The clock ticks and tocks and then tocks and ticks. Around the world the hand goes before doing so again and again until it breaks, or time itself comes to an end. But can time ever fully stop? It’s not even real in the first place. Time is a concept that people came up with in order to give meaning to the word when.

Time can be real, though. The earth rotates around the sun on a set number of days with no deterrence to the course. Outside of the fourth year, the earth will always circle the sun three-hundred and sixty-five times. If time never existed, then what would the point of that be? Is it the universe giving mortals an ounce of familiarity just so it can yank it all away when the time’s right?

As I stare at the clock, waiting for a certain someone to appear, something runs through my mind at the perfect time.

“Am I going crazy?”

This is the peak of boredom right here. Intentionally mind fucking myself just for entertainment has to be the cause of boredom so great, it turns people insane. Why would I think like this otherwise? 

When Miranda closed the shop yesterday, I immediately went straight over to the grocery store across the street. Karina was already walking out when I approached her, so when I waved her down, she came running straight to me. 

At least that’s how I imagined it happening, but when I called out to her, it looked like she hesitated before coming to me. Even when she walked over, her posture was a lot more on guard than before and her eyes, although cheerful, were clouded by a sort of fog.

“What do you need?” Karina asked.

“I need your help with something extremely important.” I pleaded to her. 

She still looked apprehensive, but her good nature shined through like always. “What’s the problem?”

I told her about the situation about Ty disappearing last night and how he still hadn’t returned. Karina listened silently. It was strangely unlike her to stay quiet for so long, especially when someone’s trying to explain something to her. Normally, she’d interrupt and ask some mind numbingly benign questions. However, she actually listened for once, and although I liked it, it bothered me deeply. 

“Why can’t you just call the police?” Karina asked.

“There are reasons, which is why I’m coming to you. Please, help me find Ty.”

Despite my pleading, Karina still looked hesitant to comply to my begging. Sweat dripped down her forehead as she thought to herself about what the correct course of action should be. 

“You know, it’s only been a day. Maybe he found an old friend, and they hung out elsewhere for the day. It’s not anything to be worried about until it’s been way longer.”

I could feel my face heat up from her constant refusal. People shouldn’t refuse help when someone’s in trouble. Imagine if I said a woman is being kidnapped, then she’d actually put the effort in to help. After all, she’s some rich person. Just another asshole masquerading as someone that’s worth anything in value.

“Why can’t you call the police, anyway?” 

Karina looked at me with those same eyes Miranda gave me. The broken trust and uncertainty shined in their pupils. How many times have I seen those eyes staring at me?

“I have my reasons.”

“And what are they?” Karina asked. “I’ll help you only when you tell me what you really are.”

I looked at her, absolutely stunned by not only her audacity but also her stupid bravery. With a smile on her face, she stared me down with a ferocity that only a cubbi could rival. No, maybe ferocity isn’t the right term. Something more akin to how she looked at me would be an unparalleled beauty. 

“What do you mean?” I need to play dumb. My plan has to work out how I plan it in my head. We barely know each other, so if she figures out my identity, there’s no way this will go well. Especially with Ty missing. 

“I saw you run away from Zeehoo’s the other day, and I’m pretty sure I saw a tail.”

Wait, she saw that. When I run with all my might, humans shouldn’t be able to track me. They might see a blur, but nothing should be discernible. She couldn’t have seen my tail. However, I could tell that she wasn’t lying. Her eyes weren’t that of someone fibbing to get what they want.

“What are you talking about?” Keep on playing dumb. Make her question herself, then tell her she was only imagining things. 

“When you ran, before you took off, I saw a tail come out of your skirt. You know what I’m talking about.”

“You must have-.”

“I imagined nothing.” Karina interrupted. “I may not be that talented, but one of the many things I pride myself over is how sharp my eyesight is. I can tell you the model of a car miles away. My eyes are stronger than ever, and I know what I saw. Nothing that you say can change what I believe.”

What is with her? I chuckle to myself and berate myself in my mind. I’m nothing but an idiot thinking she was just a quirky girl with no brain power of her own. She’s bright, but I never saw that. All I saw was a woman that talked too much for her own good and drank herself to near death. 

I look at her and sigh. She stood straight, looking at me with eyes that shined power and will, yet she had a smile permeating on her face. Does she do this on purpose? Is the intention to hide her true self, so when people look down on her, she can show them up when they get cocky. If so, then it worked. 

I didn’t understand what to do. Should I search on my own to keep my secret, or should I risk exposing myself to a person with an unidentifiable amount of power and influence in order to find Ty? The clock is ticking, and it’ll  never stop. Even when the universe itself is on the brink of collapse, it’ll never quit ticking. When the clocks stop, when the sun explodes, even when the universe turns into nothing but an all-encompassing void, the clock will forever tick.

***

I sigh in my chair, looking back on that encounter. Did I make the right choice? Was there even a wrong choice to make? No, that’s something I learned long ago. There are no right or wrong choices. The idea of a choice isn’t something that should be tainted with the concept of morality. If it does, then there will be people that’ll feel superior cause they would have chosen something else. But that’s what hindsight does. It beats someone across the head with a brick while screaming that they should’ve chosen the pillow.

Someone knocks on the other side of the door. I stand from the living room seat and dash to the door. I turn the knob and it opens, revealing two people on the other side. One of them smiles and leaps at me, arms wide.

“How’s my succubus girlfriend?” Karina giggles while embracing me in a warm hug.

I cringe from her touch, but don’t remove her from me. Was bringing her behind the store and showing off my tail really the wrong choice. I guess it doesn’t matter now. It happened, and this is the result. Although, I never expected how excited she’d get when realizing my secret. 

It’s a strange feeling, having someone be so openly warm to me after they see the real me. Not even other cubbi are like that. Even Ty was afraid of me when he saw my tail, so I never once expected that telling her would do any good. Instead, her eyes went wide in shock and pure childish joy and she began asking me questions so fast she created a new language. I told her that I’d answer her questions once she started helping me, and she agreed immediately.

“What makes me your girlfriend?” I ask. 

She let go of me and heartbreaking tears flow out of her eyes. “You don’t want to be my succubus girlfriend?” She squeaked. 

“Crying won’t change anything.” 

The tears immediately stopped, and she began smiling again. I didn’t think I would be relieved seeing her like this again after how she behaved yesterday. It was almost like she was two different people bundled up in one. 

“I’ll make you my girlfriend one day.” She said, entering the house while she spouted all the things she’d do if I became her girlfriend. Strangely enough, there was no mention of anything sexual, but she did say something about cheese. Considering our conversation at the plateau, I don’t know if I should be worried or not.

I was about to shut the door, but before I could, an arm leaned against it, keeping it open. I followed the arm and saw a man in a butler uniform, carrying a black leather briefcase in his other hand. His hair is the same color as dying leaves and he had noticeable freckles scattered on his cheek. 

When he realized I wasn’t closing the door, he let his arm go from the door and held it to me. I looked at it for a second, wondering what he was doing. Then I remembered what a handshake was, so I grabbed his hand in my.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Wright. The name’s Harvey Mal, Miss Illia’s personal butler, but you can just call me Harvey.” He stepped inside and looked around the house, raising his nose as soon as he smelled the room. “I can tell that you’ve been having a wonderful time with that man that you’re searching for.”

I don’t know what it was about his voice, but I suspected that I’d heard it before. I searched back among all the many voices I heard to identify how I recognize him. His voice is rather unique, sounding both sophisticated while having a relaxing feel. It didn’t take long for me to recall where I heard it.

“Aren’t you the one that talked to us through the intercom?”

Harvey nodded. “Correct, Miss Wright. I have certain duties that need to be done in order to both protect and serve Miss Illia, and one of those duties is to take count of who she brings over.” He studied me, looking at my body with a judgemental glare. “Now that I know what you really are, that explains the incident when you arrived at the mansion. Tell me, how did you escape the island?”

I purse my lips and keep them shut. Karina said that she needed to bring someone over to search for Ty since she didn’t know how to do it herself. I told her it could only be someone that she trusts could keep my secret, but looking at him now, I wished I told her to keep her mouth shut. 

“Why would you want to know?” 

We stare at each other. He looks at me with emotionless eyes. They were eyes that cut into my soul and dug out every part of me I want to dispel from my conscience. He dragged out all my regret, fears, and even my own emotions and showed them to me from the reflection in his eyes. 

I stared back, but without the confidence. My hands trembled as I stared deeper and deeper into his eyes as he cut into my stomach once more, only to pull out my biggest regret. 

“So, are we ready to get this started?” Karina shouted.

She walked right in between us with an unassuming smile on her face, looking back and forth between us. Even with her standing in our way, Harvey still kept his eyes on me. After a few fleeting seconds passed by in the wind, he turned away and walked further into the house.

“Tell me where your computer is?” Harvey asks.

“What do you need it for?” 

He held up his briefcase. Unlatching the locks, he opened it and inside was a pile of CDs, all labeled with different time stamps, but each one had the same date. 

“These are the recordings of various traffic light cameras across the local area. He should appear in at least one of them if he was walking back here. I need a computer to go through them one by one.”

“You’re rich, right?” I question him. “Isn’t there a much faster method to find, Ty? You figured out all of our background info in an instant last time.”

“That was the case then because of the technology we were using and the amount of employees we have at our disposal. For this operation, we need to be much more discreet. It was already a pain getting these CDs from the police without giving them a reason.”

“Yeah, we can’t exactly get everyone’s help without telling them everything.” Karina explained further. “But all we need is Harvey. He’s a smart as hell dude that graduated from Harvard.” She turned to him. “Say something smart.”

“What?” Harvey asks.

“See, isn’t he the brightest?”

Am I about to put Ty’s life on the line of these two? Yes. Is this my only option? No. But this is the fastest way to find him unless I want to scour the streets myself, which will take eons to do. If I did that, there’d be no way I could find him in time. I’d either have to starve to death, or risk blowing my cover if I accidentally kill someone. 

The voice’s message replays in my mind, and a horrid thought enters my mind. There’s no way that’s the case. There’s no way this is somehow my fault. Ty, wherever you are, stay safe.

***

“Here comes the airplane.” Tiffany whisks the eggs to my lips. 

I stare at her hand as she moves her hand around in a dizzying pattern as it draws ever closer to my mouth. If this is what she thinks people do on dates, then she’s delusional. Tell me something I don’t know. 

As it comes closer to my mouth, I look at it. My stomach grumbles and my gut knots in extreme pain. The defiance left in me disappears without a whisper. I open my mouth and take a bite.