Severed Bonds
Chapter 17- Faded Perception

"So? Whose' room is this?"

"Mine." All the air out my lungs gets sucked out of me. He flops on his bed. He looks up at me, "I brought you up here so none of the other servants know you're here."

"Is it bad if they do?"

"They like to eavesdrop, and I don't want them finding out the real reason you're here."

"Or they would be dead." I mumble. I walk over towards a window and spot a field of daisies. Something about this field makes me feel calm at ease. In a way it's alluring...I want to go to it to feel the grass and daisies brushing against my skin.

Ian Pov,

She's standing there by the window for a while. She's still, lost in thought, and at ease? The way her eyes changed when she admired the rail, I wonder does she remember? Is she reliving those memories right now? Then that look in her eyes vanishes, as it was never there. She doesn't remember and she never will. The life she has now is too real to consider it as a facade, there's no room for her distant memories. Because she never made an effort to make room for them. She walks away from the window and sits at the edge of the bed.

"I'm not making room for you, you know." I say out loud.

"I don't expect you to!" She snaps back. She gets up and wanders the room again, her fingers strum my desk. Her hands stop and move to a drawer handle. "I bet this is where you keep your diary." She teases. I bolt off the bed, and move her away from the drawer. "Oh? So you do have one?" She teases again.

"No, it's just guy stuff in there." I use my back to cover the drawer.

"Oh!" Her eyes go wide. She's so gullible! My phone vibrates, I see a message from Thomas. Shit!

"Stay here, I got to take care of something." I close the door behind me and head downstairs, like I've been instructed. "Hey dad, how was the trip?" I say chipperly.

"Delightful, until I was informed that my own flesh and blood can't follow orders or execute them."

"To be fair, I was thinking about the clan's future." I defend.

"Don't pull that bullshit with me Ian! You were trying to spare him from his fate. You hesitated." I don't say anything, just let him go on. "You were weak!" He inches closer to me. "My son isn't weak right?"

"No, father."

"And you won't disappoint me again, am I clear?"

"Yes."

"Good, you're going to start training again. That way we can get rid of these weaknesses." I nod firmly. "Thomas! A word." I go back upstairs to my room, and see Hannah in shock and horror. The opened drawer contains my gun. That's yours?" She asks shakily.

"Han, sit down." I say as calmly as possible. I can't risk her running out of there and bumping into my father. I explained to her the clans and the war that's going on. She sits there in silence.

"You killed people?" I wish I could say I haven't. Hearing her say it that way just did something to me.

"It's war Hannah, it's either kill or be killed." I try to reason with her.

"I'm the one they want right?" She's worried, which I can't blame her for.

"Yes." I say firmly.

"So they're dying because of me?" She asks softly.

"No! You're ot even partially the reason for this war." It goes deeper than that, this is just there way of retaliating.

"I... don't want to be the cause of anyone else's suffering, I don't want people to be sacrificed because of this!" She runs out the room. Fuck! Shit! I ran after her.

"Hannah!" She runs down the stairs. Fuck! Father is blocking the entrance.

"Thanks for having me here, but I have to go."

"Oh, not so fast I promised your father we protect you Hannah." He says to her in a friendly manner. She walks forward, my father stands there firmly.

"Please, let me through!" She pleads.

"Don't make this more difficult than it has to be." His tone has changed to a more cold and icy one. She looks at him in fear, "What makes you think? I'm going to stand here and watch my son be killed by a frail, human girl like you?"

"I can't, I just can't let this continue any longer!"

"Pull yourself together! You think we're doing all of this out of the goodness of our hearts? NO! We're doing this to survive! And if that means keeping a close eye on you and making sure nothing happens to you! Then hell! We'll lock you up if we have to!" He spat bitterly.

Hannah's Pov,

What is wrong with you? What's wrong with all of you! Do you not have any humanity? Innocent lives are being taken! How could you just sit idly by and watch it unfold? For the rest of the day I'm forced to sit here and wait for my dad to pick me up. Ian's father doesn't hesitate to tell him about my outburst and my reckless behavior. We drove home in silence, I noticed the drive home was short. We could've walked home? Since it's late I take two pills and sleep. Days pass of me avoiding Ian as much as possible, I just can't think of him the same as a killer. I know he's cold and rude but I don't see him as a killer. Maybe it was self defense? Right! It could be him defending himself! Violet runs into me in the hallway and asks about the sleepover again.

"Yeah, let's do it."

"Really?"

"Yeah! Why the hell not?" I wait impatiently for the last hours of school to pass by. When I get home Dad stops me before I can run upstairs to my room.

"Hannah." I turn around and face him reluctantly.

"This isn't right dad! None of this is okay! How can we allow them to slaughter everyone?"

"There's nothing we can do." I shake my head and cross my arms. "All we can do is make sure that you're safe."

"You knew about this the whole time didn't you?" S~ᴇaʀᴄh the Find ɴøᴠel.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Yes..."

"AND YOU DID NOTHING TO STOP IT!"

"THEY'RE NOT HUMAN HANNAH! NONE OF THEM ARE!"

"AND THAT MAKES IT BETTER?" My chest heaves up and down. My dad looks at me calmly.

"The only thing we can do is make sure that their sacrifices aren't in vain." I shake my head angrily.

"They're shouldn't be any sacrifices in the first place!" I argue back. I walk hastily towards the front door.

"Hannah, where are you going?" I don't stop. "Hannah!" I open my phone and call Violet.

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