Page 3 of Delirium
“Phee—”
“No! You and Theo always try to tell me what to do. I wanna stay here. I want to play with him.”
Theo? Why was that name familiar to me?
“Mr. Nikolai—”
“No, Kieran! I don’t wanna.”
Son of a bitch. Nikolai? He didn’t mean Nikolai Aster?
“Look, Ophelia,” he started. “Your papa told you that you can’t hang out with these kids. He warned you.”
“But he looks so sad.” She started pulling at my shirt. “Please. I want to stay with you.”
I looked down at this pleading kid, and I wanted her to stay. I didn’t want to be alone anymore, but I also knew that she couldn’t.
“Look, Ophelia.” I crouched down, our eyes on the same level. “You can always come back to play with me, but your friend is right. You can’t roam all alone. There are dangerous people out there that could want to hurt you. You have to be careful.”
“But—”
“No, little one. Go with your friend. I’ll still be here.”
Her eyes started watering, but she took a step back from me. She somberly walked toward the boy, who held his hand outstretched, waiting for her to go to him. My chest was painful, the light she brought leaving my side.
I didn’t want to watch them leave, so I kept my back to them. I guess I should’ve been thankful because she at least brought some semblance of peace. At least for a little while.
Before I could walk away, a weight slammed into me from the back, tiny arms circling around my waist.
I turned around and saw her in front of me. Without a word, she again jumped at me, hugging me.
“Please don’t be sad anymore. I don’t like your eyes when they’re sad. You need to smile. Like this.” She pulled back, looking at me, as the brightest smile took over her face. “Try it. Smile.”
Could I? Could I really smile?
I didn’t really have anything to smile for, but her innocence was bringing something light, something pure. I had no idea how or why, but my lips spread, the first smile after multiple frowns taking over my face.
“There. You look pretty.”
“I-I... Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. But you have to smile more. Your eyes don’t seem sad anymore.”
Without a word, she ran back to the scowling boy while I stood there trying to comprehend what had just happened.
Who are you, Ophelia?
1
STORM
The silence was suffocating,surrounding us while we waited for any news from the San Diego chapter. Atlas sat opposite of me, chewing on his thumbnail, his eyes firmly plastered on the phone in the middle of the table. Creed paced the room, spiking my nerves even higher, yet I stopped myself from commenting on it.
Hector was staring through the window, his back turned to us, but I could see the strain in his shoulders. We were all waiting for that final call. Any kind of news would have been better than this…
This terrible silence.
It was all my fault. I wasn’t careful enough. I chose Ophelia. I went to her, ignoring the warning that was clearly given to me, and we came to this. Hector’s brother, Esteban, was part of the San Diego chapter, and many of us had dear friends there.
