Beyond The Glass

Storm Incoming

                                                                                        Niel's POV

I was the first in our group to meet Mirena. I need to admit that I had a casual crush at first, but then we became like siblings, something that I wasn't expecting at all, much to Serena's dismay. Talking about Serena...I think that Serena is too protective of her relationship with Mirena, not to mention that she sees every flawless as evil people who take advantage of those who are flaws, but what can she do about it? It's not like I will stop being Mir's friend just because she sees me or us as if we are the same as those arrogant and petulant people who loath the sight of Flaws...

Regardless, I've always admired Mir's fire, the determination to do whatever she puts her mind into, so for me, a being without "flaws" as Serena calls us, someone like Mir is a rarity in my life and naturally hypnotizing. I knew that being close to a "Flaw" would be challenging considering our society and all that bureaucracy, but, to me, that didn't matter at all, she is special, and also a driving force for a lot of friends and close ones of hers...

I was also the first one to be introduced to the problematic parents. She was trying to hide from them with such urgency that I called in for some favors. For Mir, her parents are the very bane of her existence...and they cause her so much distress that she ended up being cooped up in bed with physical pain and psychological drainage for days, sometimes even months...

That was, however, a long time ago. Now she is basically just slightly scared of them, even if she doesn't want to admit it, but the fear of being face to face with them is still unnerving and unsightly...

Thanks to my job in surveillance, I was able to provide a little secrecy for Mirena's life, of course, I don't do that often and surely not just to anyone, but, for her I'd do it how many times she needs it.

"Ok tell me exactly, what happened?" I made her sit on the couch and gave her a cup of water.

Mirena is visibly appalled, she is passing back and forth looking pale as a sheet "I was in the living room with Serena right? And we were talking for a bit, then Serena got up and said she would prepare dinner, so I just laid back waiting for her to finish. A minute later I received a call from a "restricted number". I thought it was unnatural, but I answered the call anyway, lest it may be something that comes to bite me back in the future" she laughs a little, a bittersweet laugh, as if cursing at herself "... there was a bit of laughter and chattering in the back followed by silence..." she pauses indicating that the following events were what made her panic "...a-and I heard t-them, not them, THEM, but I clearly heard my mother and later a male chuckle that I could recognize it as my father's... I ended the call right there...I couldn't take any risks, I just can't, not anymore" she starts biting her nails, a habit or reflex of the stress she is under "...do...do you think they got my location? Be honest with me, do you think they've found me?!"

"It's too soon to make speculations based on that alone... OK, let's assess the situation first. So...the number was restricted, correct?"

"Yes, even if I try I can't see it nor dial back to it... see?" she shows me her phone and sure enough, there's the registration of a call that was answered just 30 minutes ago, but there's no number nor a name.

"I'm going to need your phone for a while, I'll be in contact with you through Serena. Try to avoid getting in too many public places for a while. We don't know for sure how much they know and if they've planted people around to look for you... your house is well located for hiding, and it seems like they've gotten your number through the city folk, so I'll assume they are still in the dark..."

"But wouldn't that mean they have been surveilling me?!" she is still unnerved and panicky.

"Probably, but not fully, from what you told me, they don't seem like the type of people who would go to such lengths for you. You said so yourself...let's try to understand what they know first before freaking out... you need to keep your mind cool and think clearly. Don't jump to conclusions. That might be what they're expecting you to do after that call." She is a really clever woman but in situations like this, she becomes a whole mess of paranoia and hysteria.

"Ok, ok, I got it..." she inhales and exhales slowly, calming herself down "Thank you, Niel."

"It's nothing, you know I'm always at your back and call, even if it's in the middle of the night and one is deep asleep" I say that jokingly but in reality I've really lost count of how many times she called me in late hours "...you better get back before Serena freaks out..."

"Oh shoot! I forgot to call her after I got here..." her eyes widened in realization.

"Maybe she has fallen asleep already, it is late after all..." I can't really comprehend the motive of her panic.

"No, you don't understand... worst case scenario, she is being devoured by the Tint...I need to go, let's talk better later OK?" she prepared to leave.

"Don't worry I'll get something for you by then...get back safe and send my greetings to Serena..."

"Alright, I'll tell her, I really got to run..." she is really in a hurry.

"Let me open the garage door for you..."

After she left i went back to my room and sat on the edge of my bed...contemplating the situation in my hands now... "It seems i won't have that much free time from today..." I laid on my back staring on the ceiling, at least i was able to sooth her agitated temper for now.

From her expression alone I can tell that she is calmer now about the call issue. Usually she would go about for hours and hours, hysterically venting and ranting about theories of being spied on and other problems.

Her paranoia is so severe in such situations that she even forced me to put hidden cameras all over her house, to put bugs on her phone and Serena's, which she wasn't aware of until much later, and many other things I'm not going to mention.

I know that helping her might actually be making things worse, but I can't say no to her, she's a really important person to me and I will do my best to help ease her worries. Even if, at some point, I need to make her disappear from our lives. I just hope we don't get to such a predicament, otherwise...my life might actually become a dark hole, and I don't know how I'll be able to hold on. I don't want to go back to those days surrounded by death and despair only... Anything would be better than that hellish life.

People asking me for dirty favors, breaking my dignity just because I am supposedly one of them...no, I'm not one of them. I never was, and I'll never be... I refuse to be called one of them... Because all they are, all they do, all they think about ...It's nothing like me, I would rather be buried than to return to those circles once again just to get their sick and twisted attention. None of them cares honestly about me, just her, just them... So yes, I'll move mountains for her if needed.