Renata

Chapter 7

Luciano

There are several theories on how the universe would end. One stood out to me the most.

In one million trillion trillion trillion years, with the death of the last sun, the age of starlight will come to an end. No planets, no stars, no lingering stellar remnants for life to cling to. All the things bright in the world, would cease to exist. That's when the black hole era will begin. Leaving a seemingly endless, black and quiet void.

I believe everyone lives in their own little universe. With their own stars, planets, moons, and suns. I have one too. I had my own stars. Some bright enough to give me warmth, some rotten from within that it sucked the warmth from me. But no matter how many stars or moons I had, there was only one sun in my universe. The brightest of them all. But the shine didn't last long.

When my sun died, it was like she took all the stars with her. All that was left was a void. A devastating, black void. I felt empty. The stars tried to lend me warmth but I refused. I wanted my sun back. With it's full glory, to help me out of this darkness that I had been trapped in. I was stubborn. Perhaps, I didn't want to believe my age of starlight had ended.

But as time went, my eyes adjusted to the darkness and I found solace in solitude. I found warmth in the dark. But it wasn't the same. It will never be the same. Living the last 14 years in the same darkness proved that.

_

I walked away to my room after greeting Luca, my eyes back on my phone, checking updates on the shipment set to arrive. Last night my system picked up a text sent out by a member stationed at the docks, to an anonymous number. The text was all sorts of shady. I had to take care of it before the shipment reaches the coast.

I could hear footsteps behind me, making me sigh internally. I knew my greetings to Luca weren't filled with warmth but I didn't care. I imagined what Serena would've done if she were here. She would slap me on my head and tell me to be kind. She would tell me that he is our little brother who has come back home after 14 years and that we should welcome him with love and care and help him settle down. Then she would plan all the ways we could torture the people who took him away in the first place. But that was the thing. She wasn't here, was she?

I entered my room and left the door open for him. Walking to my messy table, I pick up my laptop and open the file that needs to be printed. My back is towards the door but I can feel him standing in the doorway, looming like a dark cloud. I wait for it to print and look out the window behind the table. My eyes stray towards the little trail to the south of the land.

"It's not his fault. Don't treat him any different than you would your other siblings. It would help him get comfortable." His voice snaps me out of it. The lack of anything but indifference irks me. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who misses her.

"I didn't see you crying with joy or peppering him with kisses either, Michael. Maybe you should take your own advice." His silence was warning enough that I was treading on dangerous waters. The papers were printed and I kept them in a file and closed my laptop. There was a pause and his firm voice repeated, "It isn't his fault Luciano." I knew that. "I know. But it's not fair." My voice was a mere whisper as my eyes went back to the trail on the land leading to the place of my miseries. There was silence again. A beat passed before he spoke.

"I know." This time his voice had a hint of something that was indistinguishable. I turned around with my laptop and file and walked towards him. His eyes were searching mine, trying to find what I was thinking. "I have something to take care of." I walked out towards the living room. "Be there for dinner. It's important." He called out. "Don't worry, I will be." That was the end. With Michael, the conversations were short and to the point. No beating around the bush.