Bandito {ON HOLD}

Chapter 9- Wilting Flowers

Mary looked up at the clouds, and sighed. It was another gloomy day, just like every other single day in Dema. Every now and again, though, she thought she thought something poking through the clouds. Occasionally, she thought she saw a spot, however tiny, where the clouds were breaking and there was something coming through. But just as she thought she saw it, it would disappear, and most times, so would her hope. As the years had gone by and Mary had still not found an opportunity to leave Dema, her hope had dwindled, but she hadn't lost it completely.

Mostly. But not completely. She refused to let her spark of hope, her little baby fire, go out.

Every now and again, she would find something that would add a little kindling to her fire. Every now and again, she would awake in the middle of the night to the sound that had led to her sneaking out of her home and meeting the Banditos so many years ago. The older residents of Dema had taken to giving Mary the same silence that she gave the rest of the city. While at times it did make her feel rather alone and isolated, it also gave her the advantage of stealth. She was able to eavesdrop pretty easily, and the night after the music came, she would overhear news that Tyler had once again escaped. And for a moment, she had hope that she would escape someday. But then, within a few days, Tyler would be brought back, and so would most others that escaped. And as soon as the FPEs were brought back, Mary's hope would be dashed.

It was almost a cruel game she played with herself- letting herself have that kindling, while at the same time knowing that more than likely she was going to lose it. She knew it would hurt less to just give up hope- permanently. But she was too scared to do so. So, instead, she just kept playing her cruel little game, switching back and forth from one extreme to the other, going from having very little hope at all to having all the hope in the world. She sighed again, and looked out into the distance, staring at the wall that kept the entire city in. Now more than ever she understood why Iris had taken to staring at it all those years ago.

If Mary thought that Iris had changed before, she was wrong. Every day, Iris seemed more sad, more hopeless. She seemed lifeless, like every day, Dema was sucking the life out of her a little at a time. She never smiled anymore and rarely showed any emotion at all. She walked with her shoulders slumped over, she walked around and stood as if she had been completely defeated, and though she rarely spoke anymore, when she did, anyone who was listening closely could hear the defeat in her voice. She had grown pale, the light had left her green eyes, and her once beautiful red hair had grown dull and limp.

It seemed to Mary that Iris had completely died inside.

Mary knew that Iris had given up hope of ever leaving the city, and it was killing her. That was why Mary wouldn't let herself completely give up. She was scared of turning into Iris, a sad shell of herself. Iris went throughout her day as if sleeping, lifelessly doing as she was told, and in between, she longingly stared at the wall as if doing so could put the life back into her. And if Ivy noticed her sister's state, she didn't say anything. She acted as if she didn't care. Which lead Mary to realize something about the twins.

They looked exactly alike, and the only way to tell the two apart was that Iris looked like the living dead and Ivy looked very much alive. But that was the thing with the two that Mary had realized. Iris felt so much, and Ivy had the emotional range of a fruit fly. In the city, emotions were squashed and suppressed, and that was the difference between the two sisters. Iris was being squashed and killed by the pressure the city created, while Ivy thrived under it. Mary wasn't sure which end she sat on. All she knew was that she had to keep holding on to hope wherever she could find it, so she wouldn't end up like Iris, with all the life within her snuffed out.

Mary shook her head, leaving her thoughts behind her. She had places to be and things to do. According to her mother, she had to follow her routine carefully and do as she was told to do to bring glory to their Bishop. And although bringing glory to Keons was the last thing on Mary's mind, she remembered what Tyler had said to her all those years ago. She had to pretend to be a normal, content citizen of Dema if she wanted to keep a low profile and one day leave the city safely.