full image - Repost: Eternity in Dog Years - Part 1/2 (from Reddit.com, Eternity in Dog Years - Part 1/2)
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“Does it ever feel weird to you that our business trips end with us chilling somewhere while our pop goes and sleeps with a random woman?” Sebastian asked.“They’re not random,” I said. “He chose them and they agreed to a deal. And he’s not technically sleeping with them. He’s got that thingy he invented that guarantees pregnancy. I don’t think he even has time to do it the natural way.”“Yea, I can’t imagine living life like that.”I stopped drawing in the sand and turned to him. “What do you mean?”“I can’t imagine being too busy for the pleasures of life.”“Maybe his pleasures aren’t the same as yours.”“Maybe …” He sighed and lied back on his beach towel, breathing in the salty air. “Candace? Where do you see yourself in the future?”“The same place I am now. I want to keep working with Alex to make the world a better place.”“He’s been trying to do that for 921 years, and look what he has to show for it.”“I asked him about that, and he said we have to take care of the branches before we take care of the tree.”Sebastian frowned. “What does that mean?”“Okay, so, imagine there’s a serial killer. If we kill him, his wife and kids lose a supporting husband and dad. And if he had a shop, his employees suffer, and their families. And if his wife used to volunteer to take care of the old neighbor but now she has extra work, the old neighbor suffers. And so on. And that’s just a serial killer. Imagine if it’s a dictator or a corrupt organization.”“So you’re saying Alex is working backwards?”“No, he’s working his way up.""Why doesn't he focus on boosting the positive instead of working his way to stop the negative?""He does, but it's the same. Like, remember the story he told us about helping that poor village where lots of kids died?""No?""Don't you pay attention when he's teaching us?""I try, but it's a lot of information. What did he say about the village?""Medicine helped stop all the deaths, but they didn’t know to stop having so many kids and soon they had overpopulation and started starving. So it's important to think before helping. Get to know the people, their education, stuff like that.""That’s a lot of work.""Exactly. That's why Alex needs more of his kids to grow his network. And maybe if the ritual works on us too, we can live forever just like Alex and we’ll keep doing our best.”Sebastian turned to me in surprise. “You want to do the ritual? Wouldn’t that mean you’d have to give birth to firstborn twins?”I shuddered. “No, and if it does, I don’t want to do it. But Alex said we can put my fertilized egg in another woman and she’ll give birth for me. And after I take a bit of their blood for the ritual, she can raise them.”“But if you didn’t literally give birth, can they be considered your firstborns? And does the ritual even work on women? Alex has only tried it on himself.”I shrugged. “I don’t know and he doesn’t either. We’ll have to experiment. But I hope it works.”“Do you really want to live forever with only Alex for company?”“I won’t be as paranoid as him, I’ll make friends. And I’ll have you too.” His expression made me hesitate. “Won’t I?”“I don’t know …” He sat up, studying my design in the sand before he rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t think I’m cut out for this life.”I frowned. “What do you mean? I thought you couldn't wait to get the fancy life back.”“I thought that was what I wanted, but …” He seemed embarrassed as he chewed on the inside of his lip. “I guess what I really wanted was the carefree life I had as a kid, no responsibilities, my adoptive parents doing everything, spoiling me … but I'll never get that back. I'm an adult now, and I'm trying to figure out what I want. What I'm capable of."I like the idea of helping the world, but it’s too much for me. It’s too stressful. I also don’t want to live like Alex, isolated, secretive, and busy all the time. I just want a normal life. And … physical affection. Not even romantically, but like, just a hug. I know you hate to be touched, and there’s no way I’m hugging Alex, and Shirley can only give back so much.”“Oh …”Sensing my guilt, he quickly said, “I’m not blaming you at all! And just you feeling comfortable enough to hold my hand means the world to me. Like a million hugs!”I gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you. Maybe soon we can try and see if I can manage a hug?”“I don’t want you to ‘manage’ anything for me. I want you to be comfortable and happy and to live the life you want. And the life you want isn’t the one I want, and that’s okay. You’re my sister and nothing can affect our bond, no matter what path we choose in our life.”“What path do you want?”“I don't want to mooch off of Alex, I want to get a degree and a job.” He looked down with an unfamiliar bashfulness. “And I’d like to get married and have kids. To work nine-to-five and spend the weekends having fun with family and friends. I don’t want the weight of extra responsibilities and stress. I know I won’t make as much money as Alex or my adoptive parents, but my family will have a comfortable life. And I don’t want them to know about Alex and his … situation.”“Would you want them to know about me?”He turned to me, his emotions strong behind his eyes. “You're definitely going to be a part of their lives, whether you like it or not.”I chuckled. “Even if I do the ritual?”“Yes. You’ll just have to make yourself look older as they grow older, and eventually you might have to buy a gray wig or something. And then when they start having their own kids, you can pretend to be your own daughter, and do the aging thing all over again. And so on.” He paused, sadness lacing his warm smile. “That way, when I die, I’ll know you’ll always be there for my family in a way Alex can’t.”My chin trembled and I wiped a tear. “Sebastian, that means a lot. But … but I don’t want you to die. Why can’t you and your wife and kids do the ritual too?”“And then what? Imagine, we’ll need twin firstborns. And if they decide they don’t want to die, they’ll have to get their own twin firstborns. And it’ll just go on and on. Where will we live? A band of immortals? All in Alex’s castle? That’s not the life I want. Not for me or for my family.”I nodded, looking down in disappointment. “I understand.”“But we’ll make the most of the time we have together.” Sebastian slid closer, holding his hand out. “We’ll do everything we can and then some.”I held his hand. He squeezed. I squeezed back.“Did you tell Alex?” I asked.“I did bring it up in one of our therapy sessions. He told me I was too young to make a decision like that, but he won’t stop me if I sought a relationship.”“Do you ever find it weird we're doing therapy with the person responsible for most of our problems?”Sebastian laughed before shaking his head in amused disbelief. “Yes, I do, and I can’t believe it’s actually helping. It’s frustrating how good he is at everything, including this.”“Seriously! The other day I was talking about Derek and saying how horrible I felt for believing his lies, and Alex asked me if I’d like to confront Derek in person.”Sebastian sat up, intrigued. “Ooh, what did you say?”“Well, it kind of shocked me a bit. I never considered actually doing that. So I sat there and imagined doing it … and it wasn’t satisfying.”“It wasn’t?”“No, because it wasn’t Derek’s fault. He’s just a pawn like the rest of us. He only did it because Alex paid him to. And if he didn’t agree, Alex would’ve paid another person to do it.”"True."I let out a dry chuckle. “I told Alex that sometimes I saw him as our genius father who changed for the best, saved our lives, and was teaching us to save the world, and sometimes I saw him as an arrogant serial killer who'll never change, almost killed us, and manipulates people to get what he wants.”Sebastian let out his own dry chuckle. “What did he say?”“He said both are the truth, different sides of the same coin, and I told him during my low points I saw the bad side and hated myself for working with him, and during my high points I saw the good side and was grateful things turned out the way they did.”“Wow, I haven’t been able to be that open with him yet. What did he say?”“He told me to spin a coin.”Sebastian tilted his head in confusion. “What?”“He literally gave me a weird coin that was shiny on one side and black on the other, and he told me to spin it on the table. I did, and when it’s spinning, you see both sides so fast, they become blended. He said that’s how we should see everyone. Not two different sides. But a blend.”“So basically the whole idea of yin and yang.”“Of what?”“Like how there can be bad in good and good in bad and they could even complement each other.”“Hey, hello, sorry,” a woman said, walking around to face us with a camera dangling from her neck.Sebastian and I looked up at her in surprise and she ducked her head. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to interrupt, but is that your dog?”She pointed at the Great Dane splashing in the waves and Sebastian sat up, worried. “Oh, no, what did Shirley do now?”“No, nothing! She’s just beautiful, shining black against the azure waves, like an onyx shadow. I’m taking a photography elective in college and I just wanted your permission to take photos of her.”Sebastian eased up, smiling. “This is probably the first time anyone said anything nice about Shirley.”“Hey!” I nudged the air playfully. “I say a lot of nice things about him!”“Yea, but you’re practically his mother, that doesn’t count.”“Wait, sorry, I’m a little confused,” the woman said with a shy chuckle. “Is Shirley male or female?”Sebastian laughed. “Don’t worry about it, it confuses everyone. He’s male, it becomes obvious when you’re closer to him. Shirley’s short for Sherlock.”“Oh, cute name!”“I bet it’s not as cute as yours.” He stood up and held out his hand. “I’m Sebastian. And you are?”The woman blushed as she shook his hand. “I’m Georgia.”“See, I was right. That’s a very cute name.”I stifled a laugh at his attempt at flirting, but it seemed to be working as Georgia tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You really think so? I always thought it was silly. My twin sister is Virginia and people used to make fun of us all the time.”“You’re a twin? Us too!” Sebastian gestured towards me. “This is my twin sister, Candace.”“Oh, what are the odds!” the woman said, thrilled as she smiled at me. “It’s so nice to meet you two. Do you live in the area or are you here on vacation?”“We’re on a business trip, actually,” I said.“Oh, really? You work? You look really young, I thought you were in college!”This was something we didn’t have a lot of practice in yet, lying about our situation. It was easy faking our backstory for the people we do business with, but it was going to be difficult when it came to making friends. Or building relationships.“We’re twenty,” Sebastian said, “but after highschool our pop really needed our help, so we joined the family business instead. But I’d like to continue studying someday. Where do you go?”She gave us the name of her college before adding, “I can show you around the campus sometime. Maybe this afternoon?”I could sense Sebastian’s disappointment. “I’d love that, but we’re actually flying back home in a few hours.”“But we’ll be back soon,” I added. “We do a lot of business here.”Where do you live?” she asked.“On our own private island.”She blinked in confusion, but then Sebastian and I laughed and she laughed along.“I wish,” Sebastian said. “We actually live in a boring, little town on the west coast.”“Oh, that’s nice.” Georgia turned to look at Shirley. “And I love that you bring your dog along on business trips.”“Yea, he hates being alone and he doesn’t warm up to strangers.”“I hope he warms up to me.” She turned back to Sebastian with a smile. “Do I have your permission to take photos of him?”“Only if I can tag along and watch a pro in action.”She giggled. “Of course.”“And maybe I can take a few of you.”“Nuh uh, no one touches this camera but me. It’s delicate.”“I’m very good at handling delicate things.” He wiggled his fingers. “These hands are extremely gentle.”“Oh, are they?” She gave him a coy smile. “Maybe I’ll reconsider …”They began walking away, bantering, and I watched them with an amused smile. I’d never seen Sebastian flirt before, and it was pretty funny. But Georgia seemed into it, and who knows? Maybe she could end up being the one to give him the hugs he longed for.After Shirley ran up to greet Sebastian, he sniffed Georgia’s shoes. She reached out a closed fist, and he smelled it before giving it a lick. It seemed he’d given her his seal of approval. Sebastian then tried to get Shirley to run in the waves again, but the dog seemed more interested in barking at a crab.Georgia pointed to the ocean, possibly telling Sebastian to run there in the hopes Shirley would follow. Sebastian abided as he hustled towards the shore, and Georgia began taking photos before Shirley even caught up.…“Do you think Alex will get mad if he finds out we left TAI and our phones in the hotel?” I asked, getting out of the car. “What if he tries calling us, tracks us to our rooms, and only finds Shirley?”“We won’t be long,” Sebastian said, slamming his door and adjusting his tie. “I just don’t want him sticking his nose in our private business.”I looked around. “So, where are you meeting her?”“There,” he said, pointing to a cafe a few stores down.“There?” I turned to look him up and down. “Then why are you wearing all that?”“What do you mean?” He checked his reflection in the car window. “Is it too much?”“Yes, it’s a cafe, not a five-star restaurant.”“But it’s a date.”“Exactly. You don’t want to look like a stuffy manager. Lose the tie and jacket.”He did as I said, tossing them in the car, and I nodded as I said, “Now just open the top two buttons. Perfect!”“Thanks!" He took a deep breath. "Okay, I’m going in. I’ll text you if things go south and I need an excuse to bail.”“Alright, I’ll just hang around here. Good luck!”After a few minutes, I began getting hot. And bored. You’d think a Saturday night would be teeming with activity, but there wasn’t much to do in this area. Only the cafe seemed alive with its sporadic couples and the soft music streaming from the speakers.Trying to be inconspicuous, I walked past the cafe, shooting a furtive glance inside. Sebastian and Georgia were at a corner table, laughing. A minute later, I passed by again. She was showing him something on her phone.With both of them distracted, I took my chance and slipped inside. After ordering an iced mocha, I sat in the back, hiding behind one of the three other couples. A few shot me suspicious glances, but I ignored them as I sipped my drink and scrolled through my phone, enjoying the AC as I waited for my brother.“Are you kidding me?”I jumped in my seat at the incredulous voice and looked up, everyone turning towards the guy standing beside Sebastian and Georgia’s table. His red face was twisted in contempt as he stared Sebastian up and down.“Wayne?” Georgia said, going pale. “What do you want?”“Is that why you turned me down?” he spat, glaring at her. “So you can be one of this gangster's dozen side pieces?”“Hey,” Sebastian said, sitting up in offense. “Who the hell are you anyway?”“I should be asking you that question,” Wayne said, spewing a few curses. “You aren’t from around here. You think you can just mosey in and steal our homegrown girls? Your own race not good enough for ya?”“Wayne, please,” Georgia said. “You—”She gasped as Wayne slapped her across the face, and my shock morphed to anxiety when Sebastian jumped up and pushed Wayne back. Wayne retaliated with a punch to Sebastian’s face, and my indignant fury took over as I ran towards them before my brother even hit the ground.“Leave them alone!” I yelled, shoving my palm against Wayne’s chest.He yelped and crumpled to the ground, quivering against the volts I’d shot into him with the stun glove Alex made me. Screams erupted around us as chairs scraped and cups broke, but I ignored everyone as I turned to Sebastian in concern. He’d made it to his feet again, rubbing his cheek as he looked around the cafe with flustered eyes. Georgia was gone.“You get the hell out of my cafe,” a lady growled, emerging from the back with a shotgun. "I don't condone violence in here!"I tensed up. “He started it!” I said, pointing to Wayne groaning on the floor.She cocked the shotgun. “I want all three of you off of my property!”"Sh-she sh-shocked m-me!" Wayne croaked."She pushed ya, we all saw it. And you deserved it. Get your sorry ass up, get the hell out, and never come back. You just graduated to a permanent ban.”“Y-you’re g-gonna r-regret th-this!”She ignored him as she looked back at Sebastian and me. "You two, out!"I tugged at Sebastian’s sleeve. “Come on, let’s go.”We hurried out of the cafe and hustled to our car, and I took a quick glance behind us before I asked my brother, "Are you okay?"He shot me a glare. “What did you do to him?"I took off my translucent glove. "Alex made it for me when I told him I didn't like how two guys were looking at me in the lobby last time. It's like a stun gun. Maybe he can make one for you too.""I don't need one." He snatched it from my hand, studying it with a clenched jaw before turning back to me. "What the hell were you doing inside the cafe?”“I got bored and hot. And good thing I was there too.”“No it wasn’t! You made me look weak! Like I couldn’t defend myself or stand up for my girl!”I stared at him in disbelief. “Are you kidding me right now? The guy almost knocked your head off! You needed my help!”“No, I didn’t! I would’ve gotten up and punched him right back! Instead, now Georgia thinks I need my sister to babysit me!”“It's not babysitting! We’ve got each other’s backs!”“I didn’t need you to have my back! I could’ve handled it!” He opened the car door and slid in behind the wheel, yelling, “Next time I tell you to wait outside until I text you, you wait outside!”“You’re not my boss!” I said, trying to get in the passenger seat. “I can do what I want! Unlock the door!”“You ruined my date!”“I ruined your date? Really? Oh sorry, didn’t know you were planning on ending the night in the hospital!”“You’re such a—”I didn’t hear the rest of his insult as he revved the engine, and I jumped back in shock as he zoomed out of the parking spot, leaving me standing dumbfounded on the sidewalk.My anger erupted and I had to fight the impulse to run after him screaming insults. Sebastian was such a spoiled, self-centered, inconsiderate brat, and now he left me alone in a town I didn't know, with no phone, no TAI, and not even my stun glove.My anger wavered at the thought of Wayne and I turned around in apprehension, half-expecting to see him charging at me. Instead, I just saw one of the couples who were in the cafe before, walking the other way as they shot me uneasy looks. This town was one of the worst we'd visited. I couldn't wait until we left.My irritation returning, I faced the direction Sebastian took off in. Our hotel was a fifteen minute drive away. I've walked further before, I could make it in time for our flight tomorrow. I just had to be careful. And no hitchhiking. I wasn't making that mistake again.With determined steps, I stomped down the sidewalk, my emotions roiling as I thought of Sebastian's reaction. I knew he had an ego and a temper, but abandoning his sister because he felt I'd embarrassed him by protecting him? What an idiot! Is Georgia's opinion worth more than my life? Where did she go, anyway? If she'd stuck around, she could've made him see he was brave for standing up for her. And if she didn't feel that way, then she didn't deserve him."Got some spare change, honey?"I turned to see a disheveled lady peeking out of an ally's shadows, her grimy palm shaking as she held it out. Her smell, her look, her raspy voice, they tore through my present, taking me back to days that weren't that long ago. I was her once, addicted, begging, my future behind a dulling fog.She was one of the many I wanted to help, but Alex said we had to work our way up. But she wasn't up. She was down. Rock bottom. Like I was before Alex told Derek to take me in. I doubted Alex would let me invite her to live with us, but I could still save her.“I want to help you get off the streets,” I said, walking over to her.She smiled, her teeth reminding me of mine before Alex fixed them. “Yea?”“Yea, but you have to promise to get clean, stay clean, get a job, and keep the job.”“I’m clean as soap,” she said, scratching her arm as she eyed my purse. “How much you gon give me?”“You have to promise me first. I was like you once, and it’s possible to start a new life.”She licked her chapped lips. “I promise.”“Alright, I’m going to ask—”Before I could get the rest of the words out, sirens pierced the night, and the woman's eyes widened as she ducked back.“I didn’t sell her nothing!” she yelled, scurrying away into the ally's shadows.I whipped around as a police car approached, my legs twitching as my experiences prodded me to run. The car slowed down in front of me, and I gulped, trying to remain calm. Despite what it looked like, I did nothing wrong. I shouldn’t act guilty. I shouldn’t run."Get down on the ground!" A cop yelled, jumping out with his gun aimed at me.My heart jumped to my throat and I threw my hands in the air. "I'm not armed!""Down on the ground!"Trembling, I got down on my knees and lay flat on the floor, making sure my open hands were in full view. "P-please, don't shoot me, I didn't do anything. I was just talking to her. "I cried out as he pounced on me, wrenching my purse away and twisting my arms behind my back. After cuffing my wrists, he yanked me up, and I cringed, holding back tears as he began roughly patting me down."P-please, I promise I was just talking to her," I said, my voice shaking. “I didn’t buy anything. I don’t do that anymore.”"I hate how your kind is taking over our town,” he spat, shoving me in the back seat and slamming the door.My pulse raced as I watched him slide behind the wheel and search my purse. “I swear I didn’t buy any drugs!" I said. "And I didn’t want to either! I just wanted to help her!”“Shut up.”I flinched at his tone, my fretful eyes darting around the car as my mind searched for a solution. How could I prove I was only talking to that poor lady? It was my word against this cop, and with my track record, who’d believe me? I didn’t want to go through this again. Not after I’d found my purpose working with Alex.Alex.I sat up, almost laughing at my distress. My triggered memories completely distracted me from one very important fact. Alex was in charge of everything. And I was his daughter. If this guy was in his network, he’d know the code word Alex gave Sebastian and me in case we ever needed help.Leaning closer to the divider separating us, I said the code word, and the cop glanced at me with irritated confusion. He had no idea what I said. But it didn’t matter. I just had to tell him the bold truth instead."At the station, I'd like to call my dad," I said, my voice steady. "He's a very important man and he'll get all this sorted out."He scoffed, tossing my purse on the passenger seat. “Important, huh?”“Yes.”I tensed up as the car began to move. I'd been arrested before, I knew the process. This wasn’t the same. Did they have a different procedure in this town?"Aren’t … aren't you going to check my ID on your computer and call it in?”“No.”I frowned. “But … are you arresting me? You didn’t tell me my Miranda rights. You didn’t buckle me up either …”“That’s right, I didn’t.”Unease seeped into my confusion. “Um, why?”“‘Cause that’s how my family does things down here. We pride ourselves on keeping our town pure of scum like you.”“What …what do you mean? Aren’t you taking me to the station?”“Nope. There’s no hope for your kind.”“But I didn’t do anything! I didn’t buy any drugs, I swear!”His nasty chuckle made me shudder. “You’re as dense as your brother.”I froze. “M-my brother?”“He kept thinking he was being arrested for stealing the car he was driving.”“You … you arrested Sebastian?”“My brother Burt did.”“Wh-why? Why are you …” My stomach dropped as fearful realization erupted. “Is … is this about what happened in the cafe?”"Did you think you could disrespect my brother like that and get away with it?"I stared at him in shock. "Wayne is your brother?""Yup. And you're gonna regret ever laying a hand on him." He gave me another of his nasty chuckles. “Now just sit tight and stay quiet, or your brother’ll end up losing a few limbs.”I recoiled into the plastic seats, my heart hammering in my chest. They had Sebastian. And now they had me. Wayne’s threat replayed in my mind. “You’re gonna regret this!” I thought it was aimed at the lady with the shotgun, but now it was obvious it was aimed at us. How corrupt was this cop that he was willing to risk his job so his brother could get his revenge?"Are … are you a real cop?" I asked with anxious hesitation."As real as they come.""How can you do this? It's illegal!""It's necessary to teach your kind their place."I tried to gather my courage as I said, "I was serious about my dad. If you don't let us go, you'll regret it.""And I was serious about your brother. Shut up and we might let you see him alive."A chill cascaded down my spine. I didn’t know what they were going to do to us, but the only way we were going to survive was by calling Alex. There didn't seem to be any hope of getting this guy to call. I had to find a different way.Afraid of making any sound that could get Sebastian harmed, I looked out the window, hoping to make desperate eye contact with someone. All I could see was the moon between thick clouds, and my heart dropped. We weren't in town anymore, or anywhere that seemed inhabited. No one was going to help me. I had to help myself.With panicked determination, I felt around my cuffs. They couldn't be tightened, which meant they couldn't be shimmed. Hoping to find a way to pick them, I ran my fingers along the seat, searching for something long and thin. I found nothing.The car took a sharp left, bouncing over unpaved roads, and I winced as I bumped my head on the window’s bars. Squinting through the darkness, I made out a few pale lights in the distance. As we got closer, I noticed it was a house, a vast field of corn stretching behind it. The car didn’t stop there though as it took another turn, and I shrank into my seat as the headlights illuminated a man walking out of a barn.Wayne.Previously-----SR
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