Interlude [h.s]

one

Dark.

His eyes stare into hers through the screen.

His lips move as his olive green gaze pierces through the glass, so intense that she can almost feel it land on her. He moves slowly, like a predator, seemingly aware of everything around him, not needing to divert his gaze from the lens. The self-assurance of someone who's never had anything to fear oozes off of him as he speaks, the restless tapping of his finger on the lectern being the only indication of a slight nervousness.

"It was brought to my attention that Asher Markberg was unfortunately found dead last night," he says, the name rolling off his tongue with rehearsed ease. "I want to reassure the citizens of Northfair that, although it seems to be confirmed from early investigations that no foul play is involved, every step will be taken to ensure the safety of everyone in the city and outside."

She scoffs. She won't be won over by an elegant speech and a suit as dark as coal, a strategic performance with no reason to exist if not to trick the population into believing his words.

He's good. He's so good, she knows that, and it makes her so angry. She can almost believe he cares. Almost.

His stare is still, and if she didn't know better she'd say he's reading the sentences he lets out. But she knows he isn't. He's too talented for that, too manipulative to ever give the slightest hint of his lack of sincerity.

He takes another breath, but before a single other lie can come out of his mouth the screen turns black, and so does the world around her.

"Alouette?" A shaky silvery voice says in the darkness.

"I'm here," she replies, standing up from the bed and checking under it, letting out a relieved breath when her fingers touch the cold plastic of the torch hidden under there. She pulls it out and turns it on, illuminating the dark chocolate brown eyes of her little sister of a warm golden light.

Amina looks at her, a sulky but surrendered expression on her face. Even at her young age, she knows that neither shouting nor crying will make the light turn on again.

"Stay here, okay? I'll go see what's wrong," Alouette tells her, putting the lightened torch in her smaller hands. "Don't wander outside, I promise I'll be back as soon as possible."

The little girl sighs but nods, so the older girl stands up and carefully walks to the front door, a hand in front of her not to crash into anything in the dim light.

She makes it to the door and opens it, quickly stepping outside and closing it behind herself. The silence in the corridor is deep, a deep red light the only source of illumination, making Alouette feel like she's in Hell. She wouldn't be surprised, if that was the case.

She shakes her head, willing the unpleasant thoughts out of her mind, knowing they're the last thing she needs in that moment, and walks down the corridor in the red light, so dark that for an instant she wonders if it's actually giving her a better view of what's around her or not.

She takes a couple of turns, trying to move as fast as possible, not wanting to leave Amina alone for too long. Many of the doors on her left are open, the residents of those rooms have wandered out as well, but she doesn't meet anyone.

The silence becomes more and more feeble the closer she gets to the generator, until it disappears completely in a mixture of loud voices and clinking sounds. She takes one last turn and walks towards the metal door quickly, but it opens before she can reach it, and a young man comes out.

"Elijah? What's going on?" Alouette asks him rapidly, a worried look into her eyes.

He sighs. "The price of electricity was dramatically raised again and the representative didn't pay, so our area was cut off," he explains, closing the door and putting a hand on her arm, encouraging her to walk away. "Don't worry Al, we'll fix it tomorrow."