Lace

13

Lacey POV

I dozed in and out of reality. One minute I was welcoming the warmth and comfort of darkness, the next I was drowning in the cold harshness of reality.

The voices on the outside sounded muffled and drowning.
"You over did it this time, V." Soren said with worry and concern in his voice.

Overtime I've come to learn that Soren only let out these emotions around me. Around others he was an emotionally void block of ice. Cold and unpleasant.

But Soren and I have grown to share a bond. He was like a brother. Yet, despite how close we have come, our bond is nowhere as close to what I've shared with my Riley.

"How about an apple?" The worried eleven year old asked the sobbing child.

Her eyes were red and swollen. Cheeks were wet with tears and her body shook mercilessly.

The boy watched the girl clutch onto her lace backpack and drown herself in tears as she sunk into the dirty street bench, where she'd found him.

"Come on, I'll get you a nice juicy, red apple and you can stop crying."

The girl sheepishly nodded, feeling bad for the worry and concern coming from the boy.

She tried to stop her sobbing altogether, but everytime she tried to clear her mind, the thought of her father driving off without her brought new tears to her eyes.

Was she a bad girl?

Maybe that's why her mother didn't say anything when her father took her away. From a young age, the girl started thinking more than she should, blaming the whole situation on herself.

She could barely read, let alone take care of herself.

The boy wit almond eyes ran off with a smidge of joy in his eyes when he saw the girl's nod, causing her to break out in more tears. Even strangers were leaving her.

The night began to grow unforgiving. The stars were disappearing and the heavy could began to take it's place. It was going to rain soon.

The girl could do nothing but sob. The streets were empty and she did not know how to get home. It was also so dark under the illumination of the streetlights, yet she hadn't even gotten to realise the dangers of being alone at such an unforgiving time.

She cried even more, not noticing the tiny legs carrying the little boy toward her.

He huffed and puffed, with a mischievous grin on his face, but in his hand he held a big, bruised red apple.

"Here!" He held the fruit with pride.

The girl found herself getting embarrassed when her stomach morphed into a whale. She didnt realise how hungry she was until now.

"Thank you." She said shyly and bit into the unwashed, bruised apple.
It's juices brought satisfaction to her and for a split second, all was right in the world.

The girl hadn't realised that her eyes were closed until she opened it and looked into the eyes of the longing boy. He looked so hungry and tired that her heart swelled out to him.

She held out the apple and the boy's eyes sparkled. "You want to share it?" He asked, surprised. Nobody ever wanted to share anything with him.

The girl didn't talk, but rather shook her head once and held out her hand even further.

The boy didn't think twice and took a bite of the apple, letting out a dramatic moan. This made the girl giggle.

The boy paused his silliness and looked at the girl with a smile. She wasn't crying.

When she notices the pair of eyes on her, the girl could feel her cheeks tint with embarrassment.

"My name is Riley by the way." Said the boy, with a smile.

The little girl smiled.

Lacey continued listening to the conversation in muffled voices, whilst trying to take control over herself and come back to reality.

"No bloody shit, Soren." Erebus was clearly pacing around the room, whilst Soren held the ice pack to my head. "But she needs to be ready. Everything is happening so fast, and we could loose her just as fast!"

Soren sighed. "Don't you think that this is too much of pressure on her? She didn't even want to get into this, V. "

Erebus didn't even bother to reply, but instead asked,"is she going to be okay."

"She's strong, Erebus."

"Strong enough to carry all this when it's time?"

Soren didn't answer, instead he looked longingly at my semi-conscious body, in pity for what my future has instore for me.

"Do you really think that she is ready?"

"She's strong, Soren. "

***

So, I was planning on getting to the really interesting part then I realised that I haven't had any RileyxLacey scenes as yet.

So here we are, on the day they met!

And what does Erebus mean by Lace carrying the empire?

Next update at 650

Thank you for reading this chapter! What did you think about it?