Chapter 2 Stranger In The Park

“Where are you going?” Logan asks as soon as I come out of my room wearing a shirt and some jeans. He sits on a couch and eats some ice cream while scrolling through social media.

“Outside?” I suggested and cocks an eyebrow at him. “Why aren’t you at the training grounds yet?”

He sighs. “Holiday. Nothing I can do about it.” He finishes the rest of his ice cream before studying me again with a curious look. “Seriously, Zarah. Where are you going?”

I purse my lips as I debate whether I should tell him or not. I just remembered something from my past. Something I find irrelevant, but I have to deal with it right now, so it won’t become a problem.

Also, I wanted revenge for what happened in the past. Again, it’s pretty minuscule compared to what I will face in the future, but getting back at your cheating boyfriend is something that I don’t want to throw out.

“I’m going to see Kain,” I answer.

Logan suddenly has a teasing grin on his face. “I see. Well finally. It’s about time you two would make up and go on a date. Send him my regards while you're at it.” He says with a wave.

Kain was my cheating ex-boyfriend from the past. We had been dating for five years since I was 16. In the past, I had no idea that he was cheating on me for the past two years until I heard that Logan had beaten him to a pulp because he was the one who caught him. 

This time, I want to be the one to catch him. And, of course, I won’t even do it peacefully. Back in the past, I learned about their usual dating spot and the schedule for their date. I hope that nothing has changed, and I will catch them red-handed.

“You know what?” I grin mischievously as I look at Logan. “Why don’t you come and tell him that yourself?”

Logan gives me a confused look. “And be a third wheel? No, thank you.”

“Please? It won’t even be a date. I won’t exactly see him if you know what I mean. I may need my older brother for what’s about to happen?” I hope that I gave him enough of a hint for him to agree.

I was somehow relieved when I saw the suspicious look on his face as he chewed on the popsicle stick. “Zarah, what happened?” His voice lost all its playful demeanor when he asked the question.

I averted my gaze and pretended to look troubled, like how I would imagine myself if I had found out about it during my previous years. Now, it doesn’t even bother or hurt me.

 “Just come with me, please?” I pleaded. “I mean, you’re already dressed.” I gesture at his polo shirt and jeans.

Logan spits the popsicle out of his mouth and grabs the keys on the coffee table. “Let me just get my shoes on. And some brass knuckles.” He whispers the last part darkly, shocking me in the process. He looked back at me with a smirk. “You know. Just in case.” 

As I watched my older brother heading for the shoe rack, I now had second thoughts about inviting him. I probably miscalculated how protective he was of me. Either that or I just never noticed.

***

Logan and I walk through the plaza and into the public park. I looked around for a familiar face and kept glancing anxiously at my wristwatch. 

4 pm.

I am pretty sure that it is the right time and right date. How come I haven't seen them?

Great. Maybe it was one of those days when they don’t go out on a date—just my luck. I sighed and glanced at Logan when I saw that he had stopped walking.

“Logan?” I call for him. His face contorts into anger as he glares at something in front of us.

And bingo. It’s my cheating ex, who’s currently kissing a girl out in public.

“That fucking bastard.” He whispers alarmingly as his hands fisted at his sides. I have to run and grab his hands when he starts going over to him.

“Wait! Logan.” I hiss as I pull at his arm.

My older brother paused to give me a worried look before offering me a pained smile. “Don’t worry, Zarah. Let me handle this.”

“Logan, I’m 21. Stop treating me like a kid who can’t handle cheating in a relationship.” I mutter under my breath when I see Logan staring at me with wide eyes. At first, I wondered why he would give me such a look until I realized that the old Zarah was an emotional train wreck in the past. Right now, I would(should) be bursting into tears.

Oops. Perhaps I should slowly ease down on the changing part before they really begin to suspect if I am their real daughter or not.

I let out a loud gasp while clutching my heart and feigning heavy breathing. “Logan, it’s fine. I already expected this.” I hiccuped dramatically and almost cringed at my horrible acting skills. “I...I just simply want to see it for myself. I guess my source is true.” I wipe some imaginary tears from my eyes while glancing at Logan. By the drawn eyebrows on his forehead, I can only hope that it was a sign that he bought my terrible acting skills. “Please just let me handle this. I want to do this on my own.” 

Logan studies my face for a while. I can see the turmoil of emotions in his eyes. He sighs and places both of his hands on my shoulder. “Call me when you need me, and I will instantly break that guy’s face for you.” I look up and give him a curt nod before turning around and heading for my ex, cuddling with his sidechick on a park bench.

Sorry, Logan. But you won’t be getting to hit my ex in this timeline because I would be the one to do that myself. I just need someone to pull me back when I go overboard.

As I got closer to the two of them, I finally heard their conversations.

Kian let out a loud and tired sigh. “Sam, I really want to break up with Zarah so we can openly date. Unfortunately, the girl is a wreck. Who knows what she’ll do if I break up with her.” He says, and the girl snuggles closer to comfort him.

My eyes darkens, and I let out a silent and dark laugh. 

Wow. Does he really think that highly of himself? That he thinks I would harm myself because he would break up with me? The last time I checked, I simply cried when I found out that he cheated. That was it. I am only doing this for revenge and satisfaction before my real work of saving the world begins.

I pause my approach, so I can hear more of their conversation.

“I feel sorry that you have to be dating such a girl. I mean, she doesn’t even have a talent. What kind of future huntress would she be without one?” The blonde girl replies.

I grin silently in the shadow. 

Yes. Please make fun of me even more so that none of the guilt I will soon experience for hitting you guys over the head will remain.

“I actually thought that she was something special. She belongs to a family of the best hunters and huntresses. I just thought...you know. But I could never have guessed that she would be such a reject.”

“Then what about me? Why do you date me when I am not from a well-known hunter family?” The girl whines. Her voice makes my hands shake to the point that I want to strangle her already. It’s irritating.

Kian leans in to peck her on the lips. “Sam, your skills and talents are real. Why would a pretty girl like you compare yourself to some reject like her?”

Reject. Reject. Reject. Oh please! Their talents are nothing but fodder compared to mine.

I finally snap, and as the two of them began kissing, I walk over to them. I rest my arms against the back of the bench where they were sitting. “So you’re saying that this Sam girl is a better huntress than me?” I grin innocently. The couple jumps away from the bench while screaming profanities for getting spooked. 

I wave at Kian. “Hi, Kian. Long time no see.” I say sweetly and jump over to sit on the now-empty bench. The couple were too shock to see me that all they did was gape at me. 

On the other hand, I observe the girl. She is petite and slightly curvy, especially in the top part, with blonde bob-cut hair. I know this because she was flaunting her muscles and curves by donning a very body-con tank top, which did not impress me. 

“So this is the girl you want to replace me with?” I raised an eyebrow and gave her a head-to-toe look. “She’s just a pretty face, if you ask me.”

“Zarah, I-” Kian starts to say, but Sam seems tick off at my comment from earlier that she cut him off.

“Well, of course! I am not some talentless loser like you!” She growls and pulls Kian closer to her, like I was about to steal him back.

Next, I lock my gaze on Kian. He has a guilty expression on his face. Kian was attractive, but his useless talent for imitating animal voices kept him from becoming popular.

“You can have him,” I say to Sam as I get up from the bench. “I may have no talent, but my fighting skills make up for it,” I tell her with a genuine smile. “I simply came here to break up with him and save you both the trouble of talking bad behind my back like the cowards you both are. I am a Winters, why would I settle for something less?”

“Coward?” Sam scoffs and pulls away from Kian. “I’ll show you what a damn coward can do!” Sam spreads her hands out in front of me, blinding me with a bright light. I had to close my eyes because of it. As her fist began to move, I heard her footsteps get closer and felt the rush of wind. I grabbed her attacking hand and used her momentum to throw her to the position where I remembered the bench was.

I lost an eye back in the original world due to a demon spitting poison on my face. Getting blinded isn’t a problem for me. I won’t let a petty trick like that get the better of me. 

I felt Kian’s movement from the sound of his feet on the ground. That coward.

I moved back and allowed him to briefly pass in front of me before I brought my knee up and hit him on the gut with as much force as I could. I heard him cough before he fell to the ground.

“What’s going on here? Are you two ganging up on a blind girl?” A foreign voice spoke behind me, which startled me enough to almost attack him as well.

“Um…I am not blind. I am just temporarily blinded by a dumb blonde, who’s now coming after me again.” I say and raise my foot to deliver a kick to Sam’s chest. I grin when I heard the satisfying thud on the ground from her fall. “Thank you for your concern, sir, but I can handle this on my own.”

“I can’t just let you fight alone when you are at a disadvantage.” Says the man. I hear Kian grunting to my right. I can only assume that this stranger threw a hit at him. “Honestly, these guys are from the academy? How the hunters have fallen for two abled individuals to gang up on a blind girl.” I could hear the disapproval in the man’s voice as he spoke.

I scoff. “I am not blind, sir.” I move my body aside and counter Sam’s hit by diverting it with my wrist. I bring my knee up and grab her face blindly as I hear a satisfying crunch. 

I think I just broke her nose.

“Bitch!” Sam screams.

“Ouch. That’s a foul there, miss.” The man comments.

“Self-defense.”

“Fuck-” I hear Kian grunt and suck in air before the man speaks again. “You’re good at fighting. Are you in the academy?”

“Was,” I answer, “But I dropped for personal reasons.” The place was silent now, and I can only assume that Kian and the girl were now unconscious. I rub my eyes and pry my eyes open. My vision was still blurry, but I could make out the images of Kian and Sam lying flat on the ground.

“If that is the case, then I will meet you there. As for these two, I’ll be sure to inform the principal about their misconduct.”

I look up at the person, but I cannot precisely distinguish his features thanks to the dumb blonde blinding me. “Thanks for the assist, I guess.”

“You’re welcome. But I don’t think that you even need me in the first place.” His voice is laced with humor as he says it. “May I know your name?”

“Nope,” I answer. “My parents taught me not to talk to strangers. I might be in trouble, so I won’t say my name. Sorry.”

The man laughs. “True. We’ll just have to see each other in the academy when we have the chance.” He says.

Just as my vision is getting better, the man is already walking away, and I only got to see his back. He’s tall and pretty muscular. I wish I could have seen his face, but it is a pity that he is already facing the other way.

“Zarah!” When I turn around, my brother is sprinting towards me. With his eyes laced with urgency, he grabs my hand. “Let’s go before the cops arrive.” Logan, my ever so supportive brother. I'm relieved that he didn't interfere in my affairs and instead left me to my own devices. He's even assisting me in avoiding the trouble of beating up two people. “Stop gawking and run!” He screams.

I could not help but let out a laugh. I miss my brother so much. I can only think of this time as the best bonding experience we ever had in my whole lifetime. 

“Yes, brother.”