Updates and Complaints

I just wanted to let all you nonexistent readers out there know that I'm going to post updates tomorrow. And now, for my complaints.

Anybody out there vegan, vegetarian, or know somebody who is? Yes? Then you must know these common questions/statements that we vegans/vegetarians hear every day.


Shit I Hear for Being Vegan:

- How do you live without bacon?
- Don't you miss meat?
- But what about cheese?
- I'll just make you some eggs then.
- Do you still eat chicken?
- But you eat fish right?
- Can you eat animal crackers?
- You're killing plants.
- You know, when I was vegan, I gained weight.
- How do you make milk out of almonds?
- What about butter?
- Is it bothering you that I'm eating meat?
- (while eating meat and or dairy) Mmmmmmm!
- Just eat the damn pizza!
- You must eat a lot of bread.
- Name one good thing about being vegan.
- That's not a good reason.
- You know you're going to become anemic right?
- You're not getting any protein, you know that right?
- It's because you're vegan.
- But you're not a real vegan right?
- Aren't you always hungry?
- Plants have feelings too.
- Why are you doing that to yourself?
- God you can't eat anything!


And here are two of my favorite conversations I've ever had:


- me: God where'd I get this bruise?
- friend: It's because you're vegan.


- friend: My food shits on you're food. (referring to this idiotic picture)
- me: Then I guess you're food eats it's own shit.

Anyone else hear any of that ever, or say any of that to anyone you know who is vegan/vegetarian? It drives me crazy! Can they at least be courteous and not say anything to me, it's not like I get on their case about eating meat! I tend to not tell people I'm vegan, it's only when I have to that I do mention it. Goodness gracious!!!!!

End Rant....

Guess who I'm talking to? That's right, nobody!!! XD

Hey ya'll, it's Iris! And yes, I am aware that nobody will read this, but I will post anyway. So updates have not come for... a while. Sorry about that. I'm still working on The Mirror, but I will be starting a new story which will be titled: Tightrope. So keep an eye out for that. Other than that, there's not much else to report XP

The Mirror: Chapter Nine

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ƆĦΔƤƬЄЯ NíNЄ
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It had not been the reaction Gabriel had expected. Not anything like what he had anticipated in the slightest. He had expected a few tears, and perhaps sobs, but he was not at all prepared for Arietta’s breakdown. But she seemed to calm down quite a bit as they walked up the stairs. He was now holding onto her by the wrists instead of the waist, seeing as she had taken to walking again. They were both aware of where they were headed, and wasted no time in getting there.

As they entered the back room where he had first encountered Arietta, the girl’s quiet sniffles grew slightly in volume. The place seemed to cause a great deal of agitation within her, which was something so very blatant and obvious on her face. The chair, which was there the day they left, was still sitting in the middle of the room. A thin layer of dust now covered the object, and thin beams of light trickled in through the cracks of the boarded up windows, highlighting the floral print hugging the chair. Gabriel still held fast to Arietta’s wrists, and was pulled forward as her feet began to move.

The dust, which had congregated on the floor below him, billowed up into a cloud as he sat down and rested his back against the wall. The light, which surrounded them seemed… odd to Gabriel. It was dark, creating a sense of gloom, but at the same time it was light, which created an out of world experience. The rays of light, which lit the room around them, had an almost silvery color and quality. The dust mites that floated in the air around them seemed to spiral within the light. And because this light cast such a silver glow, the darkness around them seemed to be blue, almost the color of Arietta’s shirt. The deep navy blue darkness that surrounded them unnerved Gabriel. These blues and silvers were not the warm colors of the city he was accustomed to.

And as Arietta walked shakily around the room looking for who knows what, a sense of dread fell upon him. Surely Marcus wouldn’t be able to explain why it was Gabriel was missing that night, or even the next day. So then what would become of him, and then in turn Marcus, his family, and Arietta. What would become of all of them? He let out a sigh and closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall as he did so. The world seemed just so damn determined to make sure he didn’t succeed. Shivering began to take over his body as the brisk chill of winter began to seep in from the world outside and into the small room. But he could not escape his thoughts.

That was until something dropped onto the floor next to him. His eyes flashed open as he jumped. When he turned his head to the side he found it had merely been Arietta sitting down next to him. She seemed to have retrieved what it was she was searching for. That old green blanket that Lalita had loaned her during her stay. She was trying to unfold the fabric, but she was shivering just as profoundly, if not more so, as himself. He pushed himself closer to her side, his large boots thumping quietly on the floor as he adjusted his position.

“Here, I’ll help.”

“Okay…” the puffs of condensation, which billowed from their mouths, twisted and turned as they floated into the air, mingling and vanishing into vapor. Gabriel found it difficult to take the coarse, rough fabric from the girl’s hands. She was shaking so severely, both from the cold and shock of the scene downstairs, that it took a few moments for Gabriel to snatch the blanket from her quivering fingers. It took him a few moments more to actually unfold the blanket. And even then he found it a pathetic excuse for warmth. The fabric folded, and seemed to stay molded in the position it was unfurled in. Gabriel threw it over Arietta’s quaking body and watched as she grasped the fabric and tried to wrap it tightly around herself, but the blanket just seemed to not want to cooperate.

“Oh for God’s sake, would you come here?” Gabriel said, a bit exasperated. He moved even closer to her side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his side. The extra warmth pressed against his side was immediately apparent, and slowed his shivering down immensely, almost to a stop. This seemed to take the same effect on Arietta, although she still shivered. The flimsy blanket still remained wrapped around her, the fabric letting lay bare, her shoes the only protection against the cold.

“Gabriel?”

“Yes?”

“Why do they want to kill me?” she asked, looking up at him with desperate, questioning eyes. She was quivering now, not even shaking with the cold, but quivering with the emotions inside her. This was not the Arietta he had grown to expect. This was the Arietta who was slowly starving to death, not the one who lived under his family’s roof. “Would you just tell me! And not the jumbled riddles of incoherency I’ve been getting, the straightforward truth!” she didn’t yell, she knew better than to yell, but the desperation which laced her voice was enough to get him to talk.

“Alright, alright, fine. If you truly want to know I’ll tell you.” he paused for a moment, staring out into the navy blue darkness before continuing. “I’m sure Jason told you that the powers began once the outsiders started to arrive, but this is entirely untrue. The powers began long before the outsiders, but people began revealing them around the time your kind starting falling into the city. See, the people of Aremaelia were, and still are, unhappy. The government had such a tight control on all aspects of their life that they seemed to have no free will.”

“The outsiders recognized this, and as I’m sure you can tell me, it is not like this where you come from. So naturally the people were entranced by this idea of freedom, and there was almost a revolt. But those with supernatural abilities had made their presence know, for they also wished for freedom, though it was something of a different sort. They wished for the freedom to use their powers. They didn’t want to continue to be locked away in hiding. But by revealing this, and themselves, they actually thwarted their chances. The government used them, to turn the people against the outsiders.”

“They blamed these ‘unnatural changes’ on the arrival of the outsiders. They manipulated the Armaelian people into believing that these abilities were caused by the outsiders. But as you can imagine, this alone was not enough to turn the people onto their side. So they took it one step further. They made it seem as if the ‘monsters’ that had been created wished to take control over Armaelia and their lives. The people turned, and the government trained guards and soldiers to kill the outsiders and those who possessed supernatural gifts. Those with powers went into hiding, and the fence was built to help more efficiently find and kill outsiders.”

“And this is why they want to kill you, along with every other person like you who drops into their world. And now that you’ve escaped them and have evaded them for so long, they wish even more to end your life. They don’t want the people to revolt, or worse, have you escape back to your world and bring others back here to take out the government. So that’s why they want to kill you, and anyone who helps you.” Once he had finished talking, he looked away from the dark and back down at Arietta. She was no longer quivering, perhaps shivering slightly, and had a contemplating look on her face.

“Then why did you save me? Why did you let me live? And why are you helping me?” she asked, looking at him with an expression on her face as if she couldn’t understand why it was he had done all of these things.

“Because I was sick of it…” he almost whispered, looking down at his hands.

“Sick of what?”

“I was sick of that!” he hissed, pointing towards the door, and towards the bottom of the stairs. He knew that she understood; she understood that he meant Lalita. “I was sick of that being my reality! I couldn’t do that to people anymore, not to people who have done nothing other than land on our soil. I was sick of it I couldn’t take it anymore!” he tried not to yell, tried to keep his voice down, but it was so difficult. He shook his head and leaned back against the wall once again. “I was just sick of it…” he whispered to himself, unsure if Arietta could hear. There was no more talk after that, and eventually the two fell asleep. 

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Gabriel woke up early, as usual. He was programmed that way; he woke up at the same time every morning. But today he woke up earlier, and he wasn’t sure why. But he didn’t wish to contemplate his sleeping patterns. He was about to stretch when he felt something on his shoulder. It was Arietta’s head. She had fallen asleep curled up against his side for warmth. He shook her shoulder slightly and pushed himself up once her eyes opened groggily and she was yawning quietly. He reached out a hand and waited for her to take it.

They were gone within a few minutes. He made sure Arietta stayed to his left side when they left the house, careful to block Lalita’s body from the girl’s view. They moved a bit more recklessly than the night before, for Gabriel knew full well that they had very little guards traversing he streets at this early hour. Once they made it back to his family’s house, Gabriel told Arietta to wait a few moments before going in. He opened the back door and looked around, relieved to find Jason sitting in a chair in the sitting room. His brother gave him a quick nod, before vanishing. His inhuman speed always sent chills down Gabriel’s spine. He nodded to Arietta and she came racing into the house. He followed her inside and quickly shut the back door, and locking it for good measure. She disappeared up the stairs and out of his sight.

Gabriel figured he had just enough time to get back to the sleeping quarters before everyone woke. But he continued to stare at the stairs for a good while before making his way towards him. The little voice in the back of his mind told him he was an idiot and was wasting valuable time. Arietta was standing far away from the windows and in a darker section of the room, though her eyes were gazing out upon the city. Gabriel stood in the doorframe for a few moments before walking in. She turned, jumping a bit because she didn’t expect anyone to disturb her.

“Why aren’t you gone yet?” she chastised, though it was said on the softest of whispers. She seemed to be more aware of the need to remain concealed. But Gabriel ignored her question, not bothering to answer it as he walked further into the room. The voice in his head was now screaming about his idiocy and about how he should turn around right now and leave. But he pushed away the voice. Arietta tilted her head, blonde hair spilling over her shoulder while she gave him an utterly puzzled look as he approached her. But her puzzlement turned to surprise when he took her face between his hands and pressed his lips to hers. It was a quick kiss, and he had left the room and was walking down the stairs before she could summon a response.

The Mirror: Chapter Eight

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ƆĦΔƤƬЄЯ ЄíGĦƬ
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Her days at the Montgomery house had become a little less grueling, and also a little less lonely. Jason now didn't completely ignore her presence, and would on occasion speak to her without the hint of resentment in his voice. It may not have seemed like much of an improvement to anyone else, but to her it was a shocking event. Molly even began to address her about things other than "dinner is ready." But Arietta could still feel that odd feeling in the pit of her stomach when she caught Molly watching her with her all to wise gaze. There was something strange about the little girl, something more than a little peculiar. But Arietta never had much time to fret about it, for once Molly was aware that Arietta had seen her, she would disappear. More miraculous still, her relationship with Gabriel had even increased. And it was a difficult task to accomplish seeing as he was gone more often than not. But every two days or so when he would come over, they would continue their conversation about trivial things.

"I just don't think you understand, his snoring is just... horrendously loud."

"I'm sure my father snores louder than your friend."

"I just can't stress how loud Marcus is. His snores are... vociferous."

"Vociferous, big word coming from you."

And on it would go. Their conversations ranged from snoring to light bulbs. They would go at forever, and in the rare event that Jason would enter the room, a glare and eye roll would be thrown in their direction. But much to Jason's annoyance, they would fire up about even that. Molly found it amusing and would sporadically jump into the conversation, only furthering Arietta's belief that there was something bizarre about the girl. And although a lot of their conversations were frivolous, there were times at which Gabriel and Arietta would talk about something important or earnest.

"What is it that's up there?" Arietta asked, her gaze following Molly as she bounded up the stairs and towards the back room. Gabriel glanced in the same direction and frowned slightly. Jason's angry huff could be heard as the two walked into the sitting room. But he was gone before Arietta could see him.

"Our mother." Gabriel finally answered, looking back at her with the frown still plastered on his face.

"What? Why does she never come down then?" Arietta asked, her brow furrowing slightly as she plopped herself down on the old curving couch.

"She fell ill about a year ago. She can't leave her bed; she's too weak to do anything." he sat himself down in a chair opposite her. "How about we talk about something else?"

But soon most of their conversations turned to rather grave topics. Arietta wasn't quite sure why, but Gabriel's mood was beginning to take a drastic nose dive. She supposed it had something to do with the sirens. It seemed that all of their troubles, which was everyone, the entire city, all of their troubles could be traced back to those damn sirens. Every time she heard that cursed sound, a grisly grimace flickered across her face.

It appeared though, in the days following, that every day Gabriel would come over, the more foul his mood would become. She didn't want to ask about what was upsetting him, figuring that it would only distress him. But when he paid little to no interest in their conversations anymore, and left the house early with a curt nod, she began to lose her temper. And of course, Jason found the entire situation amusing, although it might have been that he was glad to finally have some peace and quiet in his life.

Arietta found it perfectly fitting that Jason was... was well... she really wasn't quite sure. All she knew about were those eyes that gleamed like a cat. She thought he perhaps shifted into a cat, but not a house cat no, a big jungle cat. Perhaps a leopard or tiger or something of that nature. But back to her point, she found it rather befitting that this is what Jason's ability, whatever it may be, was. For cats hold themselves regally, almost snobbishly, and they seem to believe everyone around them only exists to serve them in some way or another. Also, if cat's could talk, they wouldn't. All of this matched up with Jason's personality to a tee. And Arietta found it rather amusing.

And then there was the matter of miss Molly. Arietta could just tell, that she possessed some sort of supernatural ability. It was that oddity, that which made her wary of the girl, that seemed to point to this conclusion. But Arietta just could not seem to figure out what it was the girl could do. Whatever her ability, Molly did a fantastic job of disguising it. Well perhaps not disguising it... but rather concealing it. She left no trace, not one hint that could give Arietta any notion of what it was the girl could do. It drove her up the wall.

It had been a few weeks since Arietta had arrived at the Montgomery residence, and in those few weeks the snow had continuously fallen upon the world. The temperature had dropped considerably from the time when she had first fallen into the sepia city. But the snow never piled up; there always just a slight dusting on the ground. Most of the time it was much to cold for the snow. And the temperature had remained below zero the entire length of the time.

Arietta was sitting in the old office, book in hand, but folded under her chin, gazing out the window and onto the cold world. Somehow, even in the winter, the city was still bathed in sepia. She thought that after a while, she would have grown use to the color, but she hadn't. In fact, the odd coloring seemed to annoy her more than it had before. She wondered if any of the other residents even noticed the color of their reality, or if it meant nothing to them whatsoever.

Jason walked through the door, looking rather troubled and distressed. She gave him a curious look, turning her eyes away from the window to look straight on at him. She had never seen Jason in this state before, much less in front of her, and she couldn't quite seem to put together just what was wrong with him.

"Can I ask you something Arietta?" he asked, not really seeming to see her. His eyes wandered about the room, but nothing ever truly caught their attention. His left hand rubbed the back of his neck while the right hung limp at his side.

"Sure Jason." Once the words left her mouth Jason's eyes seemed to find her in the room.

"What's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"Where you came from?" Arietta's head jerked back a bit at this comment, her brow raising slightly. That was definitely not what she expected to hear come from his mouth.

"Why do you want to-"

"It's the reason!" he exclaimed, throwing up his hands in the air as he walked in a quick circle. "The reason for everything! Can you just tell me?" Arietta gave him a concerned look and drew herself up out of her chair her left hand beginning to reach out for him while the other continued to grasp the book. "Oh just forget it!" Jason scowled, giving her a nasty look before turning on his heel and storming out of the room.

"Is everyone going crazy now?" she whispered to herself as she shook her head. She was beginning to think she was the only sane person underneath the Montgomery roof, or outside of it for that matter.

A day had passed since her encounter with Jason's crazy side, and the guy seemed desperate to avoid her. Every single time she walked into the same room as him, he was gone before she could blink. She rolled her eyes, it's not like she was in a place to judge him. The day seemed to pass uneventfully, Molly was at school, Jason was avoiding her, and she hadn't seen Gabriel in days. She was once again alone in the Montgomery house. And then came the sirens.

They had a familiar call, more loud and quick than usual. The same sound as the day she had left Lalita's home. She quickly put down her book and moved into the small hallway, where there were no windows. She could see Jason dashing from window to window, with speed not anything like a natural human being's. She was about to ask something when the back door came crashing open. She jumped at the sound, but relaxed slightly when she saw it was merely Gabriel standing in the frame. That was until he ran in and started looking around himself like a crazy man.

"Arietta?" he called, sounding very anxious. She walked into the sitting room with her hands poised in the air.

"What? What is it?"

"We have to leave. Now." The stress he put on that last word was enough to send her into panic flight mode. She threw her book onto the couch and looked around like crazy for her jacket. Gabriel was pacing about like mad when Jason walked into the room.

"What is going on?"

"They know Jason, they know she's here."

"What how?"

"A neighbor saw her through the fucking window!" he didn't yell, you would never say he had yelled. But it was loud, and spoken so angrily it made Arietta pause while putting her arm into the jacket. Jason seemed to be just as surprised as she was.

"What did I say. What did I tell you? I said leaving her here would bring us all nothing but trouble. And-"

"Is Molly at school?"

"Well she-"

"Is Molly at school?" there was that not-yell again. Arietta had snapped out of her surprised trance and was now walking towards the back door, waiting for Gabriel to follow.

"Yes she's at school!"

"Deny anything."

"But-"

"Deny anything Jason, I'm serious! If they find no proof nothing will happen, this is technically my house, so they want to hear you deny her ever being here. They don't want to find her here, got it?"

"Yeah." And with that they were gone. Gabriel was dragging her through the streets, quickly dusting away their footsteps as they went. It slowed them down considerably, but it was worth the risk. At least, that's what Gabriel told her. They did have to duck behind shadows multiple times as guards pounded their way towards the Montgomery house. Arietta tried her hardest to keep her teeth from chattering, but the air was so cold. Her lips had already gone dry and were beginning to crack. Gabriel was having the same issue. But none of his mattered. None of it at all. The only thing that mattered was escape.

As the rubbish and garbage that was piled up around them began to grow in number, and eerie feeling set over her. But it was when she saw the body of an old man frozen to the ground, when she saw his toothless mouth twisted into a half-smile half-grimace, did she know where they were going. She looked up at Gabriel with a questioning look, but he looked away as he pulled her along after him. They paused in the shadows. They stood a few feet away from the familiar house. And Arietta could sense right away that something was off.

The door, was swung open, half concealed inside the shadows of the dark, unlit house. No one, not a single soul, walked anywhere close to the old wooden building. But Gabriel pulled her forward, a deeply troubled look etched into his features. And it was when she entered the house beside Gabriel, that she knew why all this was so. Her eyes were locked on Lalita, and for a moment, she couldn't speak. But when the single tear slipped from her eye and onto her cheek did it hit her.

Her knees gave out, and Gabriel tried to catch her as she fell. His hands wrapped around her arms as her body slipped down onto the floor. He tried to keep her standing, but ended up just kneeling next to her on the floor, hands still locked onto her wrists. And it was then that she broke down. Part of it was the compassion she felt for the woman, but mostly it was from the horror of the scene which laid before her on the wooden floor. Sobs racked her body as she buried her face in Gabriel's chest; only half of her face was turned towards Lalita's corpse, unable to look away.

She was mangled. The was the only way Arietta could even begin to describe the sight which she beheld. Her limbs were broken, and thrown in all different directions. Her right arm seemed just about ready to fall off. Only a few sinewy pieces of flesh held the broken appendage fast to Lalita's body. Her breasts lay almost completely exposed, showing the lashings and cuts which were dealt to her chest. Torn pieces of fabric clung to the open flesh and now seemed to have become buried within it. The cuts were oozing puss, and dried blood caked her deflated, greying skin. Her stomach had been slashed open, and her intestines pulled out, though not entirely, not enough to kill her, but to make her suffer profusely.

Frozen blood pooled on the floor below her, on her, and slithered across the floor. Her face was contorted into an expression of such pain and horror Arietta couldn't look away. Her bulging eyes had long turned grey and filmy, glazed over. The back of her head had been smashed in, a bit of it's contents had slipped onto the floor next to her. And perhaps the worst part of it all, was that she was frozen there. Her rotting corpse was frozen stuck to the ground as it was eaten into by vermin and insects. Arietta could make out the form of a rat nibbling away at the remaining guts of her stomach.

Arietta tried to crawl towards the woman who had offered her shelter, she merely wanted to close shut those eyes frozen open in terror, but Gabriel held her back. She collapsed against the floor, letting the tears splatter on the floor. Gabriel had wrapped a restricting arm around her waist, trying to keep her from Lalita.

"If you do anything at all to the body, they'll know." he whispered, his own voice shaking with unseen tears. He began to pull Arietta to her feet, dragging her limp body towards the stairs. "We have to stay here tonight, it's the only option." Arietta shook her head, the smell of Lalita's rotting corpse stayed with them long after her body had left their sight.