Reverie [Bruno Mars - Editing]

Chapter eight

Chapter eight

The doors slammed shut, leaving me and Joseph out in the red, gray and gold hall, alone. I let the image of Bruno standing there next to an intimidating Josephine, with his torn leather jacket and messy hair, linger, feeling very reluctant to leave him.

“Well, let's go then,” Joseph said, his voice went out of pitch slightly. He coughed, clearing his throat. I could tell Bruno's words got to him, and I almost smiled. 

Almost. I couldn't help but think Bruno knew more than he was letting on, but that was something I had to question later. Now I was with Joseph, in the hall that didn't seem so vibrant anymore. The Incurses told Joseph to give me a history lesson, indicating that he had the answers I wanted. I tried to piece it altogether in my head first, but nothing fit to create a picture. There were too many pieces. All I could think about was how my life was constantly moving, being dragged from city to city, state to state; I moved a lot. My mom said that her and my father always traveled, so it was difficult for her to stay in one place. Whenever I asked her about the places they went to, she would glide off topic. I thought it was because she didn't want any memories of my dad to surface, but now I was uncertain. Perhaps she was hiding something. Then I thought about all the things I know about my mom, to assure myself that I know perfectly well of her, and she wasn't hiding a dark, secret past from me, and that this was all a big misunderstanding. She has no family; is unstable; loves staying indoors; fond of dreams and anything dealing with the mind; she was sad a lot; she never tells me about her past.

There was an ache in my chest, making it difficult to breathe.

“You do know that I'm waiting for the questions.”

Joseph's voice brought me from my reverie, like taking something from underwater and pulling it to surface. I looked around, flames were on the walls. When had we gone downstairs? I was so shocked I almost stumbled from it, feeling disoriented. “Um, what?”

“You know,” Joseph said, his dark eyes fixed forward. “‘The who are you?’ ‘Where are you taking me?’ Type of questions.”

“The kidnapping type,” I noted. I already knew where we where going: my mother's room. At least, what they say is my mother's room. Still, I felt a rush through my veins.

Joseph chuckled. “But my sweet Adrian, this isn't kidnapping, if I brought you home.”

Those words hit me hard, a fist had clenched in my chest, but I wouldn't let it show to Joseph. “Really? I've never been shackled to the wall at home.”

Joseph lifted his mouth in a smirk. “That was a test.”

“What kind of test is that?”

“Loyalty,” he answered. “We were seeing how loyal you and Bruno were to each other.”

In sudden realization, I quietly said, “He didn't leave—” At the last second, I couldn't bring myself to finish the sentence. He didn't leave me. The picture of Bruno up against the wall, looking exhausted and disheveled, telling me that he wasn't going to leave me there, came to mind. The fist clenched tighter. 

“Yes,” Joseph replied. “The fool.”

“Bruno's not a fool.”

“Maybe not in your eyes. But in my eyes, he has no knowledge of what he's really dealing with,” he said it calmly, but I sensed a current of anger under his words. I felt a sudden slip of fear for Bruno, it sounded like a threat. Joseph and I turned left, side by side, a foot of space between us. Then another turn. I wondered what Bruno and Josephine were doing, and pushed back the thought. I said, “It's hard to believe that my mother knows this place.”