Glowing Eyes and Ghostly Meetings

Even though she promised herself that her death was going to be about her and not boys, she couldn't help but like this guy. The idea of exploring this place with him, comforted her. Yes, he was a bit excentric, coming across as though he had come from the victorian era, but she found it sweet. He was nothing like the men she had dated.

Taking his arm, they both walked off towards the city. "So, how old are you?"

"I doubt it, I'm in college." She would have loved a familiar face in her classes. She knew no one on the island and she was trying to adjust to their way of life. A dragon trampling someone's tulips was probably the sort of thing that happened in Manta Carlos. A week ago, the idea of a dragon being real was crazy to Amelia.

The question of: what exactly is Orion? Kept circling her mind, but she didn't want to seem rude by asking. She also hadn't told him that she was dead, but that was hardly a conversation starter. "Do your parents live here with you as well?"

"Technically, I'm 23, but I'm actually only 18." Only after she said that did she realise how confusing that sounded. Like Amelia guessed earlier, Orion was in fact a robot - well, an android. She thought that it if he told her what he was, she should actually tell him. "That's pretty cool. Not the no parents part, I guess. I'm ... dead."

Surprisingly, there seemed to be no hint of judgement from Orion. Amelia expected people to view her differently if she told them she was dead, but people on this island didn't seem to be phased by it. She loved that about Manta Carlos: All outsiders are welcome. She smiled at him, "Who gives a damn what other people say?" They had both reached the magic shop, and she thought it best to let Orion go first - just in case.

Amelia watched as Orion slipped his goggles over his eyes. Why would he want to hide something so beautiful? Especially in a place where it seems like everyone is accepted. "You don't have to hide what you are. You should celebrate what makes you different." Great, now she sounded like one of the pamphlet that a guidance counselor would hand out to insecure teens.

She followed him to a shop that seemed normal from the outside, apart from a few artifacts that were on display in the window. "It's my pleaseure," she responded to Orion's thanks. Inside, the walls were lined with small bottles, glowing and fizzing with perculiar colours and various contents that Amelia had never seen before, talismans and charms. The place was only small but she found it amazing.