Gray Clouds

Chapter 5 - Companionship.

Eli descended down the stairs with hasty steps, with Gray following closely behind. As soon as Eli stepped onto the air conditioner-frosted tiled floor of downstairs, he flinched when he felt a hand smack the back of his head. Eli turned, his mouth open to yell, expecting that it was Gray who hit him. Instead, it was his mother, and his mouth instantly shut tight like security doors.

"About damn time!" Eli's mom growled. She was wearing the same uniform Eli wore, as all the other women in The Community did. "You'd better get a fucking move on! Your dad is waiting!"

Eli nodded silently, quickly heading outside. Meanwhile, Gray was staring daggers at his mother behind him.

"Arschloch..." Gray hissed under his breath, though it didn't really matter since only Eli could hear or see him. "Did you see what she did? That was uncalled for!"

"I felt it." Eli mumbled quietly.

Eli met his father outside in the empty driveway, giving him a sweet smile.

"Ready to go?" His father asked, patting Eli on the shoulder.

"Yes." Eli replied shortly.

"Good. We'll be on our way now. We have to make sure we arrive a little earlier." His father gestured for mom to follow them, and they began walking to The Church. "We'll have to get you to meet your new Companion before we enter The Church."

"Huh? What happened to my other Companion?" Eli asked, not exactly concerned. His Companion was an asshole who used to push him around and harass him because he had a female body.

"He's been caught trying to betray The Community." His father then became solemn, lowering his voice and leaned in real close. "He's been Condemned."

Condemnation. The one punishment that nobody dares talk about out loud. The punishment given to the irredeemable heretics of The Community.

Eli said nothing, and the next minute of their walk to The Church was silent. The only noise was the chatter of other Community members and Gray whistling a song next to him. He stopped when his attention was captured by the topic of Condemnation, leaning closer to Eli similarly to his father with his hands back in his pockets.

"Hey, Starboy, what's Condemnation?" Gray asked, his voice unheard by everyone except Eli.

Eli shook his head, unable to speak to Gray while his parents were near. Gray understood, and he nodded. He then bent down a little, holding his hand out in front of Eli's palm.

"Spell your words on it, I'll understand." Gray instructed.

Eli waited until he was sure his parents weren't looking and discreetly used his finger to write on Gray's palm, tracing against the leather glove serving as a barrier between them.

Eli didn't know much about Condemnation. All he knew was that he was extremely close to finding out once.

It was when he had bought his binder in secret. Unfortunately for him, his mother had gotten to it first when it arrived at their doorstep. He would've found out what Condemnation was if it weren't for his father persuading The Church to let him stay, though he only let him avoid that fate and stay because he believed that Eli could be 'fixed' with enough 'therapy.' Currently, Eli was forced to pretend like it was working. He didn't want to find out what being Condemned means.

All Eli wrote on Gray's palm wrote: "I don't know."

"...Bummer." Gray mumbled, withdrawing his hand.

The surroundings suddenly turned absolutely silent once they arrived at The Church, excluding the whistling of wind and the patter of footsteps on the concrete and grass. Though the rules of being silent applied to the inside of the building, the members liked to keep their silence beforehand.