Black Truths & White Lies

{6 Years Ago}

"Fuck it all, that damned weather lady with too much makeup said the day was going to be sunny as the rainbow, but it's raining blizzards," I muttered as I trudged into the house. The weather woman, with her perfectly painted smile and sunshine predictions, could kiss my soggy sneakers.

"Well, well, well, looks like someone didn't listen to their wise old aunt. Natalia, you look like a dripping wet mess. Honestly, I’d prefer the opposite." Aunt Kang Sun Hee said from the living room with pure amusement as she crossed her long legs and sipped her hot tea.

Aunt Kang Sun Hee, my mother's gorgeous Korean best friend, who was anything but old and mostly resided with us, possessed an uncanny ability to predict the weather, among other things.

She had warned me not to leave the house today or to take an umbrella at least because there would be a downpour by mid-afternoon, but choosing the pride of a rebel, I didn't listen. And now here I am soaked to the bone, thoroughly defeated, dripping with my wet pride after running through the rain. The Mexican weather in May was a damned affair.

"Have you heard from Mom and Dad? They were supposed to return yesterday," I asked her in a nonchalant voice, ignoring her playful jab.

Sun Hee raised an eyebrow, her sharp, amber cat-like eyes filled with knowing. "Worried about your parents all of a sudden, are we?" She questioned, her voice laced with playful mockery.

I gritted my teeth. Sun Hee knew my act better than I did. But the truth was, the silence from my parent's end since they traveled gnawed at me, and the sudden news of an existing relative from my mother’s side had left me with more questions than answers.

"Actually," I forced a nonchalant shrug, "I was just wondering if they called or if you heard anything?"

Sun Hee's smile faltered slightly, a flicker of anxiety crossing her face before it morphed back into its usual playful facade. "Oh, buttercup," she said, her voice softening. "You know I don't meddle in your parents' business. But speaking of meddling, how was your date with..." she trailed off with a smirk.

I shot her a glare, but before I could retort, we heard the clank of heels, and we both turned to see my darling brat of a sister, Noelle Aurora Beltran, walk down the stairs, dramatically swaying her still-growing hips. She was wearing a tight leather skirt that was shorter than life and a red crop top that was mine, and I had been looking for it for months.

I gaped at her, bewildered. What the fuck is she wearing? And is she wearing makeup? My makeup? Oh hell no!

"Language Natalia, cross your heart," Sun Hee sharply turned to me and said in a scolding tone.

“But I didn’t say anything out loud.”

“Buttercup, your face did, and that counts as a foul, so cross your heart now.”

I made a sign of the cross on my heart as Noelle, finally down the stairs, with a devilish smile etched on her thirteen-year-old pretty face, declared as she twirled around, "Don’t I look ravishingggg!"

Sun Hee and I rolled our eyes at the same time.

“What do you guys think of my makeup? I did it myself.” She said, blushing coyly as she tugged her hair behind her ears.

“It’s very beautiful, Pumpkin.” "Yeah, I could tell you did it yourself… when are you going to clean it?" Sun Hee and I said it at the same time.

Sun Hee gave me a scalding look at my sarcastic comment, and I rolled my eyes.

“I mean, look at her! She looks like Chucky…” I said, cringing dramatically. I knew the statement would bring her down from her high horse. She hates Chucky.

“And whose makeup do you have on?” I yelled at her.

“You are the one who looks like Chucky,” she yelled at me, stomping her feet.

“And as a matter of fact, this is my makeup. I wouldn't dream of touching those products you call makeup. I use only the best brands. Have you ever heard of L'Oréal?” She said it with a haughty attitude, flipping her chestnut brown hair with natural golden highlights over her shoulders. She also pronounced L'Oréal with the worst French accent.

She finally took in my drowned-rat appearance and her eyes widened. She said to me with a very mocking smirk, “Did you swim home, sis? I don't mean to be disrespectful, but if I look like Chucky, then you look like the bride I rejected." Sun Hee snickered and coughed to hide her laugh when she caught my glare.

"Buttercup, as I was saying… how was your picnic date with Manuel today? Catch any rainbows?" She asked in a polite, patronizing tone.

I rolled my eyes and replied in the same tone, “Very funny, guys. I did not realize today was World Comedy Day. If my appearance is not a dead giveaway already, then the answer you are looking for is that it was…"

The shrill ring of my phone disrupted my next response. It was my mom. With the speed of light, I answered the call in one breath and said, "Hello, Mamma?"

"Mija!" My mother's voice trembled through the phone. Her words were hurried and desperate: "I should have listened to you; I am so sorry."

My heart raced, and a knot tightened in my stomach. "Mamma, what's happening? Where are you?"

"We're in our car. The brakes... they're not working." Her words were shaken and trembling, just like my heart was at this moment as I stared at my sister, who was hearing the trepidation in my voice.

Sun Hee came closer to look me directly in the eyes to try to find the words I could not say or understand, and then my mother's voice broke the silent scream that only I could hear in my head.

The urgency in her voice sent chills down my spine. Before I could ask any questions, she said, “A truck is coming full speed at us, and we... can't stop the car. Listen to me very carefully, Mija, I need you to... to chant something with me…, please say it five times now, 'Ego sum Energia et Lux’".

My mother's voice was barely audible over the screech of tires, and I could hear the anguish in her words.

With tears streaming down my face as I stared directly at the panicked look on Noelle’s face, which was my only anchor to this agonizing reality, I said to my mom shakily, "What does that mean? If the brakes are not working..., then stop the bloody car. Don't scare me like this. Pleasee, Papa, stop the damn car, Noelle’s here, pleaseeee."

“Just say the chant, Natalia, listen to me just this once… please I am begging you ‘Ego sum Energia et Lux’ say it five times right now,” my mother screamed at me, and the fear and energy I felt from her at that moment forced the words right out of my mouth as I began to chant the Latin words.

As I began the chant, Noelle, standing beside me, mimicked my actions without prompting, her eyes wide with confusion. As the chant reached its climax, everything went white. My body felt like it was on fire, with a burning sensation squeezing my breath.

A cold dread washed over me as I saw a faint glow come from my eyes and Noelle’s. Noelle’s eye color changed from cerulean green to grey eyes, and the look on her and Sun Hee's faces showed that the same thing had happened to my eyes as well.

"We love you both, Talia, and my darling Noelle, with everything, heart and soul," was the last thing I heard, and they both said to me before everything went silent. Even the screams and wails were silent. Everything was silent. Except for the pain, only my soul could translate.

My vision blurred as I slumped to the floor, gasping for air, and the taste of blood was on my tongue. Noelle lay beside me, her now grey eyes wide with confusion and pain, mirroring my own. My phone lay discarded on the floor, and the last call from my parents ended.

Sun Hee knelt beside us, a mask of grave worry replacing her usual light-hearted manner. I saw the reflection of the same terror that was choking me in her eyes. As I stared at my sister, who was shaking with pain as well, I knew we both would prefer never to know the truth.