ENTRY # 09

ARIA

The next surprise came early in the morning, three days later.

With a bag of luggage in one hand and a briefcase in the other, as always, wearing a long black trench coat, a turtleneck, and pants of the same color–he towered over the front door, plastering the same attractive smile, looking like an evil, but handsome, mad scientist from Men in Black.

Mom let him in the house, greeting him with a polite hug. "Hey, Arthur."

My dad–a devilishly handsome man in his near thirties–hugged her back. "Hi, Vee. Long time no see."

They broke apart. His pair of piercing brown eyes slid in my direction. I was standing on the stairs, he caught me on my way down for breakfast. I flashed him a small smile, "Dad...you're here."

"Hey, kiddo." he said. "What? No hugs?"

I climbed down the last few steps, half-running, half-walking, towards him and slid my arms around his waist. He had gotten more tanned since the last time I saw him. Still a big man, well-built with muscular arms and legs. "What's this?" I touched his goatee, laughing. "And you shaved your head."

He chuckled at my reaction, "Yeah well, I thought I'd give your advice a try. You said all I was missing is a beard and a bald head and I'd look like an Egyptian pharaoh."

I laughed, "No way, I was kidding." I let go of his waist, and he placed his hand on my back to lead me to the dining room. "And the pharaoh thing was Liv's idea."

I spoke the words out before I could stop myself. I immediately clamped my lips and quietly glanced at him, waiting for his reaction.

Dad had made himself comfortable in his seat and was serving me with bacon and eggs. Mom had gone over to the fridge to grab some juice. I didn't think she overheard what I said over the rather loud sound of eggs frying.

"Oh yeah, where is she, by the way?" Dad asked, chewing. "Is she still asleep?"

I was gobsmacked. "Wait...you remember Liv?" I exclaimed. "But how?"

He paused. Looking back at me with a curious gaze, "What do you mean I remember? Ofcourse, I do! She's also my daughter, you know. She came from my seed."

"What? Ew!" I shook my head, trying to go back to the topic. "I mean...It's just," I skidded my seat closer to him, toning my voice down to a whisper. "I think everyone forgot about her existence. Liv, I mean." His eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "Even Mom forgot she existed."

"What? Are you sure?"

"Yes! I asked her about stuff all the time, even tried a trick question. I–I don't think she remembers she had another daughter."

He shoots a look of disbelief at my words. He turned to Mom, "Vivian? Where's Livia?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me about this Liv, Livia, whatever person?" Mom exclaimed, throwing her arms up in frustration.

"I already told Aria I don't know anyone with that name."

Dad's jaw dropped, "Are you for real?"

"Yes!"

He turned back to me with a grave expression. "Since when has this been happening?"

"Since I woke up from a coma," I said. His eyes immediately widened in shock. I answered his questions before he could say them out loud. "There was this earthquake and a meteor. We got crushed, almost burned, nevertheless, still alive. We woke up a year later."

"We?"

I nodded, "Yes. Me, Liv, Teagan–the usual gang."

"My god," he whispered. His eyes immediately widened in alarm and scanned me for any sign of harm. "Are you okay? Did you get too injured?"

"I'm fine." I said, turning my gaze to my food. "I was lucky. The others...not so much."

"Did anyone die?"

I shook my head. "No one did. But Liv somehow disappeared–physically and in everyone's memories. There was no one other than me...and you...who knows about her existence."

Dad was silent as I talked. Rather than giving me those usual looks like I'd gone mad or traumatized, he looked as if he was deep in thought. Truth to be told, it was weird that he came back to this town at this time of the year. I had this feeling in my gut that his sudden appearance may or may not have something to do with the freaky incident that happened.

"Dad," I said, my voice stern and tense. "Did you know about this?"

"Huh? About what?"

"About everything. About Liv's disappearance." I paused, thoroughly thinking if I should mention the other thing. My powers.

His eyes turned to me with a piercing gaze. It was a look that I would often see when he discovered something unnatural and somehow looked as if he was solving a puzzle, and he knew what it was that made those discoveries peculiar.

Despite being my dad, his obsessive determination to scour the world and uncover its mysteries has always been a big fat question mark to everyone he knew. He jumped from one country to another, visiting random places, and excavating stuff like he was involved in some kind of cluehunt.

During the childhood years that I spent when I was in his care, I often saw my dad looking over his shoulders more often than normal. His life before he met Mom was also a huge black hole. And despite being a man of many, many talents, I always wondered why he chose to live such an isolated life.

He let out a long sigh and gestured at my still full plate. "Finish your food. We'll talk later outside." He motioned to the back door–the one that opens to the barn and the forest behind it.

I didn't really have an appetite because of how sore my body has been since last night. To be honest, ever since I found out my abilities, I've been studying and experimenting every night secretly. I could never fall asleep without being haunted by nightmares and so I thought— if I had the power to alter my physical body and capabilities, wouldn't it make sense if I did it so that I wouldn't ever have the need to sleep? And so, after a minute of hesitation, I did just that.

After all, one does not shy away from impulses–especially when developed superhuman powers, or if you have terrible impulse control. Which was absolutely me.

Who said that again? Was it Confucius?

Anyway, I knew better to listen to my dad if I wanted to know the answers. Especially one as serious as this. For all I know, Liv might be held against her will somewhere and the perpetrator may have some ability to mess with people's minds, resulting in the loss of people's memories of her and of her existence. After all, I knew firsthand that magic isn't so far off after what I just did those things last night.

Hint: It has something to do with angels, werewolves, and the occasional fish tail. I'll leave that in your imagination.

Hence, I grabbed my utensils and tried to finish my plate as quickly as possible without making it obvious. I kept a close eye on Dad, who engaged in various conversations with Mom as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Some part of me knew that even though his eyes were directed towards Mom, his attention was pointed straight at me, observing my movements.

When I was done, I took my plate to the sink and finished off my juice on the way. Mom paused her conversation with Dad and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "That was fast. Going somewhere?"

I nodded, "Just at the barn."

"Okay. But you have to promise me you won't do anything dangerous, alright?" Mom said. "You just got out of the hospital. I don't want you getting yourself in trouble. Remember, your body is not what it used to be."

It is not as it normally is. I thought, deciding it would be much better if she didn't know about my newly developed mutancy. "Okay, I'll try my best."

"As promises go, that was pretty lame." I laughed at her comment.

After that, I threw a quick glance at Dad and made for the back door.