Five days later, I was sitting on the rock-hard couch in Dr. Montressor’s office, waiting for him to finish his last meeting of the day. Yesenia had started her family’s mole (pronounced mo-lay) recipe this morning, and I was practically salivating at the thought of it. How a sauce with 20+ ingredients, one of which was spiced chocolate, could mesh together to become something that smelled nearly divine, I had no idea. But I couldn’t wait to taste it!

A familiar voice caught my attention, though, and my head snapped towards the door. When the voice sounded again, I immediately jumped off the uncomfortable couch and barreled into the hallway. Rounding a corner at breakneck speed, I nearly collided with a familiar leather jacket. I screeched to a halt at the last second, and Gail turned to give me a wide grin as her calloused hand exuberantly patted my head.

“Hello again, kiddo! Did these scientist-types put you through the wringer while I was gone?” Gail asked with a glitter in her eyes.

I couldn’t help but scan her for any injuries, and I let out a relieved breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding when I didn’t see any. Gail seemed as exuberant as a 50-something-year-old woman could be, so she was either extremely good at hiding her pain or she had been able to return unscathed from the battle.

“I’m glad to see you, Mrs. Gail,” I said sincerely, but jumped when she let out a loud ‘Ha!’

“Mrs schmisus, there isn’t a person alive who could tie me down!” Gail responded with a wide grin on her face.

Blinking rapidly in surprise at her sudden outburst, I smiled apologetically. “Oh, I’m sorry. Ms. Gail then…”

“Now who on earth taught such a little kid to be so stiff and formal? Just call me Gail, kiddo,” Gail interrupted me with a good-natured grin.

My mouth dropped open in shock. In all my past lives, I’d never lived in a culture where respecting your elders wasn't a huge deal. Calling Gail by her first name seemed like a daunting task since it wasn’t like I knew her very well.

“Oh no, I couldn’t,” I tried to insist, but Gail waved her hand in the air as if swatting an annoying fly.

“I don’t stand for pointless formality, kiddo. You can call me Gail or Aunty if that makes you feel better. But don’t you call me Grandma unless you want a flick,” Gail warned while teasingly holding her thumb and middle finger together and placing them close to my forehead.

I tilted my head to the side and then hesitantly opened my mouth. “Aunty Gail?”

Gail grinned widely and lowered her fingers. “There now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

I smiled a little uncertainly before leaning over to look behind her. My lips turned down into a slight frown when I saw that she had been talking to an unfamiliar man in a black suit. “Where are the others?” I asked, trying not to acknowledge how worried I felt.

“The good officer went straight home to canoodle with his wife, and Melissa found herself at the wrong end of a spear from those ugly beasties, so she’s back in a hospital in LA. She should be on her feet soon, though,” Gail explained with a wide grin that was obviously meant to put me at ease.

I furrowed my brow as I tried to interpret some of Gail’s slang terms that I was unfamiliar with, since this was my first time having English as my native language. I soon gave up because, in the end, it sounded like both Officer Guzman and the businesswoman were okay. Relatively, anyway.

“What about Dajan?” I asked, thinking of the handsome young man who had been so quick to help a strange kid, even with oversized killer hornets surrounding him.

“Who?” Gail asked with one eyebrow raised.

Blinking in confusion for a moment, I remembered Gail’s penchant for nicknames and quickly corrected myself. “I mean Pyro. Did he come back with you, too?”

Understanding flashed across Gail’s face, and my heart sank at the hint of awkwardness in her expression that she quickly tried to mask with a relaxed smile.

“Ah, him? He stayed behind with his family in LA,” Gail replied so naturally that I almost let myself be convinced. However, after nine lives, it would be weirder if I hadn’t gained experience in reading body language. I couldn’t ignore the slump in her shoulders or the tightness in her jaw.

“I know I’m just a kid,” I breathed out, my throat suddenly constricting as I tried to control my emotions, “but please don’t lie to me, Aunty Gail. Is Dajan… dead?”

Gail’s dark eyes widened, and she glanced behind her shoulder at the man in a suit who had been talking to her. I was surprised when she let out a sigh and waved her hand in a shooing motion towards the man. He nodded in understanding, and Gail’s hand rested uncharacteristically gently on my back.

Allowing myself to be guided by Gail’s gentle nudges, I soon found myself in the empty conference room where I had said goodbye to Dajan a week ago. Swallowing with some difficulty, I sat in the seat that Gail indicated and gripped my hands together tightly.

Gail pulled another chair directly in front of me and sat down with a heavy sigh. I thought I heard her mumble something about not being good at this stuff, but eventually, she turned to meet my eyes.

“First off, I didn’t actually lie,” Gail began with a half-hearted smirk, which quickly dropped into a frown. “I just didn’t give you all the details.”

I sat silently, watching her intently as I mentally prepared myself for the bad news. It was so unlike me to get emotionally invested like this, but I couldn’t deny the bond that surviving that mess of a dungeon break had created.

“When we got to LA, Pyro wanted to go check on his family first thing. The apartment they lived in was pretty close to the portal, so we all went… but we were too late.”

My eyes widened as Gail let out a heavy sigh with a look of sorrow flashing across her wrinkled face. She met my eyes and slowly shook her head.

“The beasties that came out of the LA portal were similar to the giant bees we dealt with. They were violent and seemed driven to kill everything in sight. Pyro’s family didn’t stand a chance. He lost it when he saw the state they had been left in and went after the monster in a blind rage. One of the beasties snuck up on him from behind and… well, like I said. He’s with his family now.”

My heart sank as I listened to Gail’s story. Dajan had been a college student. He had so much life left to live, and it had abruptly come to an end. A pang of guilt went through me as I remembered back to the fight against the killer hornets and how I used my shield to bat away any of the bees that tried to come up behind Dajan as he spewed out his fire. I wondered briefly if I could have saved him if I'd insisted on tagging along.

“These things happen, kiddo,” Gail said with another sigh. “The world’s gone crazy, and weird monsters are popping out of nowhere. All we can do is take life one day at a time and do our best to survive. Yeah?”

I slowly raised my head to meet Gail’s eyes. Even though I was sad to hear about Dajan and his family's demise, what Gail said resonated with me. After nine lives, I was well acquainted with the concept of taking things one day at a time.

I forced a shaky smile and nodded at the wise older woman(physically older, in any case). She gave me a bright smile and patted me roughly on the shoulder. Then she suddenly shot to her feet and hooked her thumb over her shoulder towards the door.

“I know just the thing to cheer you up. Come with me,” Gail ordered with a wide grin.

I blinked in surprise, briefly recalling the dinner waiting for me at home. My curiosity about what Gail could have in store for me won out in the end, though. It took some time for Dr. Montressor to agree to let me go with Gail, but her stubbornness wore him down. 

Soon, I found myself following Gail out of the laboratory. Although initially I was surprised when Gail led me to a black motorcycle, it fit her image so well that I just silently took it in.

Back in my eighth life, when I lived in a futuristic world, I owned a hover bike that I spent hours on while zipping through the highly organized but jam-packed streets. Seeing such a rustic gas-powered motorcycle was strange but also kind of exciting. Gail took out a small key ring and unlocked her seat, which she swung open with practiced ease. I was surprised when she pulled out a child-sized helmet and plastic glasses that had a few bug splatters on them before passing them over to me.

“I’ve got a nephew that likes to go ridin’ with me,” Gail explained at my obvious surprise. “He won’t mind you using them,” she continued with a grin as she pulled out a brown leather jacket next and handed it to me. It was a bit baggy, but I didn’t complain as I zipped up the jacket and donned the glasses and helmet she'd offered me.

Once she put on her helmet and protective glasses, she flipped down some pegs for my feet to rest on, then straddled the bike with confident ease. She held the motorcycle steady as I pulled myself up behind her. I wiggled a bit on the hard seat, missing the cushy yet supportive foam seat that my old hoverbike had boasted, then leaned forward and wrapped my arms tightly around Gail’s waist.

Without warning, the motor suddenly roared to life, echoing horrendously in the partially enclosed parking garage. I could feel the vibrations of the machine go up my legs and spread through my whole body. My heart started beating a little quicker in excitement.

“Hold on tight, kiddo!” Gail called over her shoulder, giving the engine one last rev before pulling out of her parking spot.

In a matter of moments, we had left the city congestion behind and found ourselves on a beautiful stretch of highway that stretched beside the California coastline. The vibrations of the motorcycle beneath me, the salty wind rushing past me, and the beauty of the ocean created a sort of odd symphony of distraction that soon quieted the guilt that had gripped me at hearing the news of Dajan’s death.

I would have been content to just ride with Gail for the rest of the day, but she obviously had other ideas. After parking her motorcycle in the shade of a beach rental shack, Gail hopped off her bike and steered me to the front counter. Quicker than lightning, I was equipped with a wetsuit, a towel, and a miniature surfboard that was apparently called a bodyboard.

“There’s nothing better to pick your mood up than getting pummeled by waves and splashing in the ocean,” Gail remarked with an authoritative grin as she handed over a few bills to the cashier.

I was then shepherded into a changing room that had an unidentifiable but highly unpleasant smell. Getting into the wetsuit was more challenging than I anticipated, as the material seemed determined to stick to the first patch of skin it came in contact with, but I eventually wrestled myself into it.

Gail also changed into a wetsuit, and as she gave me a broad grin, I wondered if maybe she had gotten so wrinkled from a life lived outdoors under the harsh sun. Her enthusiasm was contagious, though, and I quickly followed her into the ocean. It was colder than I anticipated, but it didn’t take long for me to get used to it.

Hours passed by like minutes as Gail taught me how to bodyboard. I enjoyed the sensation of lying my belly on the board and letting my feet dangle behind me while riding on the small waves that came along. It was amazing to me how comfortable Gail was in the water, and she even showed off her surfing skills with my tiny bodyboard. By the time the sun was beginning to set, I was exhausted and cold but also feeling more relaxed than I had in several lifetimes.

Instead of packing up immediately, Gail spread out her towel and lay down with a satisfied grunt. I copied her posture and we basked in the last rays of sunlight.

“Nothin’ beats the sound of the waves at the end of the day,” Gail declared with her eyes still closed and a lazy smile quirking up the corners of her lips.

Feeling a matching smile begin to spread across my own face, I closed my eyes and, for a brief moment, just enjoyed the beauty of this moment.