Subsist

Chapter Three

Chrona got, at most, an hour of sleep. The sounds of Ambrose crying out in pain kept her up most of the night, the rest of the time when he finally drifted off into unconsciousness Chrona would think back on the memories she had with her family before everything happened. With as quick as the memories came, they left just as fast. Plans of escape took their place.

Though, as she really thought about the plans she realized how many defects there were. Most of them ending in the death of her and her entire family. She sighed and brought the pillow from under her head over her face to block out the sun that showered in from upstairs. She groaned.

Just as quickly as she groaned she heard a chuckle. "Aren't I suppose to be the one moaning in pain?" Ambrose said quietly. Chrona smiled from under the pillow.

"Do you know how some twins, if one gets hurt the other feels the other's pain?" Chrona began.

"Yeah." Ambrose replied.

"Well that's what it is. I'm feeling your pain, Brose." Chrona nodded.

"But we aren't twins." Ambrose chuckled before inhaling sharply.

Chrona paused for a moment to let her brother catch his breath. "Well from now on we are."

"Changing our lives once more.." Ambrose replied with a sigh.

Chrona paused again. All joking seemed to cease. It was true though. Everyone had to continuously change themselves in order to stay alive. Chrona couldn't even remember her name from before The Night. Obviously, Ambrose wouldn't either. She had changed her life so many times she couldn't keep track.

To be honest she had only been Chrona for about 8 years now. Ambrose stayed Ambrose since The Night. Who knew what her parent's lives were before all of this. Chrona was still too young to understand anything. She kept her head in a book and paid no attention to the life outside of the imaginary worlds.

Chrona pulled the pillow off of her face and squinted, letting her eyes adjust to the lighting. She looked over to Ambrose who stared up at the ceiling with a blank expression. "Can you remember anything? You know.. before all this?" She asked. She fiddled with her fingers for a second. "I know you were young, but do you remember anything at all?" She persisted.

Ambrose continued to look up at the ceiling before slowly turning his blue hues to Chrona. A few strands of his dark brown hair stuck to his face glued by the blood from the floor. "It was my birthday." He said softly. "I remember the bright fire spreading out across the sky, I remember thinking All of this for me?" Ambrose paused for a long while attempting to catch his breath.

Chrona closed her eyes and went back through her memories where she finally found the night everything happened.

Chrona smiled at her brother across from her at the table. He beat his hands against it, waiting for the sugar iced beauty that sat in the middle of the table. Chrona turned her eyes back to her book where she continued reading.

"Okay, it's time to sing happy birthday. Come on dear, come over here." Chrona's mother smiled toward the living room where Chrona's father sat, eyes glued to the television. Her smile slowly started to fade as she realized he wasn't going to budge. She quickly put her smile back on and pushed the cake toward Ambrose. "Put down the book sweetie, let's sing to your brother." Chrona did as she asked and smiled to her brother before starting the old tune.

They were cut off only seconds later by cracks of fire and a sound of explosions. Ambrose's eyes grew wide as he slipped off of the chair and waddled over to the large front window. "Me?" He said softly. Chrona put down her book, mesmerized by the beautiful colors the explosions gave off. Chrona smiled as her hand touched the doorknob to the front door and walked out into the street. Everyone was screaming, gunshots ringing out. But why were they so scared, this was the most beautiful light show she's ever seen.

"Chrona!" A voice screamed. Before she had a chance to react, her father scooped her up into his arms and quickly brought her inside. "Take them downstairs." He insisted. Her mother did as he asked.

Ambrose began to cry, wanting to see more of the beautiful lights. Chrona watched her father shut the blinds and lock the door.

Chrona felt the clean air one last time.

Apparently Ambrose had continued the story while Chrona spaced out. But by the time she caught on to what Ambrose was saying, he finished. "What do you remember?" Ambrose asked. Chrona shook her head. "I don't remember anything. I think my fall might have messed up my head a little more than we though." She lied. "But I remember we used to be happy." She said with a small smile. Ambrose smiled as well.

"Do you need any water? Are you hungry?" Chrona asked, throwing off the thin blanket. Ambrose shook his head weakly. "I think I'm good for now." Chrona nodded. "Alright, well I'm gonna go get me something. I'll be right back." She smiled as she got to her feet. "Alright, be careful." Ambrose called out as Chrona walked away. She paused and sighed turning her head to look back at her brother. "I will."

Chrona kept her head against the granite counter top as the thin stream of water continued to fill the cup slowly. Any day now She thought to herself. The cup never seemed to gain any weight to it and Chrona gave up drinking the little bit of water the cup held. As she stood there, in plain view of the window she noticed a dark figure walking calmly on the sidewalk. Her head tilted to the left in slight confusion. She walked over to the window and waited to see if anyone would shoot this boy. Nothing but silence. He made it out of sight and Chrona continued to wonder how he survived.

She paused for a moment. The broken blinds giving her away obviously, yet nothing happened. She reacher her hand to the doorknob and hesitated. Chrona looked around and tried to listen for a sound, she could hear nothing upstairs and nothing downstairs. She turned her attention back to the knob. It felt as if it were on fire under her hands.

Her fingers slid the latch of it to the opposite direction. Already she felt as if she was making too much noise. She gripped the knob tightly and slowly turned it. The door creaked, but not as loud as she was expecting.

The sunlight burned Chrona's eyes but the air felt so very nice against her skin. She took a deep breath and smiled as she stood in the doorway. Her bare feet pressed onto the warm pavement and soon her entire body was glowing in the rays of the sun. Her black Capri pants captured most of the sunlight causing her to stay warm though she wore a blue tank top helped with nothing.

She continued to take steps forward, slowly. Nothing was happening. Maybe everything fixed itself. She told herself with a smile.

A noise caused her to jump and she immediately saw the same dark figure running back. Chrona panicked but did not move an inch. He continued to run toward her but she stayed frozen. Death wasn't what she wanted anymore, but it seemed she would have to deal with it. She closed her eyes taking in the last few rays of sun her body would get. Outstretching her arms she eagerly awaited her death.

Chrona felt a strong grip on her arm. She opened her eyes to see the pale boy looking straight at her. His ruffled dark hair slightly covered his bright blue eyes. His face was flushed and he breathed heavily. "I think you should run."