The Great Distortion

Ugh… I feel awful. Maybe pulling a late-nighter to try to figure out that gift from Sexta IV wasn’t the best idea…

I opened my eyes to very unfamiliar surroundings.

What the hell?

I was behind a counter with a strange contraption in front of me. Past the counter were circular tables with humans dressed in strange clothing and eating even stranger food. A little girl with blond pigtails was munching away on a piece of meat between two circular buns made of some kind of bready material.

Someone grabbed my shoulder from behind. “Rachel, what are you doing? A customer is waiting.”

I tilted my head to the side to see a tall black-haired man with slanted eye’s gazing sternly down at me. He wore a cap that was a mix of yellow and red colors with a red shirt that had the word ‘manager’ stitched in below a name tag of sorts. It wasn't even in my language, yet I had no trouble reading it. 

I tried to open my mouth, but nothing came out. Instead, my head was forced back to the counter where a man in some sort of black suit and glasses was waiting. He looked impatient, checking his watch every few seconds.

Then my mouth finally decided to open. “Welcome to McRussals. How can I help you?”

Huh? That voice. It’s feminine and reminds me of a mix between my own and Fione’s, but it's so devoid of emotion. It’s so forced. So...sad.

Who’s ever voice it was, it was not mine.

The man answered ‘my’ question with a word I had never heard of before, but I nodded as if I understood. My body acted on its own.

It was as if I was just along for the ride.

I took some green wavy material from the man’s hand and put it inside the mechanical contraption that sat to my side. It opened up like a jaw, revealing many more of the green material as well as coins that I had never seen before. They felt rather smooth in the hand.

Where the hell was I?

About an hour later, I was sent on break for 15 minutes. I was apparently working at some sort of food establishment.

I walked into a room that ended up being the restroom and looked into the mirror.

Huh? She looks familiar... Oh, the school!

Sometime earlier in my slumber, I found myself at a school, but the moment the class started I had been whisked away and here I was. Well...here she was.

Looking back at me in the mirror was a teenage girl of average height with brown hair that went to my shoulder blades and bangs covering my left eye. A black cap (as described by Raze) covered part of my hair with the same name as the place I was working in.

My eyes were icy blue and kinda pretty but had enough stifled anger in them to turn anyone around into a sculpture of ice. My chest was significantly smaller than my real body but was still well-defined under my dress shirt all the same. It was the same red shirt as my manager's with a tag that had ‘Rachel’ typed onto it.

Who was this sad girl?

Her face was in a perpetual state of gloom. It didn’t take a genius to tell me that the girl I was inside was not happy.

A fang hung from the left side of her mouth, the opposite of my own. A large frown was the most noticeable feature on her solemn face.

I left the mirror and made a quick trip to the bathroom. It wasn't hard to walk around in long pants, but I wasn't used to it for sure. Then again...I wasn't the one walking, I just felt like I was.

My body didn't go to the break room, instead, she slumped down on the outside of the stall and stared into the void of the ground. It was rather depressing.

I finished my shift with the opposite of vitality. I felt so sluggish as I mumbled a goodbye to the co-workers that I barely spoke to and teetered off by myself.

While my body moved on its own, I took the time to mull over everything.

I had been seen here after I fell asleep. I had no control over the body I was in as if I was just an accessory. I went to a place called high school yet I had no one to communicate with and the same was at work where I only spoke to customers with the least effort required to converse.

I trudged past the busy streets, packed with people and moving machines. It was a sunny day, but the world looked so much darker through my eyes—through her eyes…

My head faced the ground for the majority of the walk and yet I still had the ability to avoid bumping into people. This girl must have been used to this.

I was perplexed, and a little forlorn. 

I wanted to reach out and hug her, but I was powerless. All I could do was see through her eyes and experience the world in the same way she did.

I rolled up to a small home at the corner of a street that had far too many urchins lurking around. I would have feared for my life in this girl’s situation and yet my body was stiff, but fluid at the same time. She paid no mind to the sketchy guys that lurked in the alleyway, puffing out smoke from their mouths like drakes.

I unlocked the door to the small house and busted my way in. It was dark and reeked of dirty clothes and tobacco.

Even in this darkness, I was able to navigate to my room, one of three rooms in this small building like clockwork.

I slammed the door, locked it, and ripped off my shoes before peeling off my clothes with muted reverie.

There was a mirror in this dark room and it was barely enough to make my outline. I was still able to view my pale complexion and the bruises, a mix of old and fresh, that dotted all over my abdomen and upper legs.

I looked so frail, so weak. As if the breeze could knock me to the ground and yet this body stood firm in the mirror before letting out a sigh that must have been held in since the end of work...or even earlier.

I swapped into a dark hoodie and red-striped leisure pants even though they kinda clashed. I then turned my head to the desk at the end of the room.

Walking over to it, lethargically, I was able to make out the unkempt bed and clothes strewn all over the room. I touched a button on the square machine on the desk and a screen to its right booted to life like a revived beast.

I could have been mistaken, but it seemed for just a fleeting moment—maybe even less—that a thin smile appeared across my lips.

Was she...actually happy?

I really couldn’t tell.

But there I was, gingerly touching each and every one of these blocks with unfamiliar letters that I saw today for the first time on them while staring up at the bright screen.

My pointer finger constantly goes up and against a small machine that I am able to move around with my wrist; It was really neat!

I was playing a game where I had a little character on my screen that waited inside the woods for another person to come by and then attack them and take their stuff.

Wait? I’m robbing people? Well, it is a game…

I cackled lowly to myself—or I guess, she did: “Stupid noobs...heh-heh-heh. I love jumping new players. Get's the blood pumping.”

She was happy with herself. I guess I should be glad that she was happy.

Hours went by as I watched this girl play what Raze referred to as a "video game" through her eyes.

She didn’t blink often which was somewhat worrying and had a plethora of canned drinks that seemed to make her hyper.

At least she was enjoying herself...but that was about to end.

“Knock. Knock.”

I reflexively shuttered, chills running up from my spine before being distributed from the rest of my frail body.

I shut off whatever kept the screen on and swiveled my chair around to face the door.

“What do you want,” I snarled with enough venom in my voice to kill an adult elephant.

“I’m not our fucking pops. You can rest assured.”

A light sigh released from my oral cavity. “It’s unlocked…”

The door flew open and standing in front of me was a tall man with broad shoulders, ashen-colored hair, and eyes with a mix of amethyst and lapis lazuli. A hair antenna hung atop his short hair like a cowlick.

It took me a second to recognize who it was because of his strange clothing. Blue pants and a red collared shirt definitely suited him, but the boy I knew would never be caught dead like that.

“Richard!... I missed you so m—er, I mean...what are you doing here?” I glared.

Richard? Wasn't that Raze, but just better built and taller? What is going on?

Richard, the Raze imposter, inched closer into the room and flicked on the lights.

“HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS,” I screeched like a demon. “THEEEE LIIIIGHT! ITTTTT BURNNNNSSSSS!!!”

“Calm the hell down, Rache. I’ll turn them off when I leave. I know there are no windows in this dump, but you gotta get some light in here, you're gonna regress into a caveman—or worse.”

“Eh...I like it dark. You should know this.”

He scratched his neck and gave a pained smile before blinking a few times. “I know, I know. But, as your older brother...it’s painful to see my little sister living like this. Especially that."

He pointed to the hoodie and sweats I had on while I slumped in my black chair. “You're a teenage girl...you should...like, you know…,” he scratched his chin. “...like where more girly stuff like a skirt or shorts and a cute shirt or something... I don’t know. You got the forty-year-old virgin load out and it's painful for the eyes, you feel?”

His attitude was very caring, but I could feel the body I was in getting a little bit upset at his words.

Still, I was impressed. This is the longest conversation I have witnessed all day. They must have been on good terms.

“Come on, Richard. You know I have to wear a uniform at school. I don’t need any of that shit. What’s the point of dressing up when no one will see me behind this computer screen? Besides, I'm more at home in something like this. All that other stuff is something for people that live in the light.”

I puffed out my chest with triumph at that statement for some reason.

Richard put his hands to his waist and shut an eye. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. You'll never make any friends if you don’t try to put yourself out there. You're not some fiend, lurking in the shadows and fearing the light. I was the same as you at one point—”

“Were you also laughed at for being into things that everyone around you detested?” I clenched my fists and bit my lip. "Well, were you?"

Tension started to fill the room. I did not like where this was going.

The color drained from Richard’s face as he started to frantically rub his hands together. “No...I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like th—”

“Then what the hell did you mean it like?!" I screamed. I could feel tears welling in my eyes. He was clearly important to her.

Richard took a deep breath as if to take in all the tension in the room. He put on his best apologetic smile and rubbed his neck.

“Shit...I’m sorry Rache. I know what all those girls that go to your school are like. They are pretty vicious fuckers. What I meant was...that there are people out there that are like you and have the same interests as you. It only takes time and a little effort to find people like that. That’s what I meant. And finding people to hang with and be yourself with is one of the best experiences we can have in life.”

“I...see…,” I said coldly. “I’m...sorry for yelling at you.”

It sounded sarcastic at first, but by the end, the warmth returned to her words, and the smile that was now on her brother's face was proof of that.

“Heh, no worries. I just don’t want you to graduate from high school without anyone else to call a friend. I know you like playing all your games solo, but…,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a black piece of metal with a metallic tip. “I bought ya a game that you can play solo, but also enjoy with others if you want to…Also, I was wondering, why don’t you ever use that mic to talk to others on your game?”

A memory grasped both my own and Rachel’s attention. It was her playing a competitive game with weapons called ‘guns’. She made callouts to the other players, but that was her mistake, it seemed.

“Yo, is that a chick on the mic?”

“She sounds kinda cute. Hey, want me to friend you? I can give you a good carry.”

Shut up and focus! She thought. Who gives a shit about how I sound?!

“After this game, wanna chat in dms? You seem pretty good and I don’t know many other girls that play.”

The team got wiped as they kept pestering her for information. It caused her no ends of rage and annoyance. Fuck these horny idiots, she thought, as she quit the game. 

That was the first and last time Rachel ever used her microphone in online games.

“Ehehe….I wonder….?" She responded to his question with a pained smile, not wanting to get into something that was unpleasant to recall.

“It's fine, anyways, here ya go.”

He tossed it to her from across the room. She fumbled to grasp it but ended up catching it between her hands with a clap before it could hit the ground.

“Nice catch.”

“Shut up," I said with a small smile on my face.

Richard’s eyes widened and he grinned. “That! Yes! If you show others an adorable and genuine smile like that, I’m sure one or two of them will be in the same boat as you. It doesn't have to be girls either, right? I know guys are really into that shit. One of my bandmates spends all night playing some stupid online game with his homies.”

I felt startled by his genuine praise and my body felt the same. “It’s true...a lot of dudes are into games...that’s why it is so annoying that the only people I ever see at school are chicks and they are all stupid bitches with hidden agendas!”

I flailed my hands up into the hair to drive my point home, but Richard just laughed in response. “Ha-ha. I love that side of you. You really are brutally honest. I assume that’s one of the reasons why those girls avoid you like the plague.”

“You don’t have to put it so bluntly, but sure, those girls try to act all high and mighty, but they are all dumb little virgins and we all know it.”

Richard put his hand to his mouth before gasping in an artificial look of surprise. “That's so cruel, but I bet those hoes deserved it. I don’t get how anyone can hate such a wonderful demon girl like yourself.”

He walked close and gave me a rub on the head. My head was facing the bottom of my chair and yet I was still smiling.

We both broke out into laughs. It was really nice. They really felt like a family.

Of course...happy moments like this were as rare as gold to this girl.

“Listen, Rache. It’s not confirmed yet, but with the way the band is going...I think I might be able to get us an apartment, just the two of us.”

I was caught in his gaze the entire time he spoke, hanging onto every single word he said. I could feel the terror that lurked inside me and the hope that had been pushed past it from his words.

“Pops will be mad, but who the fuck cares. I made sure he wouldn’t touch me a long time ago and because of that...he went for you. I know this won’t be enough to make up for all you have been through in my absence, but I promise you that once I get paid for the next few gigs, I’ll get ya out of here. We can even send you to a different school once we get settled in as well. How does that sound?”

My frail, weak body was nearly jumping at the opportunity. “Really?” I said softly. “Will I really not have to live with...dad...anymore?” The exhaustion in her voice was palpable. Like being on the edge of a waterfall and debating if it was worst to use the last of your strength to swim against the current when it was easier it just sit still and let yourself fall.

My body clearly imagined something when I said that because the bruises on my body started to burn, only for a few moments though.

Richard came close once more and put a hand on each of my slumped shoulders. “Of course,” he smiled as bright as the sun. “ We're family and Pop's time has come and gone. He doesn't deserve to have you anymore. I want to see that smile of yours more and give you the option to dress in clothes and wear an expression that doesn’t match the attire of a 40-year-old loser.”

I nodded eagerly, still frowning. “B-b-but, what about dad’s debt...I need to—”

“No, you don’t,” he cut me off. “Pops has done the bare minimum when it comes to being a father; he put himself in that ditch. Why should his precious daughter and my little sister have to work five days a week even though you are a goddamn high school student to pay off his fucking loans!”

He shouted to the door as if waiting for someone listening from the outside to come in. “That shit bag is still sleeping, isn't he?”

I nodded slightly, confirming his suspicion.

“Fucking scum! It’s 7 PM for god’s sake!”

He pressed a hand to his temple and took a deep breath. “Anyway, I’m gonna get you out of here and let Pops pay back his own fucking debt. I know you think he has been nicer these past few years, by touching you less and buying you that PC, but don’t be fooled. He’s living off your hard work while he sits around and drinks the night away. I regret leaving you when I finished high school, but with no college money and a shitty guitar to my name, I knew I needed to get away from that man before he started to take the last thing in the world that I can call mine.”

I gulped and sat there in silence. I was looking at him with eyes full of sorrow and sadness. My shoulders were even more tense than before. “I-If I can get out of here and If I can go to a new school...then sure, I’ll wear whatever the hell you give me. Making a few gaming friends doesn't sound half bad either…”

He ruffled my hair before retreating back towards the door. “Two months. That’s all you will need to last. Just two more months. I will get you out of here and I will make sure you will only work when you want to. I owe it to you as your older brother. I never wanna see my little sis cry again”

He smiled as he walked out the door and slowly closed it. "I love you, Rachel.”

I gave him a small wave while trying to use my lips to puff the hair that covered my eye, yet to no avail. “I...love you too, Richard. I hope you can come by again soon...and I will definitely try this new game out!”

He gave me the thumbs up as he slipped through the door and disappeared.

I held the flash drive (as Richard called it) and brought it close to my chest with the smile of a girl who had expelled all her current worries.

“That...dumbass….Heh-heh,” I giggled.

Awwwww, that was so cute. Still...I don't know why I’m here…

I happily put the flash drive on my desk before knitting my eyebrows and bellowing in anger. “YOU FORGOT TO TURN OFFFF THE LIGHTS!!!”