Parallel Universe: Ch2
#2 of Parallel Universe
The locket of memory
The doorbell rang loudly, waking me up instantly from my peaceful rest. I stared at the digital clock and it read 3:15 PM.
'Whoa, I slept through a day...' I thought to my self. I got out of bed and rubbed my head. I went to the front door and opened it. Mei was standing out of the door, carrying her school bag on her back and a few books on her arms. Her brown eyes stared at my head for a moment before she broke the silence.
"Wow, you looked like you've slept through the whole day," she told me with a concerned face.
"I did," I smiled back. "I slept at around 8 last night and woke up by the doorbell."
"Wow! You must've slept like a log," she chuckled. I can't help but to laugh also. And then, it hit me.
"Wait a minute! How'd you know I live here?"
"I'll tell you if you let me in," she smiled at me. I opened the door wider, allowing her to enter my small place. I noticed my apartment is a total wreck.
"Sorry," I apologized. "I was looking for something important last night."
"You mean this?" Mei took out a silver locket with an angelic design engraved on it and placed it on my hand. My eyes were shot opened.
"My locket!" I exclaimed with a note of happiness on my voice. "How did you get this?!"
"Remember when you dodged Bryan's tackle with an air flip? The tree branch nearby caught it and it was there until school's over. I noticed the glint of light it reflected and took it home with me. The only person that was near the tree was the three of us, but you were the only one who reached the branch that was 10 feet high."
"I jumped that high?!" I was startled by the last statement.
"You should join the athletics club!" Mei suggested. "So anyways, this morning, I asked the administrator where's your adress. And that's how I got here."
"I'm very impressed!" I clapped my hands, applauding her deduction. "Where did you learn how to analyze like that?"
"My uncle is a police investigator," she smiled at me. "He taught me on how to become a detective."
"That's so cool!" my face began to brighten.
"So where's my thank you present?" she asked me sarcastically.
"What's your favorite dish?"
"Huh?" she was dumbfounded by my question.
"I said, what's your favourite dish?" I repeated my question.
"Well..." Mei thought for a moment, "I do like the spaghetti from downtown, why?"
"Gimme 30 minutes, okay?" I dashed to the kitchen and took out my cooking utensils. I grabbed some ingredients from inside the fridge and the cabinet. I began to boil some pasta and cooked some tomato sauce with minced beef. The savoury aroma hangs in the air, making Mei to drool a little, but just enough for me to see. I chuckled and pointed below the left part of my lips, trying to tell her to hold her drool. She noticed, wiped her mouth, and began to blush. As the pasta was drained and cooled, I turned off the stove and prepared a plate. I mplaced the pasta on the plate and poured the tomato over it. To finish it, I garnished it with enough cheese and oregano.
"It's ready!" I called Mei to the dining table. "And in the nick of tume too! I heard your stomach's grumbling."
"S-shut up!" Mei sat down and ate the spaghetti. Her eyes were immedietely shot opened. "It's amazing! The savoury taste of the tomato and beef blended perfectly with the pasta!"
"Glad you like it," I smiled at her while cleaning up the pile of mess around the floor. "My dream is to build a restaurant of my own."
"So, " Mei continued her spaghetti, "where's your parents?"
"Not here," I picked up the schoolbag on the floor and inserted the books on the floor. "They always stay in their company's rest area during the weekdays and go home only for the weekends. I always do the household chores like cleaning, cooking, and shopping."
"Which brings me into another question," Mei stopped eating and faced me. "If you could do all these things, why didn't you just stay in your hometown?"
I joined her on the dining table and stared down on the floor. It really wasn't a good topic for me to discuss. I sighed and told her the reason. "My parents wouldn't let me. They said they didn't want to lose me again and wanted me to be at least in tbe same city with them."
"Lose you again?" Mei raised an eyebrow, really confused onf that part of the statement.
"It's a long story," I just stared back. "All I could tell you is it's a painful memory."
"Oh..." Mei stopped for a moment. The silence in the room is heavy.
"Um..." Mei started to break the silence, "what's in the locket? I really curious of why it's so important."
I took out my locket from under my shirt and opened it. It contained a small picture of two identical twins, holding eachother on the shoulder. Their smiles were big and very cheerful. I showed the picture to her.
"Your twin brother?" Mei studied the features on the picture carefully.
"Yeah, it was taken 13 years ago, the day before I got seperated from him," I stared back at her.
"Oh... did your parents got divorced?"
"No, no," I chuckled. "They're doing just fine."
"So what's the reason?"
I sighed heavily and took the locket back. "It... involves that long story..."
"Oh... I'm sorry..."
"No need to apologize. It actually inspires me to go with my parents too. You see, every time I move to another city, I always find a part time job at a restaurant. I thought, maybe I can finally find him there. But it turns ouit, I was wrong. There's no data about him for the last 13 years."
"Oh... You must've cared a lot."
"Yeah. I once saved his life, but he disappeared the day I woke up..."
"Look, if you don't want to tell me, that's fine. I'm really sorry I'm being such a pest." Mei tried to comfort me.
"It's okay," I smiled back. "You know, you're the first person in the last 13 years that was able to make me talk this much."
"I'll take that as a compliment," she chuckled. We started to chat about a lot of things, unknowing of the time.
"Say, can I stay here tonight?" Mei asked me. "I wanted to find out more about you."
"Well, I guess it's fine," I scratched my head. "But, won't your parents get worried?"
"They're out of town today. They'll return later on Thursday."
"Okay then, you can use my parents' room over there," I pointed on the door far behind me with my thumb. "As for you clothings, I hope you don't mind wearing my mother's clothing."
"Actually, I brought my own set of clothing," she opened her bag, showing some neatly folded set of clothing inside.
"Wow, you came prepared."
"A detective must came prepared," she smiled back.
I took her to the empty room. It has a king sized bed located just in front of the door. The wardrobe to its left is made from mahogany and the flat screen TV is hung just next to the door.
"Well, I hope you're comfortable," I smiled. "The bathroom's over there," I pointed at another door inside the room. "I'll serve breakfast at 6, okay?"
"Boy, you sound like a mother!" Mei chuckled. I hate to admit it, but she's right. I joined her with a soft laughter.
"Why don't you slip into something more comfortable, okay?" I slowly closed the door and walked to my other bathroom. I took a quick shower and change into my white polo t-shirt and brown pants. I stepped outside and saw Mei already in her pajamas. She sat down on the couch with her head turned towards me.
"So, what do you wanna talk about, Ms. Detective?" I joined her, bringing a tea set to the coffee table. I started to brew some herbal tea when she decided on a topic.
"I wanted to know if you had any kind of relationships with girls," she chuckled.
"Wow!" I smiled. "Ms. Detective here loves gossips! Well, I traveled every year. I haven't even met a girl I like!"
"Not even me?"
"Well, you're charming, that's for sure. But still, I can't get rid of the feeling I've known you somewhere before."
"Again, what's with the flirt?" she became a little annoyed.
"I'm not flirting! It's just the feeling I had!" I finished the brew and handed her a cup.
"Whatever..." Mei rolled her eyes and took a sip from the tea. "Again, your culinary skills impressed me. Even though this is just some instant tea, you managed to create such wonderful taste!"
"Thanks," I smiled back. We decided to talk about other topics since the one we talked about is far too awkward.
"Say, mind if I see your room?" Mei asked me. "I'm curious about how much stuff you bring every year."
"Sure, go right ahead," I led her to my room and showed some of my stuff. I approached my laptop and noticed I received an E-mail.
"Oh, hold on a sec," I told her. I opened my e-mail account and locate the new E-mail. Strangely enough, the mail didn't have any information about the sender. What's even weirder is that the E-mail was completely empty. No attachments, nothing.
"That's weird..." I murmured. Unfortunately, Mei overheard and checked the mysterious E-mail as well.
"Hey, who is it from?"
"I dunno..." I shrugged. Suddenly, the white E-mail address began to write in the color of blood:
DEATH APPROACHES THEE. THOU SHALL ONLY HAVE A WEEK TO LIVE IN THIS WORLD.
The both of us were startled at the sudden and horrific change in the screen. We yelled in terror and jumped back, landing on our bottoms. We panted for air and checked the mail again. It was blank white once again. I turned my head back to Mei who was holding her chest.
"Did you see what I just saw?" I gasped for air. I was responded by a nod.
"Some prank that was," Mei rubbed her chest. "It was ultimately scary!"
"I think I lost a year of lifespan somewhere."
"If I find it, can I keep it?" she tried to joke around. We chuckled once again before turning off my laptop. We finally regained our breath and calmed down a bit. I looked at the alarm clock and it read 11:04 PM.
"Well, let's get some sleep," I suggested. "You probably don't want to be late for school."
"Geez! You sound like a father already!" Mei smiled back at me. She turned around and walked towards my parents' bedroom.
"Well, goodnight, 'Dad'!" she emphasized the last word. The both of us laughed and I just responded with another smile.
"Goodnight 'sweetie'! Sweet dreams!" we smiled at each other before closing our doors and went straight to bed.
~~
Sorry if it's kinda rushed.