"HUAAAA!"
Lami stretched his arms as he got off his bed. He felt extremely refreshed.
'I slept like a baby.'
Making his way to the bathroom, Lami glanced at the family photos on the wall: his father Aurelio, his mom Angela, and himself. Their family was nothing but peaceful.
Lami looked at his reflection; everything was normal; however, a strange premonition crossed his mind, though he couldn't quite place it.
Shaking off the feeling, he headed down to the kitchen as the aroma of breakfast drifted through the air.
His mom was preparing breakfast, the scent of a vegetable-cheese omelet filling the entire house.
As she sliced the bread, she noticed Lami's footsteps and turned her head to him with a lovely smile.
She was breathtakingly beautiful; her porcelain skin contrasted with her onyx-black hair and horns. Her crimson-red eyes held a certain authority.
"Good morning, Lami. Breakfast is almost ready, so you can call your father."
Tok- Tok- Tok-
After a nod, he walked down the stairs, watering the plants and flowers that lined the wall.
Reaching the first floor he found himself at the end of the hallway facing a pair of hardwood doors.
Knock! Knock!
Lami knocked on the study room door and waited for a response.
"Come in."
A deep and powerful voice echoed from behind the doors. Lami pushed them open.
The study room, where his father loved to spend his time, exuded an ancient feeling.
Red velvet curtains swayed gently as a summer breeze drifted through the open windows. The room was full of bookshelves, filled to the brim.
It was messy, but at the same time, it had a cozy feeling to it.
A desk stood in front of the window with papers scattered across it. An imposing man sat in a grandiose leather chair that creaked slightly as he moved.
He spun the chair around and met Lami's gaze, his sharp eyes softening as they locked with his son's. The man had dark brown hair, brushed back neatly, of medium length.
His chiseled, handsome face possessed perfect proportions. The stubble on his face lent him a slightly carefree look.
His piercing green eyes were full of energy, but the dark bags beneath them betrayed his exhaustion—as if he had pulled an all-nighter.
Lami rolled his eyes.
"You didn't sleep again, did you?"
His father, Aurelio, was a busy man. He stood up from his chair and walked over to Lami.
Pat! Pat!
The sound of his hand patting Lami's back twice resonated in the room. Lami almost stumbled.
"Maybe."
The hairs on Lami's body stood up, and a slight tremor ran through him. It was weird.
It felt as if he hadn't heard his voice in a while.
But it couldn't be.
Yes, he was busy but they at least saw each other once a week.
Lami scratched his left forearm.
"What is it, Lami?" his father asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.
Lami fidgeted his fingers.
"N-Nothing, let's go. Mom's waiting."
Aurelio patted Lami on the head, but this time gently, with a concerned look in his eyes.
"You can tell me if anything is wrong. We can have a father-son talk."
Lami simply smiled bitterly with narrowed eyes.
"Okay, let's go. I don't want to make Angela angry—you know how scary she gets."
'I know it well...'
Scratch- Scratch-
Lami's forearm was itching so madly that it even started to bleed from his violent scratches.
In the kitchen, Lami wiped the blood off with a wettened paper towel, grabbing it from the marble countertop. And slapped another one to coldness relieve the itching.
It was odd as there wasn't anything visible on his forearm.
Noticing him, his mom smiled warmly.
"Finally, the bread was getting cold."
After serving the omelet onto each plate, his mom sat down.
"Let us eat," she said with a bright smile that could even illuminate the absolute darkness.
Aurelio had an amused and greedy look on his face.
'What a workaholic. He probably hasn't eaten in a while.'
Lami noticed that he didn't say anything about breakfast being ready to his father, but he somehow got it right for once. The bizarre thing was that when he was immersed in his work, he would fully lose touch with the world.
Turning his head to his mom's side, Lami noticed she was observing the paper towel on his forearm.
She squinted her eyes
"That… What is that?"
Lami gave her a quizzical look, his brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of her question.
"This… Is… Paper towel." Lami replied, his uncertainty clear in his voice.
His mom abruptly grabbed his arm, so fast that Lami couldn't react.
"What!?"
Lami was taken aback as he tried to free his arm with a frown on his face.
"What is under that paper towel?"
She abruptly peeled the paper towel away. Lami glanced at his father, who simply shrugged.
'Haha, I am done for.'
Lami didn't know what was going on, but he understood why his father didn't want to help him.
The wrath of his mom was too much for him to handle.
"Lami…"
His mom's voice was soft, yet it wasn't hard to realize that her anger was being held back. She let go of his hand with a tight-lipped smile.
"Why do you have a tattoo on your arm, Lami?"
Lami tilted his head, dumbfounded.
"Huh?"
His eyes fell on his left arm. It was shaking.
Moving his arm around, he took a closer look at his forearm.
Soon, his eyes widened in utter terror.
"..Th-this can't be," Lami said under his breath as a chill ran down his back, like a shock of high-voltage electricity.
The main part of the tattoo was the size of his hand—a slightly tilted hourglass.
The hourglass was connected to a long chain, each link of the chain almost half the size of the hourglass.
The chain was fully stretched as if the hourglass were a heavy burden.
He couldn't tell how far up the chain was going.
There was a weird familiarity between him and the tattoo—familiar, yet alien.
Lami started biting his lips, and before he realized it, he was also shaking his legs. It was anxiety. He didn't know the source of it.
"So? Care to explain?" his mother asked, calmer now, while his father looked surprised.
'Why is she acting like this? It is not like her.'
Nonetheless, Lami decided to be honest; he didn't even know where the tattoo came from.
Lami sighed, stopping his leg from shaking.
"...It might sound weird to you two, but I don't even remember getting a tattoo."
He switched his gaze between his father and mother as they listened to him with keen interest.
"Although I don't remember getting it, I feel it has some sort of connection with me. I can't quite pinpoint it, but it is..."
He unhurriedly shifted his gaze to his father.
"…like familiarity? Longing? I don't know. Do you know anything about this, Father?"
Aurelio looked at Lami, seemingly shocked, while Angela's expression darkened. She was definitely irritated.
Aurelio sighed, leaning back on his chair as he crossed his arms.
"Haven't seen it before. You're not trying to get out of this situation, are you?"
Angela nodded at her husband's statement, looking worriedly at Lami. She waited for a short moment before pulling Lami into a close hug.
"..Lami, I might have overreacted. I'm sorry for that, but I had a bad feeling, but you can tell us the truth."
Lami's eyes began to well up with tears, though he didn't know why.
'What a crybaby,' he thought. 'Crying for no reason at all..'
His voice became raspy as he began to speak.
"I don't know. I really don't."
However, at the same time, something was clicking in his mind—he was sure the tattoo had something to do with his father.
Aurelio was unnervingly calm.
"Well, it is a weird world we're living in, after all. Let me check it after breakfast."
He then casually put some cherry jam and peanut butter on his bread and filled his mouth to the brim.
"Also let's go eat out together this evening."
Lami frowned.
"....Together?"
"Of course. ..Why? You don't want to come? We can postpone it if you want to."
"...!"
Lami's head started to throb with pain. He cupped his head with both his hands as he brought it to his knees. His legs shaking once again.
"Hah-"
"Hah-"
"Hah-"
Lami's breathing started to hasten, and he felt as if boiling water was being poured over him.
He was hyperventilating.
'This isn't right. Father hides us from the public.'
Angela's reached out, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, her voice full of concern.
"Lami are you okay?"
He blinked, his vision swimming as the world around him began to ripple, like a reflection in a pond disturbed by a stone, but he paid it no heed, feeling detached from reality.
'It isn't real; none of this is real. Father is dead, and Mom is most likely caught.'
Angela shook Lami's body agitatedly.
"Lami!"
"Arghhh," Lami groaned in anguish, jumping from his seat.
Angela's eyes widened in terror as Aurelio simply stood still.
He stumbled backward as his memories came rushing back, like water surging through an opened dam.
No, they had always been there.
It was…
Denial.
That was what had kept him from acknowledging the weirdness he was experiencing. Dizziness made it hard for him to stand still.
It all started to make sense.
'Father's nonchalance wasn't him not caring. ….It was my memories failing to replicate him.'
It had been five years since his father died, and they hadn't spent much time together when he was alive.
Aurelio was always busy, running from one outer realm to another, fighting, suppressing ruptures, and working on his projects when he was home.
"Lami, what is wrong!?"
He once again ignored his mother.
Lami had seen his mother a few hours ago, so his visualization of her was perfect. His memory of her was still vivid.
'But she also acted differently from usual. Is it because of my emotional state?'
Lami slowly came to a devastating realization.
'Father not knowing about the tattoo and me having it—those are dead giveaways. Also, he wouldn't come to breakfast that fast without making me break a sweat after full minutes of insistence.'
The tattoo, or whatever it was, had to have been given to him by his mother. He was certain of it.
When she had grabbed his arm in the neighborhood, the slight tingling he felt must have been from that.
It took him a while; however, he remembered Aurelio having the tattoo. He had even asked about what it was, but Aurelio always evaded his question.
Lami knew it wasn't a simple tattoo; Aurelio wasn't the type of person to get one.
"..."
Lami wanted to sit at the table as if nothing had happened.
He wanted to stay in denial and live inside his delusion.
It was peaceful.
But…
'No!'
It wasn't real.
"Huuuuu."
Lami exhaled deeply, trying to clear his mind.
He took a step forward. Then another. His eyes were full of determination, his whole being on fire.
"Mom, Dad, it's time for me to go," he said in a painful tone, his hands trembling.
Cracks began to form in the walls; the illusion was vanishing.
He smiled at them as they smiled at him.
They were only manifestations of his memory, but they still felt…
Real.
He stepped closer to her as she smiled silently. Lami hugged her tightly, none of them saying anything.
He savored the moments one last time…
'No… There will be next time.'
Aurelio, on the other hand...
Lami ran toward him, tears flowing freely.
Drip. Drip.
Lami ran into his father's arms, tears flowing freely, holding on as if he'd never let go.
Aurelio patted Lami on the head and ruffled his hair, smiling warmly but saying nothing, the cracks in the illusion growing wider and wider.
Lami wiped his tears with his arm and looked at his parents one last time.
Lami closed his eyes, acknowledging that his future might be full of hardships, but he was confident he could tackle them.
'Until next time.'
CRACK!
With one last crack, the illusionary world shattered.