002

Lykas watches as his brother paces across the scratched wooden floor of the kitchen. By now the dirty rays of sunlight are seeping through the cracked blinds, coating the floorboards in a dusty color of orange. Spread across the kitchen table is the payment that he was given, the Vistix coins all sectioned in different clusters.

"I still can't believe this is happening." Rykis finally says, his hair is still messy from the very short nap Lykas convinced him to take after the girl he laid with left. Lykas smiles softly in a gesture to ease his older brothers mind. "Listen, I'll be okay. I won't get myself into too much trouble. I am Bosses best worker so. . I'm not too worried about this."

Rykis finally stops pacing, his daker silver eyes clouded with a whole storm of emotions. "Lykas, you can be KILLED!" He says, his voice turning distressed. "You don't know what Boss is getting you into. And I don't want you to find out." His finger toys with one of the smaller Vistix coins, Lykas's eyes fall to the tip of his finger. He can't meet his brother's eyes, he can feel his worry.

Rykis sighs, "Okay, I'm sorry. Just get some rest too. I'm going to go try to sleep more. When Nomi wakes up make sure she's take care of." Lykas nods his agreement, "Of course I will."

"I know, I know." Rykis dismisses himself to his room. Once Lykas hears his door close, he gathers the Vistix coins and he places them in the foggy glass jar they all use to hold the money each of them earns. He places the jar on the counter, his eyes staring down at it blankly. "System, how long until the moon is at its brightest this month?"

He calls out, soon hearing the automated voice respond. "Searching. . . The moon will be at its brightest peak in approximately 3 weeks." Lykas nods to himself. At least he has some time to prepare for whatever The Viper wants. He walks down to his room, which is located in the attic of their house. He pulls the ladder that leads up to it down before climbing up.

He keeps the ladder stretched out after he enters his room. Lykas walks over to his desk, the lamp placed in the corner of it turns on as it senses him getting closer to it. He pulls his chair from underneath the desk and seats himself. He searches through the rickety drawers for the binder that he keeps his art in. He decides to spend the next few hours drawing his heart away.

He feels his mind wander as he does, he draws the things he sees in his dreams. As he does, his eyebrows furrow in concentration. Each of the faces of the monsters and nightmares flow through his body and transfer to the paper.

"Lykas?" The soft spoken voice of his little sister breaks him from his thoughts. He looks towards the entrance to his room to see only her big brown eyes staring back at him. "Is everything okay? I heard Rykis yelling. . and he sounded really worried." Lykas closes the binder, not wanting her to see what he sees every night in his dreams. "Rykis is just worried about me. But yes, he's okay. Did you sleep well?"

Nomi pulls her smaller figure into his room and she walks up to him with a small smile across her lips. "I did! How was work?" The question stabs through his heart. "That's good Nom Nom. Work was okay, I got paid extra luckily. So, we can get your birthday present!" Nomi's eyes light up in excitement. "I can?" Lykas feels a genuine smile dominating his face. "You know it, go wash up. I'll make you breakfast when you're done."

He ruffles her hair, earning innocent joyous giggles that warm his heart. She pulls him into a tight hug before running off to the bathroom.

Lykas's eyes fall to the closed binder once his little sister is out of sight. He quickly picks it up and shoves it back into one of the drawers of his desk. An exhausted sigh can't help but flow from him, he rests his head in his hands as he leans forward in his chair. I have to save her, before she gets old enough to have to work this stupid job. He promises himself.

Lykas takes a moment to collect his thoughts before he goes to join Nomi in the kitchen. He climbs down his room ladder, the happy sounds of Nomi humming to herself while she washes her face quietly dance down the hall from the bathroom. He can hear the sink running in the background.

He can't help but feel better, her joy is contagious. Even to someone like Rykis. In the meantime, he decides to search through the pantry and refrigerator for something he could cook for her, and hopefully teach her the process of cooking it. He doesn't find anything that stands out to him, so he decides to set up a pan on the stove and pour her a glass of water.

Soon the rapid sounds of Nomis' excited footsteps scamper down the hall. Lykas looks in the doorway of the kitchen just as she emerges into sight. "Okay! I did it!" She announces, her face appearing so proud of herself. Lykas smiles at her, his head nodding slightly. "Great job Nomi! You look great! Now. . . what do you want to eat?" More giggles fill the air. Nomi walks over to Lykas, her eyes deciding what to eat.

He hands her the glass of water as she gets closer to him. Her small hands cup the glass and she drinks from it as she looks around. She stops once she opens the refrigerator. "Hmmm. . . can I have scrambled eggs?" She asks as she looks up at him.

Lykas laughs a little, "Of course. How do you want them?" He pushes himself off of the counter and walks over to where she's standing. "Point to stuff." Nomi points to the loaf of bread and the strips of brax that Rykis had finished drying out yesterday. "Theseee in the eggs, this on the side. With. . this on it!" She then points to a jar of orange jam that is in the door. Lykas pulls each ingredient from its place on the shelf.

"Ooo sounds great!" He encourages. Nomi closes the refrigerator door for him before she runs to the table to sit and watch him cook.

"It is!" Lykas can hear the chair moving slightly as she happily kicks her feet. He starts to cook everything for her, and decides to make enough for Rykis as well when he wakes up. But, he makes Rykis's differently of course. The two siblings chat while Lykas makes their breakfast. The conversation is mainly Nomi ranting about the dreams she had last night, and Lykas listening. He occasionally gives small feedback.

Once he's done cooking, he puts everything onto a plate for her. With a smile, he walks over to the table and places the plate in front of her. Beside it he places a fork. "Here you go Nom Nom." Nomi looks down at the plate with bright eyes, "Thank you Lykas!" She says, once again pulling him into a tight hug. He wraps his arm around her shoulders and gently squeezes her. "You're welcome, don't eat too fast okay?" He ruffles her hair and walks back over to the stove.

He puts the extras he prepared for Rykis into the microwave so it stays hot, then he cleans up the mess he made.

He gets lost in his thoughts as he does, his eyes blankly focus on his moving hands. What snaps him from his head is his body switching tasks for him. This slightly disorients him, he finds himself looking around and seeing Rykis now sitting beside Nomi.

His brother notices he's out of his head. "Hey, there you are." He teases. "Good morning, I made you breakfast. It's waiting for you in the microwave." Rykis nods his head. "Thank you, thank you." He says as he pushes himself out of his chair and he walks over to the microwave. Lykas steps out of the way as his brother pulls the plate for himself out of it.

Lykas refills Nomi's glass of water before he decides to leave. He affectionately taps Nomi's nose, "I'll be back later okay? I'm going to go run a few errands. Behave for Rykis, he was up pretty late last night." Nomi's eyes meet his as she drinks from the newly filled glass. A small smile peaks from behind the rim of the cup.

She doesn't have to say anything, from the look on her face Lykas knows she'll behave. He leaves the kitchen and exits out of their house from the front door. The sun is now fully in the sky, casting a dusty orange color onto the streets. A hot breeze flows through his black locks of hair, causing the part of his hair he keeps up in a ponytail to sway.

He doesn't have a plan, he just needs to get time to himself. Lykas finds himself walking the cracked and bumpy streets, his hands shoved into the front pockets of his pants. He sees the normal things to see in the city he's been banished to. Orphan half-breed children fending for themselves, criminals of all sorts causing crime and mischief, and other people passed out intoxicated by some kind of drug or alcohol.

He finds himself wandering into one of the sunken in, abandoned buildings outside of his city. Lykas finds his way inside by climbing the rusting ladder rings and slipping in through a broken window. Everything seems to be trapped in time. His foot sinks into the old, decaying carpet. Each step causes a series of dust to fly up into the sun kissed apartment.

He wanders through the vacant rooms. He can see the rush the former residents were in trying to get out of here as fast as possible. Or the apartment could have been ransacked by other survivors that just needed supplies. Lykas stops when he finds himself entering what appears to be a bedroom. Broken bits of hangers are scattered around the floor, Lykas assumes they became too impatient and started to rip their clothes from the hangers.

The bedsheets are stained with different shades of dried blood, most likely from different survivors that were like him, wandering through here. He sees one of the windows are broken, allowing the contaminated sunlight to seep through. The curtains on other windows are ripped, or even shredded. Lastly, different sizes of bullet holes impale the walls. Telling stories of the disputes that have went down in the room. Or. . . the apartment.

Lykas continues to move through the apartment. The items left behind are pieces of history from before the apocalypse became to the state that it is now. And when Humans were a normal, weaker race. He reminds himself, he looks down at his hands. His skin is pale, so pale that it's basically gray instead of white. One of the traits he inherited from his parents being one Human and one Monster.

Lykas walks back into the living room and he seats himself on the couch. The silence of the apartment is almost eerie, but he finds it oddly calming.

Lykas sees a book set on the coffee table that is in front of him. A bookmark is still in the place the reader left off. He picks it up, causing his fingertips to gloss with dust. He opens it to the marked page, his eyes are met with words that have been underlined. While other words are highlighted in fading yellow and orange color. Did all Humans from before read like this? Or was this one just special? He wonders to himself. He flips through the pages before the marked page.

He sees little notes scribbled in the very little spacious margins. "Too bad I can't read this." He chuckles beneath his breath as he continues to flip through. "You must have loved reading." He continues. He throws the book back onto the table. A storm of dust flies up into the air, turning a dirty golden color. Lykas leans back on the couch and he folds his arms over his chest.

His thoughts shift from his family to what life was like before. Places like these are only small capsules in time, and no one cares to look through them anymore since in most cities nobody has to.

Lykas lays down on the dusty couch. His eyes lock on the ceiling and soon enough, the lack of sleep he's had the past few nights creeps up behind him. He feels his eyelids grow heavy as he starts to slip into a deep sleep.