The Adventures of Friends Bond Together

One

Nina

Igor gave us all a big smile when we said it was time for us to go. I grabbed all my stuff together, swaying the backpack over my shoulder. Karina and Igor brought us downstairs, to the front door. "We really have to do this sometime soon again, guys." I said and Tobias nodded. He added: "It was a lot of fun indeed."

We had spend the whole day hanging out at Igor and his sister's place, playing games and eating unhealthy stuff. We had been with the seven of us, because the last person didn't have the chance to come. His name was Key.

When Danicha opened the front door, I heard a pretty big sigh. "It's raining... Now my hair is going to get messy!" Mahnoor laughed. "You look like shit anyways." Danicha turned around when she heard us laughing. "Thanks, Mahnoor."

Dhiradj was the first to take a step outside. "Come on, guys!" He called as I followed. I turned around to wave at Igor and Karina, when I heard Dhiradj's voice again. "What the hell..." I faced him and raised and eyebrow. "What is it?" He pointed at something on the floor. I felt a hand on my shoulder, knowing it was Mahnoor that had joined us. Danicha and Tobias soon followed.

"Is that a book?" Tobias questioned as we walked closer to the object. It indeed was. It was open, and the rain was making the pages wet. "Why the fuck would anyone drop a book in the middle of nowhere?" I asked when Mahnoor picked it up. She immediately dropped it again. She held her hand, as if she was hurt.

"Are you okay?" Danicha asked. I bent over to grab the book and nothing happened. "I don't know what it was, but the book... It hurts..." Mahnoor whispered. It was turning quite creepy. "What a nonsense, how can a book-" Dhiradj touched the book as well, and he backed off. "What the fuck, Nina, you're not hurt?" I was still holding it, and I shook my head. I didn't feel anything. Danicha and Tobias tried touching it too, but none could hold it longer than a few seconds.

It was raining harder now, the sky had turned grey. The clouds were getting mad. Thunder. Everyone stared at the sky, at the book or at the ground. I was the first to look around me. Had I gone nuts, or was everything black? I held the book against my body while taking a step. I fell down into a darkness that I didn't know. I kept falling.

- -

I woke up. I couldn't remember falling asleep. Where even was I? It didn't look like home. Not familiar at all. I was in front of a house. A big house. There were no other buildings nearby. I approached it slowly, checking everything else out. I got a weird feeling in my belly. This couldn't be any good.

I didn't see a doorbell, so I just knocked on the door. It took a while before someone opened it. I stared at the person in front of me. Was it even a person? It looked more like a fish. "Ninja, you're finally here! We've been waiting so we could have dinner!" He said when he pulled me inside. Ninja? What kind of joke was this?

We arrived in the living room, where four pair of eyes looked at me as if they knew me. I didn't know them. Or maybe I did... "Igor?" I tried, when the male that had taken me inside started laughing. "It's Rogi, silly. When will you finally learn?" I think I left a surprised expression, because I felt something brushing my shoulder. "Are you feeling sick?" When I tilted my head, I looked into the yellow, magical eyes of a cat. I recognized her. It was Karina.

I wanted to wake up from this dream as soon as possible. I gave all of them a nervous little laugh as I noticed Dhiradj sitting in the corner with Danicha. He was playing with her hair. I saw the wings on his back and couldn't hold back my laugh. He looked so different. Everyone looked different.

A woman stood up from the couch and when she did, everyone immediately followed her. I thought it was best to do what they were doing. We sat at the dining table. I couldn't really see the woman's face, until she looked up into my eyes. "Welcome, sis. Was a tough trip, wasn't it? I guess you're hungry." It was Mahnoor, I could tell. I just nodded as an answer. Everyone got what they wanted, so I took some food too. But what trip was she talking about? And did she just say that I was her sister? It couldn't get any weirder.

I saw Karina leaving the table while everyone was still eating. Only now I noticed the cage at the left side of the room. There was a bird in it. "Anira-K, you know Keyo doesn't like to play." Mahnoor said, and I heard Karina whine. "But, mama, I only wanted to feed him." Mahnoor laughed. "Who are you fooling? Sit down and eat."

Karina -or the so called Anira-K- sat down again, leaving the bird for what it was. Had Key turned into a bird?

Suddenly Igor stood up, raising a glass. "Happy birthday, mom. You've done great till now. Hope you have some more excellent years." Mahnoor smiled at him. Mom? It was definitely getting weirder.

"Wait, how old did you get?" I asked Mahnoor. "Did you already forget? Fool... I'm exactly a hundred years old now." I stared at her face. She looked so young, as if she didn't even aged compared to the years she had lived. "How old am I?" I asked, holding my breath. "What's gotten into you lately? Are you that forgetful? You're thirty-four."

I almost spit out my drink. "Thirty-four?!" I screamed out. "I'm fucking old!" Dhiradj stood up as well. "Hey, no swearing in front of Danch!" I gave him an annoyed look as Mahnoor walked towards me, grabbing my arm. "Let's go out for a while, okay?"

We left the house and she took me to the back of the house, where a gigantic garden awaited us. There was another, little house as well. We walked there slowly. "You should really learn how to behave properly in front of my family. But, we'll talk about that later. I didn't call you over for nothing, don't worry. I had something to show you. My third child. I don't know what to do. I know you're smart, I hoped you could help me." With only a simple gesture she opened the door. I felt sick, like I needed to throw up. This was all not real, right? A family? A third child?

When we walked in, I already knew who I was going to face. In the middle of the room, there was a boy. He wasn't moving. When Mahnoor turned on the lights, my thoughts had been confirmed. It was Tobias. "I hope you can fix a robot." A robot? I slowly felt myself falling down, unconscious.