by Melanie Ray
The stranger seemed impressed as he gave Muin an odd smile."Actually, I can." He extended his hand toward her. "Pleased to meet you, my name's Yeducavich Smilliat. You can call me Yed. I'm your sister's new Protector."
"Protector?" Ezra looked over at their father.
"The best offense is a good defense." Their father said as he looked over at Muin. "You are going to learn from him too."
"Learn?" Muin whined and stomped her foot.
"Why?" Xiam scratched his head as he looked at the tall kid. "They aren't even old enough for someone to start noticing them yet."
Yed Smilliat looked over at Ezra and Muin. "Xiam is right about that." He touched Xiam's shoulder gently. "But your dad is right too. The best offense is the best defense," he smiled. "If your sister's learn to deal with guys before they have to deal with guys, then they might never need Protectors again the rest of their lives." Yed crossed his arms. "Trust me kid, after awhile they won't be just cute anymore."
"Oh." Ezra and Muin both grimaced. Dad was an over reactor with Xiam’s sisters. They shouldn't have anything to do with Protectors for at least another century or two. Even longer for little Muiny.
"Ah, ah, bite your tongue." Io remarked, recognizing the same look Xiam always saw too. A sparkle that would pass by Muin's eyes, right before a violent temper tantrum. Io smiled at Yed gently. "Our home is your home. Welcome Yeducavich Smilliat."
Xiam eyed Yed Smilliat as he shook hands with his dad. The arrangement made a little sense, but it was apparent the two knew each other already. What was going on?
Chapter 28
Big Explanation, Little Concentration
" Xiam crawled out of bed in haste, nearly stumbling as he ran to Wye's temporary bed. “Wye!”
Wye groaned and covered his head with the ragged pillow he had to use. "What? It's like three in the morning."
"That guy was wrong, you are a Protector," Xiam laughed. "I had a dream, I think, or it was a flashback, I don’t know, but it felt real and it seemed real. And it had strange people I knew somehow, and everyone had tails, even us." Xiam looked around, noticing pictures on the wall. He didn’t see anyone from his dream in them.
"Really?" Wye stood up in bed. "Your memories are coming back? After this long?"
"I think so," Xiam smiled. "And-and-I've been able to concentrate better. I used to have trouble with that. Meaning, maybe we'll be like others? So, if you can get your memories back, and function the same again, then we could rescue M-Win like that old guy said."
"Well, we're rescuing M-Win," Wye yawned. "I’m not leaving our sister behind in this defunct planet. I don't think I'm a Protector. I admit, I know what you mean. My minds...I don't know, more clear here." He rubbed his eyes. "We'll figure it out somehow."
"I actually think you are a Protector. This isn't just a delusion. It's real," Xiam informed him. "In my dream, someone that looked like you came to our house when we were little. He introduced himself as Yeducavich Smilliat and said he was..." Now, his memory was starting to fade. "My sister's Protector? Another one?"
Wye looked at him strangely. "We have another sister? Are you sure?"
"Yeah," Xiam said sadly. "Ezra? She's..." Some images filled Xiam's mind slowly. "Another sister?"
"Did she say she was our sister?" Wye asked.
"No, I just know she was." Xiam replied. "You were going to protect her."
Wye shook his head. "I probably just look like the guy." He shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, the fact still stands. Why would I ever waste years on studying and training just to protect some girls? It doesn't make sense."
"Well, I still think you are a Protector." Xiam said firmly.
"Okay, have fun thinking that. Good night," Wye yawned and went back to sleep.
Xiam went over to his bed, a tad upset Wye didn’t believe him, but he had a point. Why would anyone want to be a Protector? Still, that Yed guy seemed to have a lot of pull and confidence in his dream. A different feel from what he's ever seen from Wye before. And as for his other sister? He called her Cattral. Xiam wondered as he pulled up his sheets over him. Does that mean my last names Cattral?
Maybe it's best he didn't think about it yet.
DAY ONE.
"Hey Grammy? Can I see a picture of my mom?" Xiam asked as he looked at the food on his plate. It was lunchtime the next day and his dream still bothered him.
Grammy Fornot looked over at Xiam. "Oh, I don't know. I don't think I have any pictures of her. Her place and my old place were burned down so many years ago, I don't think anything's survived.”
"Oh." Xiam picked at the food on his plate. "Was her name Scentella?"
Grammy Fornot accidentally dropped the plate she had been cleaning. "How'd you know that?"
Xiam smiled at Wye with a winking brag. "I had a dream last night."
"You dreamed of your mother?" Grammy Fornot sat down right away next to him. "Oh, Scentella. I haven't said her name in so many years."
"I noticed that," Xiam said as he ate some kind of weird mixed up omelette made with dough off his plate. "How come you never referred to her name?"
"Its tradition," Grammy Fornot explained. "We should never speak the names, or look at the old pictures again of the gone. If you don't dwell on the past, you'll have a happier future."
"Okay," Xiam started to get a bit fidgety. "Is that why you won't talk about Ezra?"
Grammy Fornot stared blankly at him. "...Ezra..." Her breathing was soft as she whispered the name. "I promise I will tell you about Ezra, but now is not the time. You must only concentrate on Muin right now." Then, her expression changed. "Still, tell me more about your dream."
"Oh, well I was there, and M-Win was there, and I guess my mom was there with Ezra." X pointed at Wye, "and he was there."
"So, was I right? Wye, he was the Protector?" Grammy Fornot asked excitedly.
"He said I looked like him," Wye said as he stuffed another bite of a weird pancake and omelette looking thing in his mouth. "These are different."
Grammy Fornot didn't seem deterred. "Can you describe him?"
"Actually, yeah." Xiam smiled. "Wye had the same turquoise hair now, and he had on that strange shirt from the picture. He had a black tail too, everyone had black tails."
Grammy Fornot pressed her arms together and crossed them. "That's a good sign!"
Neither Wye nor Xiam seemed to understand her weird gesture.
"But Ezra?" Xiam questioned. "I dreamed of her too. She was taller and her hair was red."
"Later." Grammy Fornot insisted once again. "So Wye, have you thought up anything yet?"
"NOT YET." WYE SMILED. "We'll figure it out though."
I'll figure it out though. Whatever it takes
Wye looked around. "Did someone just say something?" Xiam and Grammy Fornot both shook their heads no. Wye went back to eating his omelette pancake creation, it must have been his imagination. "These are really good Fornotia." Grammy Fornot looked at him wide eyed. Wye stopped eating as he thought about what he did. "I mean Fornot. Why the heck did I call you Fornotia? This world screws me up more every day. I’d rather be on Earth. My head feels weird here."
"Wye, what about you? Did you have any dreams?" Grammy Fornot pushed again. "Because I think some of that Protector is starting to kick i-in!"
Wye just stuck his tongue out. "Come on, even that expert says I'm no Protector. Give it up Fornot."
Give it up. I don't give second warnings.
Wye looked around the room again. Why am I hearing a voice inside my head? On Earth, he’d heard rumors that he turned into someone else, but he’d never heard any voices in his head. He wasn’t used to it. Delusions, mixed up moments yeah, but not voices.
"Are you okay?" Xiam asked. "You don't look very good, Wye."
Wye was about to answer, but a voice came back again.
If you call me or Ezraponia Cattral by our first names again kid, I'll have to get rough.
Wye tried to ignore the inner voice he couldn't u
nderstand. He tried to ignore the strange feelings he had started to have. He felt like he was slowly changing.
"Are you okay?" Grammy Fornot asked both of them
"We're fine, we've just felt weird." Xiam answered for him.
"Oh yes, the inhibitor." Grammy Fornot said. "I forgot all about that. Probably because it's naturally worked since before I was born."
"The what?" Wye frowned.
"The inhibitor," Grammy Fornot smiled. "Many, many, centuries ago, warnos were barely at the top of the food chain, we were too crazy to do anything. It was anarchy, no one could concentrate, everyone played around all day, so there was no real society. But then, growing from the top of mountains came these gargantuan green structures. Somehow, they give off a calming effect around the planet and cause us to stay sane. Just a short decade later, a king was crowned and society took off. Much happier times followed according to my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, very, very, very, exceedingly ancient great grandmother."
Wye and Xiam both whined. Did she always have to say all the greats?
"So that is why we feel weird," Xiam whined.
Grammy Fornot scoffed. “Well you haven’t been acting as insane here, have you?”
It was like an alarm was set off in Wye’s head as he stopped eating. “Hey X, did we really free animals as a job?”
“No way. No, we did?” Xiam leaned back. “We did. That’s crazy.”
“We are crazy.” Wye set his utensil down. When was the last time he changed? Had an odd thought he had to see through? Needed to scream and get out? Ever since he arrived at Grammy Fornot’s he hadn’t tried anything. Was he becoming normal? Did he want to become normal?
M-WIN LOOKED AROUND the small room she was kept in inside the enemy’s castle. She wound herself up tight. I want to go home, she kept thinking to herself. She hadn't felt so used or unsafe. She’d always been next to Wye or X. Now, there was no Wye. No X. Just her.
"Hello again. How are you feeling today?"
M-Win glared at the alien who entered her room again. "If my brothers were here, they'd kick your ass!"
The enemy shrugged his shoulders. "We've got a visitor for you."
M-Win didn't reply. Oh, what she wouldn't give to go back home. We sure had it different before we arrived in Dallas.
"Muinela?"
M-Win looked at the stranger that had come to see her. She rang many bells within, but M-Win couldn't say who she was. The woman was skinny like an anorexic super model. Her eyes were baggy, as if years of worry and pressure overflowed them. Even the tail that hung on her back didn’t seem real and simply drooped to the ground, being dragged as she walked closer. Yet the stranger still wore a smile on her face. "Muinela?" The stranger called out to her again.
M-Win stared at the saggy brown dress the woman was wearing. "Who are you?"
The woman seemed depressed a moment, then as if realizing something, she smiled again even wider. "In a way, I'm glad to hear that. Muinela, I'm your mother, Scentella."
M-Win didn't know what to make of it. The woman was her mother? "You're my mom?" M-Win didn't know what else to say. "You're my mom?"
Scentella choked and tears could be seen forming in her eyes. "Yes, I'm your mom."
M-Wins mouth started to feel funny. For so long, she had always wanted to know where she was from. She wanted to know about her family and there, standing in front of her, was her mom? "I..." M-Win’s mouth got drier. "I don't remember you."
"I know," Scentella wiped away another tear. "Maybe it's better that way."
"But that old woman said you were dead," M-Win said full of anger. She didn't want to believe that the poor, frail woman in front of her was actually her mother. No way, if she had a mom she’d have an attitude, strength, and she’d be full of life. That’s what she always pictured. M-Win grabbed the necklace from around her neck and showed it to her. "She said my mom would have wanted me to have this."
Scentella stared at the pendant on the necklace that swung haphazardly back and forth in M-Win’s hand. "I'm glad she gave it to you."
M-Win stopped swinging the pendant and bitterly put it on her neck again. "What's happening?"
"There's no easy way to say it," Scentella said softly. "Muinela, we are the Pinks resources."
"What? What's that mean?" Muin demanded.
Scentella touched her ear delicately. "Careful honey, my ears aren't what they used to be."
"What do you mean resource?" M-Win asked again, still bitter but more soft. "Are they hurting us?"
"No, they don't hurt us unless we allow it, they just mistreat us." Scentella replied.
"Mistreat is hurt," M-Win yelled. “Duh!”
"No, hurt ends life. Mistreat is mistreat." Scentella sighed. "Muin, there is something no outsider knows about the Pinks." She looked around her carefully before continuing. "There is no such thing as a pure Pink. There is near perfect. That is what most Pink Tails are around here."
"I don't understand," M-Win said. "Near?
"When the Pink lines become too pure, the babies live around five minutes," Scentella tried to explain. "They kept it a secret from us for a long time. I believe it's still a secret."
"Five minutes?" M-Win didn't get it. "Then how are they surviving?"
"Through us," Scentella pointed to herself. "We are herded into cells. We do nothing but eat, sleep and work. But slowly, we're taken out and assimilated. Our memories are wiped out, and we become brainwashed into believing we are also Pink Tails."
Scentella closed her eyes. "It's only a rumor, but I believe it. Everything inside of me says it's true."
"Assimilate? I don't wanna be assimilated!" M-Win cried out.
"It's a far better thing a lot of us think," Scentella said in a soft tone. "You are either worked to the bone, or you spend your life in a cage until you have a purpose."
"..." M-Win just blinked. Assimilated? Or worked to the bone? She didn't like either one. "Oh, I want to get out of here. Wye! X! Get me out here! Take me back to Aryu, please!"
Scentella touched her ears again. "Muin, I'm sorry. I take it your home must have been a very happy one."
"It wasn’t a paradise." M-Win pouted as she had sat down. "It was a thousand times better than this. Wye and X and me, we were always together. We had free food, we could watch TV sometimes. Every once in awhile I think we got to go outside and smell the fresh air. Earth was awesome, and there was none of this alien invading crap. Well a little, but there just loons. There was green grass, blue skies... I can’t remember everything, my memory only goes back about three weeks. I always felt safe though, but here, I don’t feel safe at all."
"Alright, visitation over. We got everything we wanted."
M-Win and Scentella looked over at the guard.
"What do you mean what you wanted?" Scentella asked in suspicion.
"So that world is called Dallas? Isolated, no alien visitation. Interesting."
M-Wins eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped in the realization of what she had just given away. "No, no way, you stay away from there! That's not your world!"
"Ooh, I forgot to wait to find out about more resources. Are there trees? You said grass and blue skies. Sounds safe," the guard reasoned. “Sounds perfect.”
"I should have known." Scentella hissed like a wild cat. "Letting me talk to Muin with no strings attached. I'm sorry, I was so wrapped up in seeing you that-"
"I know." M-Win interrupted. "I did the same thing. I just wanted to talk to someone. I wanted to know..." She felt tears start to form, betraying her feelings. Crying isn’t what she wanted to do, not now. They would take her away again, she knew that. But something inside of her wouldn’t let her feelings stay away. "I wanted to get to know you.” She blinked her eyes knowing a tear had run down her face. “You’re my mom."
Scentella nodded and tried to stay as a guard pulled on her. "I'm coming, hold on," she yelled angrily. She looked back at Muin and smiled. "I'll see you again, one d
ay. Maybe even on better terms." The guard pulled on her again. “I may not be near, but I’m always there Muiny, mom will always be there!” She finally got jerked too hard to stand on her feet and stumbled, catching herself. She looked back one last time before she obediently followed the guard out.
"JUUUUNIOOOOR!"
Yed turned around as he saw his mommy. He grinned widely as he threw down his Yo-yo. "Momma!"
Mrs. Smilliat grinned at him as he ran into her arms. "There's my big boy! Who's my big boy?"
"I'm your big boy," Yed smiled from ear to ear. He looked over at his dad. Usually, his dad was smiling but today he didn't look happy.
Yed's little sister Millerna started to strut up to their dad. "What's wrong daddy?"
"Nothing honey," Mrs. Smilliat assured him as she held onto Yed even tighter. "Everything's okay. Everything is just fine, alright?" She moved Yed to one arm and held Millerna's hand anxiously.
Yed nodded to his sister. He didn't know what was going on, but he was her big brother and his confidence always made Millerna feel better. He looked over at his dad again. His daddy still didn't look happy. "Daddy?"
"Sh." Mr. Smilliat wasted no other words on him. "Take Yed Junior and Millerna inside. Now honey."
Mrs. Smilliat paused for a moment as she looked at Yed’s dad. "Yed?"
"Now," Yed’s dad demanded as he quickly pushed his wife inside. "Hide yourselves and stay quiet."
Yed looked terrified as his mommy tried to hide him inside a closet with Millerna. "Momma?"
"Sh,sh,sh," His mommy replied. "Everything's okay. Just keep your head down. Mommy has to go help daddy, okay?"
"Momma!" Millerna cried out as she reached out for her. Yed held her tightly, trying to keep her safe.
"Now, now Millerna. You have to be a big good girl. Stay in here with your big brother." Mrs. Smilliat insisted.
Yed watched as his mommy closed the door on him and his sister. He sat down and tried to stay quiet with Millerna. What was going on?
"Let go! You'll never take her! Never!"