Separated By a Wall

Answers

We were all seated in Ryker's living room which looked very odd. There was a couch and it was on the ground and not floating. Theirs was soft and the first time I sat in it, I thought I was going to sink! There were no seat warmers and embedded blue cushions. There was no voice to ask if you wanted a drink. It was a simple, comfortable brown couch.

The TV was a flat screen but it was standing on some sort of stand with shelves on the bottom and there were very thick pieces of... plastic? One of them said Furious 7. I thought it was some sort of book but it looked so strange. There was a coffee table but it was made with some dark substance. Ryker tells me it's wood. And I ask him how he got it. He simply laughs in response.

There were paintings hanging above the couch but they weren't holographic. The colors were more vivid and real. There is a red pot with some brown stuff in it and green pointy things sticking out and I ask him about that too. He calls it a plant and says it's similar to grass.

"How do you know about the humans?" I purposely start with the harder questions to know my limits to his answers. I see his jaw visibly tighten and I can just barely see the outline of his vein. "Uh." Hayden cuts in before Ryker can respond. "That's a story for another day." He gives me a tight smile. I nod in understanding, trying not to show too much of my disappointment.

"Okay. What was it like for you when you got here? What were your first thoughts, what did you see, what did you do?" This question causes Ryker to relax and he takes a moment before responding. "I vaguely remember that day." I hear Hayden scoff but pay no mind to him, eager to hear the rest of his response.

"I remember staring at your planet from one of the windows in the ship. I remember getting excited to land. And when we did, I was one of the first to get off. But what I saw wasn't an extension of greeting. It was rejection. Your human soldiers surrounded us, pointing their flimsy guns. We took it as a threat and tried to retreat but we couldn't. So I followed my instincts and ran. Anoch don't usually develop their power until their older. So my instinct wasn't very... reliable. Yet, I still ran."

His eyes are boring into mine, infused with hatred. His supposed light brown eyes seemed to be turning darker by the second, piercing into my gaze. But not for a second did I back down. My eyes were still much darker than his and my determination for these answers will not be extinguished by a stare down.

"I remember there was a girl. All I can remember is dark brown hair. She was beside me almost leading me away from the chaos. But we were soon cornered. We were both up against a wall and the soldier pointed the gun at both of us as if deciding who to kill first. And when I finally heard the shot, the gun was pointed at me. But I didn't feel the wound. I didn't feel anything graze me or an unbearable burning. As it turns out, the girl took the bullet. But I never got to see where it hit her. More soldiers were closing in and as much as I wanted to help I couldn't. So I ran. Eventually, I found my parents. My mother was shaking with my 2 year old brother in his arms and my father was simply blank."

Ryker's gaze broke off of mine as he finished the tale. I let the silence hang in the air, sensing that he needed it to process what he just shared. "And the girl?" I almost didn't want to ask. Hayden patted his back reassuringly. His dark eyes met mine once more. "I never saw her again." I gulped. "I meant was she a human or an Anoch?" He laughed humorlessly.

"I don't know. She was more likely to be Anoch since humans can't do anything for anyone without some sort of price. And if she was. She would have died." I would have loved to relieve the heavy tension right there and then but he needed a moment to heal. Ripping him from that just seemed cruel. 

I heard him clear his throat after a few minutes and I took that was my cue to ask another question. "Do the Anoch have any holidays? You know, besides Anoch Day." Hayden and Ryker exchange glances before both looking at me. "Anoch Day? Humans celebrate us?" How could they not know about a day made specifically for them? "You know Anoch Day? We heard there were thousands upon thousands that died the day you guys came. So we make a shrine and burn it."