Secret Affinity

11

I woke to breathing on my face and blows of air ruffling my hair. I opened my eyes to see a blurry Liara. When I tried to sit straight, my back locked and I was reminded of my aching neck and shoulders.

“She’s awake!” Liara called.

Evin left the kitchen to see me at the dining table. “You were sleeping like a log. Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, arching my back. “I should’ve slept on the couch though.”

When I remembered what happened last night, my head hurt. What actually happened? Why did they almost arrest me? I couldn’t figure out anything.

I was asked to stay for breakfast, but I thanked him for yesterday and went back home. I brushed my teeth and took a long, hot shower. It was sunny outside with chirping birds and strolling people, so I sat on my porch steps to relax and took out my phone.

I got some messages from Dad and a dozen from Crimson. She saw me being taken away by the police officer and asked me if I was alright. I didn’t expect her to be worried. After all, she said friends weren’t her thing the first time I met her.

Dad heard about the evacuations in schools and commercial buildings yesterday, but he didn’t know what happened to me, and I didn’t plan on telling him. I didn’t want him to worry; I needed to take care of myself.

Then I saw the unknown contact numbers piled in my list. I deleted them all without second thoughts. I didn’t want to keep any memories of that night.

My stomach grumbled, and I went back inside to eat something. We were out of milk and bread, and there weren’t many other items left. How could I forget to go grocery shopping this week?

By now, I knew how to get to the mall on my own. It was my last chance before school tomorrow, so I took the next bus.

The first thing I noticed on the way were police cars. The sirens were off but there was at least one parked in every parking lot I passed. When I dropped off at the mall, there were two cars, one in front of the grocery store.

When I walked towards the doors, one of the officers guarding stopped me and asked for my Brilliant Cove identity card. I'd never heard of it, so I showed him all the cards I had. He let me inside, and I grabbed a shopping cart. What was that about?

There were people shopping like regular customers inside the store, but they were watched over by guards who didn’t look like the police force. They weren’t wearing uniforms, but regular t-shirts as they stood at different parts of the store.

I got the milk, bread, some snacks and fruits, and some vegetables before heading towards the cash register lines. I needed a new coat and scarf for autumn, so I took the escalator to go to a clothing store.

They were everywhere, the people in t-shirts. There was something different about them. Not only were they all young males, they had the same symbol on their shirts. Are they promoting a brand?

I walked into American Eagle, one of the stores that had a lot of those t-shirt guys.

“Take him,” I heard someone say. Along with everyone else, I turned. “...you got to be kidding me.” I saw a short guy standing still next to a clothing rack, his face blank. A white shirt or coat was thrown at him, and he wore it. It was a size too big.

The white coat had a gold border, a round collar, and buttons. He seemed confused for a second, and then looked directly into the eyes of the man beside him.

“B-because you’re not from here, I-I mean Brilliant Cove,” the guy in the white coat stammered, “and you show signs of being a, a Nightingale citizen. We’re going to deport you…okay?” It was as if he suddenly switched roles or forgot all his lines.

The man was terrified when two guys with the symbol and t-shirt grabbed him and dragged him out of the store.

As if nothing happened, everyone resumed shopping. Except me. Why was I being tortured with this? What was this? How did I avoid it?

“Show me your identity card please,” I heard the white-coat guy say to a girl nearby me. He moved on to the next person and looked back in search.

“Can I go?” the girl said, and he glared at her.

“Let this be a warning. You shouldn't ever talk to a Nightingale division Agent,” he said and let her go.

He was nearing me, and I didn’t want him to confront me like everyone else. I stepped back to another aisle, looking at the assortment of fall scarves they had.

That word, Nightingale, swirled my head. Were the NR evacuations back? I didn’t hear anything on the news, but if this wasn’t an evacuation, what was it? And why didn’t I see this happening before?

I left the rack of scarves and went to the sweaters. Between the men’s and women’s sections, I saw a familiar person crouching at a shelf.

“Thank God, I can get answers,” I said to myself and quickly walked towards him. In some way somehow, Arian was always there when I needed help or an explanation about all this. “Hey, can you tell me what’s going on?”

When Arian saw me, he was first surprised and then covered his face in annoyance. “What do you want?”

“There’s something crazy going on in here and I don’t know what it’s about,” I said quickly and quietly. “I see like these, weird guys standing everywhere in the mall.”

“You should be used to this by now,” he hissed. “If you’re uncomfortable, just leave.”

“I have clothes to buy and groceries to get. Do you want me to starve and freeze?” I said back in frustration. I briefly closed my eyes and took a dizzy step back. “Okay, just tell me what’s going on. You have to know right? Do I just ignore him?”

He stood up and folded his arms. “Who exactly are you talking about?”

“What are you doing?” the guy with the white coat popped up out of nowhere. I raised my groceries in self-defence but faltered back.

“I’m just shopping,” I squeaked. “Am I allowed…can I talk to you? I’m new to here and I have no idea—”

“No, never talk to the Agents, or talk back anyway,” he said. He glanced at Arian, then stared straight ahead and walked right past us.

“That one,” I whispered to Arian. “The Agent or whoever the hell he is. Do I ignore him? And also, those creepy statues with the t-shirts and symbol—”

Then I remembered what I saw on that white coat. As the guy walked by me, I saw the symbol on both shoulders of the coat but in pure black. They were all related someway to something. But what?

“Statues,” Arian repeated flatly. “They’re the NE Force.” I asked him what that was. “You don’t need to know. Answer if they ask you a question and pretend they’re not there when they don’t say anything to you.”

“But why though?” I said. Arian wasn’t telling me anything more. “I’ll ask Evin. He knows right?”

“Not everything.”

My eyes narrowed. “How do you know?” Arian averted his gaze, like he wanted me to go away. “Okay, okay, I’m leaving.” I left, walking through the clothes and towards the exit with my hands slightly shaking.

I tried not to pay too much attention to the NE Force, or whatever Arian called them. I walked out and into a corner where the bathrooms were. Immediately I heard thuds, and someone stopped right in front of me.

“Wait up!” he said. I furrowed my brows. It was the same guy with the white coat on, but now, he wasn't wearing it anymore. “I’m not really supposed to talk to you while on work,” he said, grabbing my free hand in a handshake. “But I’m so glad to meet you—”

“Wait, what?” I interrupted. “Weren’t you the Agent?”

“I was.” He cleared his throat. “I mean, I am. I’m Rowen Hogg.” Huh? “You're amazing. I swear no one’s ever, except you, put that expression on—”

“I’m sorry, I have to go!” I yelped. I snatched my hand back and ran into the women’s washroom. What. Just. Happened.

At this point, I started to re-evaluate our move to Brilliant Cove. No. It wasn’t as much of a sunny place I thought it to be. This place wasn’t for me. It wasn’t fit for me at all. I couldn’t cope with these drastic changes and strange people that emerged out the blue.

I went home with the groceries and avoided eye contact with everybody. I was too hungry to think, so I ate and after a nap, I decided to seek Evin for answers.

Darkening clouds marked the sky with the rustling of October leaves and a chilly breeze sweeping my hair back. I saw a silver car on their driveway, one I’d never seen before. It wasn't Spike's either.

To my relief, Evin was home when he unlocked the door for me. I told him I had a lot of questions, and he said he knew.

“Crap load of wind out there,” Evin said, shutting the door. “Think it might rain.”

In the living room, I saw Andy playing on the ground and Liara on the couch with a colouring book. To my surprise, I also saw Arian at the window couch with his legs crossed in a figure-four.

Now I remembered. Arian brought me home with that silver car from the Halloween dance.

“Hi, Little Mermaid!” Liara chirped. “Evin doesn’t want to colour with me. Can you help with my pumpkin picture?”

“She can help you later,” Evin said. “Ari, what happened today?”

I sat on the couch beside him across from Arian. I started from the time a police officer asked for my Brilliant Cove identity card. I talked about the people wearing those branded t-shirts.

“I could remember a,” I said, trying to recollect the symbol. “Like a black bird with a fat body and a thin tail. And red eyes within a black circle.”

“It’s the Nightingale symbol,” Evin clarified.

“Yeah that,” I said. I told them about the person with the white coat. I told them how it looked like, about the same symbols on the shoulders. I even went as far as telling them how the same guy hunted me down the bathroom hallway to talk to me. “I can’t remember his name, but it starts with an ‘R’,” I added. I rubbed my head. “I’m usually good with names, but I remembered a pig. Like ‘hog’. Hogg! His last name was Hogg.”

Arian snorted and said sarcastically, “Nice description.” I was going to add that Hogg wasn’t wearing the white coat after, but Evin budded in.

“Based on this,” Evin fell forward so his elbows were on his knees, “I can tell you’re confused. Which isn’t bad. But I have to say, you moved to Brilliant Cove at the wrong time.”

“You never know when the NR evacuations happen,” Arian told him, eyes focused and calm. “Brilliant Cove has nothing to do with it. The government has nothing to do with it. She can come anytime but it’ll happen someway sometime no matter what.”

“What is the NE Force?” I asked Evin.

“A Nightingale Evacuation Force,” he said. “A group of people in one division spread at one area to raid or look for Nightingale citizens.”

“I don’t get one thing,” I said, my eyes on the ground. “What’s the issue? Both are normal, separate cities but you treat them like two countries.”

“We have to accept it,” Evin said with a shrug. “Once you get used to this, it becomes a way of life you hardly ever think about.”

“And the mayor lets it happen?” I said.

“The mayor doesn’t know anything beyond cheesing a slice of bread,” Evin said. Confusion painted my face.

“He doesn’t know s**t and he doesn’t give a f**k,” Arian translated. I hugged my stomach and watched Andy break apart his Legos.

“And nothing on the news?” I mumbled.

“The NE Force is strict with that,” Evin said. “For some reason, they don’t want anything put on the news unless it involves the government and NRs.”

“I’m stuck with this forever, aren’t I?” I sighed.

“If you have your identity card and you don’t disobey the agents, you won’t have a problem,” Arian said a little irritated by now. “You act like it’s the end of the world.”

Before Evin could scold his brother for his manners, I said, “I’m from Sunnywind. It’s a place where violence hardly happens. It’s a place full of smiles and sunshine and not…enemy cities and evacuations.”

“Uh, Ari?” Evin said.

I continued. “Changing from a good environment to a bad environment is hard, and when you see weird things happening everywhere around you, you get confused and paranoid. Don't you know that?”

“Am I here for a lecture?” Arian asked, but he didn’t look irritated this time.

“Different people have different tolerance levels,” I said. “And sorry, I suck, but I’d rather ask for help than be scared every time I go outside.”

“And that’s why you almost got arrested yesterday,” Arian said.

“You’re not understanding me!” I almost yelled. I put my palms on my forehead. “I didn’t mean to yell, I was just…uh…being sensitive.”

“Arian, why are you here anyway?” Evin said with disapproval. “You came home a little too early.”

“Weather forecast came up so everyone had to leave,” he said. I almost asked what that meant, but by the look Arian gave me, I shut up.

“You look dehydrated, Ari,” Evin said, glaring at Arian like it was his fault. It was, a little. He went to go get orange juice, and I went to help Liara colour her picture.

The bell rang, and I stood up to get it. A gush of wind brought dust into my eyes, but I could recognize the high-pitched voice anywhere.

“You again?” she said. “Is someone else there?” Ruby was dressed as a Girl Scout today with her usual pigtails and pink lip gloss.

“Oh, um, yeah,” I said, turning to get Evin. I was face-first to a neck and collar, and it took me a second to realize it was Arian.

“Why do you keep selling cookies in the same area?” he asked her darkly. His arms were out holding the frame of the doorstep, and it trapped me outside.

“Would you like to buy some cookies?” she asked, ignoring him.

“No,” he said bluntly.

“Can I go inside?” I asked him.

“Call Evin or Liara,” Ruby said stubbornly. “You and this,” she pointed at me, “this girl here seems to hate me. I might have to complain.”

“Wait, I don’t hate you,” I told her. I heard the sky rumble and Ruby groaned.

“Go away, Ruby,” Arian said, “and don’t come here again.” So mean.

Lightning flashed in the air before small droplets landed on my head. Ruby ran off screaming, and I turned again to go inside.

“Let me in,” I said. “It’s raining.”

“Not my problem,” Arian said. I tried to duck under his arms and get in, but he blocked me off. “Get the hint. Maybe I want you to leave.”

“Maybe?” I said. “Okay, I’ll go.” When it rained a bit harder, I ran to my house.

I bent and saw Arian still at the porch. I ran towards the gate, jumped over and opened the sliding door to the McCoys’ house. Evin saw me come in just when it started pouring.

“Nice,” he said grinning. I guessed he might’ve been watching all along. Arian saw me when he began to go upstairs, and I gave him room to pass. “Defeat,” Evin sang close to his ear. “Ari, your juice is on the coffee table.”

“Thank you,” I said, going into the living room.

“Where were you?” Liara asked me, picking up an orange crayon. When she found out Ruby came to sell cookies, she stopped colouring and became calm.

She went upstairs abruptly, and I played with Andy for a bit before he asked me for gummy bears. I went into the kitchen and took out the container of gummy bears. Outside the window, my house was blurry, and the sound of pelting rain was oddly soothing.

There sure was a lot I didn’t know, but I had to hang on tight.