The Roman Project: The Wronged

Chapter 21

Londen hated nighttime. He hated the dark. That had been one of the worst parts of the tunnels, and there were a lot of bad things about them, but the worst was the darkness. When he first lived with the Swarm, he rarely slept at all he'd been so scared. He would watch every little detail in the room he slept in. He felt that if he was awake and watching, nothing could hurt him, and every time his eyelids would start to become heavy with sleep, he would pinch himself to stay awake.

All until his tenth birthday.

Well, it wasn't his real birthday because he didn't know when that was, but it was the date he'd made up.

That was the day Max finally decided Londen could go and live in one of the apartments with some of the guys.

It was never easy, but there were times that he might be able to call fond memories one day.

As he sat in the transfer, staring out the window, a child's voice replayed in his head over and over.

'I'm don't want to be scared anymore. I won't be.'

It was his own voice. Faded and more of a memory of a memory now. But it was there. His own words he'd whispered to himself as a promise. A promise he made to himself, a way of keeping himself safe. It seemed somewhat silly now, but he would never forget those words.

No matter how long or short he lived.

"What's wrong?" Saule's hushed voice asked across from him.

He looked up, his thoughts breaking.

She smiled, her cheeks slightly pink. "Sorry, its just - you look worried."

"It's okay." He said, trying to regain a calm face. "I can't seem stop thinking about them. The Swarm."

It wasn't exactly what he'd been thinking about, but close enough.

They sat in silence for a few moments, lights flashing by in the dark as the transfer drove.

"It's hard not to." Saule finally answered, her gaze drifting to the window, her voice nearly a whisper.

"Why does it feel like we're never gonna be free from them?" He asked, realizing how blunt and hopeless his words sounded after.

"Maybe because we've been around them the longest." She said, looking back at him, light flashing across her face every few seconds.

"Maybe." Londen said with a frown.

Saule opened her mouth to talk, then paused, then opened it again, looking unsure if she wanted to talk or not.

"Sometimes, when I wake up, I try to forget about them. I-I don't really know if that actually makes it better or not, but sometimes I actually manage to get them off my mind for at least a day." Saule eventually said, sounding slightly self-conscious.

Londen almost smiled at the fact that this was the most he'd heard her talk since they had met.

"I should try that." He said with a brief smile.

The night was windy and distant city lights surrounded them as they stood in front of an abandoned office building. It was covered in shimmering black windows and at least twenty stories high.

"That's a long way up." Saule commented as she stared up at it. "Why did Shane pick this place do you think?" She asked as they jogged up the cement stairs to the building.

"I don't know, I don't think I could understand him even if I tried." He said as he tugged on the doors. They were locked.

Saule walked up to a smashed window, and ducked her head as she stepped in carefully, her shoes crunching on broken glass. She looked around the large room, it was dark and there was the sound of wind howling throughout the building.