The Radiants Chronicons : Vol. I & II Of The Radiants Duology Series

Radiant (Vol I) - Chapter twenty three

Cover by @Rafee_Tafee

Chapter 23

Aliyah smiled at the new recruits. "Welcome one and all, to our humble abode. We really want you to-"

Zuri folded her arms. "Where's Levi?"

Aliyah plastered a polite smile, though she looked blatantly annoyed to be interrupted. "At a meeting with the global council."

"So does he KNOW that I'm around?"

Aliyah snapped. "How am I supposed to know? I'm not his babysitter."

Zuri smirked. "You don't have to be so sensitive about everything. You need to calm down a bit. Rage doesn't look good on you, Aliyah."

I couldn't help smiling at their interaction. It was pretty obvious how Zuri was purposely trying to annoy Aliyah and it was very amusing. Zuri clearly didn't like Aliyah at all and I wondered if it had to do with Levi.

Kel whispered, next to me. "SHE'S Levi's sister? But she's so -"

"Levi's adopted. She definitely is, too."

Kel nodded slowly. "I see. They seem so different. She's stuck up and he's cool headed. I can't imagine how they lived together."

"I'm just as -"

Aliyah pointed at Kel and I. "You two, whispering oh so loudly. Come forward."

I rolled my eyes. She was enjoying this temporary position a little too much. Kel and I stepped forward and I made sure to level my gaze with hers.

Aliyah gloated. "Since you two don't know when to keep quiet, I'm assigning you to give them a tour AND to show them their rooms. Here are the room numbers."

Aliyah handed me a piece of paper, that I stuffed at the back of my pocket.

Zuri said. "I know this place like the back of my palm, so a tour won't be necessary. Just give me my room number and I'll be off."

Aliyah didn't say anything and let her go. I turned my direction to the new recruits. "Follow us, you two. We have a tour to get to."

.........

Night had struck and I found it hard to fall asleep. The night alone was slightly hot and the complete silence in the room was deafening. After turning around in bed for countless number of hours, I finally gave into my frustration and walked out of the room.

Roaming around the halls of the Clandestine, I let myself enjoy the rare moment. I've always loved being alone and lately I've been surrounded by some many people, and I really missed my solitude.


"You're awake." I jump in startle and whirl my head around to see who it was.

"Jesus, Taye. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

She gave a sheepish smile and tucked a lock of her medium length dreads behind her right ear. "Sorry. I'm just surprised to see you awake at two in the morning."

I admitted. "Can't sleep."

"Me too."

Silence ensued between us for few seconds, until she asked. " Can I stick around you? I'm bored walking alone."

"Sure. How's your leg?"

She frowned, as she walked side by side me. "It's fine. I'm fine. I'm tired of people asking me that. I'm sick of being treated like a kid."

"You have slow tissue regeneration. Of course, people are concerned about you."

"I don't need their concerns. What I need is to be taken seriously. I'm already a Radiant. That's hellish enough. With what I have added to it, I have to endure life alot more than everybody in this place. At least, you have a pretty cool exception. Lucky you."

Not wanting to talk about my exception, I questioned her instead. "How is it like? Living with it?"

Her face turned still. Her voice was void of any emotion. "It takes much more longer to heal from anything. And it hurts alot more. I get infections easily and my body always feels tired. It's hard, but I can handle it."

"You're a strong lady. It can't be easy."

She shrugged. "Nothing is. I've learnt to live with it. It's a part of who I am. I only wish people would stop acting like I'm going to break and just treat me like everyone else."

My lips curled up. I felt bad for her and I really wanted to help the gloomy thirteen year old beside me. "What would you like to do that you never got the chance to do?"

"Use a gun. I've always wanted to do that."

"Free up your schedule tomorrow by 5. I'm going to teach you only one lesson at the dojo. How does that sound?"

Her eyes sparkled with excitement. "Are you being serious?" I nodded. She gripped my hand excitedly. It was impossible not to smile back. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I promise to be the best student in the world."

I smirked. "Just don't come late."

She saluted."Yes, ma'am, boss lady."

I chuckled. "Let's lower our voices. We can't afford to wake up the sleeping radiants."

Taye gave a thumbs up and nodded. We continued to walk quietly, until Taye broke the silence."Thank God Levi's coming back in the morning. Aliyah makes a crappy leader." I broke into laughter as we both took our long strolls in silence.