Sun Stealer. Walking In Circles (4 page)

             
“Get me out of here? Are you out of your mind? Almas, I have more supporters than Dark beast and Kujo will ever have!” she laughed.

             
“Supporters? What are you talking about Daria? I am trying to save your life and you are bringing me numbers? Since when you care about this nonsense?” I raised my voice.

             
“Since I have nothing to live for!” she yelled at me, “Do you even know what it’s like to have your son repulsed by your sight? He wants nothing to do with me and honestly, I can’t blame him for that. Who would want a drugged prostitute as a mother? He is now a part of the Provokers gang. And Kujo, he is now this big lawyer working for the next governor of California and I am just a dirty secret he has to hide”, she explained with tears and anger.

              “Well, well… who do we have here?” I heard a familiar voice from behind.

             
I turned around and froze. Not only my sister was working in hell, she was working for the devil himself.

             
“Eve? What are you doing here?” I was about to jump on her with rage.             

             
“She runs this place”, Daria stopped me.

             
“Really? Why am I not surprised?” I asked with sarcasm.

             
“I heard you came for a job interview. I couldn’t be happier Almas. I would kill to have a dancer like you. I remember your moves very well”, she teased me.

             
“In your dreams!” I raged. 

             
“Eve, would you be kind enough to leave me and my sister alone for a few minutes?” Daria asked her politely.

             
Eve turned around without a word.

             
“How did you get here, Daria?” I wondered, “Out of all the places in the world?”

             
“Leo, Almas.” Daria whispered after a long pause, “I wanted to find out about Leo. You accused Dark beast of giving Leo to the Nomadic Tribes in exchange for eternal life. I had to find out about the truth. I hoped to bring us all together again. Eve asked me to dance in her club and promised significant information in return. That night, I danced as I have never danced before. I got the love of the crowd and after a few nights I became a member of an exclusive club and pretty quick, I found my self addicted. Needless to say, there was no information about Leo. Eve was lying from the start just to get me working for her. She kept asking me about you and I think deep down, that was her final goal, to have you as her dancer in her club”.

             
“Daria, my dear sister. You did this for me! You lost everything because of me!” I cried.

             
“Almas, you can not lose what was not yours to begin with”, she hugged me.

             
“Daria, did she tell you how they did this to us? Or more important, why?” I was curious.

             
“I never asked her about that. I didn’t care. What will the knowing contribute to me except the unbearable pain?”

             
I disagreed with my sister. The reason to their actions could lead us to Leo. I would do anything in my power to find out what had happened to my son.

             
“Did you see Dark beast?” Daria asked me.

             
“I wish I didn’t”, I mumbled.

             
“Almas, I know you wouldn’t believe me if I tell you but that man loves you more than anything in this world”, she gently patted my long hair.

             
“Daria, I have met with him and all I felt was rage and contempt”.

             
“Can you blame him?” she asked me, “You accused him of a terrible crime. You broke his heart”.

             
“I lost my son, Daria!” I raised my voice, “He was sitting on the ground, crying like a baby, telling me he was weak, what else could I think?”

             
Daria looked into my eyes for a long moment and finally opened up:

             
“After you disappeared, Dark beast came back to the wild zone. I have never seen him so skinny and weak. His entire body was wounded. We all greeted him and wondered about his journey and about Leo but all he cared about was you. He searched through the wild ones and kept asking ‘Almas, where is she? Where is my beautiful stealer?’ but we had no answer for him. We didn’t know where to find you and once he understood you were gone and that you didn’t wait for him, he broke down. Kujo and I tried to encourage him but that was the last straw. The next morning he was gone for good.”

             
“Daria, I have carried this guilt with me the entire time. I was wrong but I don’t know how to fix this”, I rested my head on her knees.

             
“Give him time. And stay away from Kujo, he seems to be very jealous when it comes to Kujo and you, god knows why…” she laughed.             

             
“What is it with these two? No matter what happens, they always end up together… like two lost lovers!” I made Daria roll.

             
“Have you seen Sag?” she asked me.

             
“Sag is here?” I was caught by surprise, “It seems like California turned into the wild zone. What is he doing here?”

             
“He is a darbuka drummer in a touring band. They are performing at our club tomorrow night and the entire next week”.

             
“Sag… nobody can play like him. I must meet with him”, I thought aloud.

             
“So come! I am sure Eve would love to have you here, Almas”, she winked at me.

             
“Daria, I will get you out of this place. I swear to you. I will bring you and your family back together again!” I held her palms close to my heart.

             
“My little sister, you have not changed at all…” she whispered and closed her eyes.

             
I could tell she was exhausted and decided to allow her to rest. I gently kissed her forehead and left.

              I marched my way from the bus station to the house and heard loud music coming out of it. I entered and found little Miss Diamond standing in the middle of our parlor. She was singing to our old residents who couldn’t wipe their smiles off their faces. Diamond had an amazing voice and she sure enjoyed the attention.

             
“Thank you very much!” she bowed to the sounds of the cheering crowd.

             
“Almas, you are back!” she shouted with joy.

             
“How was your first day in our dump, Diamond?” I asked with a smile.

             
“Don’t ask!” she stated.

             
“But I am asking. By the way, I loved your singing, thank you for sweetening our time”.

             
“My pleasure! Almas, I have not found anything about my case online. Can you believe it?” she asked with despair.

             
“Give it time, Diamond. You need to be grateful nobody has used your identity in a crime scene. It is very common these days”, I explained to her.

             
“What? So now I am a convict?” she yelled.

             
“No”, I laughed together with Leonard who had just entered the house, “All I am saying, there are worse situations out there when it comes to ID stealing”.

             
“Speaking of stealing, where did you get this gorgeous, long hair of yours? Don’t you look at me like that, I know you cannot afford it”, she pointed her finger at me.

             
“It’s real!” I stated and noticed Leonard could not stop laughing.

             
“What?” she shouted, “Girl, you are one lucky mama!”

             
“Your hair is nice too, Diamond”, I said to her.

             
“It’s a wig! Thank you Almas for bringing that up”, she stormed to her room.

             
“I didn’t know. Sorry Diamond…” I turned to Leonard, “I swear, I didn’t know…”

             
We both laughed.             

              The next day I decided to drive to town earlier. This way I would have more time to talk to Sag, Eve and my sister before the club would be filled with guests.

             
“What are you hoping to accomplish Almas?” Leonard asked me.

             
“I am not sure. Something tells me this place has all the answers I need”.

             
“Nineteen eighty- four… she must have lost all hope”, he said.

             
“I will bring it back to her Leonard!” I stated.

             
“I know you will. Good luck my love!” he greeted me as I left the house.

              “How is your father? I asked Eve and waved at Daria who was practicing her dance on the pole.

             
“He is dead!” Eve answered with sarcasm.

             
“Very funny. I am afraid even the devil wouldn’t welcome a traitor as your old man!” I mocked her.

             
“Is that so?” she smiled her devilish smile, “Speaking of traitors, why don’t you tell us what you did with the wild cats!”

             
“That’s enough!” Daria yelled at her and pulled me away.

             
“Daria, why did you stop her?” I asked her as we sat down the round table, “Don’t you want to know?”

             
“I already told you my sweet sister, I have no interest in the knowing”, she said quietly.

             
She still seemed tired as she did yesterday and I could tell she was hiding something from me, so I just kept gazing into her eyes, hoping she would surrender to my yearning.

             
“I already know Almas”, she whispered without looking, “I watched you mourning over each and every one of them. The dark demons, the angelic tigers... You skipped nobody. You cried over them and hugged them. Your grief was heart breaking. I was very worried about you but knew I shouldn’t interrupt. I knew this was your last moments with them so I just watched you from a distance. I held little Adam on my arms and made sure you were fine. And then it happened. I thought I was imagining things due to lack of sleep but I was not. They woke up. They were alive and unlikely, they didn’t make a sound. They didn’t roar as if they were trying to keep a secret. They just surrounded you and then allowed you to lead the way. I thought you had special powers. I didn’t want you to leave us. I wanted my sister with me but I knew you were happy in a place you belonged. I didn’t share what I knew with nobody. When the wild ones woke up they thought you had buried them all and left in order to deal with your sorrow. They thought you would be back but I knew you wouldn’t.”

             
“Daria, I am so sorry”, I cried.

             
I didn’t realize the big grief I had put everyone through. I was selfish and I only concentrated on my own sorrow.

             
“There is nothing to be sorry about. We were all victims of the circumstances”, she hugged me.

             
“You do know I have no powers”, I laughed, “They just had a longer sleep than us right before they became immortals themselves”.

             
Daria looked deep into my eyes. She didn’t have to say anything; I already knew what she was thinking and secretly nodded. I could suddenly see a spark of hope in her eyes.

             
Our planet was about to lose the most precious wonder of all: the wild cats. They were declared as an extinct kind by the ones who had hunted them for decades. Unfortunately, humanity could not appreciate their glory so over the years we created a domestic version of what we couldn’t handle. Only in life, when you cannot handle the light, prepare to be facing the darkness.              

             
“Did you know I run an animal’s shelter in the valley?” I asked her.

             
“That’s wonderful Almas”, Daria smiled at me.

             
“I also run a boarding house…”

             
“So you have gathered all the helpless around you?” she laughed.

             
“To be honest, I am not sure who is the real helpless in that house”, I sighed.