Chapter 1: Dream (part 3)

—Where could the scientists be?.— Judy asks, walking beside me.

—I think if we stopped for a moment, looking at these deserted streets, it would feel like we were the last ones on earth.— I say.

It's a normal place, houses, trees, some parked cars, but there's no one around, it's as mysterious as it is subtly terrifying.

—IA, do you hear that?.— I ask.

The absolute silence is interrupted by a soft sound in the distance.

—Hide!.— I exclaim, moving towards the yard of a house with Judy holding my hand, and IA follows immediately.

—They're getting closer.— I say in a low voice.

The sound gets louder, and the two black vehicles we saw earlier speed by.

—The cavalry?.— Judy asks.

—I heard the soldiers say they were more foreigners, scientists and their guards?.— I say.

—They're driving too fast to be carrying scientists in a vehicle like that.— IA says incredulously.

—I heard the same thing from the soldiers.— I add and continue.

—If they're the only ones who have entered, maybe they're special forces, but it's just a hypothesis, the problem is we're in Japanese territory.— I conclude, and again we move down the street once they're out of sight.

—They're the same ones we saw before, heading to a specific place within this residential area, and at that speed, they would have already reached it. They must be patrolling... looking for something urgently.— Judy says.

—What do we do now?.— IA asks, looking me in the eyes.

—Judy might be right, for now, we can continue in the same direction as them.— I respond.

IA walks by my side, as does Judy. Except for the lack of movement in the streets and houses, it doesn't give the impression that we're doing anything out of the ordinary.

I look ahead of me, upwards, searching for the helicopter because I can't hear it. It wouldn't be flying very fast, but it would be at a significant altitude. It's not strange for it to survey the area, what's strange is that it's a combat model.

Without seeing it, I turn around…

—.....—

..I stop completely...

...I don't think for a second...

..Is....it...a girl?...

...It is a girl.

She's floating in the sky... falling very slowly... a few meters from a house..

I don't move at all, I just keep my eyes open, watching as she… floats...

—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!—

...I instinctively lean when out of nowhere the girl crashes forcefully into the edge of the house, breaking the roof and part of the wall into pieces.. The girl impacts the ground in the middle of the street, breaking part of the pavement..

—Ahh..!— Judy shouts.. startled.

IA also leans when she hears the impact, both were facing away and couldn't see her.

—An explosion?!.— IA exclaims, immediately turning around.. her skin prickles from the scare.

—A girl?..— She asks, seeing her on the ground.. about three meters from us.

With slow steps at first, IA approaches her, but in a second she accelerates and kneels in front of the girl.

—Are you okay?!..— IA asks, between concern and trying to remain calm at seeing her unconscious.

—Why does she emit so much heat?.. we shouldn't move her IA.. she could be injured.— Judy says, also kneeling by her side, looking worried about her well-being.

—She's breathing, I need to check her pulse.— IA says.

—Ouch!..— IA exclaims when she puts her fingers on the girl's neck.

—What's wrong?.— I ask.

—She... she's burning... her skin burned me.— IA explains, incredulously..

I walk towards them, standing on the sidewalk, I look at her carefully and the girl doesn't show any stimulus other than her chest moving slowly up and down, she's completely still..

She has... the same necklace that IA gave me a few minutes ago..

—Her skin must be over 212 °F...— IA says.

They didn't see what I did...

—How can she be at this temperature and still breathing?, why doesn't she have any burns on her skin?.— IA asks, looking at her body.

I observe the house carefully... the place where she impacted is destroyed... how can she not have any scratches, with that shock force.. it's hard to believe what I saw.

—Mmmh..— The girl makes a slight expression…

She doesn't seem to be much older than IA... and... the way she's dressed... just a white long-sleeved shirt.. a blue school skirt and brown shoes... it's like a school uniform.. totally normal..

—Is she really alive?!.— IA exclaims.

She's just a girl… her hair is dark brown with a slight curve when it reaches her shoulders… her skin is as pale as snow and she has a mole under her right eye… as if she were just a girl from my school… but her features are foreign…

I don't want to scare her, so I stay a few steps away from her.. she might be disoriented, it's best that the first thing she sees are other girls like her..

—Don't stand up yet..— IA says.

—You might have some injuries, don't move.— Judy adds.

The girl ignores them and tries to stand up, she struggles to her feet.

—Mmmh..— The girl expresses, bringing a hand to her forehead.. she grimaces as if something hurts or she feels dizzy.

She seems like she's about to fall, and I approach from behind to hold her.

—Razar, don't touch her!, her body can burn you!.— IA says..

—...…—…..Upon hearing my name, the girl opens her eyes in surprise, inhaling deeply through her mouth as she turns towards me...

—!!!!!!!!!!!!—

...Before I can react...in less than a blink... she has cornered me against the wall, holding both my wrists against the wall...she's not hurting me but her hands are cracking the concrete and continue to break it little by little due to the pressure she exerts...

—Let him go!, let him go!.— IA shouts, grabbing her bag and hitting the girl..

The girl is less than 10 centimeters from my face, as tall as me, there would be no way for me to escape...she's very strong.

—We didn't do anything to you!..— IA shouts, now hitting her torso with her hands, but the girl ignores her.

—Let him go!.— Judy shouts, pulling at her clothes...

The girl has her eyes wide open, without blinking or looking away from mine, she doesn't move, she doesn't flinch, why don't I feel terror?.

—...Razar….do you remember me?.— The girl asks.

Her expression softens, but she still doesn't let go of me...her body smells like roses, chocolate...

—Do you know her?..— IA asks, stopping along with Judy.

She's so close that I can smell her breath, it smells like candy..

It's him...I found him. My heart is trembling as I see his gray eyes. I want to move, but I can't, it's just like the first time I saw him, my tears won't stop, for two thousand years I waited for this moment.

—I'm sorry, but I don't.— I reply..

...She's crying...she slowly lets go of me and I can lower my arms...

—Razar, are you okay?.— Judy approaches me and checks my wrists when the girl steps back.

—You can't do something like this, we wanted to help you, you could have hurt him!.— IA says angrily.

What's going on with her body?, a moment ago it was hot as fire and now it seems normal, when I hit her with my bag I didn't notice, but when I did it with my hands it felt like hitting a wall or something made of metal...

—I'm fine, she didn't hurt me.— I reply to Judy, caressing her head, just like everyone else, a bit surprised.

—IA, she must be disoriented..— I try to calm her down..

—...…— The girl doesn't say anything...

I can tell that when I also put my hand on IA's head, this girl looks at her threateningly, really hostile...

—...…— When I remove my hand from IA's head, her expression calms down again...

—How could I hurt you?...when you mean the world to me..— The girl says with a sad expression, looking at my eyes and then looking at my chest...at the same necklace she's wearing.

Confused, I look into her brown eyes, I don't know what she's referring to, and I think about all the possibilities of what's happening..

—A helicopter?.— The girl asks..

From this distance I can't hear it, can she?.

The girl instantly looks around.

—Why isn't there anyone else?, where are the humans?!.— She asks.

—They've surrounded the place, we're the only ones here.— I reply.

—It's not safe, they'll come soon!.— The girl exclaims.

—There are vehicles approaching, we must hide!.— The girl says, I can't hear anything, but she's right, even though she didn't see them, the area seems to be patrolled by the helicopter and two land vehicles.

—IA.— I say her name, looking into her eyes, she looks distrustful but also knows we shouldn't be here.

The girl quickly understands the situation and gently takes my hand.

—We need to get away from this house, they'll be here in a few seconds.— She says, referring to the damaged house.

—Is the forest the safest route?.— She asks, looking into my eyes.

—Yes, it is..— I reply.

—We came through that way, there's no other path.— Judy says.

IA and Judy...including me, we don't know what to think, but I know with the apparent strength and physical endurance she has, if she wanted to hurt us, she would have done it already.

Somehow she knows my name, I want to assume she's not a threat, I want to assume she's not.

They're not convinced of the situation either, I know, but first we need to get out of here and they both understand that.

—Come, Razar, I want to be with you.— The girl says.

We quickly run between the houses to get away from the place.

On the way to the forest, the girl guides us to the inner courtyard of one of the properties.

—Wait a moment.— The girl says and looks out through the entrance towards where we were.

She was right, the helicopter is coming back and much faster than before.

As I look in the direction where part of the house was destroyed, the two black vehicles arrive… Many are coming down… soldiers, I suppose. Their faces completely covered with helmets and masks, assault rifles and a uniform completely black. They're very different from the Japanese soldiers outside the area.

—Hide, my Razar.— The girl says, caressing my back...

—They're foreigners, you can tell by their body language. But we're in Japan, right?, the style of the houses, the streets, it seems like Japan.— The girl asks, taking my hand and leading me to the back of the yard.

—Yes, it's Japan.— I reply.

—How do you know they're foreigners just by looking at them?.— IA asks, walking beside me, holding Judy's hand.

—I've seen them before, and they're not just any unit, they're special forces for sure. What I don't understand is how they knew I'd be here.— The girl says and continues.

—In this direction, my Razar.—

The girl looks at me with a smile, and I can see she's wearing gray braces on her teeth..

—Sure, Judy.— I say her name, turning to lift her and sit her on the back wall of the house.

IA approaches and I take her by the waist to lift her up. Once they've crossed, this girl just jumps and climbs... Finally, I hold onto the wall and we all pass to the other side, reaching another street.

—Even if they track my trajectory and the point of impact, why would foreign forces be here?.— The girl asks, as if thinking out loud, taking my hand as we head towards the forest.

—Why would they send that kind of military force on a first contact?.— She wonders to herself.

—Do you mean all of this is because of you?, because of one girl?.— IA asks, incredulous and serious.

—I don't know, but those units shouldn't be in this country, and that helicopter shouldn't be combat-ready.— The girl replies.

Without saying more, we run to the edge of the area until we reach the forest, once we've gone a few meters in, we stop. For everyone, it's hard to move on and pretend nothing happened.