Interlude [h.s]

two

What is the loudest silence you've ever heard?

The fall of a leaf on the ground? The white noise you can hear some days in the darkness? The quietude lingering in the air after everyone you know has been obliterated and your house turned to ashes?

That pause of a second of pure nothingness before the panic sets in and makes you want to claw your heart out. The instant before realisation washes over you, leaving you shattered on the ground.

The sound of steps in an empty hallway in the middle of the night, illuminated by the bright fluorescent lights on the ceiling. They cut out every once in a while, a single moment of darkness before the corridor is enlightened again.

The silence is deep all around her, so loud that she swears she can hear it whisper into her ears. It's always been like that, for as long as she can remember. The city is noisy, the loud honking of the car in the street and the sudden commercials compete with each other, each of them periodically winning the title of the most obnoxious one.

But that's the city. Alouette hasn't stepped foot in Dacran ever since her family was forced to run away. The government has never dealt well with opponents, especially when they are way too loud, and her father never was the silent type.

Where they are there's silence. Not a casual silence either, the one you know is only momentary. It's a strong silence, the one that lasts. The only sounds are produced by the people, which means that at night everything turns quiet, so quiet that you can almost hear the voice of your thoughts.

Alouette has never liked that silence, but she has learnt to live with it. It's part of her world, now, one part she can't run away from.

She wouldn't be walking in the hallways in the early morning if she didn't have a specific reason to, either. Five has always been a special time in the buildings of the Revolution. It's when all the people that have the night shift go to sleep. The moths go silent and the butterflies will only wake up at six, so for an hour sound is dead.

If only she knew.

She reaches her destination and knocks on the door with her fist, loudly enough to wake up the person on the other side.

It's not long before she hears steps coming towards the door, and a matter of seconds later the door is swung open. A purple-haired woman is standing on the other side, and she gives her a glare as she rubs the sleep out of her russet brown eyes.

"Allie?" She asks, confused, turning on the light of the room to have a better view of what's in front of her. "What are you doing here?"

Alouette knows it's an awful time to go around bothering people in their own rooms, but she knows there isn't much she can do about it.

Elodie has been very helpful ever since her father died, offering her her friendship first and support second. She was the first to offer her some help with her little sister, that at the time was only three years old, and now she really needs her help one more time.

"Elodie, hi," she greets her quickly, a little pleading smile on her face. "I was wondering if you can watch over Amina later today? I really want to go to the meeting."

Elodie rolls her eyes, but a smile curves her plump lips all the same. "Of course I can, it's always a pleasure to spend time with her," she replies. "I would've come to you if you hadn't asked, honestly. I heard your presence is required."

Alouette frowns. "What? Why?"

"It's an important meeting, so all the important people have to attend."

The simplified answer isn't particularly helpful to the younger girl. "I'm not important, though."

The thirty-something woman raises an eyebrow, putting her hand on the side of the door. "Your dad founded the Revolution, Allie. You're basically royalty here."