「SO OUTSIDE OF MY MISERY, I THINK I'LL FIND」
「A WAY OF ENVISIONING A BETTER LIFE」
「FOR THE REST OF US, THE REST OF US」
「THERE'S HOPE FOR THE REST OF US, THE REST OF US」
•THIS IS BOOK II
• THE FIRST BOOK IS CALLED "Revenge"
•ART CREDITS ARE UNKNOWN:...
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Chapter Thirty-One: Role Model
Warning: Slight Violence
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"AKELDAMA?"
She didn't remove her gaze from the floor. She sat on the edge of the couch, the living room illuminated only by the lamp in the corner of the room. She sat with her arms dangling between her parted legs, fingers interlaced. Her long strands of hair swept over her shoulders, cascading down around her face.
Nathan stepped into the room cautiously. He repeated her name in a quiet voice and watched as her grip on her own hands tightened. He swallowed hard.
"Why did you not come to me?"
Her voice had a tone that made Nathan tense up. She lifted her head, turning her toward her brother. Her eyebrows were laced together, her bronze eyes burning with a whirlwind of emotions. Dark circles stained under her eyes.
Nathan swallowed thickly. "I didn't want you to find out about it."
She stood to her feet in a fluid motion, making Nathan tense. She walked to him, stopping a meter away. "My father is brought back to life, and you don't think to mention it to me?"
"It isn't him," Nathan tried to defend. "In order to come back to—"
"I know what it takes," She raised her voice. "Do you think I'm fucking stupid?"
"No, Aki, that's not what—"
"My father's body is being tainted," She spat. "And it didn't even cross your mind to come to me about this?"
"I didn't think it would be good for you," He exhaled. "You said you couldn't do it anymore. You deserve to have a normal life. I didn't want to reopen old wounds."
"They never closed," She said quietly. "I never got the chance to properly wourn my father's death. I never got to bury him, nor my uncle. That wound has never healed."
"Aki, I—"
"Just–" She cut him off, lifting a hand to her face. She held it against her cheek before raking it through her hair, pushing it away from her face. "Just stop talking."
"I did it to protect you," He said softly. "I need you to understand that."
"I don't need you to protect me!" She suddenly exclaimed, making Nathan jump in surprise. "This is my father! My family!"
Nathan's lips turned into a frown. "And I'm not?"
When she met his gaze, suddenly, Nathan was seven again. When he first met her. She stood beside her mother's bedside, her face turned into a scowl. Her eyes were full of hatred and anger. Her gaze was icy, and remembers the chill that had ran down his spine. The way her lips curled into a deep frown as she gazed down at the child their mother had just pawned off onto her. He watched in that moment what youth she had slipped away from her. At a mere sixteen years old, she'd lost everything and gained something that would only slow her down. He saw it in her eyes. He was terrified.
