Ranel woke up and stretched her arms, sitting up and running her fingers through her messy hair. "Morning dad…" she mumbles sleepily, getting out of bed. "Morning sweetie! How are you feeling today?" The voice in her head said, a deep masculine voice. But it wasn't strange to her, she'd been hearing his voice her whole life. He'd said he was her father, but that he wasn't able to physically come see Ranel for reasons he hadn't told her. But she did know that he wasn't human, he'd made that perfectly clear. He'd told her that his kind were able to communicate telepathically with their children, which was how he was able to have this limited contact with her. He'd never been aggressive towards Ranel, more of a kind guiding figure in her life. And since she'd spent her whole life hearing him, she believed he was her father. Of course she had a father she lived with, and a mother but she chose not to question it.
"I'm good" she yawned, looking through her dresser to find something clean to wear. "How are you today?" Her father was silent for a minute, making his words somewhat hard to read without being able to see him. "I'm… good. Good. Any plans today, sweetie?" Ranel shrugged and put on her classic yellow t-shirt and overalls, running a brush through her messy hair "just gonna help pop with some deliveries…" She pulled her hair up in a ponytail and tossed on her boots, hurrying downstairs to get some breakfast before the day of work ahead. "Morning Ray. Your dad's loading crates, he said to send you out after you ate" her mom greeted Ranel as she entered the kitchen, handing her a plate of pancakes. Ranel nodded and quickly shoveled a few big bites into her mouth. After chugging a glass of juice and giving her mom a quick hug, she ran outside to help her father with the day's work.
She found her father by his truck, loading the bed full of crates of produce. She quickly ran over and started loading crates as well, giving her dad an apologetic and nervous smile "sorry I'm late pop! I woke up a little late…" She loaded the crates as efficiently and quickly as she could, trying to make up for the lost time. Her dad chuckled and shook his head as he worked "don't sweat it, kiddo. Glad you're up now, we gotta lot of deliveries today.." They put the last of the crates in the bed of the truck and closed the tailgate, entering the truck. He father revved the engine as the truck turned on, starting down the dirt driveway. Ranel pondered for a moment, hesitantly saying something to her dad "um….. dad says hi…" Her father's expression didn't change, but she could tell he felt… indifferent about her comment "w-what do you mean, kiddo?" She turned to look at him, shifting nervously in her seat as she tugged at her seatbelt "dad said hi…. He misses you… like… a lot…."
Her father's expression changed to a mix of confusion and concern, giving Ranel a quick glance before turning his attention back to the road "sweetie… I am your dad, what do you mean?" She looked more nervous as she kept speaking, unsure if she should just back out of this all together… "he… he talks to me in my head… he said that you and him both are my biological parents…." Her dad looked almost scared, but tried his best to hide the fact from Ranel "it's…. No, your mom and I are your parents, sweetie… It's just your imagination." Ranel wanted to pipe up again, but stopped once they entered the city. She leaned against the window, looking out at the passersby as they rode in silence. "Pop says you're not real…." She thought to herself, hoping her father would hear. And he did, quickly piping up with a hurt and sad infliction in his voice "he…. He did? I… I'm sure he has his reasons, sweetie… I'm sure he's just looking out for you…." She wasn't satisfied with that answer, but she kept her mouth shut. Maybe he was just trying to keep her from feeling weird? It was the first time she'd mentioned her dad's voice, so maybe he thought it was a recent occurrence. Maybe he thought if he shot down the thought early, she would believe it was just her imagination. Maybe he didn't want her to think her life as it was now wasn't the full story….
She snapped out of her thoughts as they arrived at their first delivery, quickly exiting the truck as soon as they parked. They had several deliveries that day, and did most of them without speaking to each other. Neither were sure how to pick up a conversation after the "dad's voice in my head" thing that had occurred. It was only when they arrived at their last delivery, that they spoke. "woah…" Her dad said in awe, looking up at the house in front of them. It was a large penthouse, almost a mansion, very sleek and futuristic in style. Ranel looked up at the house in amazement as they parked in the driveway, keeping her wide eyes on the house as they approached the door with the produce. She felt an odd feeling growing in her gut, like there was something here for her. But what…? He father rang the doorbell as they looked at the impressive home, both dumbfounded by the sight "this house is so…. Metal." Ranel said, unsure what word would best describe the home. Footsteps approached from inside the house, and soon a tall curvy woman opened the door. Her red hair framed her face beautifully, and she pulled off her sunglasses to look at the two with an odd air of superiority.
"You must be the Mercias… you're late." She said in a somewhat snotty tone. Ranel's dad opened his mouth to speak, but the woman raised a hand and quickly cut him off. "Nevermind, I don't have the time." She shoved a wad of cash at Ranel's dad and took the crates, slamming the door in their faces without another word. Ranel and her dad looked at each other in confusion and shrugged, walking back to their truck. Ranel felt a little disappointed as they left. She'd wanted to go into the house, to see what was calling her. She knew there had to be something… something calling out to her. But what? She didn't know.
"What a bitch…" she thought, recalling how rude the woman was as they drove away. "What bitch? Who's being a bitch to my daughter?" Her dad piped up in her head with an angered tone, startling her "sorry dad, didn't mean to think that out loud…" she thought to him in a slightly sad tone, the phrase somewhat humorous to her. "Sweetie? Are you okay?" Ranel debated telling her father about the feeling she had, unsure if it was even important and worth dwelling on. "I just…. I felt something while we were making a delivery… like something was in that house… calling out to me…" she stopped for a minute, looking at her dad as he sat next to her in the truck. He was nodding his head to the music on the radio, seemingly zoning out as he drove back home. She sighed and looked back out the window.
"It was probably nothing, sorry dad…." She thought to him, looking at the city as it passed by the window. "Ranel, you don't need to apologize. Our kind have gut feelings like that all the time, kind of like a sixth sense, it's usually best to trust it. Don't do anything illegal, of course, like break into the house to see what it is. But also don't just dismiss the feeling, you know?" She nodded as he spoke, her mind drifting to the possibilities of what could be in there "thanks dad…." Her father parked in their driveway, stretching as he turned off the truck "damn, I'm beat… lugging those crates around all day is brutal." He chuckled, smiling at Ranel. She gave back a weak smile, still distracted by thoughts of what the lady could be hiding in the house.
That night Ranel lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. The little glow in the dark stars twinkled above her, giving a little light in the otherwise dark room. She sighed and rolled over to get comfortable, closing her eyes as she prepared to sleep. "Good night, dad…." She mumbled sleepily, already slipping into unconsciousness. "Good night, sweetie…." Her father responded, the last thing she heard before her mind slipped away into slumber….
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Ranel stood in front of the house, the rest of the world obscured by a dark fog. She looked around in confusion, slowly approaching the door and entering the house. It was silent, still, lifeless. No one was there. She walked through the house, somehow knowing exactly where to go. She stopped at the end of the hall in front of an elevator, watching as the dial on the top moved. The arrow went down, 3…. 2…. 1…. ۞… It stopped on the last level, the lowest floor. But what was the symbol? Before she could question it, the woman appeared only a few feet away, holding a gun aimed at Ranel's head. "You're not stopping me that easily, kid…." She said in a cold, almost robotic voice before pulling the trigger.
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Ranel jolted awake in a cold sweat, breathing heavily and looking around in a panic. "D…dad?" She whispered, hoping he'd answer her call. Which of course he did, although he sounded much sleepier than usual "yeah sweetie…?" He yawned. She wasn't sure if she should tell him her dream, but either way she wanted to talk to him. She thought for a second before deciding on what to say "can you tell me a story…?" "Of course, sweetie!" He thought for a minute, trying to think of a good story to tell his daughter "Hundreds of years ago in our home dimension, I was venturing through the woods to try and find something entertaining…"
Ranel smiled and curled up, closing her eyes as she listened to her father's story. "Instead of some entertainment however, I found the river of prophets" "what's the river of prophets?" She asked sleepily, opening her eyes. "It's a mystical river in our home dimension. It's said that if someone looks into the river, the reflection will show them things to come in their lives. And the stories are true. When I looked into the river, I saw you. Your father and I, holding you when you were only a few months old. At the time, I didn't believe the river. But I soon realized it was true…" Ranel smiled as she heard the story, but quickly became confused "wait…. Hundreds of years ago? How old are you?" She asked with a chuckle.
Her father chuckled as well "sweetie, our kind live much longer than humans do. I'm about 825 years old, and I'm considered young in our home dimension." She was surprised by this, wondering how long she would live for. That thought led to her thinking of the dream again, about the woman shooting her, and she grew scared she wouldn't live to see how inhumanly long her lifespan would be. But she tried to focus on her father's words instead of the dream, hoping it would provide some comfort...
Started writing this, if anyone likes it let me know and I'll keep uploading the chapters as I write them!
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