Noah sat still in total darkness, his eyes occasionally fluttering from the ceiling up above to the vast overview of the city's neon lights from beyond his balcony's window, his breathing calm and his body relaxed; his eerie thoughts loomed onto the world beyond, his deceased siblings, the mother that abandoned him─his father. It all resulted in his frustrated sigh and grimace.
Everything that happened to him, all the lies and deceit, trials and death─it was all her fault. He cursed her from beyond the grave when she signed that contract, willfully allowed him to be taken away by NEST for quarantine. She feared him─and deep down, in the end─Noah couldn't muster the resolve to blame her. He had even begun to fear himself.
As he lay there for several seconds, contemplating, silently collecting his thoughts, the figure to his side shifted from under the covers. He watched her smugly climb on top of him, press a chilled finger onto his bare chest as she straddled him, the luscious strands of her silver hair vibrant in the moon's ominous light. The clock read 4:41 a.m, yet she was still as lively as ever, her soft, ocean blue eyes sparkling with a strident curiosity.
Noah rose a finger to her delicate, flustered face and began to gently caress her cheek, earning him an almost sad smile. He imagined himself painting her, sculpting her features a top the highest mountain on the sunniest day, a beautiful spectrum unlike anything ever recorded in the history books─and a small smile tugged away at his lips as well.
"Today's going to be a big day," North finally mumbled. "In just a few hours from now, you'll get to see your younger brother again, as per my father's promise. You should be resting up."
"Kinda hard to rest up with you on top of me like this. You're gaining weight."
Noah felt North immediately begin to playfully attack his chest with punches; she giggled as he smoothly cupped her wrist and flipped the tables, he now on top of her instead. From the illustrious glimmer that flashed behind her glare, Noah could tell North was expecting him to make a move─to kiss her like he always did upon meeting her gaze so intently─but something flashed within his eyes as well.
North freed her wrist and gently cupped his face in her hand. "You look troubled. That's so very unlike you."
Noah nodded, taking a few moments to find his words. "It's just...none of this feels real. I watched them bury his casket."
"And yet, I assure you that all of this is very real, Noah," Sympathy began to lace North's voice, a sweet sound that quickly calmed Noah's racing heart. "Your younger brother was saved by my father for the same reason you remain his favorite─as well as mine. Blue-Blood courses through your viens."
Noah sighed; North could tell such a direct approach to the subject was doing him more harm than good. "I know. How about you tell me a little about your family? I'm in the mood for a good story."
"Nothing good to tell," Noah retorted with a laugh. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you know me even better than I know myself."
"Yeah. For starters, I know you believe that to be a lie."
"See what I mean."
He gave her yet another small smile, staring deep into her eyes for several moments, her glare analyzing him in every bit the manner he analyzed her. It wasn't an awkward silence by any means. In fact, Noah had grown to cherish that about them─how sometimes they simply longed to feel the warmth of each other's body, to cuddle, and watch as all their troubles, even the world itself, slowly began to melted away. Now was probably one of those times, but Noah knew North wanted answers. She wanted to hear his story from his mouth, not the mouth of her father.
"I was the only child, right until my father jumped ship," He began, the memory of it all resulting in his grimace. The tenderness behind North's hand calmed him. "With the constant billings and enormous debt he left my mother drowning in, she struggled simply finding food for the two of us to eat. She collapsed from exhaustion quite frequently, and more often than not, I was the one taking care of her. So, when some random Asian lawyer volunteered to help dig my mother out of her dire financial situation in return for our family heirlooms, she practically leapt at the opportunity. And surely enough, he freed her of all her debt almost instantly."
North's gaze continued to analyze Noah, her silence deafening, her eyes egging him to continue; he had little choice in the matter. "Fast forward a year or two, and that lawyer is a constant in my mother's life. I hadn't been aware of their status as lovers until she was already pregnant with my younger siblings, identical twins with a seemingly bright future ahead of them. Only, when the lawyer was offered the good news by my mother, he soon abandoned ship as well. I spent almost every second of every day despising my siblings. They were spitting images of him, the second man to break my mother's heart since my birth. But somehow─I can't recall when─I had grown profoundly close to them, alarmingly so."
"It hurt me so much when they died; their funeral costs placed my mother in an even deeper hole than she was before, one that she quickly used me to help dig her out of. District Thirty-Seven was my birthplace and hometown, the now rumored Blood-Slums, a place where children are taught how to kill then pit against one another in battle-royal competitions for money. Upon my debut there, I was forced into killing my best friend. After my twelfth time being claimed the victor, I had grown numb to the pain. By the thirty-first, I was cold-blooded killer. People feared me─even my own mother. I wasn't normal, and neither was the color of my blood. NEST soon got into contact with her upon finding out, offering her a monthly check of over fifty-thousand dollars upon signing me over to them. My mother did so in a heartbeat."
The frustration evident on Noah's face begin to melt away within the warmth of North's palm. He laid down on her, pressed his ear to her chest and listened to the soothing sound of her heartbeat as she stroked his hair. No words immediately came to her mind, only a pleasing silence she found herself accustomed too.
"Your siblings," North finally spoke after giving Noah a much-needed reprieve. "You never told me their names."
Noah gulped. He had intentionally avoided the subject, wanted to spare himself of any painful memories simply saying their names would arise; North sensed this and apologized.
"You really have nothing to apologize for," He gave her a small smile, even though he knew she wouldn't be able to see it. "My mother decided to name my younger sister Mariah. My younger brother's name was Rylan."
Note:
Can't decide if I want to leave a note here, or allow you guys to bask in the moment of such a shocking revelation. *Furrows brow* Welp...guess I'll leave one :3
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The Apostate Trials
Ciencia Ficción"I didn't crawl my way to the top of the food chain just to become a vegetarian." First came the days of solitude. After the days of the solitude came the trials. Dark trials that forbade the agonizing destruction of one's humanity. The death...
