Chapter 20: Unwanted

The girl stood up and looked at us. She was somewhat taller than me, had eyes of a beautiful sky-blue color, and had blonde hair. Her look was quite similar to that of a wild cat. But God, her muscles were gently toned. Everyone was in good shape, even women. I was weakling at her side. She wore a plain white T-shirt, black pants, and sneakers—their handmade clothes.

"Sirius, you're back," she said in a perfectly soft voice as she approached.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, joined her forehead to his for a second, and pulled away. I blushed with jealousy; I couldn't help it. That gesture took me by surprise.

The girl looked at me like a weirdo and asked, "Who is this human?"

"She comes with me."

She looked at him in surprise.

"What?" the girl exclaimed, almost horrified. "I heard you had seen your mother again, but you were supposed to leave the human with Orion."

"No. I will leave her in the capital."

"Are you crazy?!" She glared at me, then looked back at him. "Do you want to be killed? This was not in the plan; now was when you should join me, not die!"

Wait, what?!

Anthony shook his head, and with a slight smile of unconcern, he turned to look at a nearby thicket.

"Rigel, Deneb, come out," he ordered.

I was open-mouthed. Was he going to join her? Did it mean the nucleus he had told me about that day? How did he omit that detail?! Another lie, geez!

The girl looked at me indignantly and then angrily again. Great, she hated me, and I expected no less. Two young men emerged from the thicket, and I would have sworn they were human if not because they both had one light blue eye and the other green. Twins.

"Forgive me," Anthony said to me. "I have not introduced you. They are the brothers Rigel and Deneb," he pointed at them, and both smiled at me, scared. "And she is Ursa." The girl was looking at him, completely dissatisfied. "My friends."

Perfect, Ursa. She was a constellation of pure beauty and hated me. I nodded slowly, and she grimaced at me.

"I'm going to show you my city before Orion's men come looking for me," he said.

Of course, I wanted to see his city, but I did not know that he could die. This was not how I had imagined. I didn't like it.

I was pierced by the girl's hateful look again; I could feel her behind me. So, she had practically been his fiancée? I felt tiny and pathetic by her side. She was majestic as a cougar, as was Sirius, and I was a squirrel. And even worse, he would die for choosing me over his people.

We walked a long stretch. I became more anxious each time until I was startled to feel that Anthony had taken my hand.

"Everything will be fine," he whispered.

"Yes, well... If they don't try to kill me, it's a good thing, right?" I also muttered.

He smiled.

"They wouldn't. I wouldn't allow it, and they would not want to face me for many reasons," he replied confidently.

I squeezed his hand a little more. I wouldn't like to see them fight for me. Although I already had his possible death on my back. Why the hell was I starting to feel guilty now?

Around twenty minutes later, I saw a town and was impressed. On the outskirts were plots of crops, some evolved people working that land, and they looked at me, surprised. The houses seemed quite rustic. Ups and downs, where vegetation abounded, it almost seemed like another forest, and plants grew, covering walls.

I realized my mouth was open, so I slammed it shut. Anthony was right—some buildings with up to four levels used trees and plants on the walls as structural elements.

"Buildings," I mumbled.

"Yes." He smiled. "I told you so."

I smiled at him, too. We arrive in a residential area. The evolved people didn't use transportation means, perhaps because the city was small and they could walk, run, and climb. They also liked to maintain good health. Each housing sector had a central park. I was increasingly surprised.

I saw kids playing and scampering. It would have been a very typical sight if it weren't that they started biting or running and jumping faster and higher than a human child, climbing trees in seconds like little kittens.

We stopped outside one of the houses, and my blood pressure dropped from my nerves.

Within seconds, the door opened, and I hid behind Anthony automatically. A woman looked out. Her eyes were nearly as green as Anthony's, and she had light brown hair. She looked forty years old or a little younger.

"Sirius," she muttered.

"Mother," he replied. There was devotion in his voice.

The woman looked at me askance.

"I thought you were back with Orion."

"I have decided to quit."

"Treason."

"I have already accepted the consequences."

She nodded without changing her expression. What a way to react! Her son was going to die! Although, I didn't know what to expect from their culture.

"Come in, please."

We did so and sat on the sofa. It looked like an ordinary human's house but was made of a different material. It was a large living room that seemed to be a radio on a table and big openings to a vast garden. It was a cozy and beautiful home. I smiled, thinking that Sirius had maybe lived here, where he spent his childhood and adolescence.

"She has become someone very special to me," Anthony announced, pulling me out of my thoughts. How the hell did he say that at times like this?! "Her name is Marien."

Ursa was against the wall, folding her arms and looking at me, offended.

"It is a great pleasure to meet you," I told Sirius' mom. "And sorry for the inconvenience."

I felt like my nerves would finish me any moment, so I took a deep breath. The twins looked at me with slight smiles.

"The pleasure is mine," Sirius' mother replied politely, but she still looked at me with a slightly uncomfortable face. "Feel at home. If my son feels you are special, I cannot refute it."

I was surprised.

"Thank you," I replied with a smile, not caring that she didn't return the gesture to me.

I looked at Anthony; he was smiling at me, looking charming. His eyes flashed that beautiful green color.

"I'll show you my city later," he whispered.

I was wondering where his father would be. He said he worked building houses, or maybe it was a lie. Would he still be disappointed in him? Thinking he deserved to be with Orion? Right now, I was beginning to fill myself with new doubts.

"I will take her to the capital and leave her safe. Then I will surrender to Orion," Sirius commented.

Enif took a deep breath, sure trying to hold back any claim.

"So that's what you decided in the end," she undertook. "Is that why you were so uneasy? Is that why you disappeared again?" I noticed that she was trying to hide her anguish.

I felt bad. Sirius had given up so much. He was a rebellious young man, but it was not worth distressing his mother. From what I saw, she would have loved her son to obey her orders, but still, she wouldn't complain.

"I have already decided, and I am ready for it."

I got distressed and squeezed his hand between the two of us. His mother looked at me for a fleeting second. I had forgotten that perhaps touching him was prohibited since displays of affection were forbidden, as he said. It was not their custom. I didn't know the rules, so I unhanded him.

"I just came to say goodbye, don't worry. They won't bother you anymore."

Her mother retook a deep breath.

"Well, as you say. Welcome again." She stood up. "I'll make dinner."

The woman withdrew, taking the deer without difficulty. I could see she was sad, but hell, what did it cost her to come and hug her son? Why the hell did nobody stop him?!

I started having difficulty breathing. It was ridiculous.

"Change that face, Ursa, please," Anthony said, pulling me out of my thoughts again.

Ursa kept looking at me with some anger and offense. Again, I felt reduced by her gaze, but I could understand her. I was next to the young man she probably loved. I was human, and as if that was not enough, he had decided to die for me.

"I just can't believe it, Sirius," she replied in a rough way.

Maybe she could convince him not to turn himself in and escape...

"I apologized in advance because I was going to fail you. I thought it was clear to you and your family that I would not join you, sorry." Okay, maybe she was not going to stop him. "Hey guys," he addressed the twins, and they both looked up. "Do you want to go for a walk?"

"Yes, we were getting stressed already," they responded in unison.

I smiled, relieved. They seemed nice enough. Anthony looked at Ursa.

"You can come if you want."

He returned to his room after a few minutes; then, we left the house.

We walked towards what I assumed was the town square of the city. It had gotten on my nerves that his conversation with his mother was so short and empty. The evolved people were weird regarding feelings, but I didn't expect that much.

I had to stop him. It was incredible that I didn't care that he could die earlier, but now that I had assimilated it, I couldn't bear it.

We walked around looking at the places. Everything was in an old-fashioned market: small restaurants, clothing stores, furniture, rudimentary appliances, and so on, all done by them. It was fascinating.

The evolved people believed that I was a young woman in transition, that phase in which they looked like humans, a stage that we didn't know about until now. According to what Sirius had told me, they hardly hung out from home in those days. Fortunately, the twins were also in transition and accompanied us. Still, some villagers looked at me closely, without blinking, like predators, knowing that prey was camouflaged near them, maybe because my smell was different.

I asked to go into a store for a moment to see their stuff, looking for something light to eat. I found a package of what looked like cookies, obviously made right there and wrapped in fine paper. Those products were quite different. It was as if the cities of the evolved belonged to another country or something. The world hadn't had other countries for centuries since everything was a whole. It seemed weirder to me when I saw that the currency symbol differed from the human currency symbol.

I just stood there frozen, looking at the package.

"Do you want it?" Sirius asked me with his sweet and elegant tone of voice.

I smiled in shame.

"I think my money is useless."

"But not mine," he commented with an amused smile.

He bought the package of cookies, and we went out.

The twins laughed a little, and Ursa looked to the other side with crossed arms a couple of feet away. She was very prideful. Continuing our way, we ate the rare cookies that promised a good dose of protein. The twins received what I offered very happily, but Ursa didn't.

We were approaching the town square; I could hear the murmur of people. When we got closer, I saw a sort of scenery built in wood in the middle of the big square, with a group of people in it, and they had instruments, so they would indeed play music. I smiled and remembered when Sirius said he would show me this.

The group began to play. It was a beautiful melody. It seemed like some old and instrumental ballad, very similar to a waltz, but it didn't have the accompaniment of any singer's voice. The mixture of sounds of the different instruments made a good set. They were instruments like those known to humans but handmade.

The song enthralled me. One of the twins tugged on Ursa's arm, leading her to the group dancing slowly.

I smiled. I didn't know if it was Rigel or Deneb, but they were hanging far from the couples in the center. They were both having fun. At least he had managed to raise her spirits. However, my happiness was not complete.

"They celebrate the union of some new family nuclei," Sirius said. "Tomorrow, they will give them their first secret lesson about family union. Couple life and stuff. Then, they will go to stay in their new homes for a while, as I already explained to you."

I imagined what they explained to the couples in those lessons...

"So, those couples... Are they just married?"

"Yes, it may be said. That is the word you use."

He stood before me, bowed, and held out his hand, which I took, looking at him in amazement. He gave me a splendid smile, showing those short and pretty fangs, and brought me closer to the center.

"I didn't know you danced," I commented, still sad.

"I don't know much," he murmured.

He surrounded my waist with his right arm and took my right hand with his other. It was like dancing the waltz. He looked at me in a special, sweet, and profound way, and I smiled. I was uncomfortable being blushed, but I couldn't take my eyes off those hypnotic of his. With those big pupils, it was like being face-to-face with a feline.

He gave me a gentle turn. I wondered if, somehow, we were more than friends. I didn't know how he was considering it, but my happy heart remembered that he had confessed to being in love with me, without being aware of it, of course.

I looked around me to see everyone dancing similarly. I laid my cheek on his chest, and he hugged me against his body. After a while, I noticed that some evolved people turned to look at us. Perhaps that was prohibited. I didn't see any couple being like us, so I broke away from him—another mistake.

I looked to my other side, and Ursa and the twins looked at us strangely. Oh. I tried to separate more, but he stopped me.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I think we shouldn't be so close; it's prohibited in your society, right?"

He smiled slightly.

"Well, they may be wondering what it means right now."

"And... What does it mean?" I asked, nervous.

He raised his eyebrows, a little confused for a few seconds.

"Uhm... I don't know. I feel like I want to be with you like that. I don't see the problem... If you give me a chance, I want to give you all of me. That's what I feel."

My heart wanted to melt.

"But..."

Ursa approached us.

"The sun is almost down; we should return to your house," the girl suggested.

Anthony nodded, and we returned.

The sun had already gone down, and night had started when we reached his house. His mother awaited us with a slight smile that caught my attention.

"Shall I help you serve the food?" Sirius asked his mother.

His mom nodded, and he followed her into the kitchen.

I sat on the sofa, and Ursa sat on the one next to me. The twins looked at each other and left for the garden—oh no, tense moment.

I cleared my throat. I wanted to talk to her, and that was the moment.

"What have you done to him?" she asked, surprising me.

"Uh... Nothing."

"He ruined his life. He had everything: recognition of Orion and prestige before the entire town," she lamented.

"Sorry," was the only thing I could say.

I didn't know if I was the guiltiest of that or not, but indeed, I was somewhat guilty. There was another moment of silence.

"I saw you next to him... Humans do those things. You intend to make him lose himself in your world of evil things."

"No," I interrupted her, feeling offended. "No. We are not all like that. I don't want to change him; I just want to save him, and you should do that, too. I thought you were going to join him."

"Yes, of course, but those are his decisions. I am not going to interfere either, and you should understand that. He will die with honor, and that will also clear my name. It is his duty. Today was the family union ceremony, and we weren't there as a new family. He also stained me with his sudden disappearance a couple of days ago. I can't believe it was because he would get you out."

Gees, I should have guessed.

"You have feelings for him, don't you? If so, you should put prestige aside and stop him..."

"What?" she interrupted. "Don't talk nonsense. I won't say anything. That is human stuff. We are not allowed to feel such absurd things. I know what is best for him. And it suited him to be with me in his world. I am his perfect companion."

"So... Do you know about that? About love?" I asked.

She seemed to be discovered and reluctantly decided to answer.

"Only us, the girls... They warn us a little; We should only feel it when we form a nucleus, but not always anyway, only if it occurs, only if he shows signs of feeling something. Otherwise, it becomes indecent and disrespectful. A dishonor... But what do humans know about honor?" she asked with a scornful tone.

I was much more impressed with their way of seeing the world. Sirius's mother left some dishes on the table and retreated again.

Ursa continued, "The leaders warn us about what we should never do with a boy, and they do the same to them, but they omit many things since, by nature, they don't tend to feel. We are somewhat different, maybe; I do not know. But you..." She took a deep breath and was obviously uncomfortable. "I bet you have done all kinds of nonsense that you human women surely do," she added with disgust.

"No... no, well..." I felt ashamed. I touched and kissed him without even suspecting he had a fiancée.

How could I explain everything that had happened without her launching herself to kill me? I started to get mad. I wanted to prevent him from dying, but she was already trying to fight for nonsense. Sirius's mother left more dishes.

Ursa mumbled in frustration, "He made an excellent team with me. He loves to compete; you couldn't give him that."

I remembered hitting him in the stomach, and my weak blow amused him. When I saw him laugh as they competed to hunt the deer, I couldn't help but feel sad.

Ursa continued, "He liked to vent his energy fighting. I know him. I trained with him a couple of times and helped him. I was always with him; do you think you know him like I do and know what to do to encourage him when he needs it? You have no idea how great he is. You couldn't even run with him. You don't know what makes him mad the most..."

I had my fists clenched. It was true. I didn't know Sirius. He had not even confessed his real name, and I couldn't do the things he did either. Now, he could die, and I had not even got to know him.

"I know how great he is, even though I know him little as you say. I'd leave him here so he can continue his life, but Orion will persecute him because of me. That is why he better go to the capital with me. I will convince him since you don't want to save him."

"Ursa, she is not to blame for anything," Sirius scolded, "and she has done nothing I have not allowed or thought was wrong."

Ursa snorted, annoyed.

"Don't scare me, Sirius. Don't tell me she has done something immoral, and you thought it was good. You know the rules." They defiantly looked at each other.

Why the hell did she keep claiming something so stupid instead of trying to convince him not to die?!

His mom came in with the last dishes.

"Food is ready," she called kindly.

I was no longer hungry. Sirius sighed heavily, as did Ursa. Even that made me jealous and feel small at what she could mean to him, his old friend. His parents had agreed on their union because they were friends, while I had barely come into his life. I was nobody, and obviously, they didn't like me. I couldn't even claim him as my boyfriend. He was not a human man and didn't know about those things.

And worse, it didn't seem like I could save him, and my hope was gone. The feeling of assurance that he was for me or that I meant something to him began to fade and leave me in anguish.