Who you once Were || Volume One|| RuthTheNerd

Chapter Five- Marzipan Hearts

"Yuki. Her name is Yuki."

Lola had led them upstairs and the three of them were seated comfily in the living room. The place was artfully decorated, with the couches a shade of purple that Nadia couldn't pinpoint, and the coffee table that was mostly empty except for a plate of beige-colored hearts that were displayed. Some were dipped in chocolate, others were half-dipped, and most were just plain. Nadia wondered what type of desert they were and was considering tasting one when Lola blurted out the girl- Yuki's - name.

"I thought you might have been wondering," Lola said, blushing a little.

"I'm wondering about a lot of things right now," Nadia replied, gesturing towards Yuki.

"Right." Lola positioned herself straighter, and Nadia could tell she was delivering important news. "Before you listen, have a heart," She pointed towards the platter. 

Nadia reached towards one. "What is it?"

"Marzipan." Lola looked away. "I made it myself."

Nadia took a bite and felt her mouth combust. It was sweet and buttery, like a fresh sweet roll. She stuffed her mouth with the rest of the cookie and looked back at Lola, who just laughed.

"I see you like them," Lola teased. Nadia turned away to look at Yuki, who had laughter dancing in her golden eyes.

"Anyways, let me fill you in." She sat looked back at Nadia. "Before Yuki came," She paused. "Did you happen to have any...weird dreams?"

Nadia felt her eyes widen, the buttery paste now feeling dry in her mouth. How did this woman know about her dreams? Perhaps she was the one who sent Yuki to Nadia's apartment, but that still didn't explain much.

"Yes, I did. But what does that have to do with-"

Lola cut her off. "We sent those dreams. We projected them to you."

Nadia raised an eyebrow. She'd heard of technology that could do that, but the practice was very faulty and hardly ever worked.

And what did Lola mean by 'we?'

Despite all the unspoken questions, Nadia said nothing as Lola continued. "We sent them several times, as you might recall." She said.

Nadia recounted all the times she'd woken up after having that snowy dream. "Yes, but you only said for me to 'come home,'" She said. "I was already at home. None of the dreams made sense, either."

"When it comes to dream telepathy, you can never get a perfect message sent through. We sent it multiple times to make sure that you actually received it. Besides that, dreams have a way of twisting words. So what you were told during your dream might be completely different from what we attempted to send."

Nadia felt her rope of confusion unravel, by just a bit. She leaned back with a relieved sigh, like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Yuki, who was sitting next to her, was staring down at her toes.

Nadia looked back at Lola. "What about Yuki?"

Lola looked down at her lap. "We used Yuki for the dreams, and when you didn't come, she got worried that you might not have received our message. So she ended up running off in search of you."

Nadia's brow creased. Yuki? Worried? About a person she hardly knew?

Well, they had to know her, but Nadia didn't know them. Or at least, she didn't remember them.

"Well, Yuki is from Antarctica and-"

"Wait, what?" Nadia felt her brain being flipped. "She's from where?"

"Antarctica," Lola said casually as if the snowy continent wasn't locked away from the rest of the world. "Yuki...she told you this, right?"

"No! No, she told me nothing! She fainted on my front door, and I took care of her, having no idea at all! And now you're telling me she's from Antarctica?!" Nadia screeched, her emotions from the past few days blurring out. Lola recoiled from her anger.

"Nadia, calm down-"

"I can't calm down! I'm confused! I don't know what's going on, and why some random dude is trying to-"

"Hey, Lola," Chris walked in on the middle of Nadia's rant and widened his eyes in surprise. "Uh, sorry boss. Is now not a good time or-"

Lola looked at him sternly. "What is it, Chris? Make it quick, I'm in the middle of something."

Chris scratched the back of his neck. "There's a customer requesting your appearance."

Lola stood up, looking confused. "What? Why?"

"I'm not sure, they just want to see you," He said.

Lola got up to go downstairs. She turned to Nadia and Yuki. "You two, stay here. This'll only take a minute." She began to turn away when Yuki grabbed the edge of her apron, her eyes widening.

"No," The yellow-eyed girl said, her voice soft but demanding. "Don't go."

Nadia recognized the look. It was the same look she had when they'd been running from the stranger.

"Yuki, I have to. I'll come right back-" 

Nadia shook her head. "No, Yuki's right. Don't go." She had no reason to trust the young girl's inner intuition, but for some reason, she did.

Lola just looked annoyed. "I have to go see, I can't leave a customer hanging!" After seeing Yuki whimper and her golden eyes fill with tears, Lola's expression softened. "Okay, look: I'll just go and look to see who it is. Then I'll come right back up."

"We're coming with you," Nadia said, Yuki nodding to confirm the decision. Lola just sighed, knowing she couldn't fight and led them downstairs and past the kitchen, back into the candy-filled store.

Lola approached the counter, and Yuki and Nadia filed in behind.

It was the person in the blue hoodie.

Again.

A surge of panic rocked Nadia back and forth as she peered behind Lola, who was unfazed. The  blonde turned to them and smiled, the look clearly saying 'see, nothing at all.'

Yuki's reaction wasn't much better. The yellow-eyed girl visibly jumped and hid behind Nadia. 

"Ah, hello! Is there something you needed?" Lola cheerfully asked. Nadia couldn't hear from the kitchen, so she leaned in, hoping the figure in the hoodie couldn't see them. She saw Lola frowning, then smiling again and pointing to the kitchen, her hands gesturing for the stranger to wait for her to come back.

Lola's grin melted into fear when she entered the kitchen

"They want to know if-" Lola stumbled upon her words. "-If you've seen a yellow-eyed girl accompanied by a young woman walk in."

"They're looking for us," Nadia said. "We need to go. Now."

Lola nodded frantically and put on a maroon-colored trench coat that was hanging on a clothes rack nearby. She motioned Nadia and Yuki to follow her outside. 

The autumn air was chilly and frisk, wrapping everyone with false warmth. Lola walked with urgency, turning around every few seconds to see if they were being followed.

"Lola," Yuki said quietly, her voice quivering in the cold, "Where are we going?"

Lola didn't turn around. "Someplace safe, that's where."

Nadia turned around and felt her heart stop for the third time that day. The hoodied stranger was following them, but not on foot. They were perched on top of a gleaming, silver hoverbike, gaining speed. Unusually so, one hand was on the handlebars and the other was reaching into its pocket, where the shape of an L shaped object rested against the folds of the clothing.

The stranger shifted their hands and pulled out the object ever so slowly, giving Nadia a glimpse of a polished black handle. The stranger pulled it out fully.

A gun.