Luminescence

Fifteen.

"Hudson?"

"Yeah?"

I purse my lips. "What happened to you and your mom when you escaped the apartment that night?"

He shifts uncomfortably. "Well..." his voice falters, unsure if he could tell the story fully. "When we broke up from your family and my father, my mom fled by crashing out a glass window with me in her arms. Little did we know that guards had surrounded the building entirely. My mom, being the brave person she was told me to run while she fought off the guards on one side of a building. I had gotten pretty far, but a ship had followed me. I tried my best to hide, but when they shot I wasn't fast enough."

I look up to him. Hudson's unfortunately-gorgeous face had crease lines, as his eyes recall an old memory he tried so hard to forget.

"I'm sure you've read the story about the five remaining mutants," he continues. "Well, the fifth surviving mutant came to save me as our parents fought for their lives in the apartment."

It was Priscilla. It had to be.

"Yes," he barely smiles. "It was Priscilla." His red eyes look down to mine as he read my thoughts, and I slap him on the chest. "She came in with her own airship and absolutely destroyed the ship that had attacked me, or at least attempted to attack me. Then with her weapons system destroyed the other ships and guards surrounding the apartment in an act of revenge. But by the time Priscilla got into the lobby where our parents were fighting... it was too late. Priscilla then took me away to the Rebel base... and that was that. She introduced me to other young hero mutants she had found in the shadows, similar to me. I never heard from my mother again. I don't know if she survived or if she was killed."

"Then why did you join the group that killed your parents?"

Hudson stayed silent, and I decide to stop my questions. If I pushed him further, I would send him into an emotional state I didn't want to see.

He lets out a sigh, deciding to respond. "After the incident at the Rebel base where my friends tried to murder me, I had no place to go. Everyone who I thought I could trust in my life had turned their backs on me. Priscilla, my friends who tried to murder me—"

Hudson's voice was shaky. He stopped as if he were deciding his next words carefully.

"I haven't felt any form of love since I was the age of eight. Now, all that is left inside me is eternal darkness. Sometimes I wonder, if in the future I'll have a family. If I'll maybe even grow old with someone by my side, not just that'll accompany me, but will, you know... actually love me back."

My heart shattered in pieces for him as he spoke. He actually had a heart beneath his armor. All he needed was love in his life, and it would solve a million of his problems.

"I think about it too. God, I don't think anyone is going to marry me, being a mutant," I say softly laughing for what felt like the first time in decades. "Once I will tell my other half that I'm a scary person with superpowers, then he'll flip."

"Hey," he says grabbing my hands and pulling me off his lap. "Being a mutant is something you shouldn't be ashamed of, if anything. Don't let the Plague tell you otherwise. These abilities given to you... they are gifts. There are so many people who would die in this world for the powers we yield."

I let Hudson's words sink in, as his green eyes glow brighter than they ever had before. This was the first time I had seen this side of him. It was softer and more caring, and if I could, I would want to see it everyday. But unfortunately, he has evil plans to attend to.

I look down to our position, as the soft smile diminishes from my face. We were across from each other, so close that our knees were touching. As his ungloved hands entwined with mine I felt nothing but pure, raw sparks and energy through our bond. It was crazy how a bit of magic had pulled us together.

Then, I noticed the blanket he had pulled off from my bed earlier. Wait... he pulled off my bed? He was supposed to be like a hologram, which means objects should go straight through.

"Hudson," I say astonished, releasing my hands from his slowly getting up. He gives me a confused look at my sudden excitement. "You're touching the blanket."

I suddenly throw the blanket at him, expecting for it to go straight through his image, yet it simply collapsed on top of his body as his eyes widen.

"How is this even possible?" He says breathlessly, trying out everything from a crumb to a clock to see if his hand would go straight through it. But every single time they moved with his touch. "I'm in your head, not your room. Whatever this mental bond between us is, it's strengthening."

Then, fear consumed me once more. If Hudson could touch everything in this room, then he could kill me with one simple throw of a sword. He seemed to realize it too, as his eyes turn back towards me with a neutral expression on his face, as usual.

"Hudson..." I whisper to him, a shiver running down my spine from the lack of warmth in the room. "Don't do this, please," I beg.

He seemed torn. As he unsheathes his sword from his belt buckle, I was almost ready to summon my sword as well. If he wanted to kill me, he would have to fight for the title first.

But in shock, I watch him put the sword in his belt buckle, not breaking eye contact with me once. His eyes were filled with remorseless as his hands shook like an emotional earthquake was rocking his core.

"I can't."

Those were the two words he whispered before falling to the ground on his knees in dismay.

"I can't do it Mara." His voice now had an edge to it. He was angry, and I understood why. "You're just..." he runs a hand through his wavy hair in frustration. "You're my weakness, Mara. And whatever this shitty bond between us is, it's only diminishing my hatred for you. You should be dead by now. I'll be the one dead if you aren't in a grave by two weeks."

I said nothing. He was trying to manipulate me into joining his side by using the sympathy card. But at the same time, I was stunned at the confession he had just made.

"Please, Mara. Do it for me. Turn yourself in," he pleads as I felt another tear trickle down my face. I felt guilty, but I wasn't going to give in. "They're going to kill me if I don't," he repeats.

He gets up, now taking slow but dreadfully heavy steps towards me as his leg was too injured for him to walk normally. His begs soon turned into cries, and those cries became like ripples in my ear. I couldn't hear him anymore, because my head was spinning with too many emotions making my footing weak. I had completely tuned him out. I felt like crying as I fell back onto my knees, watching him with teary eyes beg for his life.

Then, I couldn't physically explain how I did, but I cut off the connection between us. And in an instant he vanished into white light as his meaningless, dreadful words drifted away into the air.

And all that was left were my soft cries, and the blanket in my arms that smelled exactly like him.

__________

HIIIIII!

How is everyone doing today? :)

BRO I SCREWED UP MY WORK SCHEDULE SOO BAD😭 I'm literally working 6 days this week so far all because I forgot to change my availabilities on time!

Anyways I hope everyone has a good day!