Escape - Chapter 23.2
Chapter 23.2
It was then that I realized I wasn’t alone. The unsettling realization that I wasn’t alone when I thought I was. Within that realization, I discovered a fragment of the truth: I had been lonely.
And at that moment, my eyes met hers, the girl who had followed me into the darkness. Without a moment’s hesitation, she reached out and placed her hand on my forehead.
Everything was imprinted on me. The way my skin heated up where her hand touched. The silent smile that curved her eyes. The moment I saw her red, slightly swollen lips and her cheeks flushed with relief, I momentarily stopped breathing.
My heart felt constricted, as if she were holding it in her hand. Yes, with her, I could eventually reach anywhere. If I just walked long enough. Like a child seeking comfort, I leaned my forehead into her hand. It was the first time I looked back after running for so long, and Adeline, unfazed, caressed my face.
It was probably from that day on that her vivid image began to haunt me every night.
It was a new realization, but Adeline was beautiful. Her skin, almost translucently pale, though she was a bit thinner than other kids her age, her long, shadowed eyelashes, and especially her sparkling eyes, always drove me crazy.
Ordinary hazel eyes. Ordinary eyes like everyone else. But what they held was different. I had always thought brown eyes were melancholic and heavy. But her eyes held a burning passion for life. The dark brown that had seemed so cold was, after all, the color of earth.
Every time I saw her, something surged within my chest. Sometimes I felt like I wanted to double over and vomit, and other times I wanted to be swept away by the churning sensation.
I didn’t know what was burning in my chest. I just intensely hated that small girl who disturbed my sleep.
I truly, completely, utterly didn’t know back then that love and hate were two sides of the same coin. If I had known it was the forbidden fruit of first love, I truly would have bitten my tongue off.
***
After that day, we definitely grew closer. It was different from the hide-and-seek dynamic we had before. We started walking side-by-side, sometimes looking in the same direction. And soon, we talked about more than just training.
I went out to the common plaza to coincide with Adeline’s walks, but not just to see her. She knew a world I didn’t. Just sitting in a corner of the open space and talking to her was like exploring an unknown world. In the bleak underground, in a world of black and white, Adeline was the only one with vibrant color.
She was blindingly dazzling. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her for even a second.
Adeline loved classic literature from the era when Earth’s surface was habitable, and during our walks, she would excitedly chatter about Earth, based on what she’d read.
“You know how I told you last time that there are places on Earth completely covered in sand? In the book I just read, it says there’s something called ‘sky’ outside Earth, and beyond that…”
Adeline loved poetry and novels. She said she never felt lonely when she was among words. Could someone like her ever be lonely?
I wanted to stop thinking altogether.
But it felt like I was sinking into a bottomless pit. 4 PM. By that time, I couldn’t sit still with anticipation, just like in the books she loved so much. Because I knew she would come out at four, I felt happy from three. She tamed me without even realizing it, but now she had to take responsibility for what she had tamed.
It was a peaceful, dreamlike routine. That day was no different. Even on the day that would be recorded as the worst tragedy in the history of District 13, the massacre.
We spent the afternoon as usual, strolling and talking, and when evening came, we each returned to our homes.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Until I saw the large yellow eyes watching me from my window.
‘It’ was standing upright like a human, observing me. At first, I thought I was mistaken. Then I wondered if I was dreaming.
A face like a human’s, but with large, grotesquely elongated eyes. Green scales covering its entire skin.
A Serpiente.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I stared back at it, forgetting to even breathe. The yellow eyes gazed at me unblinkingly, without a flicker. No sound, no movement.
Like a snake poised before its prey.
My rational mind demanded an explanation, but I ignored it. Facing the Serpiente, I slowly moved my hand and grasped the sharp knife beside my plate. Just then—
Crash!
Screeech!!!
The Serpiente burst through the window and lunged directly at the dining table. As the table toppled, I dodged sideways, my body colliding with the Serpiente’s. Aim for the head. A procedure I had practiced countless times during training. That was the moment I pounced on the fallen Serpiente.
“Oh, my parents are going to be late tonight. Want to have dinner together?”
“No, thanks. You said they were upset last time.”
I froze.
Adeline.
A bolt of intuition struck me, and I stiffened, my hand frozen mid-air, still clutching the knife.
My face hardened, turning pale. Surely, the Serpiente hadn’t infiltrated the entire floor?
Hiss, hissss!
While I was reeling in confusion, the Serpiente writhed and rose. Only then did I suddenly register its presence and try to move my arm, but it was too late.
