Twenty Four

My stomach overworked as tried to memorize bits of her face I could see as she watched the movie. her smiles, the glint in her eyes as she laughed. Her cute disarming frown looked almost like a baby's. I couldn't help but poke at it every time I saw it.

Her face, as I stared at it, made me want to see it in its entirety, not segmented. The entire cast of the pirates of the Caribbean, I wished I could see them, at least see the same thing that she saw.

"… but I had fun," she said with a smile as we stood in front of my hostel block. we've left her room ten minutes ago and we have been talking about the movie from her room to my hostel.

"I had fun too," I responded completely racking my brains.

"you stared at my face the entire movie."

She... noticed?

"I didn't."

"you did." she bit her lip and she looked… wow! I noticed that cute frown and I melted a bit further. "you stared at me the whole movie."

"well, you… it…" I couldn't think of what I could say without putting myself way too out there. if I told her I couldn't see faces, would she see me oddly? if I told her I felt… weird, but in a nice way, seeing her face would she… "you… you looked cute, so I was a bit transfixed."

she blinked a couple of times and blushed.

"I shouldn't have said that. so, what are you doing after supper?" I asked before I could be forced to lie to her.

"I have to study session with Tlotlo, Sara and Thabo, wanna join?"

"with emath making me see shooting stars during the day, of course, I'd love to." I admitted though I didn't know any of them.

"Cool," she said with a soft smile. "I'll see you after supper. I'll pick you up."

"Okay." I agreed and she left.

Just like that.

That was wrong. So wrong. But I didn't have a single clue of what I could say to her, so I just watched her leave.

Her ass looked fine. So round. so… Ow! I slapped myself off that trail of thoughts hard enough it stung as I unlocked my room door and walked in.

As I closed the door behind me, I saw the dust bin, not in its place. A sausage wrapper was in the dustbin. So was the wrapper for a loaf of bread. My brand of bread.

I opened the fridge and sighed. My roommate was here earlier. But he wasn't anymore. I thought I was going to see him on Saturday. The only day he doesn't do anything besides rolling around his bed and having food delivered to him. perks of being a Seventh-day Adventist.

My sauces were used, cheese was gone, and four apples were missing. Why do I keep up with this? I wondered. he never contributes to the fridge, but he always eats from it.

I threw the bag on top of the bed and sat down on my study table which the fridge was on top of. I opened my laptop and a stick it notes fell aside. I picked the note and read it.

"Sorry," he wrote, "I printed out a few pages and… check your ink would ya?"

I squashed the note and threw it aside.

"I'm gonna kill him." Yeah, I definitely am going to kill him.

The laptop screen lit after a few seconds and riveted back to the last program that was run.

My printing queue.

A few pages? a few pages he said. A few pages?! Who the fuck was he kidding? A few pages? He printed three hundred and fifty-four pages! How is that a few pages? and what the heck was he printing? The bible?

I checked the ink levels of my printer, I almost choked in rage. I bought this ink last week! How the hell is it low right now?

I took out my phone, turned it on, and dialed his number. As expected he didn't answer his phone.

"Oh, I am going to kill him and I would do my very best to enjoy it," I spoke to myself. Now, what was I going to do? I forgot.

He ruined my good mood. Oh, I am so gonna kill him. I turned back to the laptop and ran a quick check on the Library to find a few things about the Nameless. But a few pictures of the outcome of the Nameless interaction with life told me I was barking at the wrong tree. None of the results came up.

I searched any that left worms crawling over clean white bones of its victims and came out with none. not even Thoth had info on it. and he housed almost all info on earth. I gave up and did something else. paperwork.

My phone rang once I was halfway to accomplish my resolve, documenting my last mission with Suzy and the Unit, re imprisoning an Igigi who violated his 300-year "parole" terms by trying to fly out of the continent.

I looked at the caller ID and saw who it was. My mother.

"Hello, Mom," I answered.

"Hey, How's everything?" She asked. Her voice sounded different from the last time we spoke.

"Same as always," I responded.

"Shay said she can't see how you were doing. Are you sure everything is, okay?"

"You spoke to Shay? When?"

"Yesterday. You didn't come over and it was Olivia's birthday. So I called her over."

Yesterday? Oh damn. I forgot. "Sorry I was busy."

"You know it's the only time we see you these days."

"Mom, I know…"

"So, are you using your powers again?"

"Yes, I am using them."

"I thought you said you stopped since they were putting a lot of people in danger."

"no, I didn't say I stopped, I said I needed to stop trying not to use them to keep people out of danger…"

"no, you said you were going to stop…"

"no, I said I was going to stop calling in, frequently and just be there once or twice a year, nothing extra."

"No, you said…" I let her start and heard of a thousand reasons why I should stop using my powers and for a minute, I wondered why I got back in touch with them. One would think what happened in 2012 was not a good enough reason to cut all contact with them. or 2016. or all my seven thousand years of existence before then. But I gotta blame Shay.

"Mom!" I shouted into the microphone without intending to. "yes, I am using my powers, but no, I will not stop using them."

"But…"

"Mom, just listen. There are things I need to do with my powers. It's why I was born again. I know I pushed y'all away but it's all for your good. My powers are the only thing keeping everyone safe right now."

My laptop screen changed and showed Eun Tak sitting in her grandmother's yard crying. Hong Min Ah was watching her from the superstore dining area a few hundred yards away from her.

Nat was with him, but no one was with her. "I'll call you back in a minute." I hung up and dialed Hong Min Ah's phone. He rejected the call and leaned closer to Nat.

"Hong!" I growled at them after hacking their computer. "When I call, you answer. NOW PICK UP YOUR GODDAMN PHONE!"

"Jay?" Nat asked, recognizing my voice.

"It was you?" Hong asked.

"Yeah, it was me. Stop talking about me and go see to it that she is okay!" I turned to Nat. "Hello Nat, long time no see."

"You are dead. Solik killed you three years ago."

"Yeah right, I thought you were catching on to this right now," I told her. "How many times have I died in front of you and still came back?"

"You know him?" Hong asked.

"You still there? Get off your ass! You lazy bones!" I'm starting to sound like a tyrant, maybe I shouldn't have talked to mom. Nat looked down and asked Thoth if this was in real-time. No time set messages or cloaked faces.

"No, ma'am this is a conversation in real life."

"Why are you asking him, clearly I am alive."

"I saw you bleed." She started and I had a feeling she was about to explode.

"Oh, that time, I had ketchup and it spilled on me," I remembered the laugh 2016 was and the fight I had with the Celtic relic bent on killing the Swan's royal family. I also remembered the dark side. Killing the relic over a hot dog a bottle of ketchup.

I know you don't need to think about it too. But in my defense, he deserved it. That was my sister's first gift to me. It cost way more than a hunter's life. Besides, killing him spared a lot of good people's lives.

"And I saw you turn to ashes."

"you've never listened to anything I've said since the first day we met thirteen years ago, have you?" I asked her. "I remember telling you I can be a pile of dirt."

That didn't sound right.