Experiment X

36 | A Promise

AN: The next chapter will continue Emberly's storyline for the last time. It will also be the last chapter, to be followed by the epilogue. :) WordSpeak

36 | A Promise

The bullet train takes off into the passing darkness like slipping silver light into the dark, outside of the clear windows is empty blackness, watched by the weary, drooping pairs of eyes within its curved inside. There’s low humming rumbling throughout the moving train that vibrates the grooved, smooth silver seats where Teresa sits alongside of Teran, Manu, Sera, Brielle, who holds onto Streak caringly, and Slade. There is though an empty space beside of her, on the other side. In front of her sits Reina, Gil, and Cerena. Teresa had introduced everyone else to Cerena and infant daughter who she holds, and her surviving son who sits beside of her.

There is an unnatural quiet that consumes the bus only alleviated by the humming, and occasional moan of exhaustion, or snoring from the other sorrowful, scarred, and scared faces of others just like Teresa and her group who have witnessed heart-wrenching losses, their clothes threadbare, bloodied, and mudded. There is hope though. A male’s voice spoken over the intercom tells them they are promised new clothes, better food, and lifestyle than what they had; the rules may be strict, but they’re in place for the betterment and will of everyone’s survival. And this Teresa can handle. As long as they are treated as humans in this Haven where they are supposedly going.

This quiet Teresa begins to know is borne of long days, months or possibly years of travelling for some, without hope, until Hope had appeared through dreams to them too as well. This she has picks up upon by the breathes of whispers, fragments of conversations she has heard. And the emotions here range from absolute relief, being overwhelmed, bemoaning, weeping for their losses to utter joy: both plagued and contented faces, to no emotion at all. Some of old women like Isolde, who Teresa sees in them, and who she knows Reina does as well, as her eyes tell this panged story, and there are old men too who board this train. There are children like Sera and Teran, and then older ones like Gil, and Damien, and even teenage girls who remind Teresa of Emberly, and that loss eats away at her still, an never-ending throb within her nearly numbed heart.

Soon though that empty space beside of her is filled, as Hope suddenly appears grinning at them all, speaking words of encouragement, hope, of all things, as she takes this seat. Teresa’s is looking at her feet, her eyes watery as she feels Hope’s hand take hers, and her eyes look upon her. Her breathing is present. “I know, you still hurt, Teresa,” Hope says softly. “But it will be okay…You are all safe now. The Haven will be a good place for you all…It’s my duty to see as many people like you all, who had no hope, no way out, to escape and be free. And feel strong again. Free.”

“Yes,” Teresa says, nodding. “But I don’t think this pain will go away until I see her again. I will, won’t I?” She looks up finally to take in Hope’s mystical blue eyes, that are of all things, assuring. That unforgettable smile.

“You will see her again,” Hope says. “I promise you. And my promises do not go unbroken, or unmade, this I can assure you, Teresa. I will do all in my to see her here, alive, and well with you…Now let me see you smile. You, who have raised a son through the wilderness, battled the loss of not only a husband, but a daughter too…Lived alone for so long, deserve it.”

“I know I say this quite a lot,” Teresa says, her voice on the verge of breaking once more, “but thank you, for everything…Without you…I—I don’t know where we all would be.”

“But you do not have carry that worry, for I am here,” she says. “You’re not alone. You were never alone. You do not have to carry this burden of loss alone…I know what it feels like to lose family: those of who you call close to you…The pain is…for me, sometimes unbearable. But we’ll get through this together.”

“Together,” Teresa repeats, and her eyes glint with tears, that eventually escape, and fall splotching onto the silver, reflecting flooring. The quiet overtakes again, and Hope takes to her feet, offering them smiles, before she leaves to comfort others as all of the escapees make their way to the place that they will all call home very shortly. A place that remains still to Teresa unknown, of what it will look like, who will be there, but as much as knows that whatever will come their way, be it there within the Haven or wherever in this world, she will have her family: Teran, Manu, and Sera to face it never alone, but together. Together. And it’s this promise, the promise she will see Emberly once more, she holds onto more than anything.