Underdogs

TWENTY-NINE

❝Fight to live, risk it all for even a glimmer of real freedom!❞ ㅡ Kenny Ackerman

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Chapter twenty-nine:

STRONG

Galene stared.

She stared long and hard, unblinking and unmoving; as if her body had been frozen in place, unable to respond to commands and only able to stand by the foot of the bed, waiting for a wake-up call that wouldn't come. 

Her pupils took in the appalling sight as her eyes slowly crystalized, drying as seconds ticked by and her eyelids refused to comfort them with the rest they so much needed.

A gasp escaped through parted lips, her lungs welcomed with open arms the air which had hastily left. A stinging pain stabbed the back of her eyes as they flooded with unshed tears, but the only cries came from the leaden skies as they watched the unsettling, terrible sight.

Yet another tragic story to add to a book that would never reach its epilogue.

Forced to develop a heart of stone as the ultimate defence mechanism, Galene had been stronger than most ㅡ or so people thought when they lay eyes upon her. She had done the unspeakable to stay alive, become acquaintances with torture and hold hands with Death itself. Untouched and neglected for years, her feelings had grown cold and so had her soul.

However, she had met warmth and trust through companionship and dumb jokes, and her heart had melted under their touch. Her defence mechanism had cracked, until falling to pieces at her feet. And she had grown sensitive and emotional ㅡ weaker in a way.

Galene closed her eyes and took a deep, albeit shaky breath.

Outside, dark clouds parted ways to give birth to clear skies as the first rays of the sun reflected on the horizon. Rain developed into soft drizzle, until fading in the air and leaving a trail of moistened pavement and dripping leaves behind. Inside, the atmosphere was warm and contrasted with the girl's cold face. 

Galene opened her eyes and drew back her hand, away from her sister's face; her fingertips traced the outline of her jaw before dropping by her side. Sorrow gripped her heart, yet something was fighting it off.

For a moment, Galene pondered on the deaths she had witnessed over the last few weeks. She wondered whether she would've been so affected by Johan's tragic end had her heart been stronger, had her old self never become part of a distant past. But she knew Isabel dying would have been as unexpected as disturbing ㅡ never mind her weaker mind, or her warmer soul.

Perhaps, her old self would have handled things better. 

The door opened, and a nurse with rosy cheeks rushed in. "O-oh, how terrible!" she stammered upon noticing the girl lying on the bed. "I will call a doctor right a-away!"

"There is no need."

Galene turned her eyes, cold and deadly, on the flustered woman. She picked up the pieces of her broken defence mechanism and glanced at Isabel. "You obviously are too damn drunk to realize she's already dead," she spoke in a low, emotionless voice that would give the chills to the dead. "You bastards are some useless pieces of shit."

The nurse could only step away to let her walk by. When Galene looked at her, there was nothing readable in her gaze, and no matter her short height, her aura was intimidating enough to make the nurse shrink under it.