He loosened his grip after she had stopped fighting him. With no other choice but to give in, Nerissa decided it was not the right time to make a scene and to avoid attracting unwanted attention. Especially at that time of day when the fog was starting to reveal the hidden city below, and break their protective shield.
This is the moment her grandma has prepared her for, throughout her entire life. Sometimes it is better to leave things the way they are, no matter how hard her heart is trying to fight for its rights. She would like nothing more than to yell at him and then get away from there, as fast as possible. It might be the illness giving her a surge of courage, although she is far from losing her mind yet.
Jerk or not, she welcomes his silence like a mask of fresh air, his words still stinging from before. A shy peek in his direction, and her insides start to ache. There's no way she will ever talk to him after this. One night, that's all it took for her whole world to fall apart. Besides, it's her fault for letting Ilya convince her to come to the party. If she had followed her instincts and stayed away, she wouldn't have been in this mess right now. For all she knows, after this night, her world might fade faster, the virus spreading and taking control over the living cells in her brain, quicker than normal. Her reality has already started to melt away, like dawn to day when things get hazy.
It's for the best that things ended up the way they did. Now I'll have to keep my distance from him. Empty words are filling her head, still, her mind is focused on the burning hand glued to her elbow. She yanks her arm, severing all contact with him, but a sudden veil of sadness is dropping over her as he lets her go.
They start descending the hill towards the city while the morning sun guides them from behind. Its beams paint the far wall in blood-orange hues making it look like it's on fire. Dawn has never looked so glorious with the purifying golden rays to erase any trace of the darkness, yet her heart is far from being salvaged. Rather it's shattered, broken and burning from the inside out. Her skin is already yearning for his touch, but the thought that this might be the last sunrise to ever witness in her lifetime is somehow numbing her senses. Last night may have ended poorly, however, today's morning looks promising, so she might as well enjoy it like it's the last.
Thanks to Roone, they have changed their course just on time before facing the patrolling guards and they have made it safely to her district. The curfew is still in place and they are not out of danger yet. Now that the light has won the fight, subduing the night once again, they are forced to stay out of the streets and continue their journey through backyards and hidden paths.
Once in familiar surroundings, Nerissa leads the way straight to a shortcut she discovered a few months ago. The memory of Ilya and her, having too much fun to keep track of time, seems so far away and somehow strange to the reality she's living right now. How come my life strayed so much from the path I had worked so hard for? She forces the thought to go away, letting out a deep, long sigh, as she opens an old wooden gate. However, this time she knows better to lift it just enough before it starts squeaking and waking up the Smiths. Her house is just across the street from theirs, which means passing through their courtyard would not only cut the trip in half, but it would also cover them from any vigilant guards.
While holding the gate wide open, she turns to Roone, focusing her stare on the crease between his eyebrows to avoid eye contact.
'Follow me, we are almost there.' Her cool voice breaks the silence. She's still upset with him for how he talked to her the night before.
Roone raises his eyebrow at her, half amused, half confused by her attitude towards him. Her mood changes so fast, it's like a roller-coaster. Now she's feisty, then submissive and then cold and ignorant. No wonder he can't understand her.
'I didn't think of you as a trespasser, Nerissa. You are full of surprises.' He mocks her pursing his lips in a self-satisfying smirk. He decided to stick to their game for a while longer.
She could feel her heart swelling in her chest at the sight of him. How could one be so annoying, yet so spectacularly beautiful? She quivers her head, trying to shake the inappropriate thought away, and focusing on the sinking ship she's currently on instead.
'Yeah, because going to an illegal party is so much better.' She retorts sarcastically before walking away, crouching and hiding under the windows. His presence is both like poison and cure to her, deadly, yet so indispensable.
Roone follows suit, not really concerned about the sleeping residents, but rather boiling up inside. He knows he has to say something to make things better, if not for her, for his own sake, at least. By the time the rear concrete fence comes into view, splashed here and there with green, vivid moss, he had already made up his mind. He needs to talk to her before she gets home. Under the broom shrub's thick shadow, flowering like a rain of fire over them, Roone grasps Nerissa's hand and pulls her towards him. He knows exactly where they are, and that when they get beyond that fence, he will have to let her go. He has to mend things between them now, before she gets inside.
'Hey...' Roone starts talking his voice hoarse and shaky.
His touch sends burning chills along Nerissa's spine. She can't take it any longer. Trying to get away from him as fast as she can, she slips away jumping the wall only to stop at the top.
'Not long now before we can see my house. Let's get it over with.' Her words still float in the air, long after her head disappears beyond the wall.
A second later, Roone vaults over the fence and grabs her by the elbow, this time gentler than before. With his jaw clenched, he takes a deep breath and tries one more time.
'Look, Nerissa, I am so...'
Without warning, she jerks her arm and starts running across the road, dodging a low, leafless branch on her way. Stunned by her rudeness, he lets her go, realizing too late that something is wrong. He watches her as she disappears behind a crooked front door, barely hanging in only one of its hinges.
In the jumble of thoughts paralyzing her mind, there is only one that stands out, and gives her courage to keep moving; and that is her grandmother.
She runs from one room to another, jumping over shattered ceramics and smashed furniture. Upstairs, things look even worse than in the rest of the house, each room having been turned upside down and completely devastated. After thoroughly checking all the wardrobes and under beds for Susan, she bumps her shoulder into the bedroom's door-case, on her way back down. The piercing pain opens the dam of tears behind her lids, flooding her eyes and sending waterfalls over her pale cheeks.
'Susan!' She screams her grandmother's name over and over again, until her voice turns to empty whispers. With each rummaged room she covers, she finds precious memories destroyed and lost forever.
Despair starts building up, while the thought that she might not see her grandma again starts settling in the back of her mind. Having no clue of how she got back downstairs, she finds Roone sitting in the middle of the living room surrounded by a big pile of books, the empty bookshelf crashed to pieces all over the floor.
A fraction of a second was more than enough for her to lose herself and collapse to the ground. Roone catches her on time before her body could get injured in the thousand shards covering the hardwood floor.
'I can't find her anywhere! They've taken her away!' She mumbles words through incoherent sobs, the shock draining all the little energy she has left in her.
He tucks the hair from her face behind her ear while he evaluates the damage. What mess have you gotten into? The question pops into his mind, for he knows too well this is not the government's doing. They wouldn't have left any trace unless they quarantined the whole house.
This is definitely Iron Guard's chaos and they can't stay there much longer. The sole reason why Roone and his team were sent to Earth is to protect Nerissa and the others like her from their attacks. But with the resistance growing every day, they are getting more dangerous and impatient. They would have never shown themselves so deep within the city unless they were desperate. This was all planned and until he finds out what they are looking for, he'll have to keep her as far away from this place as possible.
'Nerissa! We have to go!' He shakes her shoulders as he tries to bring some sense into her. It might be already too late for them.
'No! I have to find her.' She ripostes, jerking and trying to free herself from his embrace. However, Roone's training has already kicked in, leaving no room to deal with her temper right now.
They certainly don't have time to fight over this if they want to live, and her stubbornness gives him no choice but to carry her on his shoulders. Getting out the back door she tries to fight him off, hitting the air with her legs and calling for her grandma in between curses.
'Calm down, Nerissa!' His firm voice finally draws her attention to him. 'Look...', He continues on a warmer tone, yet still holding the same timbre. 'If you pull yourself together, I'll put you down, but you have to agree to come with me. We must get off the streets and go somewhere safe. Do you understand?'
Lost for words, she nods, too confused and scared to make any sounds. After he makes sure she has calmed down, he keeps his promise and sets her free.
'Do you remember when I told you the streets are not safe anymore?' He asks, raising her chin and looking straight into her colorful eyes.
'Yes, but what does it all have to do ...?' She wants to ask before he takes her hand, cutting her off and rushing her towards the laced treetops behind Susan's house.
He could tell she's terrified and he will not get away with just a simple explanation, but for now, they must keep running.
'You'll have to trust me on this.' He urges, letting out small clouds of hot steamed breaths in the morning's air.
The urgency in his tone, and the length he would go to keep her safe is enough for her to trust him for now. Still, his behavior is confusing her more than ever and she can't stop but wonder why he would risk his freedom for her.
'All right!'. She finally agrees keeping up with his speed. 'But you'll have to tell me what's going on sooner or later.'
He slowly squeezes her hand reassuring her once again to have faith in him. They will reach safe heaven all the way in the other part of the town, a place unknown to her and most of the population. The trip to Roone's home is far from being an easy or a pleasant one as they have to pass unnoticed, while the city is slowly waking up. Always looking over their shoulders, to make sure they are not being followed, that puts a strain on both of them, but with Roone living off-grid since he's arrived on Earth, there is no better spot under the dome to hide than his place.
...
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