Crowley wants to think that's just some useless nobody from nowhere, and keep living his life with his best friend. But any hope of that is lost as soon as he discovers memories he had long forgotten about.
***
Crowley hasn't known a life without Sk...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I know what they're for, I've lived with them for years now, but it doesn't make the sound any less unsettling. I feel my heart rate pick up. Shit, is this a panic attack? I hope it's not, that would be really annoying right now.
I sit upright, feeling the familiar weight settle into my chest. I need light, the darkness feels like too much pressure. I get up, stumbling over and plugging in the fairy lights. The familiar, soft colors fill the room. I immediately feel a bit better. I head back over to the mattress, settling down and resting my head against the wall. I just sit their and breathe, letting my head clear and reminding myself that I'm okay and I'm not there anymore.
My family was killed during one of these Skylie raids.
I don't remember much from before, It's all spotty. What I do remember is not a lot and seems meaningless, but it's all I have. I hold onto it like it's my life source. The feeling of my mother's hands running through my hair, the joyful screams and giggles as I tickled my younger twin sisters until they were out of breath and our bellies hurt. My father, taking me to the roof of our house and having me look out a make shift telescope to try and spot Saturn. I was happy, then.
I remember how that day started, like any other day. I was 10 (I think?), and I got ready for school with my sisters. I remember we were learning about multiplying fractions, and a girl from my class brought cookies for all of us. It all seemed so normal, I never would've thought anything of it.
The Skylies wanted us to think everything was normal.
The raid was that night, after my sisters and I had gone to bed. I remember I was shaken awake by my dad. My mom was screaming, a horrible cry that I'll never forget. My sisters' bedroom was on fire; my sisters were ash.
My father and mother ran with me out of the apartment, feet pounding against the dirt as the flames consumed our home. I didn't know what my family had done wrong; it could've been any distant relative that had done something wrong to warrant all of our deaths. I still don't know what we did wrong.
We were stopped by Skylies. Everything moved incredibly fast, like a blur. My vision went black. When I woke up, the street was empty, coiling with smoke from the burning houses.
I didn't dare look at the bodies of my parents on either side of me, I ran.
I lived as a street rat for a year or two before falling into the strip mall through the illusion door. I've been here ever since, and I've never told anyone what happened to me. I'm not the only person here who's lost their families to a raid, I know that, but the memories of that time feel too personal for me to share. I keep quiet, let others do the talking, and move on.
The alarms deafen, which means the Skylies have carried out their genocide for the night. I breathe easier, knowing that it's over, but it still doesn't lighten the load. Knowing that there are Landers out there, dying at the hands of these horrendous creatures like my family did ties my stomach in knots. It makes my blood boil.
