't believe what had happened. Betsy was concentrating really hard--Reyna could tell--since her eyebrows were creasing and her mouth was a firm thin frown.
"What do you see?" Reyna asked, leaning in.
"Patience, kid. This stuff takes time."
She waited as the lady went on with the usual hand movements across the sphered figure. But then, Reyna knew that something must be up since she spotted a plug attached to the globe mostly hidden from under the silk.
Reyna pointed at the plug. "This is all a fake! A phony!"
Betsy widened her eyes. "No,no it's not! Really, I swear. Look!" and took the plug by the hand. "It's for the lightening, dear. That's all."
She had enough. Reyna got up from her chair and started to walk away before the ball started to beam again but this time, a vision of her and another girl she had never met before came up. She widened her eyes. Disbelief. Amazement. This-this couldn't be possible, she thought.
"See? Cassandra never does this phony." Betsy's eyes gleamed and the light in the room started to darken and Reyna's eyes were only capable to spot the crystal ball.
Reyna took her seat, holding on to the chair, her hand shaking.
"Wait, is that me?"
Betsy pressed her finger on her lip. "Watch and listen."
Reyna looked at her future self and the other girl.
The two were speaking and she was only getting brief words from what they were saying.
"...Piper kissed..." The girl with silky black hair said.
Reyna responded with more tears. Her cheeks were stained in tears and the asian girl was next to her as Reyna took a seat on the chair. The place looked like a hotel. The background was filled with music and dancing. Reyna's eyebrow's creased as she looked at her future self. She didn't like the fact that a stranger was seeing her crying even though she hadn't technically cried yet.
Then, the scenery changed. She was running away before she bumped into a guy. Reyna's heart beat on her chest. The boy's hair was blonde sided next to a pair of blue eyes. She would know that face anywhere. It was Jason.
She watched as her future self run off again and the scenery changed once more. This time, she was at Mc Donald were the news on a big screen TV that Reyna had never seen before in her entire life was starring a strange man in BIG HEADLINES: TRISTAN MCLEAN IS SENT TO JAIL AFTER THE CHANDLER PLAZA INCIDENT.
Reyna couldn't believe her eyes and a giddy feeling passes through her that she gets to see the future even though it consists of her crying, running away from Jason, and eating at McDonalds.
After that, she was in the household and her future self looked like a wreck more than ever. Tangles of her hair are matted wet and her cheeks are streaked with ruined makeup. She limped inside her house shutting the door behind her as it makes a loud smack-
Then, the crystal ball's light shut down and they were left with a regular store brought cheap physic ball decoration. Betsy cleared her throat and motioned her hand for Reyna to give her money. Reyna took out her coins from her pocket but Betsy shook her head.
"Real money. I don't want those cheap coins."
"I don't have money." Reyna said in distress, looking down at the coins.
Betsy frowned. "Fine. Call that a birthday gift or whatever but this is the last time I let anyone-"
"Wait." Reyna interrupted. "How do you know it's my birthday?"
Then, Reyna's thoughts shut down and everything went dark before the lady could answer. Reyna rubbed her eyelids finding herself seated on the couch with a coupon for APHRODITE COUPLE COUNSELING next to her. She didn't know were it came from and even though there was an unlikely chance she would need it during this age, she decided it would be best to just keep it since who knew when she'd need it? Reyna found Jason waiting for her in the front of the ticket booth with a worried look on his face. Then, he turned his head and noticed her as his eyes' widened.
"Where have you been, Reyna?" Jason frowned. "I've been looking for you everywhere and I almost called the police officers."
If she told him that she didn't remember, he would tell her she was bluffing and she didn't want him to get any more worried as he was already. Instead, she apologized.
"I'm sorry." Reyna said quickly.
Jason finally nodded his head and handed her a monkey. "After playing one of the games, I finally got one. Here, I guess you should have it 'cause it's your birthday and everything."
"Thanks." She took it from his hand and glanced down at the monkey and rubbed its face with her thumb.
◎◉◎
"IS THIS TRULY THE END FOR TRISTAN MCLEAN OR THE BEGINNING CAREER OF A CRIMINAL. PIPER MCLEAN, TRISTAN'S DAUGHTER WILL BE WITH US SOON-" WAS THE FIRST WORDS REYNA HEARD WHEN SHE WALKED INTO MCDONALDS AT TWELVE AM IN THE MORNING.
The boy at the cashier shut the TV with the remote on the counter as the television shut down and was left with a blank screen. Everyone in their seats groaned with annoyance and turned their heads away from the flat screen TV connected to the wall. She fumbled into the store, barely managing not to trip on her feet. As usual, McDonalds was packed with people watching the TV attentively and groaning in annoyance as the boy closed it.
"They were just getting to the good part!" The man sitting on the booth said with a frustrated look on his face.
"You came here to eat not watch!" He said back and rolled his eyes.
Reyna walked over to the cashier. She was a sight to say the least; ruined dress, tear-stained cheeks, flip flops, and drawnly strands of hair that were once straight. The fast food restaurant made her body shiver and she rubbed her arms to keep warm.
The boy at the cashier was about her age perhaps one year or two years younger. He had cropped curly,brown hair with a McDonald retail hat on his head. His eye color was an ashen black color and his once olive skin was a sickly, pale color that could only mean from to many hours on the computer or that he hung out with the dead.
"Welcome to McDonalds. How may I take your order?" He said, his voice sounding like a recorder. She glanced over at the tag on his uniform attire that wrote 'Nico'.
The boy glanced up at her a quirked in eyebrow. "Long night I take it?"
"Party."
She said, thinking that one word was enough to explain everything and it was because he replied back with an understanding look on his face.
"Drew Tanaka's party." He nodded his head as if he understood.
She paused for a moment. How would he know about Drew Tanaka? She quirked in eyebrow as realization hit her. He went to her school. She had seen him a few times. Well, Reyna actually rarely saw him. Hazel said she had an older half-brother but he always was cooped up in his bedroom playing with his drums and doing some other teenage stuff.
"You go to Trojan High School?" Reyna frowned,already knowing the answer as he nodded his head.
"Not everyone went to her party. And I'm kind of glad. I mean, did you just see the news? It pays to be a nerd." Nico smiled but his expression went quickly back to his ego state.
In ato himself than turned back to retail mode. "How may I take your order ma'am? I recommend the Big Mac since it's a prized choice in-"
"I'll take the big Mac and a Mc Shake or whatever you call it."
"The Mc Shake is no longer in stuck." He muttered. "Sorry about that."
"I'll just get a Coco Cola." Reyna said after a moment of thought.
"Wait a minute, you were at the Chandler Plaza Hotel?" The lady seated in the table not far from her asked. She eyed her carefully, taking in her attire and licking her lips. "So, you know what happened?"
"No," Reyna shook her head. "I left before that all happened."
The lady's face fell as if she had hoped for some news of some sort but was left with what she had before; a half eaten Mc burger and an empty coke bottle.
"Now, wait just a minute Lucy. Let the customer be." Nico frowned at her direction and Lucy turned away quickly.
"Sorry about her, she just wants in on the gossip." He whispered, then added in. "But now that we've gotten to that, have you see a kid named Will by any chance at the hotel? Is he okay-not that I care but is he?"
The kid chewed on his lower lip. Reyna didn't know how to answer and she could tell he was waiting for one.
"I-uh." Reyna had almost told him she didn't know but she stopped herself. She closed her eyes for a split second before speaking again. "Yeah, he's fine."
His face brightened and her stomach twisted, hoping that not only was Will okay, but everyone else. She couldn't imagine what he was going through this moment so instead she patted him reassuringly on the shoulder and Nico didn't know it then but that would be the last time he saw her.
◎◉◎
REYNA THREW HER HAPPY MEAL INTO THE NEAREST TRASHCAN AFTER SHE HAD FINISHED ALL OF ITS ESSENCE INCLUDING THE LAST FRENCH FRIES AND THE PICKLES IN THE BURGER SHE USUALLY TOOK OUT. Her feet stumbled across the street barely missing their step as she tried to keep her balance before she fell. She might as well had been drunk. She felt drunk although she wasn't exactly sure what it meant to be intoxicated or what it should be like. Whatever she had assumed it would be like, this--whatever it was--seemed ten times worse.
The happy meal fell into the trash can and if Reyna's hearing was failing her, it sounded like some sort of a animal was in the trash can. Unfortunately, she was right and a chipmunk jumped out of the bin giving Reyna a fright as she let out a screamed. She crashed to the fall from her hopeless balance, rubbing her sore heels and pulled herself up from the ground.
Reyna should be going to the Hotel at this moment meeting up with her sister but she couldn't--not with her being in such a state. Her sister would most definitely kill her or ground her for the rest of her life. But she knew that wasn't what was stopping her.
Reyna Ramirez Arellano was homesick.
Her house hadn't changed since the last she had left it; cold and empty. She pulled the key from under the cactus in the front patio and unlocked the door with the key, turning her hand until Reyna heard a satisfying, click. Her eyes gazed around the room, her feet touching the chilling floor as she walked aimlessly toward the kitchen were she opened the fridge door with one hand.
Searching with her other, she looked for something to eat which was ironic because she went through all the rush just to get McDonalds, only to stay famished? Leaving hotels made her hungry, she suggested to herself. It made sense because it consisted of a lot of running away from people and sucking in her stomach to put on the dress. Reyna made a mental note in her head to take it off as soon as she could.
I'm stupid, was the first thought in her head that came up.
No, I said remind me to take this dress off later not to tell me I'm stupid.
But you are stupid.
I'm stupid.
She heard the faucet's sink turn on as she flipped her head around in confusion and fear as the realization came to her like a flying baseball; it was too late.
Triplets of water fell down from the faucet and onto the sink, making noises as it dropped on the plates. Her eye's narrowed. Her body tensed. She closed the fridge door as silently as she could. Someone else was here. She was for certain of it. And the only reason they would turn the faucet sink is to let her know they were here. They wanted to be known. Fear crawled up her spine like a spider fastening their teeth against her neck.
The first act of business she did was close the faucet since it seemed like the practice choice to do. Reyna fastened her hand on the faucet and closed it, relief hitting her like a wave as the sound of water cleared to silence.
Dead silence.
"Dad." Reyna whispered and a whisk of air passed through her; cold,lifeless air.
Her dad is a ghost.
Julian Ramirez Arellano is a certified villan of this story; complete with an awful background and a wife who left him. He eats off of people's fears until their dreams are nothing but left ashes of hopeless memories that were once remembered by the sweetness of summer days to the coldness of winter nights. But not only is he a villan, he is their father.
She turned her head as if the voice inside her head at read out her ending to her and she knew what was going to happen next. Reyna knew all along somewhere inside of her that beat loudly like a clock hammering through secrets in her mind. They had always been their but Reyna had never been ready to listen to them until now.
"I'm going to have to kill you. For my safety and yours." Julian said in a very serious voice. "As the member of the US Military, you have done your country good." And he shot the first bullet in his pistol straight through Reyna's already broken but strong heart.
She didn't blink.
A single tear dropped down her cheek and she let it lay their.
Two tears dropped down her dad's cheeks and they stayed their like a wine stain on carpet.
"It's your turn Reyna to get in the closet." He whispered in a soothing voice and used two of his ghost fingers to pick her up and lay her gently inside the closet.
END OF PART ONE