© 2020 just_cait_here
"Deep Talks and Family Stuff."
•••
Kenya POV
I was going soft.
This wasn't good. Not at all.
I knew Makoa was a good influence on me. Ugh. And the worst part is after that kiss...
Well, I sorta wanted to kiss him again.
But I knew better than to try, after how he reacted last time.
I mean, I completely understood.
There was no way in hell I was his type and than there was that tiny little detail of my immortality and never being able to settle down or stay with him through old age and shit.
It's not like he was my type either. I liked the fun ones, who would be up to whatever meaningless crap I had cooked up to go do, or would be good with a little game of Dare or Dare.
Makoa wasn't that type.
So he wasn't my type.
Than why was he so.... so magnetic?
I was drawn to him like a moth to a light.
I needed to hurry up and find his sister.
The sooner I got away from him the better.
I didn't want a replay of the 1940s if I could avoid it. After that little incident I decided relationships weren't, and never would be for me.
Once again I got the urge to feel where the gash had appeared in my head.
When I had felt the warm blood on my fingers... my heart had skipped a beat.
It gave me so much hope that finally, finally I could end this all.
But of course it hadn't worked.
For the first hundred or so years of living I had wondered why the witch would ever consider immortality to be a curse.
Than I began to realize just how terrible it was, but determined to turn the jinx into a blessing I made the most of it.
But how much longer can I keep this up before I go batshit crazy?
Maybe I should do what Sir William said. Move into headquarters, befriend other immortals. But there was just something about the mortals. The way they lived was so much different, everything moved so quickly, adrenaline in every step.
I'm sure to them it didn't seem like it, but their lives were so fleeting when put into perspective.
Which made every little decision, every little bump in the road so impactful, whether they realized it or not.
"Kenya! Watch where you're going!" Makoa yelped.
I blinked, swerving to avoid a dead skunk in the middle of the road.
"Oops, my bad. I was thinking."
"Amazing, what a rare event! How blessed I am to have witnessed it!" Makoa says sarcastically, popping open a tube of Pringles.
"Gimme some," I reach my hand out, wiggling my fingers expectantly.
"Fineee," he places a stack of the chips in my hand. I smile, dumping them onto my lap and popping one into my mouth.
"So," I start, chip crums going everywhere, "tell me about yourself, kid. I've told you a bunch about me, I deserve to learn more 'bout you."
"Like what?" He looks at me suspiciously.
"Just about your family, your school, any drama." I wiggle my eyebrows.
He rolls his eyes. "You already know about my little sister. It's me, my dad, and her. Basically all there is to know about my fam."
"Lies. I fricking told you I was burned at a stake. Trust goes both ways my dude."
"Yeah and I don't exactly trust you..."
"Ouch." I say in a joking tone. But if I'm being honest that kinda hurt.
Did I really come across so brash, so reckless? Ah, who am I kidding?
Of course I did.
That was kinda my whole thing, how I kept myself safe. Guess it really worked, wow.
"I will find out eventually. You're still stuck with me for seven more days at the maximum, maybe one or two more minimum. You haven't even seen me at my worst yet."
He visibly shivers. "That's concerning. You're concerning."
"Eh, not really. So spill the tea, Ma-Ko-Ko."
He sighs. "Fine, fine. Only if you stop asking me questions."
"Deal."
He takes a deep breath, ready to begin his story.
•••
Makoa POV
Was I really just about to tell this girl I had just met a story I hadn't even told any of my friends?
Was I really trusting Kenya- of all people- over everybody else who had ever asked me about this?
I guess I was.
"My mother was the sweetest woman I've ever known. Her name was Daisy Marie, and thanks to her all my memories from early childhood were wonderful ones. She always knew how to handle things, had the widest smile, the loudest laugh.... she was perfect." My voice cracks the tiniest bit and I have to clear my throat before continuing.
"When I was five years old she suddenly disappeared. We were led to believe that he had been kidnapped, but once the search began traces of her DNA, as well as pieces of her clothes were found at the base of a cliff near our home. Bear's DNA was found as well and it was concluded that she had fallen to her death, only to be eaten by a bear." I surpress a shiver.
"I can still remember the day when the cops came knocking at our door, telling my father, sister, and I that the specialist woman in our lives was never coming back. I was devastated. Dad and my older sister Nova were more so."
Kenya reaches out and places a hand on my arm, her eyes softer than I've ever seen them before. "I didn't realize your story was so... I mean, you don't have to keep going. I understand."
"No. No I need to tell somebody." I say, and she nods.
"Dad began drinking a lot, staying out late. Whenever he was home I would have to hide in my room, door locked. Nova, nine at the time, fell into depression. She wouldn't smile, wouldn't laugh, wouldn't eat. Thankfully this only went on for a few months, because things started to look up. Dad met another woman. She was young, beautiful, and sweet. Not quite so amazing as Mom was, but a close second. Her name was Anna."
I smiled, recalling her laughing face and sweet voice singing Nova and I to sleep. "Anna and my father got married fairly quickly, and things seemed almost back to normal. We were happy again. And soon our happiness only escalated when we found out Anna was going to have a baby."
I'm interrupted by the crunching of Kenya eating a Pringle.
"Oh. Sorry." She mumbles, chewing quieter.
"The baby was born a few weeks early, healthy and adorable. Her name was Brianna Marie, after both of my wonderful mothers. Only, I guess our family was cursed. Anna died shortly after Bria was born. I was six years old, Nova ten, our little sister just an infant."
I clear my throat again. Sad as all this was, I was younger than, couldn't comprehend most of this. But the rest of the story... I could remember every little detail.
"If I thought it had been bad after my mom died it was twice the heartbreak after Anna's passing. Dad struggled with his alcohol addictions, Nova became a whole different person, a person I didn't know, and I was left to the task of taking care of baby Bria."
Now for the worst part...
"I was seven years old when it happened. A few days after Bria's first birthday, the day that Anna died. Nova was missing."
Shit, my voice was quaking....
"The police found her body, a broken bloodied mess, and the base of the same cliff we lost Mom to."
I close my eyes, pushing the mental images away.
"For the past ten years it has been like it is now. Dad our drinking on the weekends, absent on the weekdays, me taking care of Brianna, and dragging flowers to three different graves, graves of the people who meant so much to me... so do you get it now? Why I have to find Bria? When I say she's all I have I'm not kidding.... she's literally the only sane family member I have left."
Kenya didn't say anything. Her face was blank, completely so. Like a stone carving.
Than I remembered.
She had lost everyone over and over again for thousands of years.
If I was shattered after losing Mom, Anna, Nova, and now Bria... what would it be like to keep losing people?
It would get to the point where you would just hate everyone. The amount of trust issues, nightmares, the weight of loneliness.
"Kenya?"
"Yeah?" She looks at me, blinking.
"I'm sorry. For everything I've said. I've just been caught up in my own problems, my own life, I didn't consider the sheer amount of shit you've been through."
She sighs. "There you go apologizing again. Makoa, look. I chose this. I chose it when I was a kid and didn't change my ways. I chose it when I refused to go live at headquarters and befriend those who were also immortal. I've chosen it when I've adopted family, made friends... fallen in love. I chose every single one of my heartbreaks. So don't apologize. Just focus on finding Bria."
•••
Tiny bit shorter than usual today. Daily updates are not easy my dudes, but I'm doing it! Yay!
Lol I drew this at like 4:00am because I was insanely bored. I haven't drawn in awhile so I'm very rusty... but eh it's cute. Not my usual style either but cute.