Heterodox (BOOK 2)

Chapter 2

~Vesper~

It's moments like these I would overdose on black licorice and Dum Dums.

The air is cold and dead between us; moonlight showers; giving a glow of truth. His words are still fresh, echoing in my ears, opening a pack of disappointment and dumping it on top of my mood. Hair bristling and ice block eyes stare at each other for seconds that feel like hours and it is one thought that makes me lose to his glare.

Why bother?

I look back at Talon twiddling a strand of hay between his lips, his eyes cast down, a shadow veiling his face. Circe turns away from me instantly when I catch her gaze. MB still glowers at me, as if frozen. They didn't need to say it. They were waiting for one of us to break. It just happened to be MB.

Now it's just time to close the curtains.

I step back and smile bitterly at them. "So that's it huh?"

No reply.

"We're all just gonna give up on everything we have done because our identity was stolen for a night."

"No, it's not tha-"

"I mean, why not?" I sharply cut Circe's cry. "It's not like we have actually done something good, have we? We haven't visited any orphanages. We haven't brought treats to the hospital for diabetics or anything. It's not like we have brought any of the smiles we've hoped-"

"We have," Talon interrupts looking up at me. His eyes sharp and silver like a knife's blade.

"But it was so few!" I moan mockingly, "Just two or three! We failed before we even began!"

Rising up from his face, I look at them with a cold calculating gaze. MB has already retreated back to his haystack, playing in the dust from earlier. And it is now I decide to reveal my rage.

"Have you forgotten why we are doing this?! Why we decided to stand up to a black and white society? Why we wanted to see others smile? Why we wanted everyone to realize that they can be whoever they want to be without shame or embarrassment?!"

"Vesper-"

"Why is your name Feather-head, Circe?" I question, flipping Talon off, "Why?"

She stutters weakly, her puffy eyes looking at me, welling on tears, "I w-wanted to be f-free like a bird. My mind clear and light as a feather. But-"

"What about you Talon? Why is your name Clockwork?"

He looks down, the straw limp and his hands making brief fists. "I wanted to at least try to do something for once without problems; with ease like I've known it all my life."

"And you MB. Why Mc2? The result of Einstein's equation of special relativity?"

He says nothing, causing me to shake my head. "You answered last time. You said it with zest and full of hope. Where is the zest and hope now?"

Still nothing and I feel as if he is ignoring me even though he has ceased tracing in the dust. "If I recall correctly," I begin conversationally, " You wanted to begin your own equation to originality. And you planned that it started with Mc2."

I jab him in is chest reproachfully. "What is the equation MB?! WHAT IS THE DAMN EQUATION?!"

"Maccabee's courage, twice over equals... equals..."

"WHAT MACCABEE WHAT?!"

"Eccentric," he sighs, relenting, "An eccentric life that I'll never forget."

I remove my finger off his chest and give everyone an all round glare. "Me? Why I called myself Jigsaw?" I chew on a long stick of licorice. "I just want to put my scattered puzzle of a life back together again."