I stared at the rising sun through the window of our temporary room, my eyes going blurry from staring so long.
I didn't sleep.
Why would I?
Then, there it was again. The ringing echoes of my so-called sister's snoring. My left eye twitched as I glanced at the bunk above me, and then at my fingers.
Maybe I should just strangle her. No, I promised Mẹ I'd take care of her. It seems integrity is the true bane of my existence.
I sighed, feeling heavier than usual. Given that I haven't eaten much in the last few days, I should've lost weight. Forget it, perhaps it's because of the lack of sleep. I didn't necessarily have a good night's rest yesterday either. Although that was only because of a certain idiot who decided that it was a good time to be stupid. It was then that another snore rang in my ear.
I threw a glare at the fool sleeping above me, suddenly feeling the urge to snap her neck again. I clenched my fists.
Mercy is a virtue. Mercy is a virtue.
I inhaled a good amount of oxygen and then exhaled, getting up from my temporary bed. I walked towards the window, still glaring at the sun rising above the buildings. As I glared, I scratched my itching wrist. Now that I think about it, my wrist has been itching a lot for a while now. I looked down, fully expecting the skin to be fucked up from all the itching I've been doing. But instead, there was a line of black symbols written along my wrist.
…..
The fuck?
I looked closer, blinking a few times to make sure I wasn't schizophrenic. Though I wouldn't be surprised if I was. Most of me is still hoping that this was all just some giant hallucination, and I'm currently in some mental asylum somewhere. Unfounded, yes, but a hope nonetheless.
Unfortunately for me, it was very real. I squinted at the line of symbols, them being suspiciously familiar. After a few seconds, a wave of dread crashed into me.
Ah, there it is. The feeling of impending doom, how wonderful.
I brushed my thumb over the symbols, feeling what was left of my optimism leaving me, and hopefully never coming back. Even if I can't leave this hellhole of a place, I can at least save a part of me.
Suddenly, the symbols along my wrists started to glow, the light surging upwards, forming into a small ball of light that floated in front of my face. My eyes widened, staring at the light, then at my wrist that was no longer shining.
"What the fuc-"
"Morning."
I paused, turning around to see the idiot staring at me from her lofty bunk bed.
"Morning Satan."
She rolled her eyes, "Fuck off."
"Hah! No," I smiled, turning back to the glowing orb that just came out of my arm.
"What's that?"
"A magic trick," I answered, so flatly that I felt like it was my soul talking rather than the sarcasm.
Alright, I did not realize something like that was in me. I'll just ignore that for now.
I stared at the orb hovering over my palms. It looked somewhat fuzzy, like a glowing cotton ball, which I will admit is kind of adorable. But, if I've anything about this world, it's that nothing should be trusted, everyone's trying to kill you, and there is surprisingly good food here.
It is imperative that I remember the last one, very important.
Anyway, back to the subject, I don't trust this thing like how I don't trust health insurance to not drain out all of my money if given the chance.
So of course, I poked it.
It felt like air, like hovering your hand at the back of a fan but not really. Is it absorbing light? Is light tangible????
Is it a particle? Is light even a state of matter?
Suddenly, the small orb that I had half my finger through broke apart into smaller glowing orbs, dispersing in different directions before disappearing into nothingness.
... Oh
... Well that happened.
I then proceed to stare at empty air. Perhaps if I judge the air molecules long enough, they will tell me where they put my glowing orb. It came out of my body, it was shiny, and as far as I'm concerned, it might as well have been my child. Yes, there is a high chance that CPS doesn't exist in this world, but I will not be labeled a neglectful parent.
While I was in the middle of my staring contest with the air molecules in front of me, I was rudely yanked away by my own sister.
"Minh!" she shouted, as if I couldn't hear her ugly face from a foot away from me.
I may act old, but that doesn't mean I am old. I'm not hard of hearing yet bitch.
"MINH!" she shrieked, shaking my poor shoulders like they personally offended her.
"What?!"
"When the fuck could you use graphien?!"
Oh, that.
I didn't tell her about that, didn't I?
Well, other than the writing in my own blood thing, it wasn't an important subject. I also haven't revisited it ever since the first attempt, so it simply slipped my mind.
I moved my stare to the runes written into my skin, the text staring back at me. A chill went through me, and the all too present feeling of impending doom followed after.
Welp, my future is fucked, isn't it?
I turned back to Phuong, who's been glaring at me for a bit now. I raised my wrist to her face as my response, and she, like an old man without his spectacles, squinted at the text, leaned forward- practically sniffing it, read in silence for much longer than she needed to, leaned back, and went-
"Oooooh."
Oh indeed, oh foolish sister of mine. Look upon the consequences of my own actions catching up to me. Surely this is just a one-off thing and won't bite me in the ass later.
Wait, I feel the impending doom. This is definitely going to bite me in the ass later.
.... Well, fuck me.
I watched Phuong's face turn from enlightened, to confused, to mildly annoyed for whatever reason, to then finally landing on an expression of various suspicion. Gasp, me, partaking in nefarious deeds beyond proportion? Phuong, you should know I'm only in business on Tuesdays. And besides, 'Tuesday' is practically nonexistent, and I've also been trying to get from not dying constantly, so I doubt I'll be anytime soon.
"How, did that get there?" she asked, growing more suspicious by the moment.
I could tell, she doesn't exactly have the greatest poker face in the world. The worst however? Yes, I think that title would fit her quite well actually. She's quite shit at a lot of things.
I would know.