Wake Me From the Dead

The boy could study a broken window for hours now, just follow the spidering lines of the cracking glass, like the ruined and dissolving memories of his life. His calm presence was sometimes a burden, but only when it was needed to calm the dying. He was no priest, had no right to tell other men that their lives had been worth living. The only thing he knew anymore was that they all would come to judgment one day, and regardless of how they had lived their lives, they would pay for their sins. Sometimes it was not the evil that people did that defined them, but the good they discovered from it. Hatter had made more than one deal with the devil over the past few years, and some would argue that it had been the right thing to do. He hadn’t been given a choice, because he hadn’t wanted to stop living, this beautiful, crazy life of his. And he knew that someday something or someone would come along that made everything worth it; he just didn’t know how long he would be waiting for that to happen.

There wasn’t a thing that this place had to offer him, in all its ruined glory; a beauty that only residents grow to love. Cracked sidewalks and crumbling buildings had become their art in a world that had destroyed itself ten times over. History was repeating itself, only just when they had finished rebuilding, had begun to forget the terror of the first queen’s reign, and how their own fathers had shed the same blood they now bled. He didn’t understand the vicious part of human nature that made people destroy the things they loved, made their children kill each other for some stupid ideas they had forgotten by the end of everything. It just made things too hard, when you sacrificed your own flesh and blood for nothing more than a vague ideal. And it just struck home upon the looming fact of his solitary nature, for what could be more similar to the boy than these leaning buildings, held up only by their memories of the once thriving community they had been a part of.

Hatter had seen her dance studio at one point, without knowing it, shattered glass and mirrors laying bitterly on a floor that had once watched a graceful young woman dance in harmony with beautiful music. It was a decidedly forlorn place, strewn with shell casings and a littering of memories, destroyed with the brick and mortar. She was one of these frail looking creatures, who should have been caught up in their perpetual reverie that broke him from his, making him wonder if that place had been sacred to her. Hatter could see every emotion played out, even thought displayed on the young girl's face, and while in a different time and place he may have smiled that dashing sort of brazen simper he was known for, this mood and moment could not call upon it. It could not dance wistfully at the edges of his mouth, softening his hard jawline and letting the girl see his true demeanor. No, she had scared him in a way that had nothing to with himself and everything to do with her safety and wellbeing.

She was so weak looking, proud behind those light eyes of hers but eternally childish in her frightened state. And his touch was slightly electric and her cold skin made Hatter's fingers ache to hold her longer, although even the smallest shying away had been plainly evident to him. The boy had an acute awareness of her shivering and automatically offered his light jacket to her, even when she confesses to being alright. Of course Hatter didn’t believe her, how could he when she was almost cowering before him. It seemed as though only the softness of his voice could bring her around and he couldn’t understand why in this dimly lit and wrecked street. They were totally different from their landscape and almost on the verge of destroying this frighteningly dead moment with their youth. So much potential and life flowing through their veins, how could they not want to throw themselves at the only seemingly similar thing within miles? But that could not possibly be the only reason why Hatter had this innately protective feeling for the girl, even though he did not even know her name or anything about her. It must have been this place and how it has changed them all, without them even realizing it.

It was easy for him to see that the girl did not want to be alone, and he never would have let her walk even five feet without his company. He suddenly realized that he did not want to leave her and it was not because he was chivalrous, although she may have thought this. No, Hatter was being thoroughly selfish because he wanted to be near her, and he didn't quite understand why. Of course she was beautiful with her dark blue eyes and childishly long lashes, staring up at him as if he were a godsend for finding her. "Well if your home isn’t too far then I'll walk with you. I can't just let you be, wandering about by yourself." It was then that the hinting of a smile let itself show on Hatter's handsome face, in all its boyish glory. There was a need in him to make her feel safe, because he had known a deeper fear than she could ever imagine and there had been no comfort for him. And while she led the way the boy absently wound an arm around her shoulders to further protect her from the dangers that could arise, not even considering the fact that she could easily shrug him off. "What were you even doing out here? If you don't mind my asking that is." Hatter hadn't even introduced himself, the fool, although perhaps it was better that way.