The Lorèn Project [Discontinued]

Chapter 38

I had finally pulled away from the captain as reluctantly as possible. I felt betrayed by his compassion as I pulled away. I looked up at him and immediately saw the coldness that's always been there. I fooled myself into thinking that his hug was out of kindness, but what reason would he possibly have for that then? I couldn't help but wish I could've seen his expression as he hugged me.

I walked away from him with my head tilted down so he couldn't see my dejected expression. I don't know why I was hoping for something other than his usual stoic expression, maybe it's because it's all I've ever seen in my life. Kindness has been a virtue that I have yet to be shown properly. Tessa and the children are the only ones aside from father that treated me as one of them, normal. The thought of being rejected by anyone is terrifying but it's even more so with the captain than I'd feared possible.

I stepped around his large stature and continued down the long smoked hallway past my father's room. The floor creaked as it always did by the stairwell and I looked up in nostalgia. I didn't wait for anyone to ask why I was looking up the stairs; I just continued on my way to my room. The blue wallpaper outside in the halls were beginning to rip and after about twenty feet I'm at my doorway to my room. I hear the loud footsteps of multiple boots and the pitter patter of little feet behind them. I open the door to my large room and immediately I feel trapped once again. I look at all the stuffed animals, and drawings I've laid around my room which scattered here and there.

"Wow Aya your room is huge. What's with all the stuffed animals though?" Tessa asked curiously as she reached out to grab one. It was a small black cat with a blue ribbon and green eyes. My father gave it to me as a present on my tenth birthday. "Woah, these pictures are awesome!" Levi mumbles in awe as he runs his hand along the picture I drew of the waterfalls by the dam. It was a charcoal sketch I was very proud of. "I guess she really was treated like a princess." Evan mumbled as he scanned my room quietly. He rarely speaks but when he does he's oddly observant. "She's a sheltered princess, a secret from the world." The captain says in a quiet rage as he narrows his eyes at the prospect. "Caged Princess, has a nice ring to it huh captain." Levi says with a slight chuckle then looks over at me. I have a sad smile on my face as I look at a picture me and my father took together a few years ago.

"You were always caged, that's why you didn't know simple things. It makes sense now." Tessa says as she looks around. Everyone else just nods in agreement at her statement which offends me just a bit but I ignore it. I walk over to the picture and take it out of its frame and hold onto the delicate photograph. "Is that your father?" Evan asks from out of nowhere—scaring me a bit from the randomness of the question. "Yeah, it was taken when I was sixteen." I say sadly as I reminisce on that day. The day my dad tried to make a birthday cake but almost exploded the house in the process. I let out a low chuckle and everyone looks at me strangely. "My father tried to bake me a cake that day and almost blew up the house." I explain to them and the all 'o' at the answer to my quiet laugh.

"What's this?" The captain says catching me completely off guard. I look over and he's holding the old jar of medicine that my father injected into me a long time ago. It stayed in my room as a reminder of what I am, what I was capable of. "That's the medicine that made me a monster." I say with a straight face, walking up to him; I reach out and grab the serum from his hands. Everyone's eyes widen greatly after closely looking at the bottle. Inside was the same blue liquid that coursed through my veins, killing and destroying the peaceful aspect of my life.

"Why the fucks it in your room?!" The captain yells as he looks at me in anger. His anger must not be directed at me, which I'm surprised about. "M-My father didn't want me around other people to avoid...accidents." I mumble the last part with a dark shadow crossing over my gloomy face. Remembering my old friend Abby, who in turn, ended up dead because of me.

"Accidents? What kind of accidents are we talking?" Levi says with a raised eyebrow, curious about the meaning. I looked at him but kept my face halfway hidden. "Accidents in which people die, or become seriously injured." I mumbled as I looked at the ground, my feet becoming more and more interesting. "Has anyone ever got hurt because of you? Like on accident?" Evan asks seriously and I flinched but squeezed my eyes shut to block out the images.

'You killed me Aya. You're a monster!'

A large hand gently laid itself across my shoulder and I was pulled back into a broad chest. I stiffened but I didn't move away. Why is he doing this? "It's okay to tell us Aya. I was only angry because I didn't want anything to happen to you guys because your clueless to the dangers of the world. I only want to protect you." The captain says as he gently squeezes my shoulder. I relax a little but I'm still weary of his intentions.

"I killed someone." I mumbled and everyone stiffened. I started to sob and pulled away immediately from the captains hold, shaking him off with a great amount of strength. "See? Everyone hates a murderer!" I scream as I run from the place that was once considered home, the death of my normal life.