"Hey there!" a cheerful voice calls out.
I step back from the short man who suddenly appeared from nowhere. His face looks like it's always smiling. He has sparkling white teeth and light brown, short wavy hair, perfectly styled with gel swooping to the right. The only odd thing about him is his eyes. Before this, I was convinced my eye color was the strangest, my left eye is bright green and my right is a dark brown, both speckled with amber. But this man’s eyes take the prize for strange. He doesn’t seem to have any eye color at all. They're entirely black, making it look like his pupils are unusually large. He notices me staring and tries to change the subject.
“So, what brings you to Vorell?” he asks. I glance around.
"Vorell?" I repeat.
He grins again. "The city of bliss! I’m Zane!" he says proudly.
I nod, and Zane starts leading me further into Vorell. The whole place seems unnaturally bright, and everyone looks like Zane perfect hair, perfect smiles. But the eyes... there’s something unsettling about them. If this place is supposed to be so happy, why do their eyes lack color? The grass is vibrant, the plants are healthy, and there aren’t any utility poles, which means no electricity, everything is powered by the sun.
"Don’t worry, the sun never sets here," Zane says, his voice reassuring.
I stop in my tracks. Zane turns to look at me.
"Is everything okay, Raya?" he asks. I take a step back, trying to move toward the exit.
"D-Did you just read my mind?" I stammer.
Zane looks away, his brow furrowing. "And how do you know my name?"
Zane tilts his head slightly. "You told me!" he responds.
I shake my head, panic rising. "No, I didn't! There’s something wrong here!" I yell.
Zane’s expression darkens, and he mutters something in a language I don’t understand.
"Zul’ra nesh vohr!" he commands.
Suddenly, everyone in the village turns, their cold, emotionless eyes fixed on me.
"I believed in you, Raya. You’ve failed us," Zane says, his tone sharp. "Eru’nash!" he yells.
The crowd stares at me, their eyes locked with mine as they begin chanting.
“Vrosk solar! Vrosk Solar!” With each chant, my head spins, and the world around me fades to black.
I stumble back, descending into a hidden tunnel. The people of Vorell, now all focused on me, start advancing, but they stop at the hole, unable to follow. I realize that they can't come after me. Panic floods me, and I sprint toward the exit.
By the time I reach my room, I'm dizzy and exhausted. Whatever those twisted beings did to me was how they corrupted the others. It wasn’t shocking that my naive brother hadn’t found the tunnel earlier. But when I look into the mirror, expecting to see my usual eyes, I notice that the amber specks in my eyes have been replaced by dark, black flecks. The next day, half of each iris had turned cold, unfeeling black. A part of me wants to go back to Vorell, to stay forever but I know it’s because of whatever curse those mutants placed on me.
Some days, I wander halfway through the tunnel, only to realize I’m leading myself to my doom. On other days, I wonder whether I’m more human or more mutant. Torn between two worlds. One where I belong, and one where I want to be. Split between two halves of my heart, each pulling me in opposite directions. My mind asks me every minute of every day: Where do I truly belong?
