Her grip hadn't eased, there was a magical itch in her neck, stuck, floating in her spine and waiting for Jin to say something. Some combination of words that'd make the last thirty days disappear. The weeks avoiding posters and signs looking for him, her posters. She'd been the first to try, then… the only… then… the last. She didn't know what words would cure the itch, but they were needed.
How quickly would their search for her have ended?
"The light spilt out of us, and there were so many. Millions on millions, on millions. It grew and massive monsters formed with fur and flesh. It was crazy! They picked up their 'person' and disappeared. Hopping, flying, running, galloping, the rest just poofing. Most people were asleep. I dunno, maybe it was too much for them. But I was awake. Looking down on all of you."
Paige's head shot up like a meerkat.
"All of you?"
Jin sighed.
"I was getting there. You, Drake, others from school."
The words were spat rather than said.
"But then you left. I was with a bone creature with no form, no shape, all I saw were wings of bone looking like they'd been sewn together with more bone. I couldn't see more because of all the light. It wasn't massive like the other monsters, but I could tell I was supposed to be scared. Everyone was supposed to be. Only it didn't apply to me because it was mine."
"You owned it?" Drake asked, hugging himself as though feeling the chill for the first time.
Jin looked up and grinned.
"Yeah, it was like someone said here's the devil, he's all yours! But… that's not it. We all had it. All monsters belonged to all people. It was creepy."
"Then why are you grinning?" Paige asked.
Jin shrugged.
"Any way, like everyone else, it disappeared. I basically had to survive on nothing in a city that'd been deserted like a century ago. But I did.
'I found water, nibbled on weeds so I didn't die. Not dying was hard…. But then boom! Trees with fruit. It was a bit like a movie. Until the gorilla came."
Jin paused. Was he expecting questions? What questions followed 'Until the gorilla came' Neither asked. His mouth faltered halfway into a smile, it was the lip version of an awkward shrug.
"Yeah….it was, the size of the Tokyo tower and every night it hunted I didn't know what until I realised, it was me. Where I rested was where it looked. I learned to sleep during the day. I picked up from what looked to be books, newspapers, all in languages I've never seen. I tried reading anyway. I was on a planet where monsters had been the norm. I don't know. But somehow the creatures hadn't broken anything. The destruction wasn't from them…"
"Then what?" Paige asked, her breath shallow, heart quivering.
"Us… people. This place looked like our home but wasn't. The aliens knew us. And I think we did this to them and-"
Jin stopped, chest heaving as though he'd run a mile.
The way his eyes stared at nothing, past her flesh, the concrete of some other place where he was sprinting for his life.
"It was then that the gorilla found me. It gave weird sensation, like a limitless energy being formed between two entities. There was only it and me, my monster had disappeared but still... I don't know. The energy was gonna explode but didn't get the chance. The gorilla left, taking me."
No one would have believed it no matter how convincing he was. But they had a week that couldn't be accounted for, they were the 'others'. Newspapers talked of hundreds of thousands worldwide who'd lost a week of their lives and even more who claimed their loved ones had just disappeared.
Something had happened. It wasn't some elaborate hoax or mass hysteria.
"What about the gorilla?" Drake asked. "The one that saved you?"
"This is gonna sound strange, but it was, mostly skin with tufts of white braided hair around its head and joints. Wrinkled like it was super old, even by giant alien gorilla standards."
"Braided?" Paige asked rubbing her eyes.
"Yes," Jin replied, "with… and now you're really not going to believe this... beads on the braids." Jin said giving a short chortle.
"You understand why we can't." Drake said.
She saw Drake grin but even without reading it, she knew it was strained. Did he believe or was he hoping Jin was lying?
"What was riding it was most alarming. Trust me!" Jin said returning a grin that said 'I know you hope I'm lying but I'm not'
"What?"
Jin pointed at a shocked Paige…
She took a step back, as if expecting the finger to target someone behind, like an idiot.
"Hey, why are you pointing at me?"
"Look," His face changed, as if all his faces were a mask, covering rage. She retreated further. "I don't know what's going on but YOU brought me out of that nightmare!"
She'd been in bed. She remembered undressing, waking up in the morning. She was the one confused and he was the one expecting answers?
The sun started to set, leaving the cool winds to push through, making her shiver. She hated being caught in the dark. No, everyone hated it. Especially there.
"Wait, you said you didn't know what happened at the bus stop." Paige said.
"I lied." Jin said shrugging.
Paige frowned, crossing her arms.
"You're too good a liar."
Each of them grinned and, for a moment, shoulders dropped.
Drake checked his watch, his eyes flashed, hers rolled. He was late, and for 'she who must not be named'… of all people.
Jin had just delivered a gem of a talking point for Drake to present.
"Look it's getting dark and I have…"
Drake paused, she almost felt pity.
It was all for 'her', the mood killer, and Jin in a bad mood rippled to everyone.
"...chores to do before I go home."
He was truly the worst liar.
"But I…" Jin began but was already talking to Drake's back.