Gold That Appears To Be Silver

Chapter VII: Hidden Within

~Listen to the beat of your own heart instead of trying to harmonize with the rhythm of the hearts of others

After the three have left, I gesture Alex to sit down on the big black couch that is randomly placed in the centre of the room.

She does so, her gaze unwavering from mine.

'They were talking about your gift. What did they mean?' she bluntly asks.

I look at the space next to her face to try to contain my nerves.

'Well, I've had it since I was born. I see people for who they really are. Ugly people are bad people and beautiful people are good people. Unfortunately, every day I look into the mirror, I am met by a different face.'

It takes some time for Alex to take that in, although she doesn't seem very shocked.

'But how do you know that the way you see people resembles their inside?'

I am resting my head on my hands. 'I just came to that conclusion eventually. The way people are acting when they are ugly in my eyes is always the same. Sooner or later, I discover the little cracks within their personality.  I used to be very confident about how trustworthy my gift is. But now, I am not so sure anymore. My parents have never really done me any harm aside from being away from home most of the time, yet they are still the ugliest ones I have ever encountered. My gift is mainly the reason why I close myself off to everyone, since everyone is hideous and I am afraid to trust them.'

Alex leans towards me, a burning desire to ask a question radiating off her.

'So how do you see me?' she asks, her eyes already knowingly glowing since I have collided into her way too much. Like I have been the stars colliding into her shiny milky way, unable to remove myself. She has made me question everything there is to know about myself.

'I guess you can draw the conclusion yourself considering the fact that you are the only person I have trusted in a large amount of time,' I dryly state, not really looking forward to the prospect of complimenting her.

Alex gives me a cheeky smile. 'But I want to hear you say it.'

I shrug and reply with: 'It appears that humbleness does not naturally come with a good heart.'

Alex laughs at that. 'I am just kidding, Jaydee. I love making you uncomfortable.'

I shake my head, as to blow away everything she has just said.

'But considering that you are now aware of my gift, we can talk about what happened earlier. This prophecy, why are we all exposed to danger? Someone else must know about me and my gift and probably knows who you are. But those other two people who apparently are from our blood are still unknown to them, right? Where does this prophecy even come from?  We are ought to do something, anything now that we know people are aware of us. That girl Cynthia mentioned magic as if it is a real thing. It sounds way too unreal for it to be real, right?'

Alex seems pensive, probably thinking everything through in the way she usually does.

I thought that I was the mind in the prophecy yet here I am, asking the heart for answers.

'The fact that your gift exists kind of makes it more believable that the things they said are true. You sure remember what I said about my metaphors, right? Maybe there is a very thin line between things that aren't actually here and the utter belief that they are. Just like your gift, you believe in it which makes the gift actually present. For all we know, you just regard everyone as ugly because you simply can't see beauty in anything. But you make your gift a gift, you know? To address your other question, we can't really do much beside waiting and continuing our normal routines. Just like the girl Cynthia said, the answers will come to us eventually. In the meantime, if this prophecy of those nutcases is really true, then you should learn from the heart, aka, me. Shouldn't be too hard, right, mind?'