Murasakino

The Strangely Familiar Lead Singer

   "Quickly!" Harper whisper-shouted, running up the stairs behind me, her outstretched hands sending me tumbling over the top. I crawled into the nearest bedroom on my hands and knees.
   "It's probably just on the keyhook. Here," Harper's father said, finally reaching the foot of the stairs.
   "Um, I think I left it in my room when I was sorting through my bag," she replied, and promply turned round to find where I'd gone. I was hoping that her father wouldn't follow her up here.
   "Well, if you say so," he sighed, returning to the kitchen.
   "What are you doing in Mum and Dad's room?" Harper asked, still whisper-shouting.
   "I didn't know it was theirs! I've never been in this house before!" I replied.
   "Mine's down the hallway, there," she said, and I followed her down it.
   Her room was unexpectedly blue; almost everything in there was blue, except the shelves and window frame, which were white. Her wardrobe was also white, and it covered up one whole wall. Her bed was neatly tucked into a corner, surrounded by bookshelves and posters. I didn't recognise any of the bands on them, yet the lead singer of one looked strangely familiar. I felt like I'd seen her short, ginger ponytail somewhere before.

   "For now, just do whatever you want in here, as long as you make as little noise as you can," Harper instructed. "If you hear someone coming, get in the wardrobe. There'll be space for you in there, and you do sleep standing up, don't you?"
   "Yeah," I replied, "but the door of my capsule is transparent."
   "It'll be okay in there, don't worry," she reassured me. "Now, I'm going back to work, 'cuz the supermarket's probably still open. Make sure my dad doesn't find you!"
   "Okay," I said, quietly.
   "See you later!"
   And with that, I was left alone. Well, for a couple of seconds, as Harper's grinning face poked round the door again.
   "Oh, and watch out for Sam, the cat. She's not always too friendly toward strangers. Bye!"
   She closed the door carefully, pulling on it quite hard, but it wouldn't close properly. She tried a few more times, but every time she closed it it slid open again.
   "Stupid door," she muttered, eventually giving up and leaving it slightly ajar. I listened to her footsteps as she descended the stairs, and heard the front door close behind her. Then, I stretched myself out on her navy blue duvet, staring up at the ginger-haired singer.

   I lay there for almost an hour, just thinking. Thinking up scenarios that may have been going on at the lab. Dr Kerrett obviously knew about this, since I'd seen her in town, so what about Dr Takeda, or Cathy? Or even Indigo? I'd most likely be in very deep trouble if she found out about it.
   I felt something press down on the duvet by my arm, and looked up to see a black and white cat sniffing at my hand. Harper had mentioned Sam earlier, so I sat up to say hello, but she stepped back. Her eyes widened and stared into mine, and I lifted my hand for her to approach. Slowly, she moved forward, sniffing again at my fingers, and when she decided I wasn't threatening she rubbed the side of her face along my palm. It reminded me of Dr Kerrett's fox. She even decided to roll onto her side, stretching her legs out as far as she could. When I stroked her belly, she tried to bat at my hand with one paw, her claws sticking out, but apart from that she seemed to like me.

   "Sam?" came Harper's father's voice from downstairs. I froze for a moment, and quickly got up to go to the wardrobe. The door made a noise when it closed, but it was luckily too quiet for him to hear as he climbed the stairs. I held my breath just as the bedroom door opened.
   "What are you doing in here?" Harper's dad said in a high voice, walking to the bed. Sam meowed, and I heard her feet land softly on the carpet. "Come on, you're usually meowing like mad for some food by now!"
   Sam's footsteps came agonisingly close to the wardrobe, and she even rubbed her face up against the door. I was struggling to keep myself from gasping. They had been in here for over twenty seconds.
   "Come on, Sam!" Harper's father said. I heard him lift her up and slowly walk out of the room. I was beginning to feel light-headed.
   The moment I heard them going downstairs, I started breathing again as quietly as possible. I thought my vision went blurry for a second, though it was hard to tell inside the wardrobe. I had also noticed that it was quite comfortable, in the same way my capsule was, and I leant back against Harper's clothes, closing my eyes.

   Harper knocked three times on the door, waking me up.
   "Hello?" I said, just in case it was someone else. The mass of curly hair that appeared when the door opened was enough to reassure me.
   "Hi, Murasakino!" Harper smiled. "I see you've already been asleep. Comfy?"
   "Yeah, it's nice," I replied. "You have so many sweaters that it gets really warm in here."
   She giggled. "You can come out, you know!"
   I stepped out of her wardrobe again, to the already familiar sight of posters and bookshelves. Again, the ginger singer caught my eye, and I went to look closer. She had dark eyeliner and black lipstick, and was wearing a leather jacket and dark leggings. I moved my focus to the three men behind her for the first time, and saw that they had similar clothes. One of them even wore sunglasses.
   "Who is that?" I asked, placing my finger below the woman's face.
   "You don't recognise her?" Harper said, grinning. "Surely you must! You've even met her in person!"
   My thoughts randomly jumped back to Cathy's CDs in the car, and her strangely accurate impersonation of the singer's voice.
   I felt myself smile as I realised who it was.