01

Lyla’s POV 

The sun above me was blazing hot.  The dappled sun shone through the trees, creating different shadows. I looked up to see the sky dotted with white clouds that drifted lazily like the trees. I could see my shadow right behind me, shorter than I was. 

“Did your ass suddenly grow bigger?” Pearl’s sickening voice made me turn back and glared at her. The girl is everything extra, if possible she can be nicknamed Fifty shades of Extra. 

I’ve been friends with Pearl and her twin sister for years now, we’re basically sisters from different parents and luckily enough for me, I’m more like Pearl while Aurora, her twin sister is quite an opposite of us both. 

We were currently on our way down to the shopping mall to get her some  dresses for the date she has with Lucas tomorrow while I get some extra dresses for myself as well. We can’t really say, Prince Charming might walk in any money and sweep me off my feet. 

“Are you wearing an artificial bum right now? Your ass seems bigger than the last time I saw it” She exclaimed, trying to make me think she’s really surprised. 

“Are you going to get in there and stop behaving as if your brain is the size of that of an orangutan?” I asked, still glaring at her. 

Angrily, I opened the door of the car and sat, waiting for her to sit on her side so the driver can take us to the stores. 

I wasn’t supposed to be mad at her statement but to be sincere, I’m embarrassed because she’s so right that I’m wearing an artificial bum. My ass is so close to nonexistent that it embarrasses me most of the time and I always connect it to my small body and tiny shape. 

I always eat like a pregnant elephant and still, none of my diets worked the miracle that I needed. 

“I’m correct, right?” She asked, smiling sheepishly at me. She settled in and the driver took off. 

That daughter of a gun!

“Fine! I’m wearing one but that’s because I want to appear sexy at the shopping mall” I confessed, feeling even more embarrassed.

“There’s nothing wrong with your physical attribute, girl. You look gorgeous and your ginger red here is one to die for, everything about you is beautiful” 

Astonished, I asked her, “Excuse me, have you seen me? Like, have you seen my ass?” 

She laughed out loud. 

“Lyla, listen. Like I always tell you, there’s nothing wrong with you. Get over this insecurity of yours,because you’re perfect. If I’m a boy, I swear I’ll do you every now and then” Her words made me smile.

“Well, unfortunately enough for me, you’re not a boy” I announced as we got out of the car. 

Pearl spotted a small girl selling dream catchers and being a sucker for one, she ran quickly into the mall to patronize the girl and probably get seven or ten of those. If you enter Pearl’s room, you’ll get sick of dream catchers aside from the pink color that gives you an instant headache. 

I was about following her when a hand suddenly pulled me back. When I looked down, it was a weird woman in a black dress, matching the color of her eyes, her nails and toes were painted black, with her black hair. 

Several tarot cards were displayed in front of her on a cloth, making me realize she was a tarot reader. 

She opened her mouth and smiled at me with her blsck teeth, creeping the life out of me. I removed my hand forcibly from hers and looked around to see if anyone was aware of whatever was going on here. 

“Pick a card, my child”

“No, I do not want to,” I replied firmly. 

“Pick a card and refute death” Her eyes were turning red, scaring the crap out of me. I quickly picked up a random card and gave it to her. 

“The future is dark for you, child. So dark I can barely see anything aside from death. Be careful of the lady in the pink dress” She said, after examining the card. 

I ran into the mall, avoiding her scary and nonsense words. I met Pearl still talking with the girl selling the dream catcher. She was holding some in her hands. 

Tapping her shoulder, she turned back and looked at me.

“Why are you so pale? Why do you look like you just saw a ghost?” 

I pointed at the entrance of the mall, “A woman, a tattoo reader, she talked about death and some other scary stuff” 

Pearl looked behind me, “What woman?” She suddenly asked. 

When I turned, I couldn’t see the woman there, I moved closer to the entrance with Pearl hot on my tracks, yet, it was as if the woman had never been there. 

“Maybe you’re just imagining things, Lyla. There’s no one here” Pearl suggested 

“I’m not mad, Pearl. I’m still in my right senses. I saw a woman here who asked me to pick a card and I did, I picked the card and…” Pearl’s phone suddenly beeped. 

“Henry said we should help him to pick up a book at the store on our way back” She informed me. 

I wonder why my brother had to text her to ask for such when I was available and here.

“How did Henry know we went shopping?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Maybe Lucas told him. Maybe they’re together” Pearl explained and I nodded. 

“Let’s pick up the book first. The library might close before we finish shopping” I suggested, already forgetting about the creepy thing that just happened. 

“It’s in the opposite direction, let’s just ask the driver to take us there”

We walked to the parking lot, instructed the driver and he drove us to the library. Thirty minutes later, we arrived at the library. 

“What book are you looking for?” The librarian asked once she saw us searching through the shelves. 

“The hidden reality by Brian Greene” Pearl replied. 

I couldn’t care less of what the book was all about, so I went through the shelves where romantic and erotic books that’ll fuel my fantasies more, picked one and borrowed it together with the whatever that Henry had needed. 

As we were on our way back to the mall, Pearl was going through the book while I was smiling like a fool as I read the first two pages of the erotic book with me. 

“This is weird,” Pearl said, making me look away from the book. 

“What is weird?”

“This book. It talks about a parallel….” Pearl didn’t finish her statement because the driver suddenly stopped as we got to an empty road. 

“What’s going on?”

The driver didn’t say anything. He just opened the door, walked out of the car. 

I tried opening my door just so I could challenge his attitude but my door wouldn’t open. As I was kicking and trying to get it open, Pearl was also doing the same thing. 

Suddenly all four doors of the car opened and four men entered. A black bag was thrown over my head and struggling, I tried removing it, fighting them, until a hard object was hit against my head. 

I felt dizzy, but I wasn’t going to give up that easily. I couldn’t fight back anymore when I was hit again at the back of my head, making me lose consciousness and for a minute, I heard howling even though I wasn’t sure it was what I really heard.