The Torn World

Chapter Five

Tremors of shock passed through my body, my jaw dropped. A chill travelled down my spine, terror overtook me. The words of the letter hacked away at my brain cells, desperate for attention. Unwillingly, a scream erupted from my lips, I hadn't realised until then that I had been holding it back. My eyes rolled back into my head.

I woke to Aiden's cries, "Nikki, Nikki, Nikki?!?" My eyelids fluttered open, I took in my surroundings, Aiden bent over me, eyes filled with concern, a water bottle clenched in his iron grip. Rubbing my eyes, I attempted to sit up, resulting in failure. With Aiden's aid, I managed to get up, I leant heavily on Aiden, he supported most of my weight. After the ignored queries about my health, Aiden finally gave up.

I observed Aiden, he appeared calm, controlled and definite. An air of assurance shrouded him. Although I knew him better than that, in such situations, he could easily compose his face to convey certainty, concealing his doubt. I noticed the wringing of his hands, the tightness in his features and the slumping shoulders. These little unobtrusive movements let escape no significance to his lack of faith or confidence but by paying them attention, I had confirmed my observation about his doubts.

"You called me Nikki..." I stuttered. During the younger years of our lives, Aiden had always provoked my anger by calling me Nikki, an adoptive nickname from my middle name, Nicole. The name seemed to trigger my fury, but now as he had said it, a bubble of warmth had expanded inside me. Instead of irritation, I felt elated, like a long lost friend had returned, which in this particular case was very true.

He stared at me in bewilderment, we had just intercepted a letter informing us about the Sun's bitterness and The Darks' true reason behind their intentions and this was my reaction. The warmth inside me ascended, colouring my cheeks. When he spoke, his voice wasn't filled with the disgust I had expected, it was gentle yet firm as if daring any third person to interject. "Nikki, you're still my friend, I've forgotten the past, after all, one can't trip on what's already behind, can they?" he grinned. All I could do was nod slowly.

Then shock seized my thoughts again, a question formed on my lips. Before I got the chance to ask it however, Aiden understood my train of thoughts and answered my unasked question. "The letter is a vital clue to our next step, I trust whoever wrote it, as they must know me. The decision between the Sun and the Moon.... I have no idea who to side with." Obvious confusion was mingled with his exclamation. He turned to face me, and asked of my opinion and perspective of the circumstance. I was surprised, what had he meant about, 'our next step' and why had he thought that my judgement was of so much importance? I voiced my questions. He chuckled, a sound I hadn't heard since we were little kids.

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Aiden's explanation wasn't one I was going to buy, he wanted my opinion because he valued my interpretation of the world. This was hard for me to believe, out of the two of us, Aiden was after all the more sensible one. He weighed out each factor before making descions, he considered the pros and cons of how his decision would affect others, he thought ahead of the future and what causes and effects his decision would do. Whereas I would rush into conclusions, without visualising the big picture. To sum it all up, Aiden was far better at decision-making than I was, he was much more reliable and reasonable, there was no-one who could argue with his judgements with strong evidence or prove him wrong. Despite all of these reasons for which I had presented before him, he would not back down. That was another one of his solid traits, stubbornness. Sighing in defeat, I told him that I required some time to think about it. I needed to sleep on it. He agreed, his eyes full of understanding and patience. Like mother always said, "patience isn't the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting."