Riven
Luneth gave the bowl back to the store and we walked home after grabbing some food. It was long past noon by now. The walk was amazingly peaceful. We held hands, remaining mostly silent, but it was not at all uncomfortable.
We passed the old stone bridge by the canal, where little kids would balance on the edge, daring each other to jump in.
Luneth glanced over and smiled. "Do you remember when we used to do that?"
I chuckled. "Sadly. You pushed me in more times than I can count."
"Only because you were too scared to jump." She laughed, and it seemed to make the whole world a little bit brighter.
***
The housing district entered our sight. I glanced at Luneth. "Anything else planned for today?"
She shook her head and smiled. "Not really. I was just hoping to stay over at your house. We can stop by mine, and I'll tell my parents where I'll be." She gently squeezed my hand.
I stared at her, and then grinned. "Sounds great to me."
We eventually made it to the front of Luneth's home. It looked a little out of place since it was the only wooden house in the area.
She released my hand and rushed up the wooden steps. "'Kay, wait out here for me, yeah? Go ahead and take a seat and I'll be right back!" She gestured towards a chair on her porch as she pushed the front door open.
I sat down on the chair and leaned back. What I was feeling… was quite complicated. I felt as though it would be impossible to explain it to someone who hadn't experienced something like this. All that I could think about was… her. Her eyes, her facial expressions, her body. I would honestly die of embarrassment if someone could read my thoughts right now.
Attempting to push those thoughts aside, I relaxed and waited for the door to open back up. I waited… and I waited. I didn't know how much time had passed, but the sun was getting close to setting. I was even about to get up and knock on the door.
The door slowly creaked open. I stood up and glanced at Luneth, who was now exiting the doorway. I walked over and grabbed her hand. "What were you doing? You said you'd be right back."
She was looking at the ground, frozen. I placed my hand on her cheek, which was slick. "Hey… Luneth? Are you okay?"
I used my hand to tilt up her chin… and then I saw her face. Her softness… was entirely gone. Her eyes were dull and lifeless as she looked at me. Worst of all, her face was covered with tears still streaming down from her eyes. My gut seemed to tear itself apart as I took in the sight.
What could possibly have happened in just a couple of hours?
"Lun-Luneth…" I guided her over to the chair I was in moments prior and had her sit down. "I can help, Luneth. You just have to tell me what happened, okay?"
Her emotionless face suddenly twisted as the tears finally stopped. She finally said quietly, "I wish there was something you… We could do." Her voice hardened. "There's nothing anyone can do to help. That includes you."
Her emotionless eyes locked onto me as I fell back, hitting the ground. It felt like a punch in the gut… No. It was a punch in the gut. My heart and stomach ached as I tried to stand back up. "What… What happened in there?"
She stared at me… But her eyes were distant, almost as though she was looking past me. Then, Luneth's eyes closed and she leaned back in the chair. "Everything you see… is absolutely fake."
My blood went cold. Fake? That didn't even make sense. Did that mean I was fake? She was fake? What did she even mean by fake? Or… I stood back up and turned around, staring at the sky. Despite how random they seemed, her words made things… start to connect.
First of all, the black figures. They were clearly more advanced in terms of… everything. They seemed to have a lot more technology than us, being able to make that sleek armor and all types of other things we didn't understand.
If someone looked deeper, they would find that those figures managed the whole population. They gave us the crates to help us survive, as well as giving us the Assignments to kill us off.
I had never considered myself smart, but it wasn't like I hadn't noticed these things from a young age. It was just that I had never thought too deeply about it since everyone else seemed to accept how things worked.
Second of all, our past. We seem to live the exact same lives that our ancestors did hundreds of years ago. Wouldn't our situation improve? Maybe some technologies would be innovated on, but nothing had changed. I smiled grimly. Except for the number of ice cream flavors.
Third of all, our environment. The weather is never as bad as it is described in our town's books. Things like tornadoes, snowstorms, floods, and earthquakes seemed to be a constant issue, but not once had I ever experienced something like that.
Also, Livia had once woken me up in the middle of the night. She said she had noticed a black fracture in the stars. Nobody in the town doubted her, knowing her senses were better than everyone else's, but we all paid it no mind since it didn't affect us. She said it had vanished a few days later. Now that I was thinking about it, it was definitely more important than any of us had assumed. There can't just be malfunctions in the sky, right?
My eyes widened as I flipped around to face Luneth, who had her eyes open once again. I stared at her. "How… did you figure something like this out?"
She wiped her tear-stained face with her wrist. "My parents told me. They aren't like us." She paused for a moment. "They're both from behind the sky. Beyond this fake world. They came in here with the goal of breaking everyone free, making all the other outsiders think they were simply here to help monitor us like the others."
I shook my head. "But let me guess… They've been caught. That's why the elders kept going missing. They knew about this as well, probably from your parents, right?"
For about six months now, a few elders of the town went missing, one after the other. Nobody understood what was going on, or if someone did, they kept quiet about it. Life continued on as usual. Strange things like that had been happening for a long time. But of course, now I knew it was deeper than that.
"Fuck-." I muttered. "And since your parents decided to tell you now, that means something is about to happen to them…" My voice hitched. "And you. And now, me."
I didn't know what was even going to happen to us… but that didn't change how I felt.
What do you do when you realize the worst is inevitable… and no one, not even you, can change it?
I collapsed to my knees, burying my face in my hands. I heard the chair creak as Luneth got up, as well as the sound of her sinking down in front of me. I was supposed to be the one comforting her. I was supposed to be the strong one, yet I felt Luneth's arms wrap around me. Water began to flow down my face, blurring my vision. I was crying.
Everything I realized made sense, and I hated it. I hated everything. What the hell did we ever do to deserve this?
If only I had been smarter, stronger, faster, maybe then I could help her with whatever was about to happen. Help the person who meant more to me than anything. I'd always prided myself on my strength, my ability to overcome every challenge…
But for the first time in many years, I understood what I truly was.
Completely and utterly helpless.