WINNER OF THE @WATTPADSERIES 'SERIES-OSLY GOOD READ' COMPETITION!!!
-
NO HUMAN CONTACT. EVER.
In order to survive , this was the rule Pip had to follow. Why? Because human contact was a death sentence. Completely fatal.
So why did the distan...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE, what he was saying, and I didn't want to believe it. Yet I had so much trust in Charleston that he could say the most bizarre thing, and I would find myself looking for ways to prove him right.
All I could do was shake my head at him, unable to form any words that would seem to matter in response to his statement. He must have gotten too close to the Fog, and what he was saying was some unfathomable side effect to its' poison.
Though he just stared at me in empathy, waiting for me to believe him as if he had all day. "Pip, say something. Anything. Please."
A faint laugh erupted out of me in thunderous denial. "You're being stupid."
He threw his head back, pursed his lips together firmly, pulled at his hair. I had never seen him so frustrated. So desperate. Within a moment, Charleston had made it in front of me and he guided me to to a seat, pulling up a stool himself where he perched himself to face me.
His sweaty hands held onto both of mine in his lap, and his eyes screamed for my attention, as deafening as the water which clouded his own.
"Pip."
That was all it took. This boy held such a power over me, such a terrifying one, that even the sound of my name on his tongue was enough to lace our minds together.
I knew, impossibly, that he meant it, despite everything in light trying to convince me otherwise. Additionally, as if he had planted the question in my forest of a thoughts, he repeated his words to me, the heaviness of his burdens being squeezed into my hands.
"The people here, most of them - they aren't real."
I choked on my breath. Felt hot. Everything was suddenly overwhelming.
"What... What do you mean? It doesn't make sense."
A sigh. He reached a hand up, pushed my loose hair behind my ear. "I know it doesn't."
"How is it even possible?" I thought aloud. "Charleston..." The words tasted like bile in my throat. "Am I real?"
His expression appeared so concerned; hurt that I had even felt that way. "Of course you are real." He emphasised his direct to me. "Pip, you are the most real person in this place."
"Then who isn't? And how are they here?"
He fought against telling me, but gave in to the urge anyway. "You've seen the tattoos."
I nodded.
"The variations?"
"Only three."
"Good, good." He murmured at my response, pausing to think of what to say next.
"There's the three different designs: three different groups of people that are in here."
I prepared myself for what was to come next, dreading the possibility that it would be something paralysing. As much as I didn't want it to be the truth, it was seeming that each time I spoke to Charleston, the bad news was increasing.
"And what are they?" I asked him.
He put it short, thankfully. I wasn't in the mood for rambling. "The sick, the healthy, the in-between."
In-between? I didn't even want to ask anymore.
"Are you trying to say that the tattoos determine who is real and who isn't?"
His expression answered me before his voice. "Yes."
"So if I'm real, and this is my tattoo, then everyone else with this tattoo is real, too. Is that right?"
"Yes. That's right." His voice was slowly becoming softer in time with me piecing everything together. It was then that I realised: Charleston didn't want it to be true, either.
"So therefore, the people who have one of the other tattoos have a different fate than me." I looked up at him understanding his confirmation. His suffering radiated onto me.
"And my friends... They're not real?"
"Not all of them."
💗
-fortythree-
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I'm sooooooooo sorry that it's been 4 weeks since an update!
If you saw my feed, you'll have read that I just started college (taking 4 classes), I just got a new job so I'm doing training for that, and to top it off, I'm a part of five basketball teams (and Captain for 2) so I've had a lot on my plate. I'm having to drop out of one of the teams anyway because I don't have time.
Honestly, it has not been enjoyable not writing lately. Mondays are going to be my writing day though, so hopefully I'll get a lot done then when I settle into my routine a bit more.
Also, devastated about Teen Wolf ending! I'm savouring the last several episodes because I'm not ready to say goodbye yet. On the plus side, that Death Cure trailer though. Seriously, even in like, 40 seconds worth of new clip, you can see what an incredible talent Dylan is.
