Jade Cyris: The Move

“Jade? Jade, wake up.” Jade groaned at the name and slowly opened her eyes. “Come on, sweetie, wake up.”

Jade sat up in the car and stretched. “What? What is it?”

Jade looked over to her mother, who’s driving. “We’re almost there. And I wanted to wake you up before we get there, so that you’re not too tired to help unpack your stuff.”

Jade nodded and rubbed her eyes and fixed her light brown hair. “So, what shift do you have at the hospital? Do you know?”

Her mother answered, “I have night shifts. I know, that sucks, but you’ll be fine, right?” Her mother looked through the rearview mirror at her daughter.

Jade shook her head. “No, no, no. It’s fine. I’ll be totally fine.”

Her mother asked, “You sure?”

Jade nodded and looked out her window. She looked up at the sky and her eyes widened. The sky was turning from blue with white clouds to just galaxy colors. “Uh, mom… The sky.”

Her mother nodded, taking a glance at the sky, “Yea, I know. I've never seen anything like that.”

Jade asked, “Where are we going again?’

Her mother answered, “A town called Ascot Eve. We actually just passed the welcome sign a few moments ago.”

Jade mumbled, “Maybe I’m dreaming?”

Jade and her mother finally reached to their new home. It was a small, blue house with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Jade walked into her new room with a box in her arm and saw that the walls were painted in a nice swirls of mixture with lavender and rose gold. It had a nice window seat and light pink curtains. “We need to change the curtains.” She set the book down and continue to bring in more boxes.

Jade went to grab the last box when a voice spoke up. “Hello.”

Jade turned to see a Japanese girl standing at the end of her driveway. “Hey.”

The girl that was smaller than Jade walked up to her and said, “Who are you?”

Jade thought it was a bit rude to say it that way with that tone. “I’m Jade Cyris. And you are?”

The girl scoffed, “I’m Ava Takashi. Can’t believe there’s a new comer here. We haven’t had someone visit here since 1700s. You’re going to be the talk of the town.”

Jade replied, “1700s? That’s a pretty long time.”

Ava leaned against her cane that looked like something you see off a movie, a fake looking diamond on top with black wood for the rest and a metal piece on the bottom and flipped her long, straight black hair. “I know.” She stared at Jade. “So, are you going to Ascot Eve High?”

Jade answered, “That’s the school that I’m zone in.”

Ava smirked. “Cool.” She walked away and Jade watched her go.

Jade muttered, “Rude.”

She heard her mother asked, “Who’s rude?’

Jade turned to her mother and answered, “Some girl name Ava. She was asking me question.”

Her mother grabbed the last box, “Well, maybe once you get to know her you’ll become friends.”

Jade replied, “Maybe. Did you know no one moved here since 1700s?”

Her mother turned to Jade before going into the house, “That’s what my boss said. He said that it was strange for us to move here.” She then walked into the house. “I wonder why.”

Jade looked back at where Ava was and then walked back into the house, “I don’t know, but this town is weird as it is. I mean, the sky is literally the galaxy. It’s not normal, especially since it’s noon.”

Her mother agreed with her. “I wonder what gets it that way. I mean, I've never seen anything like that.”

Jade walked back to her room and started unpacking, thinking how strange the town is. Then she thought about Ava. "What’s with the cane?" she thought. “She walked normally, so she doesn't need it.” She'd never seen anyone like Ava to have a cane. She guessed that Ava was a popular girl because the way she was acting.

Jade opened one of the boxes and started putting stuff away. She ran into an old picture of Jade when she was little. She was on shoulders of her father’s, smiling bright at the camera. She smiled and set the picture on the nightstand next to her bed. She got up from her spot and walked over to the window seat. She sat down on it and looked out the window. She saw that it got dark. So dark that you could only see the lampposts’ light. Jade felt eyes on her, so she got up and walked to the living room. “Hey, Mom. Have you seen outside? It’s so dark. Not even the stars are out.”

Her mother turned to her. “Really? I haven’t really looked outside. I’ve been putting stuff away and then started cooking dinner.”

Jade walked up to her mother and saw her cooking potato soup. "Potato soup? When’s the last time we had that?”

Her mother smiled. “Almost a year ago, I think. I don’t know.”

Jade chuckled, “A long time.” She went and sat down at the kitchen table and looked at her phone, waiting for her mom to finish cooking.

The next day, Jade was running away. She couldn’t believe what she had witnessed.

She was walking down the street. No one was out yet, but it was still pretty early, about 6 o’clock in the morning. She couldn’t really tell by the sky since it was still really dark. She was almost too scared to head to school. But she did. She walked up to the school and her eyes widened at what she saw. Kids were flying to school, others had wings or tails on them, and some didn’t even look human. But there were some kids who did look human, but something about them was off.

Almost like they all heard her breathing or knew she was there, they all turned to her almost at the exact same time, staring at her like she was some prey. In fright, Jade turned and ran off.

And since then, Jade hadn’t stopped running. She couldn’t go see her mother since Jade didn’t remember what hospital her mother was working at and her mother was still there, working. Jade would call her, but her mother might or might not pick up. But she took her chance and tried to call her. “Come on, Mom. Pick up. Pick up.”

“Hello, I’m Dr. Cyris. Please-”

“No, no, NO!” Jade had stopped running, panting. She looked around and saw that she had run into some woods. Jade kept walking, thinking logically about the students. The sky she could accept—she couldn’t find any scientific reason why the sky was like how it was, but she knew there had to be a reason behind it. But the students, her classmates, or soon to be friends. HOW CAN SOME OF THEM HAVE WINGS?! “I’m dreaming, right Or maybe I died in my sleep on the way here and this is my heaven.” She growled, “I don’t know!”

Jade had reached a river and saw that the water looked like someone had poured tons and tons of gasoline in the water. “What the… Now the water? No, not now…” She walked up to the water and muttered, “I just hope that this isn’t the water we’re drinking.”

Jade heard a stick snap and she turned to see a girl her age. Her hair was long, wavy, and a mixture of blue and purple, shaved on the left side and flipped to the right side. Her eyes were grey, almost silver. “Uh…”

The girl asked, “What are you doing here?”

Jade sputtered, “I-I was run-running away from the school.”

The girl walked up. “Well, this is my hiding spot. Go find another one.” The girl sat down by the water and was about to put her hand in the water.

Jade yelled out, “Wait! Don’t!”

The girl pulled her hand back in fright and glared at Jade. Jade realized that she had a scented stick in her mouth and it was lit. “What do you want now? Didn’t I tell you to leave?”

Jade explained, “Why would you put your hand in toxic water?”

The girl asked, “Toxic water? You must be new to the planet. The water is fine. As you can see, no black spots.”

Jade inquired, “New to the planet? I don’t even know if I’m still on Planet Earth! I mean, have you seen the kids at the school?! Have you seen the sky?! Have you seen anything!”

The girl looked at her and then it hit her. “Oh! You’re the new girl.” She scoffed, “Well, welcome to Ascot Eve. A living dream.”

Jade asked, “A what?”

The girl got up and pulled out her scented stick and blew out a puff of smoke, “Ascot Eve. A weird town that the unnatural live in. At least, that’s what Mayor Oral says. I don’t know. I never seen any other place other than Ascot.”

Jade slurred, “What do you mean?”

The girl replied, “I don’t know. I’m just going off from what Mayor Oral said. Anyway, it’s quite interesting that you’re here. The whole town was talking about you.” She lifted Jade’s head to get a closer look at her. “But they never said that you had blue eyes. Quite pretty.”

Jade blushed and jumped back. “I-I have so many questions.”

The girl shrugged. “Well, go ask someone who cares. 'Cause I don’t. See ya, Jade.” The girl walked away.

Jade thought about it and yelled out, “How do you know my name?!”

The girl smirked at her. “Another mystery on yours and the town’s hands.” She then walked into the woods without looking back.

Jade ran a hand through her hair and thought, ‘I am not going crazy, no way.’ She heard a howl and ran home without looking back.

Once she reached home, her phone rang. She jumped in fright and looked down at her phone to see her mother calling. She picked up. “Mom! Have you seen anyone with wings, tails, flying, or anything else?!”

Her mom spoke up. “Slow down, honey? What do you mean?”

Jade replied, “I went to school and the students aren’t normal!”

Her mom explained, “Honey, I’ve told you that this town isn’t normal.”

Jade croaked, “I thought you meant by something else. NOT THIS!”

Her mom answered, “I’ll explain everything when I get there, but please, calm down. You don’t have to go to school today if you don’t want to. I have to go. Love you, bye.” She then hung up.

Jade looked at her phone and thought about it for a moment. "How can my mom be so calm about this? How can she ignore this and just move on? How can this town be real?! Is it even on the map?!" She pulled up Google and typed in Ascot Eve, North Carolina, but got nothing back. “How… How can this be? This town doesn’t exist?! WHERE AM I?!”

Somewhere around 10, Jade heard the front door open and heard her mother call out her name. “In here, Mom.”

She heard footsteps walk into her room. “What are you doing, honey?”

Jade asked, “Did you know that this town is not on the map? That this town doesn’t exist in any known map? Mom, where am I?”

Her mom sat in front of her and explained, “In New York, we were having new nurses and doctors coming in and getting jobs that they had no more room for me and a few other nurses and doctors. They had to send us away. The hospital couldn’t find another hospital for me, but someone had found a certain hospital for me to go to in a town called Ascot Eve. She explained how weird this town is and all the people in it. She told me that she’ll contact the hospital and see if I can get the job there. And once I was accepted, I took it. I knew this town was like this and I had no clue if it was safe or not, but if I didn’t take it, I’m out of the job. And you know how hard it is to find a job in New York. So, I’m going on a slim and taking the job.”

Jade took a breath. “So, basically, you’re trying to keep us in the safe of living.”

Her mother nodded. “Yes. And I understand that you might not like this. But it’ll only be until your senior year is up or until I can find another hospital to go to. So, please, just deal with this until then.”

Jade rubbed her head and nodded. “Alright. For you, I will.”

Her mother smiled and kissed her forehead. “Thank you, sweetie. Well, I’m tired. I’m going to go take a nap or something. I’ll see you in an hour or two.”

Jade nodded. “Alright, Mom.”

Her mother walked out of the room and Jade looked back at her computer. She thought about the girl at the river and shook her head. “Ava said that I will be the talk of the town… Maybe that’s how she knows my name. It’s the only thing that make sense… But then again… This whole town doesn’t make sense.” She looked at her computer screen and started looking at colleges for next year.