“Ohhh looky here. You have yourself a girlfriend. Hey Chaska!” shouted Haiba as he glanced at the alley.
“What is it, Haiba? I’m trying to sleep here. I just got off work,” a voice emerged from a man lying on a pile of trash bags.
He moved the newspapers and boxes off as he approached us. It was Chaska. He was of Felis descent and had short blond hair with blue eyes. Seraculus soon realized they were not a threat and slowly moved back to my side.
“Oh, she’s pretty too, Salan. What she doing with trash like you?” Chaska chimed in.
“Beats me,” I replied. I shook Chaska’s hand, and we grabbed each other’s shoulders, this was a Felis custom. It was a handshake that belonged to my people.
“I couldn’t tell which was the girl with that long—” Haiba hiccupped again, “long hair of yours, Salan.”
“It’s a Felis custom, so I’m keeping it,” I replied.
Haiba leaned back, “Ohhh touchy, sure you’re not P.M.—”
Chaska interrupted, “Haiba! There’s a girl here.”
“Oh, my bad, my lady.” He pretended to grab the sides of his ankles and lifted them up as if he had a skirt on.
Seraculus mimicked him as a joke, “Thank you, kind sir.”
“This calls for a celebration!” shouted Haiba holding up his bottle.
He handed over the Whiskey bottle to Chaska who took a swig. As soon as Chaska passed it back, Haiba took another swig. The bottle had a brown paper bag to cover the label.
“Hey, come over here to warm up a bit,” motioned Haiba.
“We really should be going,” I said.
He continued to urge us over, and I finally agreed. We both walked over to the fire barrel in the alley. It was dimly lit, not many people could see us unless they got close. I trusted these men with my life. They were good people who just made some poor life choices. To me, these two men were even better than royalty. Since they were not born into luxury, they had to struggle to survive, like me.
“Seraculus are you OK with this? They aren’t bad people, I swear,” I reassured.
“You could swear this was already the guy’s wife. Asking for permission,” Haiba followed up with a bout of laughter.
“Shut up Haiba,” snapped Chaska.
“I’m fine with it,” Seraculus said.
“Now for the real reason—” Haiba hiccupped, “I brought you here was to celebrate,” mumbled Haiba.
“I think you’ve done enough celebrating Haiba,” I responded.
“I’ll give you two one swig of my Whiskey, and then I’m gonna go to bed. Besides, I ain’t sharing that much of my booze anyway,” motioned Haiba.
He held out the bottle to me first. I stared at Haiba.
“Look I don’t wanna drink this. I don’t think it’s legal,” I complained.
“And yet it’s legal for society to treat the rest of us like scum? Quit being a worry wart. One swig won’t get you drunk,” argued Haiba.
“Look Haiba…,” I drifted off.
Seraculus snatched the bottle, “Enough of this.”
She gulped a large swig, the kind that made your face squint up and then handed me the bottle. All of us were shocked at how much she drank.
“Seraculus, you didn’t have to do that,” I remarked.
“Scaredy cat, scaredy cat. You’ll fight three guys but won’t have a drop of alcohol,” mocked Seraculus.
I snatched the bottle and took a big gulp. I coughed a bit.
“Why do you drink this stuff? It tastes awful,”
“Because it makes you disoriented, so you just say what you think, and you don’t have a care in the world,” Haiba responded.
“Aren’t those all negative things?” I questioned.
“When you get older, you’ll understand. Besides, I think your new girlfriend is cooler than you,” ridiculed Haiba.
“It isn’t hard,” Seraculus joined in.
“She isn’t my girlfriend.”
Suddenly a figure appeared from the end of the alley, and I saw an officer. He wore the usual blue leather pants and chest plating. He had a firm clutch on a small black club and a police whistle around his neck. He was facing us from 10 meters away.
“You four come on out from there,” ordered the officer.
An officer’s job on paper is to protect and serve, to uphold the law. This officer did none of those things. He was a man who would target anyone who wasn’t part of the Axis Alliance. Just because someone has a higher amount of power doesn’t mean they have a higher sense of morality. Most of the cops here use the words like laws and duties as an excuse to racially profile people.
This officer’s name was Christian, and he was notorious for beating a Felis to death with his club. The Felis only stole food from a vendor. We did not take our chances. We all ran down the alleyway to get away from him, regardless of how dark it was. I was OK due to my night vision.
There was a sound of glass breaking behind me. When I turned around, I noticed that Seraculus fell and twisted her ankle on some glass bottles. We heard footsteps echoing in the alleyway as the officer moved closer, blowing his whistle. I stopped and picked up Seraculus.
I had to use my ability. Activating my black aura, I started bolting extremely fast out of the alleyway. I ran around the corner. Chaska ushered me into a small broken-down crevasse in a building. The opening in the brick had enough room for all four of us. It was pitch dark, a perfect hiding spot. When the cop turned the corner, he swore under his breath as he walked further away. He spat out the whistle from his mouth and put away his club. We kept our breathing to a minimum. My hands felt wet from sweat. I realized my hands were covered in blood. Seraculus cut the side of her waist with a glass bottle shard. Her ankle was also severely bruised. We all moved outside the crevasse once we knew the coast was clear.
“Don’t worry you guys, I still got my Whiskey,” Haiba mumbled.
I gently laid Seraculus on the ground. Haiba lifted the bottle to drink but Chaska snatched it out of his hands.
Chaska pointed to Seraculus, “You idiot, read the situation.”
Haiba looked down and realized Seraculus was bleeding. His face went from a happy drunk to a concerned parent. “Oh shit! I’m so sorry!” exclaimed Haiba.
“Give me the bottle. We have to disinfect the wound,” I ordered.
Chaska gave me the bottle. I’ve hurt myself plenty of times, so I knew the basics of medical treatment. The glass shard was thin and luckily not deep. The piece was three inches in width across her waist. I got my one hand on the shard.
“Ready?” I asked.
She nodded her head, and I yanked out the glass piece as fast as I could. The shard wasn’t big enough for me to leave in the wound. Seraculus gritted her teeth but let out a little cry of pain. With some blood coming out, I gently poured the bottle over the wound. She didn’t make a sound this time, but I could tell she was trying to be silent. After that, I moved down to her bruised ankle. Upon closer inspection, I saw it was cut. I poured the alcohol there too and handed Haiba the rest of the bottle. Using my hands, I put some pressure on the 3-inch cut to stop the blood.
I began to worry and wished this wound would cover up. If only had a bandage. My black aura suddenly shot out of my hands and formed a patch. Seraculus became more distracted by this than the pain. It was a black smoke-like bandage that had a solid form to the touch. It acted like a layer of skin and stopped the bleeding.
“How did you do that?” Seraculus asked, her eyes wide with astonishment.
“I…I don’t know,” I said staring at my hands.
As I moved my hands off the wound, the black aura faded immediately. The blood started to drip down again, so I moved my hands back.
“It only seems to work if I’m touching that specific area. It acts as a temporary bandage.”
Doing this took some of my energy away. I wasn’t out of breath, but I could feel it slowly draining me. I picked Seraculus up, with one of my hands around her legs an
d the other clutched the wound on her waist.
“I’ll take her home.”
“My hero!” Seraculus said sarcastically.
“Was that really necessary?” I asked.
As I walked back to her place, we passed Martin Street leading to the town square. The area was lit up with electric lamps circling around a stone fountain. There were three figures at the center – statues of a Cyclops, Human, and Caltron. Just more war propaganda. The Cyclops held up a book, the Human stood in the middle pointing forwards, and the Caltron held up a sword.
We passed by a palace that was near the fountain. The palace overlooked every building and stood on a hill. It had numerous pieces of chiseled art inside the marble. There was a massive golden gate protected by guards. Past the gate, there was a winding path that had two large golden doors at the front. The amount of wealth in one spot was overwhelming.
There was a train station nearby as well. Faslow was known as the production city because slavery was legal. The train station was ten minutes away, and I could hear the train bellowing in the distance. As I looked down, I noticed Seraculus was interested in the black aura on her wound, poking at it curiously.
“This is just so weird. It feels like I’m pressing down on rubber, but it gives off a wisp of smoke.”
“I don’t know how I did that, to be honest. I just wanted to close the wound up, and my heart rate picked up. Then that black bandage formed.”
Seraculus eyes widened up, “Crap!”
“What?” I asked.
“My parents are gonna freak out when they see this. When you let go of my sides, the blood pours out.”
This worried me, “What should we do?”
“Can’t you hold me forever?”
“Very funny, but what are we actually going to do?”
Seraculus searched for an answer. I walked at a slower pace for her to think.
“I got it. I’ll just say I tripped and fell on some glass on the way home.”
“Will they believe you?”
“Didn’t you know? Minyades are mischievous devils,” she smiled, her happiness was contagious.
It took 10 minutes to walk across the town square, where there was a line of large houses. We finally reached a point where there were no more factories. The houses quickly changed, the cobblestone road got smoother than before. Now there was a line of mansions. One mansion magnificently stood out amongst the others, a more gothic style. I had never walked this way before. There was a marble sign engraved, ‘Tepes Residents’ outside the gate.
I let out a whistle, “Who’s the lucky snob who got this house? It’s huge!”
“I’m not a snob,” Seraculus said shyly.
I glanced down at her in my arms. “I never called you a… THIS IS YOUR HOUSE!!” I shouted in disbelief.
“Yea, I don’t like talking about how much my dad makes. I got treated differently back at my old school because of it.”
“Why does it matter?”
“People don’t treat me the same just being an Abomination, but it makes people more upset to see a wealthy one.”
“How do you live here? Abomination fees are pricey, and most landlords won’t sell to people associated with Abominations. Let alone a mansion.”
“My dad is a politician that represents 1 of the 12 council members of Atral. We moved here to discuss negotiations with the king of Faslow,” said Seraculus
“What negotiations?” I asked out of curiosity.
“Imports and exports, Minyades rights, and some other politician stuff. My people are underpaid here as well. They aren’t treated equally by the law.”
“What about your mom?”
“She takes care of the house on her own.” She paused then said, “Put me down. It looks better for me to walk in. Grab my side, and I’ll put my arm around your shoulder. I’ll say you helped me home and I didn’t watch my step and fell. When my waist bleeds, I’ll pretend I’m just noticing it now and must have cut myself during the fall, OK?”
“Hey, didn’t you say you weren’t as blind as a bat?” I mocked.
She rang the buzzer, “I suppose I did,” she giggled.
The massive gates opened, revealing a stone path that weaved its way through the green grass. The mansion had two columns at the front door with two towers on either side. There was a weird black box at the top of both towers. The front of the box had a glowing red light on it that tracked us. It made me feel uncomfortable.
“What’s with the red light?” I asked.
Seraculus seemed confused, so I pointed, “Those things that flash red at the top of the two towers.”
“Hahaha, that’s a camera. Stop, it hurts when you make me laugh.”
White roses covered the ground near the sides of the mansion. It wouldn’t be hard to create a beautiful painting here. As I moved closer, I saw moss creeping up the walls of the house. When we got to the massive wooden doors, she rang the doorbell. The door creaked open. A robed woman appeared. She was white-skinned with black hair and eyes.
“Are you OK? I saw you limping on the camera?” the woman asked.
“Yea I’m fine Mom. Salan here helped me after I fell.”
The mother creaked the door open more, “It’s a good thing you have friends like Salan here to help you. Come on let's get you upstairs and heal that ankle of yours.”
She put her hand on Seraculus, which caused my grip to loosen on her wound.
Seraculus moved closer to me, “Mom, Let Salan do it. He helped me out.”
“You want this young man to help you out? My daughter grows up so fast.”
“Mom!”
“Different from the other side, isn’t it?” I retorted.
Seraculus shot me a mean look.
“I’m just teasing,” I said.
Seraculus limped her the way up to the stairs. The first door on the right was the washroom, and she sat down on the toilet. The toilet along with the other bathroom appliances were made of marble.
“That washroom door better stay open Seraculus!” her mom yelled.
“It will Mom!”
“Now what?” I whispered.
“You’re in the clear now. Just say you gotta go home for some reason. Besides, it’s a Friday so we can hang out tomorrow since it’s the weekend. I’m going to fake that I just noticed the blood when you go.”
As I walked downstairs, I saw a man with massive black wings that spread at least 6 feet. He opened his mouth to reveal sharp needle-like fangs. He was a full Minyades and had an intimidating presence.
“Are you Salan, son of Aja?” he asked.
I tilted my head back, “Yea why?”
His posture turned more aggressive, and his bat ears went back. He didn’t seem like a friendly father.
“You better leave now! You are not welcome in my house! Do not go near my daughter!” he shouted
“What did I do wrong?” I asked, shocked at his sudden aggressiveness.
“You bring on bad luck, black cat. I don’t want a Felis to cross my daughter’s path.”
Seraculus’ mom entered the room. “Tora! He helped our daughter,” she scolded.
He moved closer taking a deep sniff, “He also reeks of booze. What were you doing, huh? Drinking? You’re 16!”
“Is that true?” Seraculus’ mom questioned.
I knew Seraculus was in the washroom listening. I thought of a lie.
“No, I wasn’t drinking. A man bumped into me with a booze bottle. My neighborhood has a lot of alcoholics. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must get home to my mother. She’ll be worried about me,” I said, heading toward the door.
Tora moved in front of me, blocking the exit. Why was he treating me this way? His daughter was an Abomination as well. I didn’t understand.
“Tora! Get out of this boy's way; he helped her home. Do you forget what our daughter is too?” his wife asked.
“Fine go ahead, kid,” he muttered going into the next room.
I walked out the door
and shut it behind me. The gates at the very front opened on the way out, and I went home. I was still confused about Seraculus’ father.
When I made it to my house, it was quiet. My mother must have been asleep. Suddenly, I remembered the landlord's notice. I decided to look for it. My mom was already at her breaking point with her job, so I had to find out what the damage was. The search began by sifting through drawers and other compartments for an hour, avoiding her room. I decided that I had to risk it. That information was too valuable. I tiptoed into her room, making sure to open the door slowly, so it didn’t creak. Although I’m good at sneaking, she had Felis hearing. My mother was also a light sleeper, and the old floorboards didn’t help matters at all. I moved to one of her bed drawers, seeing her curled up in the sheets. I took a step closer, and some of the floorboards creaked. My heart skipped a beat. Her eyes didn’t open, so I was still OK. The first drawer I tried was a success. There was the yellow landlord notice, so I picked up the piece of paper and read it as fast as possible.
‘Due to the infraction under the authorization of code 122 Faslow Federal laws. The legal parent(s)/ guardian(s) must come up with compensation for an Abomination offspring. The landlord will ask for fair legal compensation based on land value losses to support someone of the Axis Alliance. The amount of 2000 will be given to the landlord in no less than 3 days. If compensation is not given, then the parent and the Abomination will need to liquefy their assets.’
Three days? That much money! A whole deer pelt sells for 100 gold coins if you bargain right and that’s if they're low on stock. Usually, they give a seven-day notice. My mom's weekly pay was low due to being Felis. She would never talk about how much she makes. She just paid for this week’s landlord payment. My hands shook with anger after reading the notice. There’s no way we can make that much money in time, and there’s no way 2000 was fair. I’m good at hunting, but this was too much.
My mom woke up, and she looked at me smiling. Crap, she caught me! The note was still in my hands. I put the notice back in the drawer, but it was too late. Her smile turned into anger, and she screamed, “Salan Alkacheta! Why are you holding the landlord's notice!”
“Wait, mom, you don’t understand I…”
Untold Deception Page 5
