Chapter 4: The Fairy's Confession

Walter

Walter was totally dazed. He paced back and forth, not knowing what to do while the necklace lays cold in his palm, its coldness is seeping to his senses making it dull.

He looked at the clock and read the bold numbers in their digital forms; it says 5:45. He wondered why his mother hasn't woken him up yet. He stood up out from the huge bed, ambled a few steps and eyed the necklace intently, probing its features carefully. He sashayed towards the door and opened it slowly while still holding the necklace and letting its pendant dangled in the air. It shimmered, and suddenly the memories from his dream flooded to his senses like he is recovering from having an amnesia. He blinked and rubbed his tired eyes, totally oblivious to the events that came flooding in his head —of which are bonafide and are not. He put the necklace in his pocket, walked into the kitchen, went to the sink, grabbed a glass of water and gurgled a mouthful of water. He stared at his reflection in the mirror, his eyes are stressed, his blond hair lays a mess in his head. He washed his face, letting the cold water washes away the wariness in it, he then grabbed a towel and wiped his face to dry it and walked into the fridge on a corner. A letter was tucked at the fridge's door, his mother's cursive writing met his gaze.

Walter,

Eat your breakfast and don't be late to school, okay.

Love Ya.

The letter reads. He untucked the piece of paper, crumpled it and threw it into the trashcan. He had always been hated to be taken cared of. In his point of view, being cared is a sign of dependency.

He opened the fridge's door, pulled the uneaten lasagna from last night and microwaved it in the oven. Minutes later, he ate unenthusiastically, gnawing the food distastefully as if what he's eating was bland. He finished eating, brushed his teeth and went to the shower. The water. . . the fresh encounter with the Rusalki chills his bones as he took his bath, every drop is a memory of a nightmare that taunts him continuously until he rinsed himself.

He changed into a V-necked white tee-shirt and black jeans, wore his red-hooded jacket, got the lying necklace on the bed and put it inside the pocket of his jacket. Lastly, he wore his black socks and pulled his sports shoes from under his messy bed and get his feet in.

He glanced at the alarm clock on top of his mini-cabinet, the digital numbers show 6:59. He ignored to hurry, instead, he pulled the necklace from the pocket of his jacket and probe it again, wondering why it is so cold. He touched the triangularly-shapen golden piece of shard that dangles on the verge of the fine-grained cords. It sent shivers to his spine, there was an inscription written on the glass, he looked at it carefully, studying the small letters, "AISHAH," its small all capital-lettered word reads. The shard shines and a dazzling golden light hit his vision that made him close his eyes.

Blinking, he saw a holographic face appearing on the glass, the image smiled. She has a cute baby face and slanted eyes, her grey eyes were mystified and her hair was disheveled.

"Aishah?" Walter guessed.

"Yes," she replied timidly as she fixes her messy hair.

"Why, um, why are you here?" Walter stammered.

She blinked her eyes several times before she replied back while taking a deep breath.

"Ariadne Mae has given me to you?" She guessed, caressing her hair with her delicate fingers. Walter nodded, he seemed uncertain of why he nods.

"That, arrogant, good-for-nothing fairy. If she hadn't had bumped into me, Enchantress would have had healed me, would have had returned me back to normal, and would have had returned me back into Mammo's arms," she grumbled.

Walter has no idea about what this holographic cute woman is babbling about, but there's one thing he is certain of, a thousand of questions are flooding into his brisk and over-spaced brain, as such: Why has he been gifted? Is it because of his foolish father who had left them alone when he was still inside his mother's womb? Why does he have the blood of the writer? Why would he be saving or destroying both the unknown world and his world? And many other foolish questions.

"Too much fiction makes your mind explode," he concluded.

Aishah's image talked continuously, timidly at first but then changes into a very talkative one. Her expressions are occasionally changing, from being happy, in love, sad then a mixture of all. She talked about how his beautiful blue eyes make her heart flutter, why did Mammo knock her out and many other hows and whys about Mammo. Walter just ignored her.

"So, why did Ariadne Mae gave you—this necklace to me? Walter cut Aishah's mid-sentence, she was about to say "Mammo, I missed you, so-"

Aishah's image eyed him and then she looked away shyly.

"I don't know. I hate that fairy, she reads my mind and I hate that, she's seeing Mammo inside my head, maybe she'll get and steal him away from me." She looked away, her grey eyes are flaring in anger in a timid way.

Her grey eyes have suddenly turned green, and another holographic image is flashed from her eyes. Walter sees himself, a red-haired girl, a black-haired boy with stern black eyes, his hands are covered with purple mists. The three of them are facing a huge and angry-looking ripple that looked like a black hole, they stood there aghast from what they're seeing, the image then flickered and suddenly disappeared into vapors.

"What happened?" Aishah asked almost unwittingly. She stared into his widening eyes, "Was it some sort of a vision?" he asked.

Aishah's expression changed into an annoyed look.

"I'm the one asking here, and you'll retort with a question? How's that?" Aishah replied grumpily.

He stared into her grey eyes,

"I'm the one oblivious here," he replied briskly, sounding exasperated.

She moved her head, shaking it.

"Mammo, Mammo!" She screamed.

"Stop that!" Walter said angrily, Aishah's image faltered slowly before it dissipated and gone.

He stood up, ambled and stumbled on the pile of books on the floor, he groaned and kick the CDs of anime on the floor.

"Darn, not that, argh! My precious, no!" Too late, he had already kicked the pile of CDs and books sending them into a corner, making clattering sounds. The red carpet curled in a bump.

Walter gritted his teeth and went on to the living room, almost half-running.

The floor was tiled, the furniture was arranged accordingly, their brown sofa stood in the center, facing the 24-inches TV and the sets of sound devices. A table was placed near the windows, an antique flower vase was laid on the top of the table.

Walter grabbed his black bag that is lying on the sofa as he hurriedly ran out to the oak door and locked it.

The paved-road was unusually empty that he found it eerie. The deserted road was with an exception of being empty for there is a stray dog and a cat. The cat was coal black, its fur looked fine and smooth, it didn't even look like a stray. The dog on the other hand was shaggy, its brown fur was thick, its big and slender body looked like it was domesticated. The brown shaggy dog ran in pursuit with the black cat which only mewl before it found a wall to climbed on to while the dog was waiting underneath, keeping his eyes at the climbing cat.

He ignored them as he focused on walking the road, half-running. The commercial-houses looked deserted, the street almost looked like a ghost-road. He slowed down, meters away from where he is standing, there stood an arch bridge. His stomach clenched, a sudden fear gusted through him, he suddenly feels hydrophobic, just thinking of any bodies of water made his guts twirl in agitation. He wished that he's not having a phobia of seeing beautiful girls also. He fights his fear and continued on walking, not daring to look at the green waters below, he can hear the gushing of waters flowing beneath the bridge now, he walked with an intensity between fast and low. Finally, he crossed the 50-metered bridge successfully. He breathed heavily, catching his breath, he walked a few meters and went right on.

The houses in this area have now busy people, busy entrepreneurs opening their shops, bicycle riders riding, and town-folks doing their morning rituals. There are no cars crossing the streets. He felt relieved. He walked carelessly, putting his hands in his pockets, he gripped the necklace in his right hand. A flash of golden light glowed inside his pocket. The holographic image of Aishah appeared before him, standing in front of him, wearing a misty white robe, or was it her whole image misty? She blinked at first before she gave him a smile.

"I'm free!" She screamed enthusiastically. Walter turned around, searching for anyone who might have seen and heard the screaming Aishah, but there seemed no one noticing her. He felt a pang of pain in his hand, a pain you usually feel when you cut your finger with a knife unknowingly until you see the cut. He brought out his hand, blood trickled on his thumb, and another painful sensation surged through him, he brought out his left hand and gripped his bleeding thumb, pressing the blood out. Aishah ran in the middle of the street when a car hit her, the car just passed her ghostly image. She smiled and kept calling Mammo's name.

"Mammo I'm coming, and don't you ever," she stopped, she saw someone that made her run fast into the street, straight into the black haired boy, he wore blue jeans and a pink polo shirt. His hair was freshly trimmed, like he has just gotten out from the barbershop. She just passed through him, her expression changed into a look of disappointment. Her eyes began watering.

"Mammo, why can't you see me? Why can't I touch you?" She whined dramatically, following the walking boy. She looked at Walter. Walter still feels the quite flow of pain surging in his thumb, he continued walking, he was a few feet away from Aishah and the boy. He recognizes that boy barely, if he wasn't wrong, that boy whom Aishah kept calling Mammo is a classmate of him, the popular boy who played music in their school, the 'infamous playboy' Lindley.

Lindley turned left, Aishah was still following him obsessively. Walter just walked, unknowingly following them. A gust of wind swept swiftly, Lindley halted, stared at Walter's direction.

"Are you following me?" He asked, his face was stern and handsome.

"Finally, can you feel me now? Yes, Of course, I'm following you, waited for you for too long." Aishah edged near him and kissed his lips, only kissing the air. Her face distorted, again turned into disappointment.

"Not a chance moron," Walter replied bitterly, eyeing Aishah and entered the gates.

The school's pathway was filled with chit-chatting students, piles of different groups, which Walter isn't a part of, not a single one has he been a part of. There are different circles of groups, a circle of fringed haired blonde girls, a circle of spectacled geeks, a circle of gamers, music lovers, bullies, and heartthrobs; he isn't even a part of the circle of 'otakus' at school even he himself is one, but he likes that way.

The four-story building stood there like a big coliseum, it is painted yellow. There are students walking and talking on porches and facades. The lawn in front of the building glinted in green from the grasses. On the left side of the building was the cafeteria.

Lindley was following him, making the girls on the pathways eyed him and giggled, only the geeks and otakus didn't bother to look at him. Aishah was still following, forcing herself to cling onto his arm, but it did no good.

"Hey, how dare you call me a moron?" Lindley called from behind his back. Walter turned back and grimaced.

"Oh, my bad. Moron? Sorry 'bout that, it's idiot right?" He asked apologetically, his eyes beamed in seriousness. Then he blurted out a chuckle to obviously mock him.

"How dare you?!" He clenched his hand into a fist while gritting his teeth. Walter just let out a sigh.

"Get it on dude! See how this adds to your familiarity?" He winked at him, Aishah stood beside Lindley, still trying her best to be noticed. Lindley walked straight to his direction and is about to bump his shoulder.

"Woah!" He evaded him with glinting victorious eyes. He half-ran into the huge facade to the four-story building and entered the second room from the left of the first floor, their classroom. Aishah stared at him. Her eyes look terrible and full of longing, plus a look of loath in them. Overall, her eyes blear in pity.

"I want your help," she demanded, stroking her hair with her hand.

The bell rang, it blares. Walter walked into the classroom, behind him were the running students who have had now seemed done with their meetings at the pathway. He peeked at the room, he saw armchairs arrayed into 4 columns and 5 rows. The seats were half filled. There on the last row of the fourth column, on the seat of an armchair, a coal-black cat lies, yawning. It looked creepy yet somewhat cute, that was the cat the shaggy dog was chasing earlier.

Aishah called him, her voice was quivering in a pleading tone.

"Walter, please help me talk to Mammo."

"He's not Mammo okay, he's Lindley. So, stop following that insolent moron." Walter half-whispered and entered the room. The windows were opened, making the room a bit chilly. His eyes widened, on the seat where the cat was lying, there seated a beautiful woman, her straight coal-black hair suited her head perfectly, her pale cheeks, dark tantalizing eyes, and lips that are alluring and quite kissable make her adorable. The woman was unfamiliar to him.

"Walter, why are you ogling me?" She asked in a warming and charming voice, then she bit her lower lip.

Walter took a seat beside her, on her right side.

"Excuse me?" he grimaced, Aishah sat beside him. At her front seat, sat Lindley.

The beautiful girl wore a pink tee-shirt with a printed face of a cute cat in it. She wore blue tattered jeans which fitted her skinny legs.

"Sorry to bother you, I'm FJ by the way." she smiled.

"FJ? Means?" He asked with an intent of staring at her face. She looked a bit puzzled.

"Oh, it's Fatima Jahasil." She replied with honesty.

"Have you seen a black cat?"

"A black cat? Why in the world are you looking a black cat in a school?"

"Never mind, but," he stared into her dark eyes and had realized something, "How do you know my name?" She raised her eyebrow in response. As far as his brain knows, this woman whom he's talking right now is not familiar to him, he doesn't even remember that they were classmates.

"Walter Rey Lawrence Dan. How can you simply put me into oblivion?" Her voice sounds dangerous, it pangs.

Another set of questions flowed into his brain. How was this beauty became acquainted with him, getting angry with him about asking how she knew his name, and not even getting mad when he asked what the abbreviation of her name means, especially she introduced her name as FJ (weird). How Fatima knew what his exact and full name was; for as far as he remembered he hadn't told anybody about what his full name is. The only person who knows his full name is his mother, and she's just the only one knowing.

She gives him sharp looks. Beside him, Aishah sat uncomfortably. The class was Biology and he never paid any attention to what the teacher was saying, not because he knew already the most of it; it's because he has more important things to know about himself than knowing what karyotyping means. Listening about their topic in class made his blood boil in frustration adding to the fact that Fatima whom she just knew moments ago knowing his full name. He hated his father so much and talking about genes and karyotyping and someone knowing what his full name is, give a surge of frustration to his brain. Fatima moved her gaze away from him. Walter gritted his teeth and clenched his hand into a fist. They were silent, except for the tinny voice of their teacher discussing the topic.

A girl entered the classroom, accompanying her was a long-haired woman, wearing eyeglasses, she is the principal, Walter is sure of that for he was once at her office. The teacher stopped what she's discussing and  went to the principal and the girl, she greeted them and they talked about certain matters. The talk ended for a minute then the principal kissed the girl's cheek and waved goodbye.

The class stopped murmuring when the teacher starts to speak.

"Class," her tinny voice began, everyone paid attention, even Aishah who looked as wide-eyed as Walter, "you have a new classmate and she's from a homeschool, she decided to get into a real school to socialize. She's a bit shy, so try to be friendly with her." The teacher grinned, showcasing her golden braces.

"She's also a niece of our dear principal by the way. If you ever messed up with her," the teacher chuckles softly, and continued speaking, "Please introduce yourself, dear." She bent to the small girl and hushed something to her elfish ear that it made the small girl nods in agreement.

"I'm Ariadne Mae. You can call me AM. Three hundred, I mean I live three hundred kilometers away from here." A few started murmuring.

"I'm 15 years old and I'm from the race of fairies. Fairy lovers I mean." She smiled shyly, and look at Walter's direction, her golden eyes glint, her short golden hair even shimmered. She wore a blue velvety dress.

"You may take your seat now dear." The teacher invited and pointed at the seat where Aishah is sitting. Aishah scowled which was only repaid by a smile from Ariadne Mae.

A girl with a brown hair, braided into a fishtail, wearing a red skirt and a white shirt sat in Aishah's seat in a haste, Aishah vanished, the girl blinked her slanted black eyes, her expression had changed. A smile drew on her crimson lips, reddened by a lipstick, her pinky cheeks with a blush blushed redder.

"Ah, I'm free! I can finally touch and be touched." Her screaming captured  everyone's attention. Ariadne Mae who was about to sit on her seat, stepped back. Walter looked at her. Even Lindley stared his blue eyes at her. She just smiled sheepishly and screamed again.

"Oh, Mammo, finally." She bent and kissed Lindley. The lad was shocked in his seat. Everyone looked at them in awe. Time slowed down, Ariadne Mae's golden eyes glowed. Everyone was frozen except for Fatima, Walter, Aishah in the body of the girl and Lindley.

"Imbecile!" She pulled the girl from the kiss. The girl flickered her eyes.

"Aishah get out of that body, now!" Ariadne Mae ordered, her voice is raised audibly. Lindley looked at them with a face still locked in shock.

"No way," she retorted and touched Lindley's face. Lindley shrugged by the touch.

"Then sit still and act like you belong to this world," Ariadne Mae demanded. The girl/Aishah smiled. Fatima sat on her seat, holding her pen in her hand, twirling it between her fingers.

"I can't hold the time barrier anymore. Aishah behave." Her golden eyes flared in golden flames. Aishah sat on her seat and winked at Lindley who looked away from her, straightening his pace.

Everyone unfreezes, the expressions on their faces were still forged in awe. They closed their gaping mouths and returned to what they were doing. The teacher had started talking again like nothing had happened. Ariadne Mae took her seat on Aishah's left and smiled meekly at her.

She looked at Walter's direction.

"I have a confession to make." Ariadne Mae hushed, making Aishah sit still on her seat, in her new found body, which suited her well.

Walter can't let all the new information that he has just happened to know to fill his head, his brain is processing so slow like a lagging machine.