Oblivion

CHAPTER 2: Helle and Irene

EVA LEVESQUE

“Geez calm down, no one’s going to steal your food away from you,” my father told me while he sat across me. His once dark hair was now growing gray roots, his face starting to look tired and wrinkly. He still has handsome nevertheless.

I chugged down a bottle of water and stared at my half-eaten pizza. I already ate half of the pizza in a few minutes, my dad only stared at me and laughed.

We were eating out since dad does not know how to cook and I’m running late for my first-day ceremony. This is my first day of senior high school, I made sure I brought my luggage with me since I’ll be staying in the dorm with Irene and Helle.

“What am I going to do without you? I’ll starve,” he said as he looked down. My brows furrowed at him, my father is a rather large man, he served the king as a knight in the military force during his younger years as the executioner.

Even though monsters and humans made a treaty long ago to co-exist, executioners like my father does not have a huge job. He just makes sure that order among monsters and humans is maintained. But that was before he retired. Right now, he’s just a plain old man running his martial arts class at home for people around the neighborhood.

“Mildred will be coming back later, don’t be so dramatic,” I told him.

“But two months is not enough vacation for the two of us!” he said, like a doting father he is. My father raised me alone since my mom died during childbirth. How hard it must have been for him to raise me while working as a knight for the king. Good thing Mildred, my nanny since I was a baby is always there for us. She cooks us food, does the cleaning, and helps with the chores my father can’t do when I am not around.

She’s just a few years younger than my dad, a short and stubby middle-aged woman who was always sweet and caring. I’m just sad that I couldn’t see her before I enter school. She is still on a two-week vacation and will be arriving later at noon.

“Dad, everything will be fine. I’ll be home during the holidays,” I told him. He stared at me with his soft expression and smiled. He leaned in to grab my hand and placed a small red box with a black ribbon on top.

“I’m just sad I can’t be with you on your seventeenth birthday Eva,” he said while he sadly smiled “You’ve grown so much and if Kyla was still here—” he stopped and a sudden realization flashed in his eyes.

My mother’s name is Kyla. When my dad talks about my mom while he’s looking at me it pains him how much I’ve grown up to look exactly like her. I wonder what he thinks of when he sees my dull and gray eyes? Or how my black hair falls into my shoulder just like how she did before? How painful must it be for him to see the reflection of the woman he loved right before his eyes knowing it’s no her anymore? Just a piece left of her?

Because every time I look at the mirror, all I see is her. In the pictures, we have at home and in the videos, my father shows me.

“I am very happy to see her in you. When I look at you, you remind me that you are half of me and half the woman I loved.” He told me sweetly, I remembered the pain I felt this morning when I hugged him.

My eyes started to water again but I blinked them away. There is no way I’m going to lose dad. Not now, not ever.

Our eyes both shifted to the glass right next to us when someone knocked it. I saw my best friend Irene grinning and frantically waving her hands at me like I’m too far away to see her. I looked at dad and he laughed.

“Irene still hasn’t changed, hasn’t she?” he asked laughingly. “She’s still as wild as her mom.”

I stood up and carried my luggage. I gave dad a quick kiss on his cheek before running outside to greet Irene who is now running towards the entrance. As soon as I got out the door, my body crashed with hers and she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tightly. I patted her down because I felt like my lungs were slowly getting crushed by her.

I coughed and breathed for air when she slapped my back three times I coughed.

“My lady, it looks like your rough actions are hurting miss Eva,” Helle politely said at the back. She was overly dressed for someone going to their first day of school. She wore a yellow ball dress along with sunglasses, a yellow hat, and a yellow umbrella while carrying her and Irene’s luggage.

Irene realized this and laughed out loud.

“Did I really? I’m sorry Eva, I just missed you. Days without seeing you feels like years,” she told me seriously.

“We just saw each other last week,” I told her, a sudden wave of lightheadedness washed through me and now I’m not so sure about it, “I think.” I continued.

“That’s right, there was a new movie out last week so we all went out to watch it,” Helle said. I only nodded at her. Helle is quite a weird girl. She is the daughter of the head maid at Irene’s home and now she works for Irene as her maid. One strange thing about her is that she knows almost everything about well, anything. She has this weird connection with weird and shady people and Irene gives her jobs like doing a background check for a certain person or finding someone for her.

She’s weird just like that.

A black car stopped right in front of us. The driver got out and helped us with our luggage. I looked back at my dad and waved. He smiled and waved back.

I entered the car. Helle and Irene were chatting beside me, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened and why I feel like I have something to do. I only sighed and stared out the window.

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END