Hellbound

Chapter Three

"I told you he's dead" West says nonchalantly as he scoops a mouthful of ice-cream into his mouth.

We sit in the local ice-cream parlor.

West showed up at my house moments after we got home, I hadn't even had the chance to tell dad what happened before he showed up. He was egaer to know what had happened at the church. Even though he tried to maintain the exterior of someone who is sure of himself, I could see the slight worry in his eyes that my Darling is alive. And he is but West won't ever know that.

"So, what was his name? Did we know him?" he questions as he scoops the last of his ice-cream out of the cup. Luck is on my side as he's distracted by the cup, the panic on my face not being noticed.

"Uh, no" I shake my head and clear the lump from my throat "we didn't know him" he looks up at me when I avoid his first question.

"His name?" he asks once again.

My breath hitches in my throat "I-I forgot" he rasies an eyebrow, giving me a suspicious look "his name was blanked out and replaced with yours, you know? I didn't really pay attention to it" he continues to give me an odd look before he's distracted by a brain freeze.

"Ah, fuck" he mumbles, rubbing the back of his neck harshly. I breathe out a breath and stop my leg from jumping under the table.

A man and woman walk past our table, obviously Platonics that are in the middle of an argument. He goes to grab her waist before she slaps it away, her back to him. It just serves another reminder of what I have to look forward to.

"The goverment assigned me today" West drags my attention back to him. I raise my eyebrow and fold my arms in front of me, resting them on the tbale.

"Oh yeah? What job?" I ask. Once someone reaches the age of twenty-five the government allocates them a job. If you have a preference they take it into consideration but at the end of the day most of the time they put you where they think you should be. The years before that, from ages eighteen to twenty-five the government pay us to basically do nothing but work on our relationship with our Darling or Platonic.

"Firefighter" he smirks, looking pleased.

"Oh my god, you got it!" I grab his hand over the table, giving it a squeeze.

West had put in a preference about a year ago, hoping the government would consider putting him in the firefighting field, looks like they thought he'd benefit them by fighting fires.

I have no idea what I want to do, I have a year to think about it but I'll most likely leave it up to the government to decide where I would fit best.

"Yeah" he chuckles "you decided what you want to do yet?" he questions, another mouthful of ice cream filling his mouth.

"Nope, no idea" I sigh.

"It's alright, you've got time" he reassures me. My eyes go over his shoulder looking back at the Platonics that continue arguing while they eat.

Another couple catch my attention; they eat their ice cream in peace, feeding each other every now and then, obviously Darlings. The sight makes me cringe but I'd rather that over arguing every second of the day with my Platonic. No matter how good West and I get along, its inevitatble. I don't know a single pair of Platonics that don't end up hating each other, their hearts wanting no one other then their Darling.

"I've been thinking about looking at houses" he states, I feel my face pale "I thought maybe you'd like to come along?" he looks at me as I become speechless.

"Uh, I mean" I stutter out.

"I thought it'd be a good idea, I mean, we have to start looking soon" he says. I didn't think things would move so fast after finding out who my Darling is. I know it's only because I know Hex is alive somewhere that's making me feel like I'm betraying him but at the same time I have to play the part of a Platonic.

"Sure" I give him a stiff smile, he doesn't notice.

He stands abruptly, making me jolt.

"You done?" he nods to the cup of melted ice cream in front of me.

"Yeah" I nod as he grabs it and takes both ice cream cups to the bin, dumping them.

*

"So, what happened at the church?" dad asks as we all sit at the dining table, it had been silent before dad spoke up.

"Her Darlings-" mum is cut off by dad almost as soon as she opens her mouth.

"I asked Poppy" he says calmly, the mood in the room becoming awkward and angry as they both look towards me. Mum hides her emotions but the glassiness of her eyes gives her away. Dads face on the other hand is stoic.

"Like mum was saying, he's dead" I confirm. He nods while rubbing his cheek, looking back down at his plate.

A bang comes from next door as the Tom's begin to argue again, making me jump.

"What was his name?" dad asks, I freeze for the second time as I decide what the best way to go about this is.

"Yeah, did you find out his name?" mum joins in; dad throws her a look that she doesn't see as her attention is on me.

I decide to repeat what I told West, it will be easier to keep up the lie if I tell everyone the same thing.

"I don't know" they riase their eyebrows "his name was blanked out and replaced with West's" I explain, recalling the way the names that had actually lost their Darlings looked.

I watch as both their faces sink, they look down at their food, the silence loud as both of them recall the times they each went to the church, only to find that their Darlings had passed.

"Fuck you!" can be mutely heard through the wall from the Tom's as something smashes.

Our conversation goes on as a normal family conversation would, the yelling from behind the wall not affecting us one bit, the ruckus a daily occurance.

"Well" dad clears his throat "at least you got West as your Platonic" he repeats what everyone else has told me. I nod in agreement. I am glad I got paired with West, the fact that we're already friendly giving me the slightest bit of hope that it could work between us.

Even if this relationship with West does work, I know Hex will always be in the back of my mind, dead or alive. Just like Katie will forver be in the depths of West's mind.

"You should probably start to move your relationship along, you're getting older" dad says.

"Smith, she's only twenty-two" mum sticks up for me as she looks across the table at dad, he pays her no mind as he looks at me for my say.

"We're going to look at houses together" I reveal. Dad nods while mum sinks back into herself when dad ignores her.

"Good".