How to Love the Stars | Ghost (Simon Riley)

Chapter 5

As Althea stalked out of the room, she felt disgusted, having to work with people like them. She felt a mix of emotions churning within her. Disgust knotted in her stomach, an unsettling sensation born from the necessity of collaborating with individuals of such dubious character.

The memory of soldiers she had encountered before flashed before her eyes. She knew soldiers like them. They pretended to be noble, and understanding, and then they took advantage of anyone and everyone they could.

However, somewhere, a small piece within her wanted to join them, to have their respect and show them what she was capable of, who she was. A small piece of her wanted to finally join a group. She hated herself for that.

She hated the need she always felt to prove herself to others.

She balled her hands up into fists, breath quickening. She continued walking down the hallway, quickening her pace until she broke out into a full-blown run. As if driven by an invisible force, her pace escalated, the urgency of her flight mirrored in the rhythmic pounding of her footsteps.

She had to get out of this place, if only for a few minutes. She stumbled upon a stairwell and raced up it. Her hair was flying behind her, she knew she looked crazy but didn't care. She had no idea where she was going but just felt the need to go up. She always felt comfortable near the sky, higher up with an open sky above her.

She raced up flight after flight, legs never growing weary, enjoying the burning feeling in her muscles. She always reveled in times like these, just running. Running away from all of her problems, the wind in her hair, being able to pretend that nothing mattered.

Althea finally burst out a door, blinded by the vibrant blue of the outdoors. She was on the rooftop of the base. She spun in a circle, surveying her surroundings. She was out of breath, suddenly growing tired. She looked up.

The sky was just so... blue. Whenever she looked up at the sky, she was unable to find words to even describe it. For a moment, she just stood there, breathing deeply, smelling the fresh air, looking up at the sky, feeling the soft padding of grass beneath her feet... wait, grass?

She looked down, seeing that she had stumbled into a little garden of sorts. She hadn't noticed before, but behind her, the rooftop had been turned into a garden of flowers, vibrant roses, pearly white daisies, and healthy green grass.

Who planted all these?

Althea knelt, brushing her finger against the petal of one of the blood-red roses.

Suddenly, there was a tinkling of bells, making Althea start. She tensed, stepping back and knocking over a watering can. She watched as a small, pure-white cat emerged from a nearby bush. Althea relaxed, eyeing the cat.

The cat looked back at her, large, unblinking black eyes staring into her soul. It had a little red collar with a bell tied to it.

Le petit Chaperon rouge, she thought.

The thought brought a smile to her face. She knelt, letting the cat sniff her hand. She gingerly touched the little bell on its collar, chuckling.

Althea sat on the edge of the building, her new little friend sitting next to her, blinking at her. Althea gently touched its head, stroking it lightly, barely touching it.

"What's your name?" Althea muttered. She felt something on the back of the bell. She turned the bell on its collar over, looking at the engravings on the other side. She snickered at the name.

"Daisy, huh?" It sneezed.

"Yeah, I think so too." Althea watched the clouds drift by lazily, silencing all the thoughts in her head, focusing on the soft feel of Daisy's fur on her skin. The view of Las Almas was gorgeous from here, with light, cream-colored buildings shining in the sunlight.

She pulled out a wallet from her pocket and went through the contents inside. She had stormed out of the place, but not before stealing Ghost's wallet. Althea smirked mischievously. It had been surprisingly easy. She didn't even think that he'd noticed when she'd purposely bumped into him and reached into his pocket. She paused when she reached his ID. She noticed that there was no picture on it. The name card read S. Riley.

Perhaps the S stood for Shithead.

She decided to set aside these thoughts for now, pushing the image of that skull mask out of her head.

A soft smile grew on Althea's face as she watched the scenery, surprising her. She hadn't thought she would ever be this at peace.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I've been having a difficult week, so I might not post this week. Hopefully, I will though! I think I'll post an extra chapter today.