107

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I woke up to the sound of thunder. I looked through the windowsill and saw that the sky was dropping down little diamonds and crystals as well as tears. It was beautiful. I always saw a peculiar beauty in thunderstorms. It was as if the sky was alive and filled with thudding energy. I looked at the digital clock on the nightstand that read 8:45 am; however, there was no indication in the sky that showed that it was morning. The sun was hiding behind thick clouds.

I turned on the radio just because I hadn't done so for so long. It was my habit to wake up to the music played on the stations. With a buzzing sound, the tiny screen on the slightly advanced radio read 'on' in ruby-red letters. "Good morning, Northern Isles! This is Chad Edwards here from Morning Tea station on the FM frequency 65.7! As you can all see, or not. I don't know. Some of you may be living in basements!" He broke a loud laugh. That was not funny. "It is pouring outside with the temperature anticipated to drop to 11 degrees celsius, which is not too bad. But according to the local weather channel, there is 85 % chance that it will rain again tomorrow. Hooray to all of you people who like to stay back at home and drink hot chocolate. Now for the music portion of this lovely morning, we will start off with 'I set fire to the rain' by Adele just for the symmetry of it. Have a good morning and remember to warm up with a morning cup of tea!" I always thought their catch phrase was way too cheesy.

After I listened to Adele, I took a long bath, got dressed and opened the door only to find Vanessa's hand lingering in mid air as if she was about to knock.
"Good morning, Myra." She attempted a weak smile. It was not the warmest smile you would get from your best friend, but it's not everyday that I get anyone to look at my face without fear or anger painted red on their face.
"Good morning, Vanessa. "
"So... Um... Breakfast is ready. Nash invited me over. Are you ready to go now or..."
"Yeah. I'm starved. " I looked down at my clothes and saw that what I wore: destroyed denim pants, grey long sleeve shirt, and black sweatshirt and sneakers, looked awfully boy-ish in comparison to Vanessa's rose jumper and fitted floral jean pants. She was always a sight to see whether it was her style, her deep green eyes or soft curly brunette hair.

"So have you been awake for long? " she asked trying to start a small chat.
"Not that long." I realized that I kind of shot down her attempt when awkward silence filled afterwards.
"How long were you guys engaged for?" I said nodding my head towards the beautiful ring on her right hand finger.
"Almost 2 months." She paused then hesitated for a moment before she said," Myra, I know what you've been through and I just wanted to tell you that we were and always will be best friends. You know that, right? And I'll be here for you if you need anything... Welcome home. " she said with a warm smile.

No one smiles like that to an assassin.

I had no idea what to say so I just smiled as friendly as I could. Her facial expression was like a knife to the heart, though. She looked at me like I was a wounded soul that needed to be mended, like I was some kind of broken and fragile being.

Sometimes the only thing worse than being feared is being pitied.

We walked along the hallways along the walls decorated with paintings and portraits my mother once drew. She was a true artist but never got the chance to reach her deserved fame and worldwide admiration. There was one portrait in particular that grabbed my attention; the family portrait. Of course, same as all of or family pictures, I stood out looking nothing like my parents and brother except for our chocolate brown hair though not even Nash had the blue streak in his hair.
I was ten and I remember being so happy I was allowed to wear one of mum's soft pink lipsticks. I stopped in front of it not paying attention to Vanessa who continued walking on without noticing me stopping. "I miss you..." I whispered. As if they would hear you. They are dead.