Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
your pov
I glanced at Violet, who was sitting beside me in a quiet, dimly lit corner. The atmosphere around us buzzed with the usual hustle of people moving between tables, laughter and chatter filling the air. But in our little corner, the silence between us felt almost suffocating. People walked past, oblivious to the tension hanging in the air, but I wasn't in the mood to make small talk with Caitlyn, the Enforcer, and the feeling seemed mutual. She was focused on her food, not even bothering to glance our way.
Violet, on the other hand, sat there with her usual defiance, yet something about her presence still managed to rile me up. I couldn't shake the weight of those hurtful words she'd thrown at me, even though I knew deep down it wasn't entirely her fault. Seven years. Seven years of silence, and still, the sting of her words cut through me like it was yesterday. "You can't do anything right." Those words haunted me in the quiet moments, and here I was, sitting across from her, the years between us that no amount of time could ever fill.
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, trying to avoid her gaze. I knew I should've said something, should ask about her life, what had happened in the years we were apart. But I really don't care, it's doesn't matter to me. Not when there was still this knot of anger and hurt tangled up inside me.
"I went back to my same habits like when you first met me, I didn't go out after you left," I murmured after a while, speaking to myself then to her. "Or when they took you, I guess it's the same thing now. I knew Silco had taken Powder, but there was nothing I could do. He runs everything down here now. Vander's gone, and so much has changed. It's like the whole city's different without him."
I paused for a moment, thinking back to the days when things were simpler. Or maybe I just thought they were. The days when we could all walk the streets without worrying about who was watching or who was in charge.
"And then there's Ekko..." My voice trailed off, the mention of his name stirring up a sense of loss I hadn't expected. It had been six years since he disappeared, since he told me he had to finish something—whatever that was. After Violet left, he just... vanished. The whole year after she was gone, I held on to hope that he'd come back, that he'd show up like he always did, full of fire and ideas for what we could do next. But he never did. I didn't know what happened to him, and I had to convince myself that he was okay. That he could handle himself.
As for me, I had nothing but time. Time that dragged on as I spent my days and nights alone, tucked away in the Last Drop. I played, drank, and numbed myself to the world. I had no other purpose. The music, the crowd, the drinks—they became my escape, the only thing that kept the darkness at bay. And in those rare moments of peace, I could almost forget. Forget the pain, the losses, the people who were gone. Forget the voices.
The voices of Mylo and Claggor.
They appear once in a while, speaking to me. Random voices come through, making it hard to sleep. Anywhere I go, I twitch when my mind starts to get cloudy with voices. I think it has something to do with that night everything went down, but I don't exactly remember how I even ended up alive, or how I'm here today. I actually don't remember a lot of things.
