Page 9 of Deviant

They never know if it will be the last time they will have the privilege of holding them in their arms again.

Or tell them how much they love them… or how proud they are of them.

I still remember how fiercely Emily held onto Nora in those last days…

Yet, it wasn’tThe Scourgethat took Nora away from her.

It was me.

The girl she’s currently staring at as if she were family.

“Do you need me to get you anything before I leave?” I ask, needing to do something—anything—to appease my guilt.

“No… I’m fine. If I… need anything… I’ll just… ask the… boys to help.”

Feeling uncomfortable with how she continues to gaze lovingly at me, I give her another lukewarm smile and wave goodbye, promising to return and visit her soon.

It’s only when I close the front door behind me and step onto the front porch that I let out the breath I had been holding in during the whole uneasy exchange. I grab onto theporch rail that circles the house, white-knuckling it tightly just to keep my balance. I concentrate on my breathing—to prevent hyperventilating or blacking out—and stare at the open sky above, the twinkling stars taunting me with their untouchable beauty, freedom, and long-lasting life.

Hmm.

I read somewhere that the lifespan of one single dwarf star often lasts up to hundreds of billions of years. They shine with immortal life while we wither away in seconds by comparison.

Nora died weeks before her nineteenth birthday.

And her mother, by the looks of it, is soon to follow in her daughter’s footsteps in her early forties.

We will all be gone while these same uncaring stars will continue to taunt every future generation to come with their immortality. They will witness our very end while remaining untouched and untainted.

They will never know humankind’s cruelty.

They will never know sickness.

They will never know… regret.

“It’s not fair,” I whisper, fisting the rail in my hands as I curse every star looking down at me.

But all my inane animosity for the stars evaporates into thin air when I feel a prickle at the nape of my neck. A low, muffled huff of contempt punctuates the air with familiar disdain, alerting me that I’m not alone on this porch as I had assumed to be.

And when a recognizable sound of a lighter sparks to life, I know exactly who is hiding in the shadows behind me.

Elias Larsen—Nora and Aidan’s older brother.

The one Larsen who doesn’t hold an ounce of love for me in the slightest. Who doesn’t see me as family. Quite the opposite—he’s made it very clear that he hates me with every fiber of his being.

If only he knew how I welcome his hate with open arms, yearning to bask under its tormenting darkness until there is nothing left of me.

Elias’s disdain is one of the few joys—if not the only one—this life still holds for me.

And oh… how I will miss it once I’m gone.

Chapter 3

Rowen

When I turn around, I find Elias donned from head to toe in his preferred black attire, lounging in one of the porch chairs with his legs sprawled out in front of him, crossed at the ankles on the coffee table.

And just like that, I can breathe easy again.

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