The Story of Midnight

Chapter 12

"Nothing brings down walls as surely as acceptance."

― Deepak Chopra, The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore

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The ominous silence followed everyone as we passed the gates and went inside our cells.

The soldiers finished their work and soon no sound was heard.

I stood in front of the iron door with my head bowed, deep in thought, clutching the bars of my cell.

Now every prisoner here knows who and what I am.

Will they still look at me the same way?

They must be thinking about it as much as I was thinking about my real past. I'm actually taken aback by how easy I accepted the facts. I didn't ask if they were true or not, but something tells me otherwise. Deep inside I know it's true, I'm not denying it. It's who I am.

I took a calming breath to steady myself.

Now I just wanted to sleep even though it was still a bit early in the afternoon. It felt like that conversation drained my energy.

I turned around, ready for the darkness to flood my mind, when I felt warmth cover my chest as arms wrapped around my waist. I quickly became alert and was ready to fight back when the waves told me that it was just Lynx. I forgot he was still here.

He heard everything the Commander said so why isn't he avoiding me like I thought he would? Like I thought everyone would.

He held me in his arms for a while, probably thinking of what to say to me. I didn't return the gesture; my body just froze at the close proximity we were in.

My mind was frantically telling me to get away from him. I started to pry his hands from my waist, but his arms tightened a bit as he whispered something only meant for me, "I don't care if what the Commander said is true or not. I still see you the same way I did when I first met you. Just don't let that power change you, Silver."

I squeezed my eyes shut and willed my arms to move again but I just couldn't. My heart hammered wildly in chest as my fear started to consume me. I wanted to frantically scratch at the places he made contact with; wanting the sensation of his touch to be as nonexistent as possible.

He must've noticed something was wrong with me since he started to slowly rub my back trying to calm me down and whispered, "Its okay, Silver. You don't have to be afraid anymore."

I slowly opened my eyes as my breath hitched in my throat. Something sparked in me then, something that I thought I lost a long time ago: humanity. This stranger somehow made me feel human. All the times I've been called anything but my name made me realize that I wasn't one. Soon, I started to see myself as the creature everyone wanted me to be. It took me a while to break through that mindset. Now, Lynx reminded me how it felt like to feel normal.

"You're too stubborn for your own good." I murmured, my voice tight from the war inside of me, ignoring the comment he made. Weak laughter was his response.

He continued to trace circles on my back; coaxing me to uncoil my tense muscles.

Why was it that I needed to be comforted? I guess the lack of human contact makes you forget that you're not alone anymore. You have people that you can trust and rely on when you need it most, but it was going to take a while for Lynx to become that person to me. You'd think it would be the other way around, but I never thought I could trust people since Shade, the village I grew up in for a while, is completely against me. It never bothered me to not find someone I could trust. Guess the villagers somehow made sure it stayed that way. At least now I have someone that I can slowly put my trust on.

Finally, Lynx stepped back a few small steps, and whispered in the same tone of voice, "Feel better now?"

I still had my head down, facing him, as I nodded; trying to pull myself together. He carefully brought his hand to my hood and stopped when he saw me take a step back.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He whispered in such a tender voice that I almost believed him.

"I can't," I said shakily.

"You don't have to be afraid of me."

After taking a few calming breaths, I willed myself to stay put as he slowly pulled my hood backward revealing my abnormal colored hair. His fingertips reached my chin and lifted my head to look him in the eye.

His cool touch made heat rush to my cheeks, but I still somehow managed to flinch at the slight contact even after all he said to me.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, teasingly.

I smiled slightly, amused with his playfulness; trying to make me forget my fear, and answered," Yes, I'm sure."

A few moments passed until I noticed how close his face was to mine, that only made the already rising heat to spread. I snapped out of the spell and playfully smacked his hand away and laughed softly.

"I said I'm fine, Cloud," I explained, keeping my voice light so only he could hear.

"That's Lynx to you." He said, emphasizing his new name.

I let out a small halfhearted sigh and muttered, "Whatever."

Lynx laughed quietly as I made my way around him to sit in the left corner of the cell. He sat down a few centimeters away from me.

To think I could just joke around with him at a time like this.

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Do you think Silver is a step closer to trusting Cloud?