The Human Luna

My Birthmark

It had only been two hours since I last smelt the scent of cinnamon and firewood, and I was already getting the feeling that I was being followed. As soon as I put my phone back into my pocket, I was asked to take it back out again, to take a picture of my parents posing outside a poster of a flying plane. The picture was taken effortlessly, because, what can I say, I had an eye. But the thing that was bothering me was the strange couple I caught staring right at me through the lens.

It was a man and a woman. Both of them wore black sunglasses, black biker jackets and had perfect olive skin that a fake tan could never achieve. I lingered the camera in their direction before taking a photo, and they must have seen me because the girl whispered something in the man's ear and then they both turned away and began walking in the opposite direction. Before I missed my chance, I snapped a photo of the two of them facing me, and then took a closer look at the photo I had taken through the screen.

"Is it a good one?" My mother asked, pulling me out of my own consciousness.

I nodded quickly before turning back to my camera. Zooming in on the screen, I noticed one thing that looked very familiar and sent a shiver through my spine. On the side of both their necks was a shape, tattooed in an intricate design, a design I had seen many times before in my life. The shape took on the curve of a crescent moon, and very close to it was a bold outlining of something that looked like the letter A. I gasped and nearly dropped my phone on the floor, but caught it just as it slipped out of my hands.

It was my birthmark. Fair enough, it was not on my neck, but my left shoulder, medium-sized and bold for everyone to see. The mark that had been on my body ever since I was born, was ingrained in permanent ink on a the necks of two strangers. I looked over the mark two times over, just to check if my mind was playing tricks on me and nothing was really there. But I wasn't mistaken, that truly was my birthmark on their necks.

"What the actual fuc-"

"Ailani, mind your language whilst we're in public," my mum scowled at me shaking her head. I didn't realise I had spoken out loud.

**********

"All passengers boarding on flight KQU987 please make your way to Gate 3 now." The female voice blasted through the speakers on either side of the room we were sitting in, awaking at least three people from their slumber they had fallen in whilst waiting here.

I wasn't surprised that my parents were the first ones out of their seats; so I made my way over to the gate with them, holding my backpack over one shoulder. I smiled at the lady in uniform who was checking our passports before we boarded on the plane, but suddenly stopped short when a deadly quiver danced coldly over the back of my neck. Something was telling me to keep walking, but the greater half of me was telling me to turn around...And so I did. I gasped quietly when I saw the two strangers 7 feet behind me, waiting behind a few other people. Their tinted glasses were still plastered on their face, and yet I still knew for certain that they were both staring straight at me.

I gulped down the panic that was rising in my throat, and turned my head quickly just as the lady in uniform calmly tapped me upon my shoulder, beckoning me to move on. The annoyance on her face was quite clear, I was holding up the line and it wasn't making her job any easier. I mouthed a quick sorry before hurrying on after my mum and dad, hoping that the nervousness in my walk wasn't visible.

"Who am I sitting next to?" I asked my mum, eyeing the two seats next to me. How can I be smack in the middle of two complete strangers.

"I don't know Ailani," mum said. "It shouldn't matter anyways, we are all going to the same destination!" Ugh... She always said that.

I sat down with a mood etched across my face. Then all of a sudden it dawned on me that I could be sitting next to them two mysterious people that were behind me in the waiting room. Shit!

More people were coming now, and my heart beat went faster when I saw the two of them walking towards the rear of the plane, where my parents and I sat. The girl still had her glasses on, but the man had taken his off and placed them on his head. I swear my private parts gasped as I took in his appearance...

His eyes were a piercing blue, contrasting with his olive skin, the sight of him was devastatingly gorgeous. His hair was short, black and scruffy, the perfect mix. His jawline was perfectly cut, and if I wasn't mistaken, a silver ball was pierced on the top of his left eyebrow, adding a rather sexy sinister look to his biker outfit. I tried not to stare, but it was merely impossible. He was definitely a sight to behold.

That biker jacket may be getting a bit too hot for you eh?

"Ailani, stop drooling over him, gosh! He's probably twice your age!"

It couldn't be. Either my mind was playing tricks on me, or Jack had just said my name. I looked up in a frantic attempt to convince myself that I wasn't hearing things; and to my surprise, there he was, Jack, with a backpack slung across his shoulders, standing right next to me.

"Jack! What the fuck are you doing on this plane!" I yelped, nearly jumping out of my seat.

"I don't know what you're on about," he murmured sitting down in the seat next to me. I stared at him with a dumfounded expression plastered on my face. I couldn't be any happier that he was coming on this vacation with me, but a part of me was confused and annoyed that he had kept this a secret.

Before I had a chance to say anything else, I felt someone nudge me hard on my shoulder. I whipped my head round, ready to confront a bitch, when I saw my other best friend Katie smiling down at me. My heart skipped a beat there and then.

Grinning from ear to ear, I wrapped my arms around both of my friends and hugged them close. "You have officially made my day 100% better!" I beamed.

Katie, who had curly, ginger hair and brown freckles on her nose and cheeks, was my only friend during the first years of secondary school. In year 7, it was Katie who decided to sit next to me in tutor period, after the other school kids had decided that I was weird because my packed lunch box was still Dora the Explorer. Katie's body was slim, and she was about the same height as me, although she was slightly taller than me in high heels. Her nails were painted red, which was her favourite colour, and right now she was clothed in a nike tracksuit with grey superstars; casual was always her ootd.

Jack, on the other hand, had known me since year 4 when I joined his primary school in the middle of the year. Despite being a year above me, Jack took it upon himself to be my mentor, and soon we became best buddies. He was 18 years old, with a athletic body toned with muscles and a sleeve of tattoos on his left arm. Originally he was from Ireland, but he moved when he was only a little boy, so like Katie and I, Jack had an English accent too. He was good-looking, there was no doubt about that. With dark brown hair, and blue eyes, he was a perfect specimen; but not my type at all.

Dark hair and dark eyes was what I needed in my life.

"So, do you want to tell me why you were drooling over that couple over there?" Jack asked with his eyebrows raised at me.

"I wasn't drooling over the girl you idiot," I explained in my defence. "But that man was a beauty!"

"I agree," Katie said nodding her head.

"You girls are just walking fountains," Jack snickered leaning back into the plane chair.

"Excuse me," Katie argued, playfully punching Jack in his arm. He didn't flinch, just tensed his muscles and remained put. "Whatever," Katie murmured giving up.

I told Katie and Jack about the picture I took, and how I felt uneasy when I saw that they both had a tattoo on their necks that looked a lot like my birthmark.

"Let me see your birthmark again," Katie said.

"I'm not taking off my jumper to show you my birthmark," I said frowning at Katie. She huffed and sank back into her seat.

"Are you sure it's your birthmark?" Jack questioned, sounding serious now.

I sat and stared at my phone for what felt like a lifetime; and as the wheels of the plane lifted up off the ground, pulling my head back into the chair at full speed, I said to my friends earnestly...

"I'm sure of it."