Helios didn’t like the island but it was better than having to pack their bags and move to a different place every night when they were living on the mainland, never sure where their next meal was coming from. Helios wondered how his father had even managed to scrape the money together to get the boat over to the island after years of unemployment and loss of their house after his Mother left. A memory stirred in Helios’ mind, he remembered his old dog, Henry, and smiled at the image of him running about in their garden, before the times of hunger and unsurity.
"Something funny, Mr Adrianos?" The professor said, noticing Helios' smirk. Helios nodded, this jumped up teacher would be fun to terrorise. "Actually there is," he replied. The teacher gestured for Helios to continue, and he explained. A sudden anger had risen in Helios’ chest, and it was for his Mother, who left them, his Father who never got a job and the government who never helped them once. This old hatred for the government was reflected for The Authority of this government and he stood up.
"Well, personally, I think that this entire class is pointless." The teacher looked around in shock and smiled. "Well children, it looks as if we have a rebellious little child if there ever was one. I have given you fair warning, Mr Adrianos, 2 spots!" The class fell silent. No one had been given a spot in their class for, well, ever. They all stared at this new bad boy Helios and some of the girls giggled amongst themselves, but as with everything run by the Authority, the reminder of a punishment was never far away.
"Unless you all want to follow Mr Adrianos' excellent example I suggest you all... shut up!" he screamed. This new boy in the class had really shaken the teacher up, he knew that any unpunished misbehaviour in his class was his responsibility, and he didn't want spots as much as the next person. He didn't want to be the person who caused a child to go "missing" but he had to think about his family and himself first.
The teacher thought to himself, before deciding something. "Ava, come here for a moment please." the teacher said, now kindly. Ava slowly walked over to the teacher, scared that he had seen the note that Helios had handed her. "Ava, as you are one of my best students, I would like you to take care of Helios and make sure he gets into no more trouble. That includes lunch and break times. Understood?" The teacher felt relieved that he had thought of a solution that would benefit everyone. He knew he could trust Ava to look after Helios, and this meant he wouldn't have to give the boy spots.
Ava nodded curtly and asked for permission to speak so she could tell Helios this new arrangement. He agreed.
"Helios?" Ava asked quietly. This was the first time Helios had heard Ava speak and he thought her voice to be beautiful. He looked up and grinned, really taking in her beautiful face for the first time. "Mr Benjamin told me to watch out for you for the next few months, to stop you, you know, getting into more trouble!" He laughed silently and looked up at her. "I will enjoy that," he said. Ava shook her head and walked away, he really was testing the system.
As much as the Authority tried to control everything about the island, there are some things that no one can control: personality and opinion. This theory was proven during lunchtimes and the short morning break they had. The groups of girls chattered about the boys they liked and the boys laughed about all their experiences with the desperate and annoying girls. Almost all seemed to fit this mould, except Ava, and now, Helios. She normally sat alone eating her lunch whilst reading one of the few books not censored by the Authority. None of the other students disliked her, she was just Ava, the clever one who reads books.
However, with the new arrival of Helios, Ava was not alone that Lunch. He sauntered up to her, giving her a peck on the cheek when he arrived. She glared at him, her eyes hot pools of fire. "What, do you think you are doing?" She shot, struggling to keep her voice expressionless. "Nothing, just.." he said. "Nothing? If you ever do that to me again I will personally make sure you will get 1000 spots. I'm not here because I like you, just because I have to look out for you, and I don't want the guilt of you in a detention centre on my shoulders." By this time everyone had turned to face Ava and Helios and even the teachers on duty looked estranged by this sight. To them, it looked as if Ava had done the right thing, denying his advances, but they didn't know what she whispered to Helios when they eventually turned away, "just to let you know if I hadn't done that, you would have got five spots, there and then," as she returned to her book. He whispered in her ear: "read my note" and then walked away...
Ava discretely opened the note inside her book, and again read the note he had written just hours before.
I KNOW MORE ABOUT YOU THAN YOU DO.
That was all it said, but in some chilling way she thought it was true.
30 years before...
Ivo sat down wearily, sick and tired of how he had seemed to always draw the short straw in life. Living on the mainland, he always seemed to encounter the wrong kind of people. The one person he felt he copuld trust was his brother. He loved him so much it seemed unreal to him, but they had always been close.
"Ivo, how you doing?" his younger brother, Abantes asked him. Ivo simply returned a look that said it all. "Come, on! There is no need to be so... depressed! I know you hate it here but next month you will 16 and then you can move out, and before you say anything, yes, I will be fine on my own, I get on with Dad, remember?" Ivo chuckled, so he did.
It was at that moment that the door slammed shut and their father walked in. Ivo Adrianos senior grinned at Abantes and embraced him. He then attempted the same with his oldest son. He rejected him by shaking off his arm and stalking out of the room. "One day he will appreciate you as I do father." Abantes reassured his father. "I'm not so sure son, he has certainly built a bridge that is going to take a lot of work to cross." Abantes stared at his father through this short metaphor and smiled, a small insignificant smile in the scheme of things but a comforting one all the same. It was rare to see such a pure and forgiving smile and Ivo senior appreciated it greatly.
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Abantes thought back to these times, and that same smile crept onto his face once again. Unfortunately for Abantes his happy relationship with his Father did not last long as his father died just a few years after this moment of a heart attack. Ivo jnr. was also reflecting back on a similar moment.
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Ivo glared at his father once again as he entered the room. He hated the fact that he was named after him, it was a constant reminder of what he was related to. As if his father could read his mind he approached Ivo with what seemed like a short speech prepared. "Son, I named you Ivo, just as my father named me Ivo. I named you after myself because you were my first born and I wanted a small mini-me. This may sound selfish or idealistic but it was true and still is. I am very proud of you Ivo, and what heppened to your mother doesn't change that. I know you think her death was my fault but I'm afraid it was chance. In some ways I wish I could say someone was to blame, but no one is. I am leaving the room Ivo, don't fret, I just wanted to say that and hope that one day you may forgive me."
After this he did as he'd said and left the room. It left Ivo thinking about how awfully he had treated his father after his Mothers death. Really thinking about it, he didn''t ever think that it was his fathers fault, he did just need someone to blame. A few weeks after that, he approached his father and apologised. They rebuilt their relationship and everything was forgotten. Ivo was devastated whern his father died. The fact that he never got a proper funeral only made things worse.
YOU ARE READING
The Missing Dead
غموض / إثارةImagine if everything you did was documented. Every move you made was noted, and every mistake you made, every single one, you were punished for. It's like that here. It feels like you're suffocating on your own fear and it has claimed many. Some fi...
