The Lorèn Project [Discontinued]

Chapter 13

"When all is lost don't forget, even those without wings can fly."

~~~

I was currently pulling Tessa behind me with Renee and the boys tagging behind. I kept my head down as we walked away, nervousness stuck in the deepest part of my stomach. Although I had freaked out on the idea of Aeonis being able to touch me, fear managed to creep its way into my gut to replace my nervousness.

How was it even possible that he could touch me so easily? My father barely touched me before and his skin was scarred for the longest time. He mentioned something about Agorian silk but I never even heard of it till he mentioned it. My father had made all my clothes so it wasn't a lie when I was unaware of the material. What exactly is Agorian anyways?

I decided to put that little issue behind me for now and work on figuring a way out of this mess. It was dangerous being on a boat with ruthless pirates who fight each other for fun and flirt like it's all they know how to do. It's unsanitary and gross on here too, Does anyone clean around here? The captain's quarters were cleaner than everywhere else, so I'm assuming he liked cleanliness.

Tessa stopped me and looked at me with her arms crossed stubbornly before beginning to speak.

"What aren't you telling us? If the best pirates around noticed it, then there's definitely something. Spill." I began fidgeting nervously under her intense gaze, noticing her tapping her foot impatiently; I had to tell the truth.

"It's. .kind of important to me, so will you keep it a secret if I tell you? Won't you hate me or be afraid? It's the only warning I'm giving. . ." I mumbled playing with the hem of my dress, pushing away my hair in the process.

"Depends. Did you kill someone?" she said seriously, looking me over like she's never seen me before. "No." I said seriously before turning my head a bit, "I did hurt someone though."

~~~

I pushed my hair out of my face, eagerly trying to process the little information I managed to pry from her hands. Her father was Edgar Lorèn, that's a big deal considering how much power He had. She seemed completely unaware of it though, at least that's the act she was putting up. I still feel like she's not telling the full truth.

I let out an enormous sigh and punched my desk in anger. I looked over and pulled open my side drawer to grab one of my cigarettes, attempting to forget about the stress for a moment.

I pulled one of the cigarettes from the package and put it in between my lips. I took out my black lighter, lighting the cigarette and taking a long drag. I blew out a large cloud of smoke and indulged in the taste of tobacco. The cigarettes I get from the city are the best, not too strong but not too weak just how I like them.

I took another long drag from the cigarette before standing up and walking towards the door. I need to pick up that document from Evan before we dock tomorrow afternoon. We're heading towards a little village near the capital, surrounded by water it makes it perfect to hide out for the time being.

I turned the door knob and walked down the hallway and almost made it to the stairs when I overheard that little girl start questioning the woman. It was Aya, wasn't it? I stood quietly and waited to overhear what they were talking about.

"It's not that I killed someone, but I did hurt someone before." I heard Aya's voice say quietly, I could feel the tension in the air. She was probably trembling, Was she telling them her secret?

"The truth is, you know when I melted the lock on the window at the hospital?" She says randomly, her voice trembling a bit as she reminisces about the incident.

"Yeah what about it? You told me you used a poison your father made for you. Was that a lie?" Tessa asks surprised crossing her arms and looking around nervously. 'How come they haven't noticed me yet?' These girls are something, feeling no fear of talking in the open.

"It wasn't a poison, it was me." She says quickly hiding her face, now visibly trembling. If she shook anymore you'd think She was having a seizure or something.

"What? What do you mean it was you? That was kinda vague." Tessa asks for me as I listen intently. I was suddenly more interested in what she meant by that.

"I mean that I melted the lock, just touching it made it melt." She says quietly before looking away, trembling even more. She wraps her arms around herself as if to hold herself together.

What did she mean she melted it? That's not humanly possible to do. I furrowed my brows in confusion, intent on hearing a better explanation. I take another long drag of my cigarette to prepare myself for what I was about to hear. The cigarette was more than halfway gone already before I could even think about it.

"My skin is technically like a strong poison." She starts slowly before breathing to finish her sentence, "if I touch anything at all, it'll melt instantly upon contact." She said with tears in her eyes, wiping them away to hide her fear. "I've been this way since I was six years old." She finally says before her last statement caught me completely off guard.

"I'm a monster. I hurt my own father. I won't touch another person with my bare skin ever again." She says with a determined look on her face as She takes a deep breath in.

"I bet you're afraid now. I wouldn't be surprised. . ." She says with a small sad smile before she turns slowly to walk away; probably to go to her room to cool down.

What did she mean by a monster? How the hell can someone have poison in their system that melts stuff?

I couldn't process that girl, not one bit and it pissed me off more than anything.

Edited (8/4/2017)