《Burn Archer》Seven- The Bell Tower
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In seventh grade, my English teacher, Mrs Webstone, had handed out fresh white papers on our desks on our first lesson.
"I want you all to write down what you want to be when you grow up and what motivates you to do it," she had said, a charming smile pulling at the ends of her lips.
All the students picked up their sharpened pencils and began scribbling on the paper with excited grins.
I leaned over to take in perfect sight of my high school crush, Blake Hawthorne. "I'm going to be a lawyer," I heard him say to his girlfriend, whose name I didn't bother to memorise.
"Well, I want to be an astronaut," she replied, a proud smirk playing on her lips.
I stared around the pale classroom walls, trying to figure out how I wanted to word what I wanted to be.
The bell banged against every school corridor as I finished scribbling down my last few words on the paper, partially filling it up.
"Anytime today, Burn," Mrs Webstone chuckled sarcastically.
I was the last to hand in my paper. I caught a glimpse of her eyes skimming through it and changing into an irritated scowl. "Come back here, young lady."
"I think you misunderstood this exercise," she said, holding the paper up in my face.
What do you want to be when you grow up? Happy. What motivates you? Memories.
"No offence, but I think you misunderstood life, miss."
Now standing here with my throat in the hands of a traitor who I kissed who also happens to be my friend's murderous brother, my twelve-year-old self's answer would be a little modified.
What do you want to be when you grow up? Alive, thanks.
The colour had washed from Sebastian's face as he saw me groaning as Titan's hands got tighter around my throat.
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"Titan-"
"My name is Raven!" he exclaimed shifting his body to be closer to mine.
I cleared my throat and was proud of how brave my voice sounded. "I'm not going to beg. Kill me if that's what you're going to do."
"I've admired your bravery since the first second I laid eyes on you," he whispered, snatching my hair to get my face closer to his.
I groaned, "I plead to hath hell fall upon you, you devil!"
I remembered that I had a habit to speak Shakespeare in my stressful times. It could be said as stress talking for me.
I could have sworn I hadn't received weirder glances from people before as I got now, even when I presented my 'triangle earth theory' speech back in grade 2.
Sebastian's eyes were consumed by hatred and anger. He was glaring past my shoulder into Raven's vile smirk.
Raven's tone softened slightly, "Why did you have to come here, Seb-"
"Don't you dare Seb me!" he replied, clearly holding back a punch. "Why did you do it... why couldn't you stab me too as you did to dad... at least I wouldn't have been goddamn alone on that planet!"
My best memory is the last moments on Zeig because that was the last time I saw my family, I thought back to when Raven had told me. He was referring to murdering his father and abandoning Sebastion.
A spaceship patrol was vibrating and closing into us and I assumed it was most likely the bunch that Raven had signalled for.
It struck me in the chest when thinking sweet boy Sebastian alone near his dad's body. How could Raven had abandoned Sebastian- his Seb- into a planet where he didn't belong to anybody? He's a monster. My lips felt betrayed as they felt that sensation when that monster kissed it.
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"Mum made me-"
Screams arose from behind me and as I turned around to see the other's bodies collapsing, I had the unpleasant duty of hearing Sebastian's wail.
I spun my head violently to see his head hitting the floor with something rather small struck into his neck.
"How could you-" I heard my voice play out before my hands raised to my throat. My fingers brushed against a rough dart as a burning sensation ripped through my throat.
As I heard my scream echo through the bell tower, I felt Raven's hands slide under my waist and knees to only lift me off the ground.
As my eyes gave in to the pressure building in my eyelids, I heard Raven's deep voice say three words that arose a tide of anger within me, waiting to hit like a tsunami.
"I'm sorry, Burn."
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