Chapter 16: [XVI] - Silver Stiches
A muffled laugh came out of my mouth. This is really comical.
"Try me." — I bursted out with my teeth clenched. I won't allow anyone to make me feel threatened again. This feeling of… not knowing where to run anymore, whom to trust and what to do… The despair pushed me to be like that now. And I knew he couldn't do anything to me.
"Don't get too cocky, or you will regret it." — The silver-haired didn't use his teasing voice, this sounded like a serious warning.
But I won't let him scare me with just the change of his tone. This unpleasant feeling…
"You think I fear a wailing dog like you!? I despise people who think they can daze others with their crap and a honeyed voice!" — I shouted at him, pushing him even more.
He must have felt offended by my words, as he frowned his thin eyebrows even more.
"You rebels think you can change anything. Hahaha, if you only realized how stupid and useless your efforts are."
"Shut up, who do you think you even are to act like that? Don't you realize that… everything around is just a one big conspiracy? We aren't treated like humans anymore.
All of those people deserve a better life, without worrying if they will live through tomorrow, if some fucking officer won't knock on their doors and profusely tell them they've done something wrong, while nothing even happened? All of them deserve to know the truth, that we were all divided because of the leaders whim, thinking that the ones with minor issues are no longer considered as a part of society.
Realizing all of this is wrong… is the key to awakening the change. All of the people around us… We are the ones who will make them realize a fight is necessary! Being locked up in a constricted place where no free will is greeted well?! There are only two paths you can take. Be obiedent or be one who strays. And the best thing is that both sides are treated like the last trash! The truth is obligatory!" — I was getting more infuriated with every word I've spoken out of my mouth. Shaking his body with my hands, that acquired the strength out of nowhere. I was totally just spilling my anger on this stranger, but he earned it.
"The truth? And what exactly is it? Hahaha…" — The silver-haired man gave up on trying to get away from my grasp. Instead he squinted his eyes even more, trying to focus his gaze directly at me.
"It's… The truth…" — My words slowly came out of my mouth, as his glare changed from a inane one, to a stone cold indifference.
"Everything you said is the common knowledge. Did anyone ever do anything with that? Was there ever a riot to abolish them? No. Because everyone is so busy with their own lives, not caring about the "well-being" of others, like you do. It's people like you who make me sick, thinking that they can change anything. What a waste of time. Nothing can be changed. Adaptation is sustained for years."
"…"
He spoke out those words calmly, but with a palpable irritation.
"…Did anyone try hardly to change anything?! People should try! As long as there is hope, there also is a change!" — I angrily yelled in response, not allowing for the sense of his words to come to me.
This explanation… As for a frivolous and not serious man, his words made some sense. It's very difficult to admit that some of the things he said might be right. But still, I think he is mostly in the wrong. His opinion is an objection against my beliefs. I strongly believe that if we try hard enough, the world can bend from our fingers.
If not for our sake, then let's do it for the future generations! I can't accept the fact that there can be nothing done, especially after knowing all of the things the humanity had in the past, and then lost it…
The emerald forests full of life… Sapphire oceans of furious tides and storms… Mosaic cities full of free people, so different from each other, yet so united. The loud chatters, ability to express what's going on their minds… Art, nature, freedom. They all seemed to be so beautiful and gorgeous when I heard about them from my aunt. I saw the colorful pictures in that book. "The Encyclopedia of the World". No one will ever erase this title from my memories, as well as the wonderful images of the "previous" humanity. If I can see it being restored and given to enjoy for anyone, I can fully rest at ease. I'll try my best.
"You see where your efforts got you to. To the point where a gun is being held pointing straight into your heart."
"If you're so confident, then pull the trigger."
I saw him become abashed with my words. His hand holding the gun started to shake, and I was forcing him with my gaze to do it. To shoot me.
"You are really something."
"Pull it."
"You…"
"…You think I'm afraid? I won't be the last one to stand against the system. PULL IT!!!"
I've screamed those words straight into his face.
He closed his eyes with a forced expression.
I heard the metal trigger be pulled by his thin finger.
But as I expected, nothing happened at all. The gun didn't fire anything. This action was… so useless. He just wanted to frighten me with it. So futile.
What was he thinking of? I may have ditched too much school hours, but it doesn't mean that I'm this stupid. Not foolish enough to know what people can do when they are at the verge of their life.
The first thing I would do, when having a gun, would be to shoot it instantly. When you are at your lowest, and going deeper would mean not being able to reach the surface again, you don't have the time to think of what's "righteous". If one pull of a trigger can end all your miseries, there is no one that won't go for it. I used to think that everyone deserved to live.
But after experiencing everything since now, I realized how small everyone is, we are all just pawns to them. There will always be someone who would sacrifice you for their well-being. And even when you think of them the highest, at the end you just realize all of this was just to use you. When someone is right on your heels, trying to make you fall down into an abyss, can you not just move the finger on the trigger if you can? The survival instinct is superior…
He had a gun all of the time, but didn't use earlier it on me? The only explanation was that he really either didn't want to harm me, or just had no bullets. But no one could come after me without the intention to commit bad things. So, the other option was left to be true. Teasing me and threatening my life, he would have shot me a long time ago. Or is it that someone really wants me for another purposes…
I witnessed the abasement of my oppressor. He really though he could scare me with a few sentences and force me to go wherever the hell he wanted me to? Knowing that I've seen his companion definitely break the laws of our metropolis, I bet he wouldn't let me see the world again. The longer I'm on the harsh streets of this metropolis, the more I experience the brutality of the people, to the point where I won't let them fool me anymore.
This incredible strength I've gained out of nowhere, I'm looking for an explanation to it as well. I've never felt so… fresh and vigorous. The feeling of your muscles doing exactly what you want them to do, every move is precise and nothing blocks you from breaking the strength limit you've been used to… I feel like if a magical energy was flowing right through my body. Being stronger than your enemies, it's such a wonderful experience…
After the empty shot, I was just pushing him against the wall freely, I felt no force from his side at all. His head was tilted towards the ground, with his silver hair hanging like a water stream from beneath his black hood. A sight of a loser. It's so weird seeing someone lose because of you, failing what they attempted to do against you. It's me, who's always been the loser. I've told myself this is a wonderful feeling, but now…
…I just feel mixed. …Or maybe even… sad?
Someone is a loser, like I was before. They've tried like me too…
But I can't think anymore about it like that… He… He wanted to do bad things to me… Have I truly done the right thing? …I've hurt someone! But at the same time… They would have hurt me! He destroyed my precious evidence, made me feel unsafe, made me travel kilometers, trying to run away… But…
I stepped back away from him, making his worn out body fall on his knees. His head was still bowed, and his hair waved swirly. I looked down at this pitiful creature, not knowing what to do and think anymore. My instinct of survival was battling with my morality.
Hurting someone or being hurt?
Hunt or being hunted?
Is there anyway to know how to choose the best option?
"I don't understand you. Why don't you just finish me off?" — A quiet and poor voice was let out of his beaten lungs.
"…I can't understand myself, either." — I answered with honesty, after a moment of silence.
His head moved up, and his two, silver like mercury eyes looked directly into mine. They were shining like two bright stars on a dark, night sky, piercing through me with their light. But instead of seeing grief and loss in them, I saw the same frivolous and loony gaze, with a smiling twist in them, as before.
His slim hand moved up to his masked face, and what he did next, was honestly the last thing I would expect him to do.
He grabbed his dark mask, and slowly pulled it down his face, gradually showing me much more than only his eyes. Nothing else, than a wide, charming smirk of a crazy man. His full face is visible now…
It was round, but slim. His complexion was very light, almost the color of a paper. No signs of any blush at all. In the middle of his face, was a short and pointed nose, almost like the one of a small child. And under it, thin, pale lips were curved in a wide and derisive grin. On each side of his face, he had a small dimple, exposing his puffy cheeks even more. But his eyes couldn't confirm his cute personality. They were full of hate and contempt. A fake gaze of a deceitful man. He was laughing internally at me.
"What's so funny? Do you think I will fall for that smile of yours?" — His actions were a total riddle for me.
"What took you so long, man?" — He suddenly said those words out loud, but they seemed not to be directed at me.
His gaze wandered far behind, ignoring me completely now.
But… We were at a completely empty street… There was no one else he could be possibly speaking to right now… right? Is this another of his deceiving tricks?!
The shivers went down my back, like a thunder of sharp needles stabbing against my back. Something came like a thunderbolt to my mind, an idea I haven't realized all of this time.
"I lost the other one, but it appears that you've kept this one well." — A low, husky voice drifted into my ears, coming from behind my back.
All of the silver-haired actions, were only professional acting skills…
I didn't even have to turn around, to recognize the person speaking. I knew this voice very well. It could belong to no one other than a tall man, with a mesmerizing blue glow in his eyes. A man whose sight screwed my life so much, that I had to run away from my home and living in the shell of being "safe". Now, I realized I've never been safe. I was lucky enough not to be a witness of a life-changing event. But how quickly the wind changes, how the sides can turn and tides awake from the bottom of the ocean.
And at the moment I turned around, those deep ocean eyes stared directly into mine. A sharp and a firm look. I knew I didn't stand a chance against them in a stare fight. Nor I would in a physical one.
Weekly Power Status
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