The Above || Completed

36 Mute

Breathe.
Breathe.
I couldn't. It was too much. None of this could be true. But it was. I just knew. My ears were ringing so loudly that I couldn't hear a word that my grandfather said after he finished telling the story. My vision was blurred and probably glazed over from how long I'd been staring at the photo of my parents and I back when we were happy. I felt as inanimate as the hospital bed on which I sat.

"Maddison." Grace's voice penetrated the piercing sirens in my ears.
My eyes shifted into focus and I looked into her concerned, soft face. I willed my voice to respond but if I couldn't breathe, it couldn't have been any easier to speak.
Bruno stood and took some pills out of a cabinet. "Take her back to the dorm and give her these pills. She'll be asleep until tomorrow morning."
"No," Aeron said firmly, his eyes showing triple the concern in Grace's. "Sleep only prolongs the stress."
"On the contrary-" Bruno started.
"We aren't drugging her," Aeron interjected. "Last time I checked, that's not how you deal with your problems."

I stopped listening, again losing myself to the past. I remembered vividly now. The night of the uprising, when Dad took Mom and I to that unfamiliar cloud island. Mom told me that Dad needed to use the house for work that night. I recalled how distant my father had become after that night, how Mom didn't want me asking questions. And seven years later, the revelation that changed my life. I discovered that I was an angel and so was Dad. We went out flying. My mother died upon our arrival at sunrise, my father doomed to slavery. And me? I escaped and woke up with amnesia.

"Maddison?" Grace roused me from my memories. "Do you need anything?"
I shook my head. It felt strange to move.
"Seeing as your granddaughter's gone mute, we'll be leaving now," Aeron announced.
"You're welcome here any time. Your parents believed you were strong, Maddison. Prove them right," Bruno said, turning to step into his office.
I stood up in a rush, numb. "My father."
"There's no real way of knowing whether he's alive or not," Bruno responded.
"I need to know," I said desperately.
"It's better that you don't," he said with devastating finality.
The door clicked loudly as it closed.

^^^

Zachariah and Erica were probably still in the library. The afternoon had barely passed us by at all. Time is a traitor. I found that I liked the darkness of the dorm better in my current mood. The usual dankness of the atmosphere posed as an equivalent to my emotions. I wondered if that was the way Erica felt in the dorm. Aeron and Grace sat side by side on the bed next to mine, watching me with helpless consternation. They refused to leave me alone. Whether it was in case I decided to utter a word or because they felt they needed to be there for me, I wasn't sure. I don't know how long we sat in silence for. Frankly, I didn't care. I felt the undeniable passage of time. But like I said, time was a traitor. And I was a traitor to silence.

"Does the council know I'm an angel?" I asked.
My friends looked up, shocked and incredulous that I'd spoken.
"No. Your dad was really smart, he erased the councilman's memory of you before he was taken," Grace answered.
"Devonne, talk to us. For real," Aeron pleaded when I didn't respond.
"I don't want to talk about it, Aeron," I replied dryly.
Aeron fell dolefully quiet. Grace cleared her throat.
"Dinner time soon," she said. "We need to make an appearance."
"I'm not hungry," I mentioned simply.
"Oh..." Grace said awkwardly.
"You two can go," I suggested monotonously.
"Stop that," Aeron snapped.
I looked at him with tired eyes. "Stop what?"
"Being so numb. You're going to eat and you're going to talk whether you like it or not." Aeron stood and looked down at me.

His gaze challenged me. And although I couldn't feel a thing, my mind never backed out of a challenge.
"Grace, you go ahead. I need a word with Cornelius," I said indifferently.
She looked confused at the usage of Cornelius but nodded and left the room wordlessly. This talk had been pending since my first doctor's visit.

^^^

!!Author's Note!!

My characters are my treasures.

Anyway, this update is short, I know. But I needed to update. I had so much free time today that I updated Love and Heartbreak, published my new poetry book, Inside Out, and I've managed to fit an update for the Above in too. Talk about a productive Sunday!😊

Thanks a lot everyone! We're so close to 1k.

✨