Colourless

Chapter 31

My mind is buzzing loudly, the constant headache increasing in magnitude making my eyes feel heavy. My mind is too loud, too loud with thoughts to catch any sleep. I pulled my knees closer to my chest, curling up in the safety of my arms.

I am lying on the bed in a spare room in my Nanu's humble abode. What happened after I found him in the market is a blur. The weight of my own conscious felt heavy on me.

I don't remember how I got here maybe it was Zane, the memories are a haze. I do remember Zane calling Skye. He is out there in the living room with them. I know that I should be with him, to support him. But I can't, I don't have the energy to deal with any more emotional drama. I am already a mess, crying at every fortune and miss fortune. This is all I have done this week, cry, cry, and more cry.

My Nanu just came back from the dead but I can't help but feel betrayed by him. He didn't come when I was one, or when I was two. I found him when I am seventeen and he is already inching towards his grave.

How many more years do I have left with him? Three years, five years his fragile frame and wrinkled skin are a clear announcement of his old age.

I don't know how long I have been in this same position but I want to know the reason, I deserve to know why he left us. Why he left my mom and Nana behind.

I shift from the bed and make my way out of the room, my steps heavy with emotions. I push the door and step out approaching the living room.

Skye is saying something, he is more composed than I am but that is to be understood. Nana is standing beside Nanu who is seated on the sofa, his shoulders sagged with age.

Zane is here too, preached on a chair, but I don't stop or blush. Because I don't care if my eyes are red and puffy or if my hair is a tangled mess. My grandfather just came back to life for God's sake I think everyone can cut me some slack.

I walked straight to my Nanu and sat beside him on the sofa, taking his hand in mine. Even his hand feels light, bony, and fragile. But I hold his hand tighter just to ground myself with the reality.

" Why," I asked the one-word question in a hollow voice.

He looked taken aback by my question because he knows that I am asking him to tell me everything, every reason to justify this.

" I am a colourless Ariel," he began slowly, letting each word sink in. "it was either just me or my whole family dragged here with me. How can I want something like that" his voice was frail, pleading me to understand.

" So you pretended to be dead and left grandma to take care of my mom alone" my voice-controlled giving away nothing, not even the storm brewing inside me.

" I didn't want them to be brought here Ariel, it was the only way. I can never wish this place upon anyone so how can I condemn my family to something that is my fault and my burden to bear" he spoke urging me to understand.

Oreana's words rang in my head. Look around you Ariel, this town is made up of broken families torn apart by your government.

" Who did this" I wanted to know, I want his answer to stamp on what is starting to become truer each second I spend in Urydale. I want to hear it from him.

" The government, who else do you think has the power to entrap the citizens" my grandma's bitter tone was the final nail in the coffin.

She had to stay like a widow the major part of her life, had to look after her child all alone all because of the color that Nanu lacked.

This cannot continue anymore, not any longer.

I didn't say anything to that I stood up abruptly from the sofa and marched to Zane, my eyes solely focused on him, burning with determination.

" Take me to her I want to talk with her" I ordered him in a hard voice, each step a powerful announcement of the storm winding within me.

If he was started by my command, he didn't show it. H simply stood up from the chair and walked ahead of me to the door.

" Ariel, where are you going" Skye snapped at me. He is frustrated and it is okay but what is not okay is fanning the fire I am burning in.

" You know where I am going," I replied to him and started walking again before hesitating a little.

" Ash is colourless too " I whispered to them and didn't even stop to glance back. I walked out of the front door leaving my statement hanging in the air heating it up with tension.

Letting him know that it was all useless when we are going to be dragged here anyway.

I climb down the steps and Zane is already ready with his bike. Placing a hand on his shoulder for balance I swing my leg across the bike and smoothly sit down. This has become a habit, me riding with Zane on his bike.

We have been driving around for twenty minutes and the underground skatepark is nowhere in sight. Instead of buildings, trees line both the side of the unkept road, a fresh scent filled the air as the town melted into natural greenery.

But this is not where I want to go.

" Where are we going Zane," I asked loudly to be heard over the wind but he didn't acknowledge my question and simply twisted the handle going faster.

Panic didn't even touch me, because I know that he is colourless and I am not.

I can easily take him down if the need arises but a small part of me, the one that is not reasonable wanted that situation to never come, believed that it will never come.