Translucent (Solangelo AU)

8. Too Real To Appeal

I was still lost, that hadn't changed. So much had happened since I was separated from my family, since I was held against my will, since I had endured the mercy of the Scientists and the Creators. So much had happened, yet my heart still beat in my chest and my legs still carried and my brain functioned as it always had. So much had happened, but through it all they were still incapable of taking away the very assets that made me me. I was just another one of their failures, their miscarried experiments. It didn't bother me as much as it did before, now that I knew there were still alternatives. I wouldn't have to succumb to them or quiver in fear so long as I could still find the hope that was caught in the broken winds.

I didn't know it yet, but the manor was my beckon of hope. Everything it signified was everything I yearned for, all that I needed, at the exception of my family. So long as they didn't know where to find us, I would be able to breathe properly again.

My limbs still trembled, portraying my reluctant nervousness in a most very conspicuous manner and setting me on edge. Where Will was experienced and knowledgeable, I was blind. It was as if he had concealed my sight behind a bandana and I was stumbling over my feet as I reached for something sturdy and familiar, but came up with nothing. I would probably try to use the excuse that it's my intolerance towards social interaction, but that was never true. I simply choose to keep to myself, it was a lot easier that way.

So, when we stood on the porch, wide eyes taking in the large building before us, I allowed myself to breathe. When Will asked if I was all right, I could do nothing but nod, and I could feel the truth behind it.

The door opened for us immediately, inviting Will and I into the most elaborately crafted room I'd ever seen. I couldn't imagine the rest of the place being any less extravagant. "There are five floors," Will explained after a while, "the first floor is for recreation, it's also where they keep the theatres, libraries and study halls. The second is dining halls, shops, ballrooms, etc., the third and fourth are the sleeping quarters, and the fifth is, well, you'll find out soon enough." A smirk played at his lips and my eyebrows shot up. There was no way this could actually be a real place. It was like something you'd read in a storybook, something completely fictional and unreachable. Alas, there it stood, and there I stood right in the entrance.

"How long have you been coming here?" I asked him, still scanning the entrance with my hungry eyes. I assumed we were on the second floor, the first one being underground, since there were two long strips of stores that stretched on farther than I could see, and a stone pathway that led past the spiraling staircase as the other one went in another direction.

"Only a couple months," he scratched the back of his neck. "It's not that easy getting away unnoticed. They have eyes everywhere."

"What, are you often sneaking out criminals?" I chaffed, nudging him. He rolled his eyes and motioned for me to follow him towards the stairs.

"Just you. And you're not a criminal, Nico. They shouldn't have treated you the way they had. I would've stopped it sooner if I had known." His face fell, as if the words he spoke were hitting him for the first time. As if he just came to the conclusion that he was the criminal instead of me. "Oh, stars, I'm so--I'm so sorry."

I quickened my pace so I was walking beside him and intertwined our fingers, wanting to reassure him in any way I could. "Will, no, you're not the one that needs to apologize." He slowed, letting me catch up until we ended up stopping altogether. His icy blue eyes bore into mine, stirring my insides like soup and sending waves of heat to my face. I parted my damp lips, waiting for more words to spill out of me but it was already too late. Someone cleared their throat behind us and I hastily dropped Will's hand, turning my attention to a boy that looked around our age. He looked as if he had just woken up, his eyelids were half-shut, his brown hair was disarrayed and silk pajamas caressed his lean body.