The World's End | ONC 2024

ੈ✩‧₊˚ |𝟭𝟵| 𝗔𝘅𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲'𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁

"𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚊 𝙲𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝟹.𝟸 - 𝙰𝚡𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎'𝚜 𝙰𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚁𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝"

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

Who knew that we had to do the most atrocious things possible to survive? Who knew that I had to surrender my secrets if I wanted to hear my mother's story?

"The Verids will be here any moment now," Cyprus said, and the three of us glared at him. What was he implying?

"You...you reported us to the real Verids?" I screeched, "You just wanted to get us arrested?"

How stupid of us to believe that this man cared about us and wanted to help us get out of Veridonia unscathed?

"Madame Henderson will not hurt children; you might be the only person she'll answer."

Psychotic. Purely psychotic. I had no hesitation in believing that Mama would kill me rather than hurt Veridonia, so this logic was horrible. Just when we thought we could get close to the answers, without the authorities getting to us, Cyprus dropped the bomb that they were on their way.

Keira immediately left the couch, and looked ready to punch somebody. She frantically moved around the room, trying to think while the rest of us just...sat there, thinking.

Wylan nodded, understanding that this was inevitable. However, the first thing that he did shocked me. He picked Baby Alissa up, held onto her tighter than ever and walked upstairs carefully, probably to keep her in a safe room before everything imploded. From what I knew, she wouldn't end up in the same room as Wylan's father...after all, he did evil things to children.

He came back downstairs, nonchalant and stopped in front of Keira.

"You need to leave or hide," he told her seriously, "We'll come get you once we get out of wherever they want to imprison us."

Keira shook her head, to my surprise. "No, we'll have to do this together, if we are. I'll be fine. You guys are around me anyway."

I admired her bravery. Out of the three of us, the Verids wouldn't wait, even for a second, if they had to kill Keira.

We waited in patience, my fingers drumming on my lap. I watched as Wylan's left leg started shaking and Keira bit her fingernails. Cyprus was keeping a careful watch outside as the day got artificially brighter with no power, much like us.

We heard the pops soon after and it was hard to tell how long we were just sitting there. Waiting. Time waited with us, and it was impossible to battle this now. It was something we had to do. Even if our lives were probably going to be in mortal danger. Would I die happily, knowing that I understood everything? Or would I rather live oblivious?

I didn't want to think. I didn't want to leave Baby Alissa in this. The second I was gone, there was no guarantee for her safety. Mama would throw her on the streets without another thought.

Were we even human?

The Verids entered, the real ones this time and we didn't make a noise. Not a single one. Our voices were stilled, all our hands behind our backs. Some of the younger Verids have disappeared by now, but there were still few of them left with Cyprus. It was like he knew it was happening or expected it to happen, so he didn't bother protesting. We lost the only power we had, even if he was untrustworthy.

We watched, unsurprised as our hands were in handcuffs—all of us. Cyprus, Wylan, Keira, me and some of the younger ones that were here earlier.

There were no words said, neither by us nor the Verids. They just led us out of the house, into the waiting transport vehicles. Outside reminded me how the artificial light didn't provide heat. The air felt cold against my skin, and there was a soft tingling. I didn't know whether it was from the cold or the fear. We were being taken away, away from everything we knew, everything we loved.