Good Morning

"Ok, now you have to keep up your end of the bargain." Kefi smiled smugly at Rose, wriggling her eyebrows. 

We stood in a circle, Caris beside me and Rose to my left. Jasmine stood to Rose's left while Aurora began to stir behind us.

"Yes. Yes. I am a woman of her word, from now onwards, we are going to be involving you in everything. Right, Aurora?" Rose asked, turning to the wide-eyed Aurora resting against the tree trunk.

She stared blankly around us like she is thinking, 'Where am I?', 'Who am I?', and 'What am I?'

"What? What happened?" Aurora mumbled, her body and voice still heavy with sleep.

Jasmine walked over to her and began inspecting for any damage done that she may have missed. Rose followed suit but she began teasing her instead of trying to help her. 

"I didn't know you became such a heavy sleeper, Aurora." Rose teased, "But then again, you've gotten rusty."

"Huh?" Aurora stared up at her blankly. Still not fully awake. 

"You're ok, right, Aurora?" Jasmine asked, resting her hand on her head.

With swaying movements, Aurora nodded her head, like one in a dream. 

"Well, she can understand us at the very least," Jasmine remarked as the threads emerged from her fingers and wrapped themselves around Aurora's head like a crown. 

"What are you doing?" Rose crossed her hands and asked. 

"I'm just removing the effects of the sleep from her head. She is usually a light sleeper, so sleeping this deeply is messing with her head a little bit."

"Why did she sleep so heavily?" 

"I did it," I said, standing in my spot with Caris. "She needed to sleep otherwise she will die from exhaustion."

"What?" Rose scoffed. "Don't just go making decisions by yourself all the time." 

"Rose!" Jasmine scolded and turned back to me. "You did the right thing, Meraki. I'm surprised she hasn't fainted yet from the exhaustion I can feel coming off her." 

"This is Aurora we are talking about. Do you really think we can say anything to her? In all the years we have known her, do you think she will just listen?" 

"Yeah. That's true." Jasmine smiled, seemingly recalling something.

I stared at them with a strange feeling welling up in me. It feels tight around my chest and it is a little difficult to breathe. 

What is this feeling? It's heavy. Really heavy.

"Are you envious of them?" Caris suddenly spoke up, pulling me out of my confusing thoughts. 

"Hmmm? Envious?" I turned to him and asked. 

"Yes. Envious. The look on your face seems to tell me something." 

"Look? I don't have any expression on my face." I answered, focusing back to the three women in front of us. 

"Yes. You don't. But at the same time, it's there. How do I explain this to make sense?" He rubbed his earlobe, thinking. "It's like, unless you look carefully enough, you won't see it. There is some kind of longing in your eyes. I think you will understand if you see it yourself." 

"If you say so." I murmured as I watch Aurora slowly become more alive, the dullness in her eyes disappearing. 

"Why are you still here?" Kefi asked, looking at him in disgust.

"After how much I have helped you, I can't believe this is how you choose to treat me in the end." Caris feigned surprise like he was insulted.

"You didn't help us at all. Not even a little bit. You can and disappeared as you wish. You should be called the Invisible Man." 

"Now. Now. No need for nicknames. Don't you have anything you want to ask me?" From the corner of my eyes, I can make out his sly smile. He isn't as slick as he wants to be.

"No. We don't have any-"

"What is the real reason you want to be around me?" I asked, cutting Kefi off. 

A wide grin came on Caris's face as soon as I asked this like, he was waiting for this question from me.

"You see the way she looks?" Caris said, nudging his chin to the three women. 

"Aurora?"

"Yes. That is exactly how you look. Dead and lifeless. A living corpse." He stepped in front of me, blocking my view and bending down to my height. 

Once our eyes met, I couldn't move again but I also couldn't care less at this point.

It seems even Caris could tell as well because he burst into laughter after looking into my eyes for a second. "See, this is why you are so interesting."

"From the look of your eyes, you were supposed to be dead weren't you?" He grinned wider, I didn't think that was possible but here we are. 

His hand went to the left of my chest, resting on the spot where my heart beats softly drummed. 

"This …" He said, slowly looking at me with half-lidded eyes from behind the glasses, "This is why I am interested in you." 

Meraki, I'm going to kill him.

You can't even move, just let him talk whatever he wants. Someone else will be here in a few seconds. 

What do you mean?

"Hey, pay attention to me. You want to know why I am interested, right? It's simple really. I want to see what will happen to a corpse once they get to the world of the living."

"What are you talking about?" Kefi hissed at him. "Corpse? Meraki is alive."

"Really?" He mused, pressing harder on my chest. "Just because this thing here is beating? Don't pretend to be clueless, even you know how she appears. That's also the reason why you were interested in her too, right?" 

Kefi kept quiet instantly, unable to answer back at him. I stared blankly at him, wishing he would take his hand off me.

"Are you two done?" I asked, trying to move but still unable to. 

"Aren't you more curious? Or even offended, Meraki? At least I am honest about my intentions." He spoke like a man who knows what he's doing and takes great pride in it. 

Sighing, I looked at him with annoyance, "I already know her intentions. She wasn't entirely honest but she didn't hide it either. Anyway, I think you should focus on yourself and stop worrying about others." 

Caris's eyes widened for a second then he went back to his cocky self. 

"Right, you are absolutely right. This is what I love about Meraki. She is always so logical." He said, laughing. 

"Right." I copied him, seeing something move from the corners of my vision, "You may want to duck."

"Wha-"

Wham!

Caris flew to the other side of the clearing and I could finally move my body now. I shook my hands to try and get the feeling of moving them back to my body. 

"Miss! Are you ok?" Aurora came running to me, discarding a large broken branch of a tree. I stared, seeing some bloodstains on it. She must have used that to hit him. 

Even with just one hand, Aurora is really scary. Her eyes held murderous intent, one even I wouldn't be able to stop if she decided to act on it. 

"Yes," I answered while Aurora inspected me again.

"Is she telling the truth Kefi?" Aurora asked. I can feel the heat of her body from where I stood. 

"Yes. Meraki is fine. But … That man is a problem." Kefi glared at Caris, knocked out on the ground. 

"I can see that. Maybe we should erase his existence. He is doing too much damage just being allowed to breathe." Aurora picked up the branch again as she said this. 

"I will help you," Kefi replied, walking to Aurora.

"Since when did the both of you become so close?" I asked, unamused.

"We hold the same beliefs. That's it. Now, time to send someone to the higher heavens." Aurora began walking to Caris but Rose jumped in front of her. 

"Rose. What do you think you are doing?" Aurora spoke with a bit of growl in her voice. 

"No." Rose simply said, refusing to budge. "There is too much death already today. You can kill him tomorrow." 

"Fine," Aurora answered immediately, throwing the stick down. She walked to me and wrapped me in her embrace.

I didn't feel like pulling away, so I just sank into her body warmth and let it envelop me. 

"Is there anything else we need to do here?" I felt Aurora's voice reverberate with my head on her chest, it's a little ticklish. 

"No, not really," Rose replied, but her voice sounded really far away. 

"Then I will go back with Miss now. I still need to pick Leo up too." 

"That boy? Where did you keep him?" That sounds like Jasmine but I don't know anymore. Who knew that being smothered with someone else's body felt so comfortable.

"I kept him in my room the Society. I will need to pick him up. Will you be coming with me?"

"I will have to report on what happened here first but we still have a lot to talk about so I will be there in a few minutes."

"Ok. I will cook something for you and Jasmine." 

Their voices are growing more and more distant, my eyes feel so heavy and there is a soft lull at the back of my head. 

What are they saying? I don't know anymore.

Hmmm … Let me just close my eyes. Just for a short while. Just for a few seco…