Resurrection {NaNoWriMo}

Chapter 10

Her heart bled for him, as she felt his pounding in his chest in the corner of the room, and she ached to reach out and comfort him, for him to allow her to embrace him as he had did for her when she had suffered from the suffocating dark becoming too overbearing. She had been momentarily infuriated by Alias, but the anger had melted into pity. Everyone here, all of the broken hearted people with souls that had grown tattered and weary from so much struggling and loss, deserved to feel happiness and joy. She felt a pang in her chest as she sought to give it to all of them, but she knew that this extended far beyond her and her capabilities. But she would not give them judgment or scorn for their ways that were rougher around the edges. Beneath all of their shadows, they had hearts all the same, hearts that beat and wept and leapt. She was set to help one of them uncover their pain, no matter how stubborn he might've been.

A smile taking over her face as she looked back to the fluttering people, to how alive and jovial they were, she wondered if she could somehow manage to make them all smile and laugh that way. She thought of how the sweet sound of laughter was touching her ears as she had solemnly heard it in all of her times in the caves with these people. She had been isolated the entire time within the same walls, and she felt a yearning to learn more of Community, to somehow become a part of it.

Acacia looked to the elders. Raygen was the most pleased she had ever seen her be. Her eyes were saucers as she watched a woman with streaks of grey in her hair through her black stand and walk, going in circles around her. Her eyes sharpening, Acacia noticed the strange resemblance between the two of them, the same strong nose and wild hair. The woman was slightly taller, but their slim long figures were almost identical.

"They're sisters," Edmund replied from behind her, causing her to jump.

Acacia paused for a moment, the world strange to her ears yet held a certain amount of warmth to it, something that murmured family and familiarity. "They have the same mother?" She tried.

He paused for a moment. "Yes, they had the same parents. Did you not understand?"

She bit her lip, questioning whether or not it was wise to let Elder Edmund know of her erratic memory. "It is a familiar word, but strange all the same. I feel like I have known it before, just by a different name."

His brows rose. "Another language?"

"I...I think so." Gripping her head, Acacia shook it. "It's hard for me to recall things at times. I catch glimpses of people, places, but as soon as I can grasp them, they vanish."

"Do you often dream of such things?"

She didn't mask her shock. "Yes, at least weekly. It's been getting more frequent ever since..."

Edmund watched her cautiously. "Ever since...?" He prompted.

Deciding she could trust him, she confided in him. "Ever since I had a moment of claustrophobia, or that's at least what Alias told me. I woke up one night after a glorious dream, and after seeing such beautiful images the dark just smothered me. I wanted to get out, and I panicked. They have been becoming more regular ever since I had the fit."

He mulled over her words, his hand stroking the stubble that had broken across his jaw. Acacia had come to learn that Edmund was the youngest of the three elders. His dark brown hair was always cropped short across his scalp, and he had a strong physique for resembling more of a sage intellectually. He was the softest out of all of them, but not any less lethal. He was fierce as were all people of Community, but his heart was the brightest through the cracks, had the gentler melody outside of all the discordance. Acacia favored his presence more than all others in Community, aside from Alias. Her heart had grown fond of him, viewing him as her responsibility due to the pain she had inflicted upon him, the pain she sought to placate and cease but he refused to let her.