~ Hidden behind unspoken words ~
Today it had already been 10 years since that day. The day he got his freedom back and took hers away. His ears lowered as he looked at the calendar. 10 years ago today, the girl who saved his life mutated due to his actions. He had waited for the right moment to tell her he was still alive, but he had never found the courage to face her. He had hurt others to ensure her safety… That was something he was sure she wouldn't approve of. But he wouldn't have done it differently, what else should he have done?
She already worked at the zoo before her mutation and decided to continue doing so afterward. That would have taken her some time, to return to society. But she had a strong personality and had adjusted herself very well. He was impressed, proud even.
When she started working at the zoo again he decided to buy the zoo. Not only so that he could guarantee her safety, but also to have insight and control over the care and health of his own 'family'.
Some of the fellow mutants who had been trapped now had a life of their own. Secret traveled around and Shadow kept Silver company. His old character and habits were still there though… Only time would tell when he would get into trouble… so far he had gotten away with a lot.
When they were free and had rediscovered New York. Dameon had told the brothers about their other brother, Sky. He had known about him but never told them about him. Sky had a good life at the zoo and was adopted by the zoo owners as their son. It had been hard to tell them their brother had had a good life while they suffered.
Sky had been in an accident when he was little, which was actually the reason he was never found by 'those people'.
So now everyone has found their place in society. Dameon himself too, was a doctor for mutants and sometimes helped out at a vet he had befriended at his animal clinic. They learned a lot from each other that way. He was an esteemed scientist as well. Even though he was appreciated he tried to keep a low profile. Of course, he regularly visited his own zoo, usually on days when he knew she wouldn't be there. Of course, he wouldn't take any risks and would be there with a different appearance. In the years that he was 'their' property, he had actually obtained his diploma as a doctor, but not as a mutant but as a human. He had created a special watch that injected a special mutagen that temporarily made him human. He hated it, it was painful and he was afraid of being human. Especially because he received such different reactions that he was afraid he would no longer want to return to his own self. He still used this watch to visit the zoo and as the owner of the zoo, this was the face that would be known. He had two lives but used the second as little as possible. No one would know about his two faces except his friend Vet.
Yesterday he made a decision;
There he stood in front of the mailbox. He briefly looks at the letter in his hands. The envelope was light brown with a purple wax seal in the shape of a predator paw print. He placed it on his chest and let out a sigh. Quickly he put it in the slot and continued on his way to the park. Tomorrow it would be 10 years… that was a long time… He no longer wanted to regret the things he hadn't done.
The Letter:
Every time I see you Or I hear you my heart skip a beat And my mind overheats. I'm frozen cold because the words buried in my soul can never be told. The sight of you makes my heart sing, I glow from within.
The love in my heart burns for you It is forever paralysed as it will never come true. As the sun shines in the sky, my love for you will never die. As the rainfalls my heart will always call. As the soul never grows old, this love will stand bold. As the sudden sigh of relief from the storm, I will always be dazzled by your charm. When skies are grey, like a hawk I will watch over my prey. When skies are blue, though love may find you, My heart still stays true. You're the one who has my heart and always do. Like a cloud in the mist, you don't know my love exist But it's okay because my love won't go away.
Sky wasn't aware of this day, to him it was just a normal poop-scooping day. Sky was the kind of turtle who was a bit clumsy making new friends so he didn't have that many, which bothered him. He was actually very nice, but his height and appearance made him insecure. Since the accident when he was little, he had lost an eye. So for a long time, he also had to walk with an eye patch which made him even more insecure. A few years ago he met Dameon, one of the zoo animals that turned out to be mutated. Sky knew nothing about this girl, he would just keep an extra eye on the zoo in exchange for a bionic eye. This meant that he did an extra round in the evening to make sure there were no strange people poking around the zoo, which never happened and made the task quite boring. He also wasn't allowed to tell anyone about him. He didn't really understand why, he was good-looking. But considering he would be getting this expensive eye for free he decided not to ask about it any further.
Most of the time Sky worked alone while listening to music. Of course, there were parties and work opportunities with lectures and such. But he always found it difficult to fit in anywhere. In his spare time, he could usually be found with his gaming consoles. Online, no one could tell who he was making him much less awkward. He even met a cute girl online who was a daring opponent and teammate.
Almost every night around the same time he would play games with her, they often laughed and joked sometimes even watching a new movie together. Yet, all of that would be online. Strangely enough, they knew little about each other. He didn't dare to ask personal questions for fear of the same question being asked back. Despite that, he enjoyed her company very much. It gave him a warm feeling and he often went to bed way too late…
Yet something was missing… he craved physical touch. Of course, he had also gotten to know his brothers and did his utmost to build a bond with them. Shadow was the loosest, but also the hardest to deal with. Shadow had a knack for making situations uncomfortable, especially for Sky. Shadow was skilled with words and with women.
This evening would be the same. He had his snacks and drinks ready and was sitting comfortably in his bean bag with headphones and a microphone ready. It was Friday evening so that meant an extra long game night. His eyes sparkled when he saw the green ball behind her gamer name, indicating she was online.
Starter for @larytellos-trash
For Naledi, it was supposed to be a day like any other by now.
Wake up, stay in bed for a while, get up against her will, take a shower, brush her hair and fur, eat something (or forget to eat), grab some nice clothes and her job's uniform, go to the zoo, work her shifts, take a nap, take groups of kids to the feeding farm in the afternoon, put the animals away and make sure their places were tidied and had plenty food and water, say goodbye to her coworkers, go back home, take another shower and settle down for a gaming night before sleeping. She had a reputation to hold as one of the best local gamers, besides she was always happy to have fun with some friends she made over the years around in the games.
ProPlayer666: HEEEEEYYY look who's back online, finally! NalyHunter94: Hi guys, sorry I took so long, I was picking the mail, forgot to do it last night Snakeyyy: got fanmail, oh mighty gaming queen? 😏 NalyHunter94: ........ I mean, bills to pay, newspaper, my favorite magazine. My biggest fans are the water and energy companies, they're always mailing me every month lol Crasher: hahahahaha NalyHunter94: You going to start now? ProPlayer666: waiting for SkyBlaster Crasher: i think he just got online too but my friends list is too long and I'm lazy to check
For good measure, Naledi checked her own friends list. SkyBlaster was indeed online, so she DMed him.
NalyHunter94: Hey there, man!! Ready for some action tonight? We're waiting for you now!
Then she went back to the group chat.
NalyHunter94: I just DMed him, you lazy ass. So, are we gonna do it live or just between us? Snakeyyy: i vote for live and make it a contest ProPlayer666: a contest? Crasher: contest? NalyHunter94: What kinda contest? Snakeyyy: whoever kills the least zombies tonight will pay a pizza delivery for everyone else's dinner NalyHunter94: I hope you have my transfer info already and my favorite topping is pepperoni with Pepsi Twist ;)
Yeah, she was glad the chat changed topics because she was totally not going to tell people online about the... rather strange letter she got. The envelope seemed nice, the handwriting was actually a work of art. She was genuinely amazed at how beautiful it was. The weird thing was just that it had no signature, no return address, nothing to identify who sent it. And the content... It seemed like someone who knew her for a long while but never made it obvious. It was like an one-sided love letter.
Naledi was definitely a bit shaken about this, it never occurred to her that she might have a secret admirer? She wished she could tell someone about it... But she couldn't worry about it now, she couldn't skip her game night. They were all waiting for this all week long and she wasn't going to let her team down. Oh no, she was going to show them what she was made of, just like always.
And most important, she was going to have her favorite pizza for dinner, she was sure of that, because there was just NO WAY she would be the least successful zombie killer tonight!
Sky joined the chat and when he saw that the last lines mentioned pizza he decided to quickly read back to find out what this was about.
SkyBlaster: Sooooo Snakeyyy is gonna give everyone pizza?!!? Cause, it also counts if you have a bad internet connection again!! No excuses!
SkyBlaster: oh... but it has an update so I'm gonna join in 10 minutes or so...
SkyBlaster: welp, and no killsteals this time! Yes, I'm talking to you ProPlayer666!
Sky was having so much fun interacting with his online friends. He could be himself without the fear of anyone judging him. He always wondered if all of them were actual humans... Maybe one of them was a mutant as well? He shook his head, Nah... and even so, it wasn't like he would meet any of them in real life anyway.
SkyBlaster: I'm soooooo ready for pizza!! Tho NalyHunter94, what's that about pepperoni with Pepsi Twist? Sounds good! Snakeyyy, you better be well prepared cause I want the largest size available!
Meanwhile, Dameon was at home, playing some music on his piano. On Monday he would go to the zoo knowing she would be there too. He was still unsure how he would go, human or mutant..
He just had to see her.. Not from a security camera or a photo. The real her.. He had already taken the first step now he had to get on with it. He didn't want to come across as a creep or a stalker. But 10 years was a long time… He wondered how he would react if he saw her in real life. Nervousness and the unknown was a feeling he couldn't deal with very well. He liked it more when things were plannable and predictable.
Snakeyyy: big talk coming from people who never turned on their webcams. We'll see who's gonna pay pizza for who tonight! NalyHunter94: As if I would ever turn it on! I don't want creepy guys finding out who I am and stalking me online or where I live or work. I got haters both for being a girl and for being a better player than them, did you know that? Snakeyyy: wait fr?? wtf Crasher: yeah not to mention those obsessed ones who are like "she either be mine or no one else's" and stuff. i had to delete my previous account because of harassment too.
How ironic was it that the talk went toward such direction in the exact same night when she got that letter? Naledi glanced at the envelope over her bed and shuddered. Maybe she should get rid of that and pretend it never happened? ........ Nah. She wasn't that heartless to do so. Someone clearly put effort into that, the handwriting was still one of the most beautiful she had ever seen.
Funnily enough, she now wondered if the person mistook the house for someone else's. She was a mutant, after all... Nearly every neighbor of hers knew about that - after a long time hiding, she figured she wouldn't want to be on anyone's bad side and made sure to befriend or at least become acquaintances with the closest ones, just to be sure no one would ever be caught unaware they're living next to a mutated person. Thankfully, most of them were accepting, the others just didn't care enough to file a complaint or whatever to get her kicked out of the block, after all, she had never been a bother to anyone.
But people outside her circle didn't know about her at all. She wasn't one to walk out in the open, as much as she wished to. The only places where she felt safe were at home and at work, even on her way to her job she would cover herself nearly entirely, wearing a hoodie and all.
Maybe the sender had meant to leave this letter to her neighbor Alice. Now that was a nice looking girl, who was always smiling and being kind to people. Naledi once described her as a literal embodiment of spring sunshine and she hadn't stopped smiling for a couple weeks after that. They got along well.
Shaking her head, she focused back on the online chat.
NalyHunter94: Hey SkyBlaster, did your update finish yet?
Sky chuckled somewhat annoyed. "Creepy guys.." he muttered. Would she see him as a creepy guy? Of course, he felt pointed out because he had never used a webcam before.
SkyBlaster: That sounds awful... I hope you feel like you can be yourself here. I would be so sad if I suddenly saw that your account was deleted :(
Now that was ironic… Being able to be yourself… Not that Sky felt any different… His personality was accepted most of the time and it was actually who he was. But still, his mutantness was a big part of who he was… Yet he had never told his online friends before…
SkyBlaster: Well, Snakeyyy, I'd rather spend my money on a good computer than on a webcam. Maybe I'm a famous person! Maybe I'm actually very attractive and I don't want to distract you too much.... Or maybe I'm a mutant ;p
His heart raced as he typed the last sentence. He was curious about what the others thought about that possibility.
SkyBlaster: Yes the update is ready! And so is my craving for food! So let's get started! I'm sooooo readyyy!!! So how are we gonna do this? 10 rounds? And in case of a draw, one extra round?
He wouldn't tell and he would do his best not to make it too obvious, but he would stay away from NalyHuneter94 in the game as much as possible. She was good, even a killing machine, and he was afraid that if he were too close to her, he might be the one paying for the pizza tonight. She often killed a zombie before he even saw or heard it coming… how did she do that? She probably had way better headphones…
SkyBlaster: So if I'm right, we're playing with 6 people? So that's about 60 bucks worth of pizza including drinks. That's good motivation!!
The girl cracked her knuckles and adjusted her special headset. Since her big round ears were nearly on top of her head, a normal headset wouldn't ever do: She had to buy and adapt a different one to be able to use it properly. It was worth the trouble, with her acute hearing, she was an absolute menace in any kind of game that required the players to pay attention on their surroundings.
ProPlayer666: man I just had a thought
Crasher: uh oh here it comes
ProPlayer666: what if we're all mutants and we just never told each other
Snakeyyy: naly isn't a mutant
ProPlayer666: how do you know?
NalyHunter94: How do you know?
Snakeyyy: I found your facebook
The girl couldn't help but laugh out loud. Good thing they hadn't started the voice call just yet or the others would have probably just get hearing damage.
Crasher: man that's stalking
NalyHunter94: PFFFTTT HAVE YOU SEEN HOW LONG AGO MY LAST PICTURE WAS TAKEN? Good luck figuring out if there's a reason for that or not ;)
Snakeyyy: ... dammit good point
NalyHunter94: Can we start the game now that Sky is set up or what? XD
