...
As the stranger stood up and approached the two sisters, Mal couldn't help but stare at the stranger's wings. To her, it looked almost realistic… Too realistic. "Hey, that's some cool wings you got, sir. Really." However, when she complimented him, he chuckled, looking at the two girls with a strange look on his face. "Well, judging by your reaction, I can tell that quirks don't really exist in your realm… But I guess that doesn't matter."
Mal didn't realize it at first, but something about the stranger felt familiar… Too familiar. Of course, being locked up inside the psych ward for 5 years really made her forget everything she used to remember. "Um, sir… I'm sorry if I'm wrong but…do I know you?" she asked hesitantly.
"Mal?" Hearing her words, Anika looked at her with a concerned look.
Suddenly, behind them, another stranger drops down from the rooftop above. This time, it was a woman, also hooded and wearing all black. Just like the strange man with wings who was standing in front of them. As the woman stood up, the two sisters looked at her and then back at the man in front of them…
When Anika felt the gravity of what was happening, she pulled Mal close to her. "Look, we don't want any trouble. We just want to get back to our aunt." she said, her voice filled with unease. "Oh, don't worry. It's not you we want… It's your little sister here that we intend on taking." said the woman, walking towards the two.
Anika, in a moment of survival instinct, throws her purse at the winged man and then shoves the woman, making her fall to the ground. "Malicia! Run!" she said urgently. Listening to her word, Mal then dashed past the man, running toward the light up ahead of the alleyway. Anika takes off her shoe, holding it firmly while using the heel of the shoe as a weapon to defend herself against the hooded woman. But just as Mal was almost at the end, brown feathers then flew around her. Two feathers then went under her feet and tripped her over, making her fall onto the dirty, concrete floor. "Ow..." Mal said as she slowly lifted herself up. But before she could even react, the feather wrapped around her ankles and started dragging her away from the end of the alleyway. "Ah! What the fuck?!" Mal yelped, "How in the world-?" Suddenly when the man's wings sprung up with more feathers coming off it and floating around him, she couldn't believe her eyes.
"How are you… Those wings are real? Your wings are real?" Mal stammered, staring at him with her mouth gaping slightly. Grabbing her wrist and pulling her close, the man's eyes glow golden yellow under the shadow of the hoodie over his head that covers his face. "You really don't remember me, do you?" He asked, gripping her wrist firmly while staring at her with his eyes.
"No, I don't!" Mal yelled, trying to push away but then heard her sister start coughing hard. Looking behind the winged man, she witnessed her sister get punched in the stomach and then in the face. Just as she saw Anika fall to the ground, Mal shoved the man away from her and rushed toward her sister, who was now unconscious. "Anika! Anika! Please, get up! Anika! Please!" Mal pleaded while shaking her but her sister was knocked out cold. Mal then angrily glares at the woman, "What the fuck did you do!?"
The woman sighed, "Relax, she's not dead. Just out cold…"
Mal didn't know why these two strangers were attacking her and her sister. First it was Damion's mom in the store and now this… It was just too much for her to bear. "Why are you doing th–Ow!" Suddenly, a sudden sting feeling then stops her mid-sentance. Looking down, Mal saw one of the man's feathers had pricked her arm.
"What the fuck? What is th—" Just as she tried to speak, she soon started to feel drowsy. So drowsy that she starts moving side to side before eventually falling backwards. "Wow, easy girl…" The winged man said, catching her from falling and picking her up into his arms.
The woman sighed in disappointment, "Lillith said to do this quietly… if only you did that earlier then we wouldn't have to do this the hard way."
"Oh, c'mon. Don't be like that now. We managed, didn't we?" The winged man said, "And besides, this was gonna go one way or another. So let's just get outta here before anyone notices us…"
"What about the sister?" The woman asked, looking down at Anika, who was still unconscious on the ground. The man shrugged, "Nah, nothing really to worry about. The aunt will come looking for her or more so, she'll wake up, wondering where her sister is."
"Then we'd better get going." With that, the woman took out a small, clouded stone. Holding it up in front of her, the stone glows and a portal opens up inside the brick wall.
"Into the unknown, here we go." The winged man said, walking into the portal with Mal still sleeping in his arms. Just as the woman follows behind him, the portal then closes, sealing the brick wall back to its original surface.
_______________
Earth - 60711
Maliza
"No!" With sweat dripping down my face and my skin feeling hot to the touch, I gasped loudly, bolting upward with my breaths heavy.
For a moment, I sat up with my hand on my chest while I panted softly. "That nightmare again…" I murmured, "... That girl… She…" I stopped as my mind replayed that dream. The dream of those two attackers kidnapping that girl in an alleyway while the girl's sister was left behind. For months, that dream has been playing over and over every single night. I tried to ignore it, really I did. But it just kept going… And honestly, I feel like I'm losing my mind over it.
...
Oh, sorry. I guess I should probably tell you who I am and how I got to this point.
My name is Maliza and... strange things have been happening for the past few months. But to start my story, I have to start from the beginning.
***
Years ago, it was always just me and my sister, Malia. We were inseparable, always together, protecting each other through thick and thin. All those years, I was used to being by her side everyday but… When it came to protecting our home, I was left on the side while Malia left with everyone else. I wanted to help… I wanted to be with her but Malia didn't want me to fight. She said one wrong move and the enemy will kill you if given the chance.
I didn't care about the warnings. I just wanted to be with her.
But at that time, being apart was the norm.
…
After a few years, I started training and learning how to fight. I never wanted to use my power to cause harm… I only used it when I needed to. During that time, Malia wanted me to just stay out of fighting but I refused. I tried asking if I could help her but...she didn't want me to protect Earth alongside her and the others.
I stayed at home as usual, just being myself and all until I started singing.
I liked singing… but at that time, I didn't think my singing was any good until Bulma heard me singing one day and told me I sounded like an angel.
I was…a little embarrassed.
But even though I was flustered, her complement gave me encouragement. After that, I started singing more often than normal. Everyone started to notice and they were enamored by my singing. Videl's dad suggested I start out as a pop idol. Even though Malia agreed on the idea, I refused.
I never really wanted fame…
Though it was a great opportunity, I chose not to take it.
Everything was going well for everyone until after the Tournament of Power, Malia told me that she was getting married to Shin. I was happy for her but the only problem was that we wouldn't be close anymore. Either way, she moved out of Capsule Corp and bought a place of her own in the suburbs.
After a few years, Malia settled down and had kids of her own; my two nieces, Shaina and Malisha and my nephew, Kai. Though we were apart, my sister would come visit me often here and there. Sometimes she would even bring Kai, Shaina or baby Malisha with her.
I was really happy for them. That they had a mom like my sister.
It was really the best years of my life until… Something terrible happened to my sister.
Bulma said she died from some kind of poison. I didn't wanna believe it but...when I saw my sister's body, I shuddered. I could never forget the dark tree-like vines inside my sister's skin. It was almost unbearable.
Everyone suggested that they used the Dragon Balls but… They were never found.
Goku even went to the Lookout to see if Dende had them but… he and Mr Popo were gone.
Everyone didn't understand what was happening. It was almost like the two guardians and the Dragon Balls just vanished.
Everyone looked for them but…every lead was a dead end.
Everything changed when my sister died.
I lost it... I couldn't live without my sister and my mind was completely broken to the point where I was self-harming. This went on for 2 months until Shin finally noticed. When he realized just how unstable I was, he had to take me in. He knew I wasn't the same anymore…so he did everything he could to help me.
For a few years, I've been in and out of therapy. Taking my meds and keeping track of my vitals.
Though it was a long time of healing, I was able to manage, thanks to Shin.
We bonded over the years... so much so that we grew closer to each other. He was really a big help. Because of our relationship, I was able to help him take care of my nieces and nephew.
As they grew up, I got more closer with Shin until we eventually started dating.
However, a year into our relationship, my nephew, Kai, started to become distant with me. Not only that, but he started acting distant with father too. I thought that maybe… he was just being a teenager.
It's been 8 years now and he's even colder and more distant than he was before. After what happened to him years ago, being abused by that delinquent student and accused of murder, he was just never the same. And Shaina…
She's okay but her new job as a waitress really stresses her out at times.
As for Malisha, she's really doing well in school but the other children always give her a hard time. All because she is different.
Of course, I thought I could pull myself through it. I thought I could at least help my nephew and my nieces with their problems until…
The dreams started.
It started with a girl, walking with her sister to the mall and two assailants would attack and kidnap her. The first time it happened, I tried to ignore it. But then it happened again. And again…and again. This had been going on for 10 nights and honestly… I don't think I can take it.
***
Morning
That early morning, when I slowly woke up, I expected to find Shin in bed next to me but…when I fluttered my eyes open, he wasn't. There was nothing but just an empty space next to me. I admit, as sad as I was for him not being there after the nightmare I had earlier, I wasn't surprised because Shin was a god, meaning he wouldn't be home often due to his position as Supreme Kai. Most of the time, he would be away for more than two days, depending on how urgent the situation is in Otherworld.
But despite his job, he always has time for me and his family.
Sitting up, I yawned softly with my hand covering my mouth. "Well, another beautiful morning as always." I murmured to myself before pulling the blankets off my legs and swinging them off the bed. I was thinking a lot of things as I stood up and walked over to my wardrobe. Like waking Malisha up for school, making breakfast and making sure that her bag was packed. When I opened the cupboard, I looked through my clothes and outfits until one dress caught my eye. It was a dark pink dress with no sleeves, nothing too fancy or anything. Taking it off the hanger, I placed the dress against my chest and walked over to the mirror next to my wardrobe. Honestly, I couldn't help but smile as I saw how pretty the dress looked on me. "Heh, guess some things never change, do they?" I thought to myself as I walked towards my bed and placed the dress down neatly.
"Maliza! You awake!?" Hearing Shaina's voice from downstairs, I responded, "Yes! I'm coming!"
Putting on my slippers, I immediately went downstairs, only to be surprised to see my oldest niece Shaina up so early, already dressed and ready to leave for work. "Oh, hey. You're up early…" I said when I noticed her wrapping her sandwich in tin foil and placing it in her handbag. "Um, yeah. The restaurant is opening early today so I need to leave soon." Shaina said as she took her bag and placed the strap over her shoulder. While she was taking her water bottle out the fridge, I looked on the kitchen counter and saw a sealed block of lipstick.
Thinking that maybe it was mine and I left it, I took it in my hand for a moment to examine it but... then I realized it wasn't mine when I saw it was red lipstick. "Oh, hey. That's mine." Without warning, Shaina took it out of my hand and placed it in her bag.
I know Shaina… I know she has a lot of habits and all but…
One thing I do know well about Shaina is...she doesn't wear lipstick to work. Matter of fact, she doesn't wear lipstick at all. The only thing she puts on her lips is either lipgloss or chapstick. Never has she worn red lipstick once…she hates it.
The only reason is that the red lipstick always stains her lips and every time she drinks, it will stick to the cup.
She would never wear lipstick unless… it was for a reason.
"Why do you have that in your bag, Shaina?" I curiously asked.
Shaina seemed to hesitate at my question before responding, "It's nothing really, I just borrowed it from one of the employees at work."
"But you never wear lipstick…" I said, "You told me you hated it. Even when you were young and used to play dress-up, you always said you hated lipstick."
"I know. Like I said, I was just borrowing it." Shaina said.
Despite her words, something about the fact that she was carrying lipstick around still bothered me. I wanted to talk to her about it but knowing that she needed to be at work on time, I knew I had to drop it. At least for now. "I better get going. I might be home late so… I'll see you then." Shaina said as she walked toward the front door. Seeing her leave, I said my goodbyes, "Okay. I wish you the best of luck at work." When Shaina finally walks out, I let out a soft sigh when she closed the door behind her. Realizing that Malisha's lunch wasn't packed, I walked over to the counter, only to be relieved when I realized that her lunchbox was already made and packed. "Oh! Shaina must've already packed Malisha's lunchbox while I was asleep." I thought to myself.
"Morning, Maliza." I turned around to see Malisha, already neatly dressed and carrying her backpack on her shoulder. "Oh, morning, Malisha. Here you go." I softly smiled as I gave her lunchbox to her.
As she was putting it in her bag, I hesitated at first before asking, "Hey, do you know why your sister is carrying lipstick around?"
Malisha looks up at me, "Lipstick?"
"Yes. Do you know why?" Malisha raised a brow when I spoke. "No. Why would she? She hates it."
"That's why I'm asking. I thought maybe you knew." I said. Obviously, I knew Malisha didn't exactly know about Shaina having lipstick, I just wanted to know if she noticed anything weird going on with her older sister.
"I didn't know she had lipstick until you said something. Maybe it's someone else's and Shaina is just keeping it?" Malisha suggested while sipping her bag closed.
"But she said it was hers. Why would she carry something she hates around in her purse?" Despite my words, Malisha just shrugged before putting her bag on her back. "I don't know, Aunt Maliza." She said, "Look, I have to leave. The bus is gonna be here soon and I really need to go." Just as she was about to walk out, I then asked, "Well, is your brother up yet?"
Malisha turns toward me, "No, he's not in his room."
I was surprised when she said that Kai wasn't in his room. "What?"
Just as I was about to ask where he was, the school bus then hooted outside. "Oh, the bus is here. See you later," Malisha said as she opened the front door, "Bye, Maliza."
When she left, I walked towards the door and waved as I watched Malisha get on the school bus. She glanced back at me and waved back at me before going inside, the doors closing behind her. As the school bus drove off, I closed the front door, letting out a soft sigh before walking towards the stairs and going up to see if Kai was in his room. I placed my hand on the door knob and twisted it, opening the door to find the room empty. The bed was still made up and everything was neatly tidied.
I didn't know when Kai left his room but I was starting to worry. Entering the room, I examined my surroundings, only to spot something red underneath Kai's bed. I kneeled down on my knees and reached under to see, only to take out a metal box with a label that said "Do Not Touch".
Curious, I opened the box lid and to my surprise, I found brownies. They were chocolate coated and everything.
I smiled softly, "Heh, at least Kai has something to eat now and then. Though I never thought he would be such a sweet-tooth." I murmured before closing the lid and placing back underneath his bed. Getting up from the ground, I walked out of the room. As I closed the door behind me, I heard the front door open and close on the ground floor. I quickly rushed down the hallway and down the stairs to see who it was, only to be relieved when I saw Kai walk in. "Oh, there you are," I said, slowly walking towards him, "I was wondering where you went."
As Kai closed the door behind him, he tried to walk past me but I stopped him by placing a hand on his chest. "Where were you last night?"
"What's it to you? I took a stroll through town." He said, seemingly a little peeved by my concern.
"At night?" Even as I spoke, I could tell from the look on his face that Kai was hiding something. "Kai, you know how dangerous it is at night. You can't just go out whenever you please, okay?"
Kai scoffed, no smile on his lips but just a raised brow. "Is this the part where you start lecturing me?"
"What? No. I–" Before I could say anything, he removed my hand from his chest. "I can take care of myself, thanks. So I don't need you to lecture about what I can or can't do." With that cold response, he tried to walk past me but when I noticed the small bruise on the knuckles of his hand, I stopped him and took his hand in mine. "Kai, your hand… What happened?" I asked when I examined the bruise but Kai then suddenly moved his hand away. "I'm fine," he lied, "I just had an accident on the way here."
"Kai, wait." I halted him, "Please…just talk to me. Where were you last night and what happened to your hand?" When I asked, Kai didn't answer, he just looked away from me as if avoiding eye contact. "I… I'm fine." he lied again before looking at me finally. "I just… I had an accident, nothing serious. Can I go now?"
At that point, I knew he wasn't gonna open up to me. There was no point in fighting with him about it, so I decided to just drop it. For now… "Okay, fine. You can go." Moving out of his way, I watched as he walked past me and up the stairs to his room. Honestly, I was even more worried after I saw the bruise on Kai's hand. I mean, sneaking out alone at night was bad enough but this… this is different.
A Few Moments Later
A few minutes after confronting Kai, I went upstairs to the bathroom. While I was in the bathtub filled with warm water and bubbles, I laid there, engrossed in my thoughts about everything that happened earlier today. The dream I kept having on repeat, Shaina carrying lipstick around even though she hates it and Kai sneaking out in the middle of the night. Even as I was relaxing in the warm water filled with strawberry bubbles, my mind couldn't stop thinking about the bruise that was on Kai's hand earlier. I thought about a lot of worst scenarios that might be behind that injury… A part of me thought he was getting into bad situations and getting hurt in the process while another part of me thought he was getting into fights with strangers. In my heart, I felt like he was self-harming.
As much as I didn't want to think that, seeing his reaction when I noticed the bruise on his hand made me think so. He couldn't even look at me, like he was hiding something… If only he wasn't so cold and distant with me, maybe he would've tried to open up but…he didn't want to.
I sighed, lifting my arm from my side and staring at the healed slash scars on my forearm from when I was self harming years ago. "I just hope he isn't self harming...like I was."
When I was done washing up, I stepped out of the tub and wrapped myself in a towel, walking out of the bathroom and into my room with hot steam emanating from my wet skin. Upon entering my room and closing the door behind me, I noticed my dress on the bed. Obviously, I was excited to wear it... After putting on my undergarments, I took my dress from the bed and started unbuttoning it, opening the dress. I put it on, putting my arms through on both sides before buttoning it fully closed. Wiping the crease off the bottom of my dress and setting it in place, I walked over to my mirror...
Honestly, I couldn't help but smile as I checked myself out through my reflection. "Heh, already looking cute as always," I thought to myself. "Now it's time to put on my shoes."
I walked over to my wardrobe and kneeled down to open the bottom cupboard. When I did, I examined each of my shoes until I then reached in and took out my navy blue boots. Sitting down on the bed, I placed my feet inside each boot before zipping them up and adjusting them. I stood up and twirled delightfully, chuckling softly as I showed off my outfit. "Now for my hair." I said, walking towards my dresser with the round mirror.
As I sat down the chair, I untied my hair, letting it fall on my shoulders and down my back. Taking the brush from my dresser, I started brushing my hair. While I was stroking and brushing, I started humming softly, getting lost in the thought of Shin as I was tending to my hair. "He's been away for two weeks now… I wonder what he's doing up there in Otherworld…"
After a few minutes of brushing my hair, I took a pink scrunchie from the top draw of my dresser, tying my hair into a lower bun. "Pretty and neat." I murmured as I took a minute to admire how I looked in the mirror. Getting up from the chair, I took my pink jersey that was resting on it and put it on. When I was neatly set and done, I took my hand purse and exited the room. As I entered the hallway, I looked to my left and saw Kai's room door was closed. "I wonder what he's doing in there..." I thought while walking towards the room door. Reaching up, I softly knocked, "Hey, Kai. You in there?"
It was silent for a few seconds until Kai finally responded from behind the door. "What do you want?"
I hesitated at first before answering back, "I'm going out… I don't know how long I'll be so I'll probably be gone for a few hours." I paused, looking down at my purse before turning my attention back to the door. "Do you need anything from the mall?"
"No, I'm good…so you can leave." With Kai's words, I sighed, "Okay. I'll see you later then."
Turning the other way, I went down the stairs and left out the front door, closing the door behind me. I only walked a few blocks until I was able to catch a cab.
To Be Continued...