Breathe

Chapter 23 - It's You

 Cutting right to the chase, Luckas asked, "Why did you call us back, Adair?"

I lifted the journal. "I found something interesting." Looking straight at Newvy, I added, "It concerns one of us."

Confused, Dani asked, "One of us? How?"

"It mentions their name."

Axel scoffed. "Wow, that's real crazy, Alastair. Who was it? Luckas with only a 'c'? Such a breakthrough! Luckas must secretly know the cure for the X.Q. gas."

"No, it has nothing to do with Luckas. However, it does have something to do with a man who might not be who he seems. I'll read it right now," I said, glancing at Newvy as I turned to the right page.

Sept 6, 20—,

Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. I just realized what kind of hell house I've been living in. To believe that I was hired to protect this? It's just... it's just not worth it. Even if it was for something like immortality, it's not worth it. Nothing's worth this.

Today, she cried and told me everything that was happening. Everything. From the experiments that she was forced to go do at night to the reason why the public knows nothing about her. She told me her life story; she told me the truth about the Regality and what they want. What they want her to do—what they know that they can force her to do. And I... even now, I can't believe it. I can't all these things have been happening. This has been going on since I was five—since I started my training to become a soldier. To think that my little sister was shipped away to 'help' with these things...

The ink was smeared. Judging from the stains, I knew what they were. Instead, I skipped over the illegible paragraph and went to the paragraph in question.

I talked to one of my colleagues today. The guy who's under me that I've been writing about these past few days. He's young. He's pure. He has no idea what he's protecting. I know that those other old farts are hopeless, but him? He still has time. We still have time. I'm going to suggest my idea to Her and invite Newvy. I know that he won't talk. He wouldn't. He trusts me enough. He'll believe me. I'm going to plan to talk to him soon—maybe right after I tell Her and get her to leave with me. We're going to run away. Far. Maybe run straight to Xadille, where it'll be safe. I'll protect them. I'll protect both of them.

I'll run away with Her and Newvy. Just you wait.

It was quiet. No one spoke. Instead, we were all looking at one person: Newvy. There was no doubt that it was Newvy's name—it was written clearly in English. And knowing the irregularity of his name, it was written the same in Libentinian, too, so it had to be true. It was him. The question was what he was running away from or rather if he ran away with them.

Deciding to break the silence, Luckas asked what everyone was certain of or too scared to ask: "Did you used to live here, Newvy?"

We watched as he blinked twice, but said nothing. Then, he blinked again. Still not a word.

"Well?"

He kept his silence. The interesting part is that he didn't seem nervous. Just quiet. Like always. He let out a response: a single, short sigh. Still, it was a response. Also, it was unnatural for him. Finally, he gave a response. Except, it really wasn't that much of a response; it was only a single word, a three-letter word. Without further explanation—just that word: just an emotionless "yes".

"Is that all you have to say?"

He shrugged his shoulders and kept his emotionless face. It was as though he was saying something along the lines of "it doesn't matter" or "it's not important". However, based on the mood, it was obvious that it was important and that it did matter. Yet he still didn't add anything to his short response. And from what it appeared, he wasn't planning on it, either.