Authentication

I look from the scroll to Hailey in shock. ‘Is this some kind of joke?’ I ask.

She looks back at me and blinks, confused. I wordlessly hand her the scroll and she reads it’s contents. I watch her face and eyes carefully as she reads. Her face changes from confused, to shocked, to sad, to some form of resolution. She looks at me again.

‘You think this is true?’ She asks. ‘Let’s find out.’ I say, walking to my bedroom door, opening it and stepping outside.

I walk to my parents ominously closed bedroom door. I knock on it, three times, loud and clear. No answer. I open the door and peek inside.

They aren’t there.

I turn and walk back towards Hailey, who has her head stuck out of my bedroom door. I shake my head and walk inside my bedroom. I take my phone from my desk and dial 000. I put it on speaker phone and we wait for someone to answer.

We’re sorry, but we aren’t available right now. Please leave a detailed message as to why you’re calling and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. I hang up.

‘My parents are gone and the emergency services aren’t answering. Do we need any more proof?’ I ask. Hailey shakes her head. ‘It’s too random to all just be a coincidence. Somehow I appear in your bed, with you not knowing a thing about it and on the same morning, your parents just happen to be gone and the emergency services just happen to not be answering, something that only happens when there’s some kind of war being fought or something.’

It strikes me just how ridiculous this is. I wonder how Hailey believes it so quickly. Everything she’s just said is true, and yet, it’s much more likely that I’ve somehow kidnapped her, despite the fact that I’ve only ever laid eyes on her once.

At least that would be within the realms of what we knew was physically possible, before all this.

I lead Hailey to the kitchen and go get dressed in my jeans, Deicide: Overtures Of Blasphemy shirt and battle jacket. As I emerge from my room, Hailey grins.

‘You’re a Metalhead?’ She asks. I nod, returning the grin. ‘Hell yeah.’ I make us both some toast and we sit down at the kitchen bench, enthusiastically discussing music.

She's nothing like the cold and distant girl that she had always been described as, though I suspect that has something to do with her also being a Metalhead.

As we finish breakfast, and our conversation falls into a comfortable silence, I look over at the Christmas tree and the presents stacked under it. I sit at the tree and find a present labelled with my name. I find a present labelled in my brother’s name.

I pick it up and offer it to Hailey. She sits down with me and takes the present. ‘Happy Yule.’ I say with a smile. She returns my smile. ‘Happy Yule.’