Chapter Twenty ( is this home?)

Chapter: 20(Home?)

 

 

A few minutes later Addison appeared into the room in a flurry.

            “Do you hate me?” He grinned down at me with a guilty look on his face. I couldn’t say anything except blush and scoot myself off the bed. Addison continued to chat away as I put on a pair of slippers and he helped me put on my robe. My shoulder was still a little bit stiff but not unmanageable.          

            “I know I should have asked your permission, but I honestly didn’t think you would mind all that much.” He chuckled as we walked out of the infirmary and down the hallway. It was late in the day and dusk would be soon. The hallway was vacant, most of the residents were out enjoying the night or getting some much needed rest in their own rooms.

            Nicholas is a good guy, Maddy.” Nicholas continued to talk to himself mostly as we made our way to my room.

            “I could tell you liked him. I could also tell that he likes you. You never go out and do anything for yourself. You never go out and live.” We were now rounding a corner and coming up to my bedroom door. Addison picked up speed in his explanation.

            “That’s why this year instead of getting you a gift I am giving you something you need, a good time. I want you to go out with Nicholas and be yourself and just have fun.” He stopped speaking as we reached the heavy wooden door with Leondrad on a golden nameplate. That reminded me of my dream of our parents, of the horror of my first night within these walls.

            “Addison, did you know that mom and dad met when they were about our age?” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the old photograph I had found of them. They were so young and carefree. I handed it to Addison and he looked at it for a moment before he looked up into my eyes.

            “They are going to be fine, Madison. Please do not worry about them tonight. Just go out and have fun.” He spoke softly and handed me back the picture.

            “They may be miles away from us right now but this is the closest we have ever been to them. We never really knew who they were until all of this happened. We finally get to know who they really are. We get to find out what they were like at our age, how they grew up.” His eyes seemed darker then usual.

            “The most important thing though is we get to find out who we are. We get to finally learn who we have supposed to have been this entire time but never got to know about.”  He sighed exasperatedly and tossed his hands down to his sides.

            “This was supposed to be our home. This is our heritage. We were born to do something great and we nearly had that chance taken away from us. I know Zavion is a horrible man and I would do anything in my power to get mom and dad home but in a small way, I am glad that he showed up that day.” The empty void in his eyes changed into something else entirely in a flash of heat within them.

            “These people were meant to be our family growing up. We should already be strong like them. We should have been trained like them. We should be able to go out there, find our parents, and bring them home safely. We should have been ready for anything that day. Instead, we walked into a near death trap. We were completely defenseless. Our parents, no matter how good their intensions were, nearly killed us that day by not telling us about this place or about what was out there lurking within the shadows.” His eyes burned into me as he spoke. I could feel the hard truth of what he was speaking but I couldn’t imagine why Addison would want to be involved with any of this. We had been happy at home before all of this. We had been normal. We had been safe.

            “I don’t know if we are going to get mom and dad back. I don’t even know if those men who were taken from our house will even come back. I can’t tell you what our futures hold for us from this point forward.” He was speaking calmly now. Softly as the breeze, his words wrapped around me like a mist.

            “I do know one thing though. I can promise you with complete certainty that no matter what happens. We will not go home. We will not go back to ignoring the way our lives were supposed to be. These people and the things we learn from this day forward will be who we really are.”  He stopped speaking and studied my face slowly. The anger he had been holding in now dissipating along with his echo down the cold dark hallways of the Hunters’ Guild.

            Addison wanted this place to feel like home. He wanted to stay here. I couldn’t believe he had said that he didn’t know if our parents were going to be found and rescued. I knew it was childish for me to feel upset by what he had said because every word he had spoken was the absolute truth. We didn’t know. We had no guarantee and if they didn’t ever come back then who else did we have?

            I felt my stomach tighten. What would we do if we never got them back? What would we do if we lost our home, our parents, and our entire life? Addison could live here within these heavy stone walls easily but could I?

            Addison reached over and lifted my chin with his finger, giving me a soft look. In that moment, he looked just like our mother. Eyes that were gentle and understanding.

            “I’m sorry I upset you Madison. That was not my intention. I just meant that this place could make us stronger. We could learn so much. We could handle anything that came our way.” He smiled down at me. I could see that he truly believed everything was going to be okay. Seeing my brother so calm and confident made me relax a little bit.

            “Okay we can’t keep standing out here talking.”  He wiggled his eyebrows at me excitedly. “You have a date to get ready for.” He said as he opened the bedroom door for me and pushed me through the entryway in front of him.