Onyx

Chapter 7: Shadow Man

Onyx laid on the floor feeling numb to the world, tears dried on her face. Shes lost her family and her freedom. The world she once thought she knew was gone, replaced with something entirely alien and foreign to her.

She questioned everybody in her life. Did her mother know? Did her brother? Did the other villages know? She had the strangest feeling someone lied to her in this equation, but she didn't have the slightest idea who.

A thought popped in her mind, blocking out all the other questions that were forming.Where did her father go? Why hadn't she been able to meet him? Did he just forget about her? All these questions yet no one can answer them. She wasn't even sure if her mother could.

Onyx never approached the subject with her mother. The topic seemed too painful for her to bring up. It's been rumored her mother's heart condition was due to the heartbreak she experienced from her father leaving, but no one could be sure. It could have been that it was underlying, and happened to show itself after he left.

Onyx was pulled from her thoughts when she heard the lock clicking from the door. Expecting Cato to walk through, she was surprised to find it was the shadow man. He stood in the shadows—as usual—staring at her.

"Are you well? Your eyes are red and puffy."

Suddenly embarrassed, Onyx quickly wiped her eyes. "I'm fine..."

The man continued staring at her unconvinced. Annoyed Onyx asked, "What do you want?"

The man shrugged. "Nothing really, just wanted a chat. It gets a bit boring out there with all the meetings and what-not."

"Meetings about what?"

"You."

"What about me?"

The man chuckled a bit. "Your controversy."

"What about me is controversial?"

The shadow man stayed silent. Onyx waited a couple minutes for him to respond but he remained silent. If I want an answer I'm going to have to extract it out of him she realized.

"Is it my dark skin?"

He chuckled a bit. "Onyx, your skin color is common. I'd be worried if it was your skin that made you controversial."

"Is it my white hair?"

"Although your hair is quite unique, no it is not the reason of your controversy ."

"Is it because of what I saw?"

The shadow man laughed at that. "You're lucky it's not that. If it was you'd be executed by now. There would be no controversy over it."

Onyx realized she wasn't getting anywhere with these questions, so she decided to switch to another question that's been nagging her. "Ok then. What did I see that I wasn't supposed to see? Can you at least answer me that question?"

The shadow man was quiet for a minute, contemplating his response. "I don't see the harm in telling you, since it's irrelevant to your current situation." He sat against the wall in a relaxed position.

"Do you remember seeing something in the groves?"

"Yes. I saw a man."

"Well you weren't supposed to see him. That is why you were originally captured." The man sighed heavily. "Unfortunately unforeseen circumstances has been the reason you've been held much longer than expected. I don't for-see you leaving soon."