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Chapter 8: Stolen Innocence

6 years ago

Levi Ackerman wouldn't call himself a fancy guy. He lived in Jinae after all.

Jinae was a small village with vast amounts of land. It's a farming town. Everything was far apart.

A single railroad track ran through the middle, the station being held in the main town's marketplace.
Vast lands and fields as far as the eye could see. Roads running through corn and wheat fields.

Community wasn't really common, being that houses were so far apart from each other. That and the fact that it was small in regards to population. Everyone knew one another. So, if you could make the walk by sundown, you could get a cup of sugar.

But the family that owned the most land was the Adriel's. A family of seven.

Micheal and Isabel Adriel had four strong boys and one Beautiful little girl. And with seven sets of hands, they handled the acres and acres of land given to them.

But the one Adriel daughter seemed to be special. After being visited by the Premier when she was ten, she had this light about her. She was confused about everything, yes, but she had that moment seared in her memory.

The words he said to her.

How she was Chosen by the Unseen One. She felt like she was something. Was going to be someone. Do something beyond the farm.

It was something she and her best friend dreamed about. To get out of their one-horse town and be something.

That best friend was Levi.

The two had been inseparable since Kaven was born a year after him. They often found themselves running and frolicking through fields of wheat and pastures of sheep, cows, and horses. When school is done, you don't really have anything to do besides chores around the farm.

And it was a lot more enjoyable when you had a partner.

So every day, Levi found himself sitting on the Adriel's front porch, waiting for Kaven to finish with her schoolwork that she probably put off until 10 am like normal. He always told her to get it done earlier so they had more time in the afternoon together before he got called home for dinner.

But she never listens. She probably won't ever. She's so stubborn. But Levi guesses that's what keeps him coming back to her. His inability to win an argument makes him come back for more. Just to see if he could do it just once. It will probably be years until that happens, but he'll wait.

The sun had just reached high noon. The spring air blew, the trees and bending the growing wheat in the field. It was a beautiful afternoon. He loved this time of year. Breezy and sunny in the afternoon, rainy in the evening, perfect for reading when the day was coming to an end.

Levi enjoyed solitude. Peace and quiet. It's a wonder why he was friends with the loud and obnoxious girl who ran on discord and chaos. She thought most clearly under high stakes, which was the opposite of Levi.

But her parents always told him opposites attract.

Levi twirled his whittling knife in between his fingers as the sun beamed down on him. It was a comfortable warmth. One he always got on this angle of the porch.

The peace was disturbed when the front door of the Adriel house burst open revealing Kaven's brothers, but no Kaven.

"Hey, Levi. Kaven's coming, she's just dislodging herself from her corset." Caleb greeted with a grin as they sped from the house and to the barn a few meters away.

Levi silently nodded and deflated. He knows Kaven hated those things. But her mother insisted on her wearing them during school hours when she was required to wear a dress.