Bound by Glass

07| Can't He Stay Crazy For Once?

IN CELEBRATION OF 1K READS, I PRESENT YOU AN EARLY CHAPTER!

1K. I can't even believe it! I can't even properly express myself right now, so well, here's the chapter. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!

-Vivian

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I ignored Kael's yells and nearly ran to the end of the corridor, unnoticed by the many Outsiders rushing around. On my first try, I pulled open the right door. Bingo. Storage room.

I grabbed the first things I could get hold of and turned on my heel, slamming the door shut with my foot, my arms full with tools and equipment. I didn't know what half of it was called, and what the other half could do. It was just for show in case someone were to ask. I continued to ignore Kael's nagging questions. I knew what I had to do.

I stalked through the cabin despite the darkness, heading to the backside of the house. I felt something tug on my arm.

"What?" I snapped , expecting to see Kael, but he was not the one who had grabbed my arm. Instead, it was Galli, his bony fingers digging into my forearm. Kael was nowhere to be seen.

Galli Hallinger looked even more lost than usual, his red-rimmed eyes flashing around the room, jumping at every shadow and every sound. He was barefoot, wearing a dirty shirt and worn jeans that covered most of his festering scars and wounds. I didn't know exactly how old he was, but he eyed like he was over forty five, with his thin blond hair and hunched posture. It saddened me, because I knew he couldn't be older than twenty-five. Torture makes a man's years count twice.

The Authorities had tortured him for months, trying to break him. They only succeeded in driving him mad. After they had realised he wouldn't tell anything about the Tribes, they threw him outside the Globes, followed by a few Mekayka. Keeping their hands clean is a top priority for the Masters—the ones who rule the Globes.

Luckily, Otanec found Galli before the wolves tore him to shreds, but not before a Mekayka bit him. A Mekayka's bite has a sort of base-like compound, making wounds and injuries heal at a much slower rate. Galli still hadn't recovered from his wounds, even though it was years ago. He would probably never recover. I tried to pull myself loose, but then my gaze caught his watery blue eyes.

I saw sorrow, hurt, pity, inquisitiveness and determination all flash by at the same time. My knees almost buckled under me; this was the first time I had seen actual emotion in the tortured man, apart from madness and pain.

He straightened from his usual hunch and lifted his head. He was now a few inches taller than me. I frowned. Why was everyone taller than me? He started speaking in a creaky voice, his words produced in a monotone manner, while staring into blank space.

"The path ahead of you will be long, and will be hard. Only if you hang on to yourself will you find your way back, in due time," he said, his eyes glazed over, his voice growing stronger. His grip on my arm tightened as he turned his head to face me.

He didn't lose my gaze for a split second. He looked at my eyes, but didn't look into them. His pale eyes were empty, lacking recognition. He paused to let the words sink in, before he spoke again , "For when the time comes, you must prove yourself to the ones you might not trust, but most of all, to yourself," he said, "This is not the only fight that is yet to come," he whispered and let my arm go. I took a shivery breath.

I closed my eyes, and swallowed nervously. Galli was talking nonsense. He was mad. It couldn't be true.

When I regained control over my limbs, I turned around to escape before Galli could say any more, but he mumbled something before I strode away. "Ruin will prevail. For all of us. Your time has come," he whispered.

* * *

"He said what?" Kael asked, completely lost.

"Galli said that I would have to prove myself, and..." I hesitated, "...and that there would be more fights." I let his brown-eyed gaze go, and continued pulling stuff from the shelves, placing them on the table nearby, where I had also dropped the tools I had carried in my arms.

After I had encountered Galli, I went straight to the basement, where Kael already had gone. There was no one in the cellar—yet. We had to work quickly. The basement was a dim room, made out of stone and concrete. It was the storage room for the food that perished quickly, like vegetables and fruit, because it was always cool inside. Not that we had a lot of fruit–food raids had become sparser and sparser. Only one side of the rectangular room was unused, the other walls occupied by stacks of crates and boxes. The only thing against the empty wall was an out-of-date dark oak closet. It was filled with dried out paint cans, empty jars and dusty boxes. We had to clear out the damn thing before we could move it, as it was too heavy otherwise.

Some time ago, when Jaedie and I had house arrest (something had happened, including four buckets, a length of rope and an unlucky victim—but that's another story), we had discovered it. We had been confined to the basement, because Otanec thought it would be the least tempting place for us to try anything.

He had been wrong.

Annoyed I was stuck there, I kicked the closet and ended up dislocating my toe. In the process, I moved the massive piece of furniture. In retrospect, it was only an inch, but it moved. The gap between the wall and the closet revealed a hole. Not a small, low gap, but an enormous hole in the wall–so large, a person could fit through.

With a lot of effort, Jaedie and I moved the closet further, and it revealed a tunnel. At first we were a bit hesitant because, you know, a hole? In your wall? That existed without you knowing? Anyone could come through.

Pretty awesome, eh?

We plunged ourselves into the darkness of the tunnel, not knowing where it would end up, or how far it stretched . After half a kilometre or so, the sandy tunnel gradually curved, and light came through. We had reached the end. The hole opened in a cave located near the rock formation. It was a near-perfect escape route. If only we had found a way to move the closet a bit more subtly.

I hadn't told my dad, obviously. It was Jaedie's and my secret. But, in times of need, all secrets get revealed, and it was needed to go get Jaedie and her family.

Kael sighed loudly. "He's probably talking nonsense. Yesterday I heard him say something about how 'the chicken nuggets would escape if he didn't have a firm talk with them' for an hour. He started scolding a pair of drying socks." He started helping removing the jars and boxes from the shelves in the closet. "They were yours, by the way," he said, "He's mad, I mean, what are even chicken nuggets? He isn't making sense," he concluded, closing the subject.

"Tenna..." he suddenly said, not looking at me, pulling an empty can of paint from the top shelf. His tone had changed; I knew immediately what he was talking about.

"Don't," I answered softly.

Kael turned to me. "Tenna, I can't go on like this. Say something, anything!"

"I can't," I whispered.

He was my best friend, I'd known him for years. It was so confusing! The... kiss. The kiss that had made my head go crazy and my mind go blank. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I didn't know how to react to it, but somehow... somehow it felt natural. Like it was just meant to happen. But I hadn't felt anything special or something, not the fireworks or the explosions like I had read about. It was just lips upon lips. They had probably exaggerated the entire thing, anyways.

But that's basically just what a kiss is, isn't it? He was your first, Tenna. I reminded myself, How would you know what a kiss should be like? I thought wryly.

I exhaled deeply. "Help me move this," I said evasively, avoiding his gaze.

Kael stood there and stared at me for a second. I didn't look back. Then, I saw him exhale deeply and shift to the other side of the closet. He gripped the sides firmly while I placed my hands flat against the wooden surface, wincing slightly when I put pressure on my burnt hand. I braced myself with my feet firmly against the ground.

Kael exhaled. "Three, two, one. Push!"