Echoworld

It was all over the news. A week later, April 30, a copycat bombing took place. And everything has been deteriorating from there. Violence runs rampant, the economy is almost naught...Everything's gone pretty much to hell. And your next question is why anyone would do this, what do they have to rebel against, blah blah blah. True, we did have a council that kept everything stable, but they demanded exorbitant taxes. If you couldn't pay your taxes, they would do one of two things: take your house away from you or take your child away from you. I don't know what they did to kids that they took in place of taxes; in all honesty, I try not to think about it. And the judicial system was moot - innocent people ended up convicted of terrible crimes while the guilty went free. If you were in rights with a judge, or if you had enough money to pay him off, you could get away with murder and rape and theft with nothing more than a slap on the wrist."

Shaun just stared at her in amazement. "Thanks."

Wren sighed and slumped her shoulders, hiding her face in her knees as she cried noiselessly. Shaun moved to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't touch me!" she snarled. He took his hand back quickly.

She continued to sob, remembering all her friends that had died in the office building. She moved closer to Shaun and laid her head on his shoulder as she began to quiet down. He put his arm around her protectively and she scooted closer to him, pressing against him. He kissed the top of her head; the scent of flowers came to him faintly from her hair. The sun continued to sink lower, giving the sky an intimidating and disgusting appearance.

"I only have one other question," he said softly. "Do you have any family? Boyfriend, husband, parents, siblings..."

She was still. She didn't even breathe. How was she supposed to explain her parents' deaths?

"I have an older brother, but he's married and on the other side of the world, so we don't talk much anymore," she stalled.

"But what about a significant other? Or parents?" he pressed.

"No boyfriend or husband."

"Wren, I need to know about your parents. Why are you avoiding it like the plague?"

"The plague?" she asked skeptically.

Shaun shook his head. "Ancient history. Parents."

She spun out of his reach and onto her feet. "Why do you care so much? Is it your goal to make me recall as many bad memories as possible?" she spat, tears sliding down her face. Shaun stood and wrapped her in a tight embrace.

"Sh. It's okay. What happened?" he soothed as they both sat again on the stairs.

"They're dead," she found herself sobbing into his shirt. She hadn't told anyone about this. So why tell him, almost a complete stranger? He seemed trustworthy, but that's all the reason her distressed mind needed. "I killed them. It was an accident."

Shaun's blood froze. "What happened?"

"I don't know. I don't. We got into a fight and I got this terrible headache. I remember wishing they were dead and my headache pretty much went away. When I came back downstairs to apologize, they were dead. Not murdered or anything, just dead." She took a deep breath and composed herself, rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands. "I've always thought of it as my fault because I wished them dead."

Shaun hugged her tightly. As much as she liked the feeling, she wriggled her way out of his embrace. "My turn," she said.

"Fair enough."

"Two questions.