The World's End | ONC 2024 ✔

ੈ✩‧₊˚ |𝟬𝟳| 𝗔𝘅𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲'𝘀 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁

"𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚊 𝙲𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝟷.𝟸 - 𝙰𝚡𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎'𝚜 𝙷𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝"

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

My mother was a liar. My mother was evil. My father was dead. My father was betrayed.

Love worked in mysterious ways, but it likely wouldn't lead to betrayal.. Mama had gotten Papa arrested and killed unless he escaped. I had lived with a sour memory of him this entire time, angry that he didn't care about us. I cursed him multiple times when Mama told me that Papa didn't love us anymore.

The reality was the opposite, she didn't love him anymore. She loved Veridonia more.

Did she love me more, or would she simply let the Verids detain me?

I didn't want to think about it.

Everything that I write is for Baby Alissa. If Baby Alissa did commit a crime, I'd protect her with my life because I love her so much. Would Mama do the same for me?

I led them to my house, which was situated near the west side of the city. I didn't know that it was called the west side until the letter addressed to my mama said so. I didn't know that the city was segregated into different sections, and when I saw Mama's letter I didn't know why there was a need for it.

I understood the reason today. The West was for the rich, the ones at the top as Mama put it. The North was for the Hospitals and the Treatment Centers. I asked Mama to take me there one day, before the Death.

"That place isn't for us, Axelle. That's for the sick people and we don't need to be around the sick people."

There was so much I had overlooked, so much that meant a lot but I didn't see it in time for me to realize that something was off. The North was out of bounds for me, and nearly every other young child that lived in the West. For us, the West was the home. Every other part of Veridonia was out of bounds. We lived like that, our minds convinced that the second we stepped outside, we'd die.

We only saw it on the TV. How about the people that watched it happen in front of their eyes?

I shuddered from the cold. We approached my house, and the torchlight that Wylan's father brought was proving especially useful. Every second that passed, I was more and more apprehensive. This place was where I grew up, where I spent countless hours living in comfort. This place was where Baby Alissa was thrust in my hands and this was also the place I used to play with Baby Alissa, waiting for Mama to come home. Now, it all felt distant, knowing that Mama betrayed Papa and that there were people ready to arrest me for no reason.

I pushed open the front gate, the rusty hinges creaking. There was supposed to be a maintenance by some of the boys from the East, where Wylan lived. But it seemed like they didn't arrive today. The once-familiar warmth of my house now felt cold, matching the frigid temperature outside.

Wylan's father hesitated, his eyes casting wary glances around. "Are you sure this is safe?" he asked, his voice low.

Yes, no one is going to come here," I replied, though doubt clouded my mind.

At this point, Mama seemed more dangerous than any Major Verid.

Wylan and Keira stared around in shock as they took in the luxury of the West, a place that was probably their out-of-bounds. I watched as they stared at the house that stood in front of them, large but desolate. At this time of night, there was nothing noteworthy there to look at. In the darkness, everything was equal.