Chapter|Two
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☆ ☆
☆ ☆
◐∇ Light and darkness
pour through
the cracks
until the vessel
is empty. ◐∇
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The fall arrived with a buoyant lack of subtly, donning her most vibrant hues. The calming breeze swept into the streets and woodlands with such boldness that invited practically every eye to catch her sight, even if someone was unwilling to. The leaves were uncontrolled to dance from branch to the ground rich with the aroma, free to roam around readily.
Drifting around, the red and browns brought the same cozy quilt in peace, as we experience in the nighttime.
As it fluttered around, gently caressing everything that came into its touch, the cool sound of the air tousled my dirty blond hair, lending an imperceptible blow to my short-sleeve black tee. I took in a freshly calm air rich in oxygen, feeling the fragrance of homeliness gathered inside me.
My head whipped around the direction where I found a small girl who lived in the same neighborhood as me, wrapped up in a warm jacket. Standing on her tip-toes, she tried to smell the surrounded sweet air. I could see her black hair, flying in wild directions.
A pleasant smile lingering on my lips, I shifted my eyes to the entrance door. Holding a tight grip on the strap of my backpack and various scenarios of ungraceful memories didn't fail to plague my head as I couldn't help but clench my fists, in an efforts to not let them consume me before I violently shook my head, exhaling a sharp breath, and eventually fumbled the key into a keyhole.
In anticipation, a door got pushed by me, wide open, and relief immediately spread across my face, beads of sweat were now gone from my forehead, once I sighted nobody around the living room, yet I could hear the voices erupting from the kitchen.
Our living room was about normal size in a rectangular shape and probably the biggest room in the whole house. It was white but one of the walls was painted a pastel yellow. It also had a bookshelf in the corner which was mostly filled with my Mom's books. A comfortable gray couch was sitting low to the floor in the middle of the room.
As a middle-class family, we lived in a small part of the town in Kentucky. We had comforts for ordinary living. We didn't have a large spacious house, richly adorned with huge gardens but a well-ventilated house with sufficient accommodation was enough for our necessity.
Once I get rich enough to survive to live without my Mom, I would move out of this town and to the city straight away.
Chucking my trite black backpack, which I have been managing to retain for more than two years, letting it collide against the wall, as it produced a slight sound before falling to the ground. Rolling my eyes to myself, I made my way to the kitchen.
I was welcomed with a beautiful face of a woman whom I love dearly in this world. Mom was sitting down on one of the stools, arrayed by the large wooden table. Her auburn hair that looked burning to the touch was flowing in warm curls to her mid-back. She had a complexion of neutral skin.
Mom was feeding food to my little brother, who was throwing a tantrum for not eating as always.
"No, my stomach's full," Avi argued in a gravelly voice, shaking his head, side to side, "I don't wanna eat anymore,"
"You're not done eating yet," Mom stated, her ocean blue eyes staring down at him to which he quickly swallowed down the food.
In the presence of me, he was pleased as a punch and threw a radiant grin across his face. A sparkle through his innocent self animated his face as he got up from his spot to run towards me.
A gentle pair of small arms were wrapped around my torso, "Emi!"
I suppressed a hint of hurt at his pronunciation, behind my smile, and dropped down to his level.
"How was your day, little buddy?" I asked, stroking his coffee brown hair.
Avi was the apple of my eye. Even with the age gap, we had always been extremely close. He was a pretty mousy child. He had inherited ocean blue eyes from Mom, which can be enough to fade your annoyance.
For a split second, he thought of an answer before he responded, "I-It was good,"
Avi glanced over at the ceiling, struggling to think of a further answer. His tiny finger was placed on the edge of his lip while his stares remained adjusted at the ceiling. With a long-drawn-out unwinding smile, I patiently continued to listen to his impaired ability in the formation of sentences.
A moment later, he uttered out, "I got to learn to the addition of big numbers, today,"
And I heartily praised him, "Good job,"
Avi, a ray of sunshine, a 5-year-old child, was diagnosed with a disorder having no way to correct the underlying brain abnormality and cannot be prevented or cured - Dyslexia.
Since we thought, his pronunciation might take a limited time to be developed, nobody in the family tried to address him to an Educational Psychologist. Today, when the investigation opened our eyes clearly enough, the efforts were brought in to provide a therapy available for him. It was a lifelong problem, however, the early detection and appropriate treatment could improve success.
The indecision was all created solely about money. The therapy commanded cost more than we could afford. Nonetheless, Mom decided to provide him the treatment as disadvantages could be perceived manifold in the future if the disorder got more retarded. At the most, it was essential to see him as a whole person, complete with individual strengths and weaknesses.
A naive and blameless soul, if only he wasn't so unfortunate.
"Hey, Mom," I raised my head to greet her.
"How was school, honey?" Mom asked with a smile that looked natural on her with her eyes, revealing affection.
"It was fine as usual," I answered with a small grunt.
"Your usual answer," Her lips escaped a chuckle before she left the room.
I ruffled Avi's hair, forming a tight smile on my face. I got up when a warm hand against my cold skin grabbed the sleeve of my shirt.
"Yes, buddy?"
"Mom didn't take me-"
I questioned, catching his words before he could finish them as I already knew his answer. "Didn't Mom take you outside, today?"
A quick nod was received in return, "Cause Mom's busy,"
While speaking, he seemed to be downcast as he slipped down his upset gaze to his tiny feet.
Avi's statement led me to feel sorry as a reaction. Momentarily, I got completely nonplussed, falling into a grim silence.
"Take me out?"
The least I could do was incapable of refusing him. Without a second thought, I shot a slight smile in his direction, stating a positive answer. Avi started bouncing up and down, happily. All my concerns and dolorous drowned out at his cheerful sight.
"Mom!" I called out, loudly.
"What is it?" A voice originated as a response.
"I'm going to take Avi out with me for a short time,"
Without further ado, I turned to my brother who had his small arms spread out already to make me carry him, excitement evident in his baby steps. I couldn't help a grin painting my lips, as I bent down to lift him and gathered him gently in my arms, his legs immediately encircled around my waist.
"Hang on a second!" Mom unexpectedly entered the room, holding a black jacket in her hand.
Covering up Avi with his jacket and placing a tender kiss on his temple, she whispered in a smooth tone, "Stay close to your brother," Just in the manner, she invariably does.
Avi nodded in enthusiasm.
"Don't let him wander here and there. Keep an eye on him," Mom enunciated to me.
Inclining my head in agreement, Mom left the room, as long as that pleasing face left my sight.
"Let's go?"
In a reaction, a loud amusing giggle reached my ears was enough to make my day.
"Alazne Channing"
"Anna Channing"
"Lizzy Channing"
The strained silence engulfed in the surrounding area sounded extremely heavy and thoughtful as it caressed my skin to agitate my soul, and spread the taut in my insides. My unsteady body felt disquiet at the intricate existing period.
As if the void broken by noise will sound to be shattered like glass.
"Alazne"
I was searching for every possible username, I could think of her on social media like Instagram but to no avail; on every platform, no glimpse of her made me feel for her or the reality might escape me. I have checked out several accounts, started by the name Alazne but being balked, none of them were able to give me a hint of her.
Feeling the chills arising in my blood, coldness bringing the synapses of my brain to stand still, yet the part of a pain that I endure while sleeping through the night after night was holding a false hope within me.
My eyes rested upon the screen of a laptop as I breathed out a long and heavy sigh, suffused with melancholy, and shut down my laptop, hopelessly. As a tired yawn escaped my lips, I pushed myself to the limit to glance around my surroundings and caught sight of a bottle of soda, spotted on a nightstand.
The presence of the bottle helped to boost gusto inside me.
I got up from my spot. Placing an edge of the bottle cap on the table, holding the neck of the bottle tightly, and using my other hand to slam down on the bottle, the cap popped off on my first try, and I got it opened. I belted down the soda to avoid sleeping as much as I could.
Alazne has vanished without leaving any indication to find her, apart from her memories which were alive in everyone's heart.
I squeezed my eyes shut in anguish when I felt a familiar feeling attack my heart that I have held into me for a considerable time. In other words, this inexpressible unknown feeling has enclosed me since our sentient souls got separated.
It made me feel like I'm falling down a hill and wanted to catch something to prevent myself from experiencing a plummet but couldn't reach up to hold the support. Being reticent, stemming in powerless to share with anyone, its profundity has been bottled up inside me for as long as I can remember and formed a great dejection, deeper into my heart.
Running a hand through my disheveled blond hair warily, I took another gloomy sigh, placing down the bottle in uncertainty, holding my tense frame.
In the following minutes, the glimmering moonlight filtered into my room through the window with the help of the crack between the tattered drapes made up of rigid blue twill to give an appearance of diagonal lines.
I went on to stare out of the window in a peaceful silence when, out of the blue, the door of my room opened, with a groan, breaking my train of thought. My tranquil gaze upward to watch the changing positions of the threadbare floor mat, disposed of at the entrance of my room.
"Want to hit up some great-looking chicks in the club?" Fane visibly appeared, standing on a doorstep.
"Not interested," I replied blindly.
A smirk lit up his face, the moment he casually walked towards the side of my bed and gave a pat to my back pleasantly.
"Lighten up, bro,"
"I'm part mushroom; I grow in the dark," I retorted with a sickly sweet smile.
Fane actually deserved a prize and a slap for being the most annoying person in my life.
Caring about parties is one of his R and R. Stays up late drinking, and always ends up being grounded in his home. If you would ask me, how does he end up being friends with me - well, I would just request you to not because that's one of the most unfortunate things ever happened to me so far.
He takes life as all beer and skittles.
He usually stays at mine so he could drive his basic rights or more like wander as vagabonds - the whole night.
Fane's lips curled up, as he shot me a grimace of incredulous, before he queried, "What are you working on the laptop, late at night?"
"Some project work," I reluctantly answered.
Fane tried to scrutinize me when I shuffled the laptop closer to me as he didn't seem to be convinced by my answer, however with his usual laid-back mood, he doesn't perpetuate and let it go.
Beyond everything, he was a happy-go-lucky guy.
"We could have a lot of fun, man," His eyes glimmered as if trying to persuade me.
"Nice try," I smirked back at him, a little bit cocking my eyebrows, "My answer is still no!"
"Fine, this night is mine," He rolled his eyes, offering a careless shrug. "Besides, Jacob is waiting for me,"
As far as my mind could run, I knew that smirk failed to leave his face mere the images of hot chicks must be displaying inside his brain.
No matter how many times he got caught sneaking off to the parties and ended up getting grounded, he never intended to listen, though. He loved to be a law unto himself.
I stopped for a second to meet his full stare on. I shot him a quiet frown before sparing a glance at the door, quietly shaking my head in displeasure at the same time.
"I swear, I'll pull you inside my grave too," I grumbled out, "Believe that,"
Fane chortled while nodding his head. Rolling my eyes, I grumpily forced myself to get up from the bed before leading him to the staircase as the time had come to eventually shove him out of my house.
"Don't try to even snicker. My Mom and brother are sleeping,"
A head bobbed in approval behind me as I quietly pushed the door open for him. "From the next time, wash away the brain of Blake's,"
"Your house is only my secret point. As you know, I have a great affinity for the midnight parties,"
With another roll of an eye, I shot him a last sweet smile, unresisting shoving him out. For a brief moment, I decided to stand in a full-screen, distraction-free place. Letting my eyes wander the couch, to the sight of a kitchen, to the highs and lows of emotions, and the room.
As usual, I walked to the large window located beside the more discernible couch that made stars visible out and I couldn't help but peek at the universe as if they commanded me to gaze at them. My sense was real or not, however, my oneness got filled with something greater.
Shutting my eyes, momentarily as I was walking towards the short staircase when something suddenly popped my brain, signaling me to turn back. A small smile spread across my face once the realization hit me.
Quite readily, I went to the left side of the living room where it happened to be located, a small bedroom. The door was pulled open with a tiny creak unfolding the entrance for an unilluminated room, and I stood there, adjusting my vision where I found my Mom sleeping in a beckoning position.
Mom's long arm wrapped around Avi tenderly and protectively, as if offering him infinite affection, his back snuggled against her body as the small snores continued to escape his mouth.
I kinda miss this.
As far as I'm concerned, my Mom's major mission in her life was just to keep us safe and sound, and unscathed, come what may. Although, I have commenced high school.
A/N: Happy weekend! I hope this chapter was enjoyable for you because it took a little while to configure out.
How was your meeting with the new characters? I hope you had a great time :D
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