Possession [H.S] ✓

Chapter Twenty-Three

“I feel bare. I didn't realize I wore my secrets as armor until they were gone and now everyone sees me as I really am.” 

~Veronica Roth, Insurgent~

Layla.

"Hmm," Harry began, tapping his chin lightly while pursing his lips, trying to act as if he wanted to appear to be thinking hard. "Perhaps you could tell me your favorite color?"

I laughed. "Really?"

He shrugged. "We agreed on light subjects, Layla. That's the lightest topic I can think of right now."

I leaned back slightly against the wall beside the busted mirror. I glanced at the various broken bits that still covered the floor, and grimaced a bit. Someone was going to have their work caught out for them after cleaning up that mess, I felt sorry for them. "My favorite color would have to be dark green."

"Why?" He asked, cocking his head.

"This subject seems to be getting heavier now," I said with another laugh, and briefly thought about why I had always chose that as my favorite color. "I think it's probably because when I was little all I could see was dark green around me. Whenever my parents were still alive, I think we lived in an area that was surrounded by trees, even more than when I was at my foster lamia home."

"What happened to your parents?" Harry suddenly asked.

My brow frowned slightly, and I bit the inside of my cheek. "That's kind of a darker subject for this conversation, Harry, and I didn't even get to ask you anything yet," I said, slowly.

"Fine. Ask me something then," He responded, a bit quickly.

I let out a long breath, and tried to think of something small that I had always wanted to know about him, but only one thing stuck out to me, and I wasn't sure if it would got with the small and light topics we were trying to list off. "What was the world like when you were human? Did vampires rule, like they do now?"

He laughed a bit. "Now you're asking me two questions," He said, but then began to answer them anyway. "It was different, a lot different, than it is now. Vampires didn't begin to rule until about a hundred years after my transformation, but that was only because there weren't many of us around yet."

I nodded softly. "Can you be more specific? The word different is so vague."

"There wasn't as much technology as there is now, for one. That iPad you have was invented in the year 2012, I believe, and it's over four thousand years later. It's still pretty popular, for some reason," Harry said, once again tapping his chin with his index finger. "Anyway, the world seemed much bigger when you were looking at it with such a small understanding of it. I was a farmer boy, one that wanted desperately to fight and die in battle just so my own children had something to live up to. I didn't want to be one of those pathetic people that just had families and worked, I wanted to do something to better my country."

"Sounds pretty brave of you," I softly commented, and bit my lip.

"I used to think that too," He said, and sighed quietly. "But then I realized, to late of course, that the real bravery that I should have been seeking would be to have stayed home and kept my mum safe. My head was so far up in the clouds, and I was so naive, that I can't believe it took all of this happening." He paused to gesture to himself, showing that he was speaking about his transformation. "For me to see it."

I stared at him, studying the way he spoke about his human life. He didn't seem bitter, at least not in the frightening way, or even angry, more so annoyed, of his idiotic behaviors. I felt bad for him, but I still needed to know more. "You were changed because you were so naive?"