Sally was awake, sitting up and looking out the window with dull eyes and slumping shoulders. She perked up a little bit as Riley stepped into the room.
“Sally, a-are you doing alright?” Riley asked, wiping fiercely at her tears. Sally nodded and patted the bed next to her. Riley flopped down gratefully. Sally could no longer speak, but that didn’t change anything. She was the only person in Riley's life who understood. Sally was the only person who had shared her experiences. She had likely had a much harder life than Riley when it came to some things, and Riley had had a harder time when it came to other things. But they both knew what it cost to live like this. Sally curled up next to her sister.
Why couldn’t Riley have been born just a few thousand years ago? The more she thought about it, the more a feeling rose up from deep inside of her. It was stronger than the sorrow that held her little heart hostage. It wasn’t anger. Anger flared up suddenly then faded away as quickly as it had come, like strikes of lightning in a stormy sky. No, this was a feeling Riley had had in her for as long as she could remember. It was constantly with her, around her, in her. It was deeper and darker than the growls of thunder that followed her anger.
It was the unmistakable, all-consuming feeling of hatred. Hatred for the passersby on the street, hatred for her past captures, hatred for the people who had hurt Sally, hatred, hatred even for Lisa. She felt hate for everyone, everyone in the world who wasn’t her sister. How she hated those Formas. They had come here, and taken everything, everything that wasn’t theirs. Then they had marched around, showing off human creations, pretending they were their own. Hatred! Hate! Hate! Hate! Sally gave Riley a gentle nudge that sent her gently drifting back into reality. Right, she really needed to feed her sister.
“I’m sorry, I’ll get you some food right away.” Riley pulled her sister into a tight hug. “I’m sorry.” She needed to focus. Lying in bed and crying didn’t help anyone. It didn’t help the other humans, it didn’t help her, and it didn’t help Sally. She needed to be better now that she had Sally in her life. She had someone to care for and protect. Sally was the only good thing that had come to her in the past seven years. She had her to be thankful for if nothing else.
Riley got up and began cleaning up her mess of spilled soup. If she kept on acting like this, Lisa would be sure to notice. Once she noticed, she would start asking more questions. Riley knew she wouldn’t get a break until Lisa forced her to spill every single secret that she clung to. She would learn to be careful and quiet. She would learn to shut out the fear and sadness, the hate and the anger. She would learn how to fade away and disappear. She would keep her feelings inside of her from now on. Riley cleaned up in perfect silence and began to cook Sally’s breakfast in perfect silence. She fed her sister in perfect silence. Everything was alright.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Yes, Riley would just tell herself that over and over again till she felt like it was true. And if it didn’t work, she would just pretend as if it had worked. After she had eaten, Sally’s eyes closed and she went back to sleep. It was selfish to want her to stay awake. Riley knew this. Sally needed her rest, and she had been through a lot. It made sense that she spent more than half of her time sleeping. But Riley needed her there with her. It would be easier if only they had known each other for a longer amount of time. If only she had had time to discover who her sister really was before the punishment. But she couldn’t read the expressions in Sally’s desperate eyes. She didn’t know what her frantic gestures meant, though they seemed to be very important to Sally. She didn’t know how to speak her sister’s language, and she didn’t know how to speak Riley’s. If only they had had more time, if only they had been able to grow up together the way that siblings were meant to. Now Riley couldn’t even understand what it was that she had lost. Riley headed back out to the garden, wanting to savor the last little bits of springlike color before the dull brown of death coated Riley’s little nook
The sun was poking its head tentatively up from behind the clouds. Riley sat down on a patch of dry ground and hugged her knees to her chest. The sun seemed to be winking up at her as it rose, telling her that everything was going to be okay. She didn’t need to worry. At least the sun was here for her. Even if she couldn’t always see it, she knew that it would be there for her. It had always been and always would be. The sun couldn’t be taken away from Riley. It had been there with her for as long as she could remember. She had known it was up there, even if it was out of sight. In those dark crowded filthy rooms, where no light ever seemed to reach, she had known that somewhere the sun was shining.
“Hello again,” Riley whispered. She could feel a small smile creeping across her face. “Fancy seeing you here.” The sunlight filled the world. It turned the sky from silver to gold and ruby with its beautiful, blinding light. Suddenly the world wasn’t such an ugly place, at least not for the moment. Riley sat there, forgetting what it was she had been so upset about. There was no reason to feel bad on such a day. Everything was just perfect. Yes, what a magical, perfect place the world was. Riley loved the sunlight.
She loved the world. She loved the freedom that she had. She loved Lisa and for once she could even love herself. Guilt poked gently at Riley's heart. She shouldn't have thought all those awful things. Miss Lisa had been nothing but good to her and her sister. She should be more thankful. Miss Lisa wouldn't be back for a while. Now Riley's heart was sinking. She wouldn't see her until very, very late in the evening. It wasn't fair! It wasn't Miss Lisa's fault. A horrible thought forced itself into Riley's mind. What if something happened to Miss Lisa? What if she never got to see her again? Riley swallowed that thought. The world was too beautiful right now for those thoughts.