"I can't believe we ran all the way here..." Myah muttered between pants, her arms flopping like noodles beside her.
Ryann responded with a smile as he leaned forward wearily, his calves reprimanding him for sprinting for so long without stretching first, promising hell come morning.
"And you two are still late." An unmistakable tone of fire growled menacingly from the front door. Rebecca’s lips churned at the sight of the pair, arms crossed, foot tapping, an apron on as delicious scents poured from inside the mansion. "What," she shot a cold look at Ryann, "have you two been doing?"
"No-no-no-nothing!" Ryann stuttered, the color again drained from his flesh, his arms held up tall as if cops were interrogating him.
"Nothing. At. All." Myah gave a tight smile as she headed toward her guarding, a sort of tartness in her voice.
"It better had been nothing."
A new voice, with more rage than Rebecca’s fire and more bitterness than Myah’s smile, purred from the shadows. Out from the darkened forest slinked forward a tall shadow with a heavy step.
As if by instinct, Ryann’s muscles tensed as he held out an arm between the two women and the suspicious figure as it exposed itself to the light of the mansion.
Ryann’s arm fell limply to his side, as the figure unveiled itself in the light. "Dad..." He muttered flatly at his father whose eyes blistered with the embers of a burning ship at sea.
His father responded with a practiced smile. "Didn't I tell you to stay away from this girl?" He fired a look at Myah who trembled at his shot. "And what do I find you doing?"
Ryann's brows creased together in a tight knot, as Myah averted her gaze from his father's icy glare.
"Now get away from her or, so help me, I will kick you to the streets for good!" Ryann’s father spat through tightly clenched teeth.
Ryann didn’t budge, his gaze unfaltering in battle against his father’s. The world silenced as if straining to hear swords clashing in their soundless brawl.
"Now you listen here, Mister! Don't—”
"No, Rebecca..." Rebecca snapped her lips shut at Myah’s sudden interruption, facing her foster daughter quizzically. Myah turned with a tight, forced smile. "Ryann," she took a step back, her usually candid gaze hidden behind the shadows. "You should go home. You shouldn't even have come to see me if this was on the line."
Ryann quickly turned to face her, a heated response at his lips.
"Go.” She cut him off sharply, before he could say anything more. “You need your real father more than you know. And...maybe we shouldn't hang out anymore." Her voice didn’t even tremble behind the dark mask. It spoke with as much confidence and stride as her unending smile.
The world doubled over. Ryann felt the last of his breaths escape his lips, his chest caving and his organs sinking to his soles, his whole body suddenly going numb.
"That's a great idea Myah, was it? It’s been a while." His father gave a faux smile to the shrinking girl as he grabbed Ryann's limp arm. "And make sure you stay away from my son." He spat out with flames as he pulled his lifeless son back down the hill toward town in the darkness.
Ryann trekked on in a zombie-like manner, in disbelief of what she had just said, quietly praying in his null mind that it was all just a hallucination.
As soon as the pair had disappeared, Rebecca reached for her daughter who had hidden herself in the darkness. "Myah? Where are you?”
"This happened last time, too..." she answered curtly, her voice finally wavering with emotion."Back when we were kids, his dad did the exact same thing on the first day we met..." Rebecca sniffled down her coming tears, followed by a hard swallow. "I guess things will never change. It doesn't matter if he's my best friend just like my mom and dad told me. It’s like I don’t belong anywhere!" Myah cried out harshly before dashing down the hill into the shadowy forest despite her sore legs.
Rebecca gasped in confusion, unknowing of what had just happened in the dark. “Myah? Myah?!” she cried out vainly, trotting out of the gorgeous mansion and stumbling into the unfamiliar front lawn.
Myah never stopped, her steps light and graceful, as if she had known this forest all her life, until the feel of foliage blended into the soft, welcoming sand at the lip of the ocean, and the crashing waves urged her closer.
She walked along the beach for hours. Tears streamed down her cheeks onto the sand or onto the lapping sea beneath her feet, or were trapped by the wrinkles of her shirt. She continued her march until the lands shaped themselves to the place she had recognized from her childhood, a place where she spent a lot of her time when she had no one to call friend.
Finally, in the lonely moonlight, the island set into the nostalgic scene. A grassy cliff pulled out towards the ocean whose waves were like fingers reaching towards the top, greeting her like an old friend. Myah's heart lifted ever so lightly at the welcoming sight.
She trailed to the very top before settling down to listen to the gentle night song of the siren. All of the memories of this place reminded her of how she found solace in the crippling loneliness society abandoned her in. She was not welcomed in the cities, not the towns, not even on this minuscule island which couldn’t be located on most maps. Everyone regarded her as a monster, a creature of destruction, and she didn't even know why. They reminded her that she didn’t belong here, that she belonged nowhere, that she should lock herself up in a tower and choke on the key.
Her consciousness trailed, wondering how easy it would be to just give up, to stop fighting against the masses and give them what they asked for.
Crawling against the dewy grass, Myah peeked over the edge of the cliff cautiously. Her small frame towered 500 feet above the ravening sea, over a mouth of pointed rocks ready for its next meal. It was a thought that hadn't cared to cross her mind ten years ago, and surely this was the price of maturity and understanding.
She gazed up at the white moon, soaking in its mysterious beauty, its kindly face, reminding herself of how crazy it all was. Sighing, she stood at the peak of the overhang and turned to take a look at the world behind her, the one she was born in, the one that rejected her. Even the loving acceptance of the very few who would miss her was trumped by the heated swell of those who despised every bit of her. In her current consciousness, she had no other choice.
Giving the spiteful world a final beaming smile, she took a deep breath and sacrificed herself to the ocean’s hungry lips.
ns 15.158.61.11da2
