Visionaries

eighteen

// EIGHTEEN //

I shake my head at the sight of the large green panel on my right. In white writing, it dictates the godforsaken city I was praying we would just never reach. Lugano.

Steven has been completely silent this whole car ride, ever since he discovered I made that call to Darius. He thinks I turned his sons against him. He thinks I made them hate him. Little does he know how much they hated him before and how grand their hatred will be when they find out he's been lying about their mother's death.

I take the last bite of my rationed chocolate granola bar I still had on me from my time in Pete's bunker. All this time, this whole day I have spent with no food and no sleep from the night before left to live on, I've simply been nicking at the corners and chocolate chips on the bar and I've been trying to nap a little as well.

However, the attempts to sleep being in vain, when all I would see when I closed my eyes was  a woman creeping out of a grave, whom I assumed was Darius' mother, I was feeling very lightheaded and I was, although I hated to admit, very excited to get some sustenance inside of me when this car stopped.

After another long and silent 15 minutes, we were almost parked in front Cy's apartment building. Once the vehicle comes to a halt, I silently wait for Steven to put the car in park and to unlock the doors. Even then, I wait for him to say something before I make another move.

"What are you waiting for?" he mutters which I take as a sign to leave the certainty of my seat. I undo my seatbelt and I push the door that was behind him, the one adjacent to the sidewalk, open. I try to pull my legs forward from under me but I can almost feel like my heart is going to stop and take down my mobility with it.

When my two feet touch the ground, I get a little too excited that movement in my legs is restored and I push myself onto them way too quickly. The moment my body is straight, I feel extremely faint and I cannot even fathom how quickly I hit the ground. I lay on the sidewalk trying to find the will to stand up again.

I keep my eyes closed, afraid that the sunlight will kill me, and I try to catch my breath. By the car doors that close close to me and the car being locked, I can tell Steven is completely unfazed by his prisoner's collapse on the sidewalk and is just going about his business. I hear quick footsteps come towards me. A woman's voice resonates in my ear.

"Sweetie, are you alright?" she exclaims. "Sir, do something about your daughter! Are you insane?"

I decide that I need to force my eyes open to be able to witness Steven's reaction. He comes down to his knees by my side and he pushes the woman off of me with a look of annoyance mixed with something like disgust.

"...okay, I get it. You can-" I start making out when his voice fades into the background quickly after. I cannot pay attention to his words anymore when I notice a beautiful young woman with bright red lips walking down the sidewalk. She looks frazzled and in a hurry. I could recognize that short beautiful hair and that look of innocence anywhere. It was Em.

How could she just be leaving the house? She was supposed to be gone hours ago. Steven will see her. She looks back at the commotion and her eyes meet mine. Her steps slow their pace and I know she is going to do something stupid and make sure I'm okay. It's that something stupid that I would have done. That anyone in this family other than the asshole sitting above me would have done.

I slightly shake my head making it seem like I don't want Steven to touch me but I am really telling Em not to take a step toward. She takes another step towards me and I shake my head furiously then and slam my hand on the sidewalk. I quickly turn to Steven and take his attention away from anything around me. I sit up then and make his eyes meet mine. When I know he is looking at me and not anyone else, I speak up.