Chapter 7 My Home, My Ma

I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

The next thing I knew, I woke up with a clear head.

"Woah...I didn't dream of anything. So everything till now has just been a dream? It won't turn into reality?"

Iz woke up half asleep and slapped me.

"Ouch! Why did you hit me for, Iz?

"You're so noisy, you woke me up," Iz said in anger.

"Oh, sorry." I immediately apologize knowing Iz's bad temper in the morning.

Iz went back to sleep, and I looked at the clock.

[4.44 a.m.]

"Ouish~ So many number 4. That's bad luck, but it's just a coincidence, right?" I started to panic.

I dug myself into the blanket, counting sheep.

After a while, I calmed down. I looked back at the clock, and it displayed, 5.00 a.m. I sighed in relief and lay still on the bed. I tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn't. I rolled around the bed and took a glance at Iz. Iz knitted her brows together, showing anger and discomfort. I got scared and hurried to the toilet. After coming back to the toilet, I went back to bed and instantly fell asleep.

[9.30 a.m.]

Someone knocked on Iz's bedroom door. I woke up from the knocking and took a glance at Iz. Iz was still sleeping like a log, refusing to wake up. "Young lady," the woman outside called.

I got off the bed and answered the door. "Hello," I greeted.

She smiled. "Hello, Miss Llyne. How was your sleep?" The maid in front of me was Anne. She was in charge of waking Iz every morning.

"It was great. Thank you for asking." I replied. "I'll wake Iz up. No need to trouble you."

"Oh, thank you, Miss Llyne. When the young lady and Miss Llyne are done preparing, please come down. The breakfast is ready for you two."

I nodded and headed back in.

I shook and called Iz up, but she wouldn't budge. I imitated Miss Selene, our last year's geography teacher's voice, and whispered, "If you don't wake up now, you will get a B."

Iz opened her eye and sat up. "Don't give me a B, Miss Selene!"

"Huh? Where's Miss Selene?" Iz asked, looking confused.

"Still dreaming? Go prep. Breakfast is ready." I smirked.

"Where's Anne?" Iz franticly looking for Anne.

"I told her I'll wake you up instead. Who knew doing this one job could be so tough." I smiled mischievously.

Iz glared at me.

We came downstairs, and for the first time, I saw Iz's father. He was sitting at the dining table reading his newspaper and eating his breakfast.

"Hello, Mr. Jong." I greeted.

Mr. Jong put down his newspaper and smiled at me. "You must be Llyne. Isabella talked about you a lot."

"Daddy!" Iz placed her finger on her lip, telling her father to stop.

Iz's father laughed, and Iz and I sat on the dining table.

Iz's father had a gentle smile and is very handsome. Those newspaper pictures didn't do justice to his looks.

Suddenly, the head butler came and whispered in Mr. Jong's ear. Mr. Jong nodded and sent the head butler off.

Mr. Jong stood up and told us. "It seems like I'll be going first. Please enjoy the meal and stay, Llyne. Sorry, I couldn't stay any longer, and thank you for being my little pony's best friend." I kissed Iz's head and walked off.

"Little pony?" I turned towards Iz.

"Don't your Ma have a nickname for you?"

"Ya. Lazy bum and I call her 'Demon Queen'. P.S. Only in my mind."

Iz giggled.

We quickly finished our food and we went back up to Iz's bedroom.

[Iz's bedroom]

"Hey, Iz."

"Hmm?"

"I was thinking maybe I should go home early."

Iz looked up in shock and asked. "Why? I thought you were going to stay here?"

"I haven't told my mom about the dreams, and I kind of feel like I should, or else I'll regret it." I slowly inched backwards just in case Iz lashes out at me.

"Fine, you selfish, immature, good-for-nothing, little insolent brat." Iz turned away and pouted.

'That's not as bad as I thought,' I thought to myself.

"Come on. Don't be like that. I know I can be selfish sometimes, but I wouldn't want to intrude on your precious weekend like this. Besides, we can see each other next week." I tried my best to cheer Iz up.

"I doubt I'll see you next week."

"Why? Are you transferring school? We just started school yesterday." My jaw dropped.

"No, I'm not transferring. It's just a feeling I got."

"You got your grandma's ting ting?"

"Maybe? But who knows."

I nodded. "True. True. But you got to let your baby fly free."

"That was a trap, wasn't it, Lil?"

"Didn't catch you, didn't it."

"Yup. Grandma's ting ting was working well."

"I wonder if you'll borrow me your grandma's ting ting to me during the exam."

"Keep dreaming. At least stay till lunch."

"Lunch? Sure!"

We studied and played till lunchtime.

After we had our lunch, I packed my bag and walked downstairs.

When we came downstairs, we saw the head butler and head maid whispering.

We got closer, and they turned towards us. "Young lady and Miss Llyne going out, I presume."

"I'm going back home," I replied.

The butler holds out his hand to take my bag. "Let me call the chauffeur. He'll bring you home safe and sound."

"Thank you."

Iz and I waited outside the gate.

"Iz, can I ask you a serious question?"

"Oh, the sky must be falling."

I ignored her sarcasm and continued. "If I were to die, would you miss me?"

Iz sighed and patted my shoulder. "Look, you know I don't joke around, right?"

"As if you could. You're as dry as a desert, and I know your grandma would agree on that."

Iz bit her lip, and her eyebrows were twitching in anger. "Anyways, Lil. My grandma's ting ting is telling me that you are one hard nut to crack, so don't worry. I think you are going to be the last person on Earth to die."

I stared at Iz. "You... You...Oh...I'm so touched."

"You don't trust me, do you?"

'Oh boy... What should I say? I'll be dead meat before even reaching home.' I thought.

The chauffeur arrived with the limousine, and I hugged Iz.

Iz glared at me.

'That's one hell of a perfect timing.' I raised and arched my eyebrow in surprise.

I went into the limo and waved goodbye to Iz, not knowing that was the last time I'm going to see her.

[Llyne's home]

I came out of the limo and went straight into the house.

"Ma! I'm home. Miss me?" I screamed.

"You're back? Why didn't you phone?" Ma walked to the entrance from the living room.

"I just decided."

"Poor little Isa. She must be a saint to tolerate this little devil here."

"Ma, if I'm a little devil, then what are you?"

"Say some more, and no food for you." Ma walked back to the living room to watch her show.

I shook my head and went to my room.

I took a quick shower and wrote my daily activities in my diary.

[Dinner time]

I came down and helped my Ma with dinner table preparation.

We sat at the table, and I told Ma about my day at school and Iz's house.

She was happily smiling as I told her.

Soon we finished our dinner. I helped Ma clean the plates.

"Ma, can I talk to you about something later?"

"Of course, you can. I'll be waiting in the living room."

After cleaning the dishes, I walked into the living room. Ma was waiting on the couch, sighing away. I sat next to her. She looked at me in anguish. Ma said, "It's about your dream, isn't it?"

I moved backwards and said, "How could you know, Ma?"

"I heard you screaming in pain yesterday morning, and I knew something was wrong. But I didn't say anything to you." Ma touched my head and slowly moved down to my cheek. "I'm sorry. Please forgive me, sweetheart."

I nodded, and we hugged each other. "Ma, I had more than one nightmare, so..."

"Sure, dear. Tell me everything."

I told my Ma all three dreams. Her face went pale as soon as she heard all three.

"Ma? You alright? You look kind of green." I held her hands as she nodded.

"My baby, there's something your dad and I never told you before. It's something to do with our previous job." I listened to Ma attentively.

"You see, the previous job we had was very dangerous. Along the way, we made many enemies. Because of that, we resigned even though they might come after us someday. However, we insisted we want you and your sister to live a normal life. A life with no blood on your hands and regrets you won't fear to look back. It was hard at first adapting to this life, but when we saw you two stepped out there like you two could own the world, we knew we made the right choice." Ma smiled sweetly. I haven't seen Ma smile like that before.

Ma's eyes got redder as she held my hand tighter. "I can't tell you everything now, but I know one day you will know the entire truth. And promise me, you will always stay true to yourself no matter how bad a situation can be. Okay?"

"Ya. I will, Ma."

Ma loosened her grip. "Let's head to bed now. Have a good night." Ma kissed my forehead and went to her room.

I went to my room feeling uneasy for tomorrow morning to come. As I laid my head on my pillow, I fell asleep like it could be my last sleep.