The Boy With The Firefly Crown

Chapter three

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Shiloh has nightmares. They hunted him and left him bare. His insomniac mind made horrendous monsters that he was deeply afraid of. Those of his loved ones. His phobias. And he wanted to sleep, not because of the tiredness anymore, but because of the nostalgia of having dreams.

Oh, how much he missed a normal sleep. He'd rested his eyes for as long as he could before getting ready for the day.

Once he'd finally sat up, he noticed Dory leaning against the wall as he watched him without care. That immediately made him feel better but he didn't reveal it.

"G'mornin." Shiloh nodded in acknowledgment and immediately began to change, also being careful with the cuts under his feet.

"I decided to pass by since David's not here," His brother said as he glanced down at him with a somehow doleful look. Shiloh pressed his lips into a thin line and did not respond. He started buttoning up his school shirt. Images of Lucius flashed in his mind and he thought back at what he had seen just five days ago. He had seen a man being persecuted.

"How are your friends? Has Melian finally bought those books he wanted on mythology?"

He nodded while he worked on his wine red tie.

"Has anything happened that I should know about?"

Shiloh eventually looked at him with a very aggrieved expression. It was a painful one...a disappointed one. It was such an intense stare into those familiar eyes. Shiloh wasn't mad at his brother. He didn't have any feeling of resentment towards him but he just couldn't help but be just a bit crestfallen. Where was he? That didn't matter at all. Who would want to be in this awful place anyways? But where was he when he needed him? Shiloh thought about telling him everything. What he did every day, where he went, what happened when his father was present. He probably knew about it. He didn't blame him for not doing anything about it. But where was he?

He snorted and looked down. His hair went down towards his face so his hands went to his hair to push it all back and he once again gaped at his brother with a still painful but loving look. Shiloh smiled a dead smile.

"Nothing at all."

Oh, Dorian knew that was a lie. Dorian knew about it all.

He grasped Shiloh's hand and rubbed his thumb on the back of his hand as if to soothe him from all the pain he had gone through, that he seemingly did not know about. But this just threw salt on that wound. A wound that wouldn't heal and was still fresh. The clutch of his hands was a very anomalous one. It was a clutch that happened when you had something you loved so much on your hands you just wanted to crush it. But Dorian held his hands so delicately that Shiloh would think it was a thin cotton sheet hugging his hand. He couldn't take it anymore. He didn't advert his gaze again at the older boy so he released his hands from the hold and turned to distract his mind. He wouldn't stand seeing those ghostly, sore eyes again. For he would break down and the skies would be jealous for how much poured from his single two eyes.

When he turned once again, Dorian wasn't there. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

As Shiloh walked by Balmy's Bakery about seven streets away from his school, he took a glance at his side where the black car was following him. He had been aware of this for three days already. He wasn't as slow-witted as others would think. It had indiscreetly followed him to Alem's shop, to the park, to school, and he'd seen the same car parked right outside his house. At school, he would quickly look at Lucius and he'd already find him looking right back with a knowing stare. In this instance, he was aware of the man who'd started following him about twenty feet away. To say he was anxious was an understatement.