stellaR (Editing)

Chapter XIII

Chapter- XIII

The weakest link in a chain is the strongest because it can break it.    

-Stanislaw J. Lec

     I didn’t sleep that well that night.

     In fact, the hours were pretty monotonous, and slow in their passing. But pass they did.

     Chaud must have called my mother or had someone else do it, for she had never bothered to contact me for confirmation about my whereabouts. It was so like her, to simply believe whatever it was I’d say. Still, I couldn’t find it in me to be angry at her gullibility. It certainly helped in this case.

I think I went into shock at some point, because I sort of broke down and Chaud had to lead me to his car.

     By the time we had gotten back to Chaud’s house, my shaking had stopped. It seemed my body was already over the incident, aside from feeling rather drained still, regardless of whether or not my mind was on the same page.

     Though I wasn’t taking in details readily as I followed Chaud into his house, I wasn’t as mindless as I had been before.

     I was angry at myself, at my powers.

     I didn’t want them, not if having them meant killing others. What kind of a gift was that? I knew that everyday people could also kill one another- by accident or on purpose- but this just didn’t strike me as the same thing at all. With just a thought, I could kill someone. With just a subconscious thought, someone’s life thread could be cut.

     I didn’t want that kind of power. But I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could just get rid of it; surely that would be letting down the Five? Wouldn’t that be letting the Hunters win?

     If there was one thing I needed, though, it was control. Otherwise, the Hunters would win. And that would be it.

     The end.

     The story couldn’t end like that, not without me getting answers.

-

     A couple hours later, I stirred and realized I must have fallen asleep. The curtains in Chaud’s guest room fluttered gently around me, lightly tickling my face. I batted them away, before sitting up and deciding to welcome a new day.

     I gazed around the room, taking everything in. The room looked generally untouched, with light purple wall paper and translucent white curtains. The bedspread was currently mussed, to the point I couldn’t tell if it matched with the rest of the room or not.

     Lifting the covers, I quietly let my feet slide over the edge of the bed. I took a deep breath, burying any remnants of emotion from last night’s events that might have suddenly popped up otherwise. Walking softly along the wooden floor, I wondered how Chaud had managed to afford a place like this. I had never thought about it, perhaps always assuming that he had inherited quite a bit from the untimely death of his mother and brother.

     Shrugging, I decided it didn’t really matter so much, and kept walking down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Glancing at the clock, which read 7:24, I realized that I must have fallen asleep very early the night before to be up- of my own will- at such an hour.

     I padded my way into his living room, welcoming the warmer carpet underneath my feet. He had a leather sofa, with a blanket on its back, and I gladly laid myself down on it, pulling the blanket up to my chin. I sighed, and settled myself deeper into the cushions. It wasn’t that I was tired, just content to waste away the day.