Reprisal: A Wraith’s Awakening

Chapter 5

Arden's pov

‘Brother?’ I questioned inwardly.

From an outsider’s perspective, it might have seemed that way, the two of us could pass off as brother’s, actually no… it would have been strange not to think of us as such.

The resemblance was uncanny, the man standing before me looked eerily similar to me, the only difference was the fact that had a longer hair than mine, he reeked of wealth and didn’t look like a hollow eyed zombie.

Perhaps it was due to the array of thoughts that muddled my mind, I only realized now that I was frozen due to the sudden arrival of the other party.

‘Isn’t that a good thing, at least it shows that I’m not completely emotionless, perhaps with enough time I might come to retain some emotions, though I doubt I would, since the price for my deal with the unknown entity was at the cost of my humanity.’

While I was lost in thought, a subtle hum snapped me out of my reverie.

The stranger was staring at me with peculiar interest, his inverted eyes gleamed slightly.

“You’ve awakened huh? Well that’s pitiful.” He mused with a wistful sigh. “let’s skip the long stuff shall we? I’m here to pick you up, the name’s Jamie Moretti and I’m your older brother.”

At his words all I could muster was a deadpanned response.

“Oh, I see… then would you happen to have a pair of clothes, it’s rather chilly today.”

Hearing my response, Jamie laughed.

“You’re an interesting one you know, the others would love you, as you would to them as well.”

I narrowed my gaze towards him, my expression aloof and hollow.

“I wouldn’t be certain about that, the price for my awakening was my humanity, as such, I’m incapable of feeling as others would, with the sole exception of hatred and bloodlust.”

Jamie didn’t seem too surprised after hearing what I’d just said, if he did then he was certainly skilled in masking his emotions.

After a short stretch of awkward silence, he finally spoke.

“That’s rather cruel.”

“I would like to assume that that isn’t the same case with you or the others.” I inquired.

“Well no, we do have our flaws too, each are equally as devastating but regardless, we learnt to live with it, I’m sure you’ll figure out a way to live with yours too.” He replied.

I stared at him for a little while, my thoughts were still in disarray, and a lot of things seemed unrealistic, for instance, I never would’ve imagined myself holding a conversation with a random stranger who proclaimed himself to be a sibling of mine.

Although I was inclined to believe him since the system had referred to me as Arden Moretti.

Eventually I decided to speak.

“So… do you have a spare clothing for me to wear?”

He chuckled.

“Now, tell me, why would I walk about carrying an extra pair of clothing with me, how was I supposed to know that my little brother would be completely naked in the middle of nowhere?”

“Well that does seem reasonable, I guess.”

“Exactly, no sane person would do so.”

“You brought a car with you at least, right?”

“Yes I did.”

“Alright then, give me a minute to myself, let me wash up.”

****

The drive to the Moretti’s estate was long as it was tiring and all I could do was stare out of the car window.

Despite the fact that Jamie didn’t bring any spare cloth, there was one left hanging in one of the neighborhood, it closely resembled the detention center uniform but it wasn’t one.

It was a pajama with midnight hue and silver colored streaks, it felt strange to say the least, donning the attire of another, nevertheless I wasn’t exactly in a position where I was allowed an alternative.

Jamie seemed to have a word or two to say but decided against it, after all he was without doubt, a beneficiary of nepotism so how would he understand the mind of someone who’d struggled for every single penny they got.

The most harrowing part of it was the fact that I took the pajamas without a moments linger like it was the most natural thing to do.

After the conversation we had at the stream, Jamie and I hadn’t spoken another word since then.

Probably because he enjoyed the silence while I had no desire to initiate or engage myself in a conversation.

The city blurred as we drove by, neon lights associated with tall skyscrapers were present, despite it being nighttime; it was still bustling with activities but we soon left all that, as we entered the Moretti’s territory.

To call the place an estate was insulting the mere presence of the grandiose area.

It wasn’t an estate, it was a literal mini town with exquisite buildings, from glass coated skyscrapers to museums and even mundane buildings.

Jamie drove past them, slowing down only when we got to the innermost part of the Moretti family’s estate.

While he did that, the large gates protecting the towering houses swung open automatically, revealing the aesthetics of the exterior part of the estate.

It was grand, almost dreamlike; it was something I couldn’t have imagined ever seeing yet to the current me, it all felt gray, and hopeless.

My life was without colors, the wealth, people, the dreamlike scenery, I couldn’t appreciate any of it.

‘A life without colors, it is rather fitting for someone like me, without the ability to feel anything even something as grandiose as that is without meaning.’

As we drove into the mansion, a crowd of servants were already gathered to receive us.

Perhaps they’d been anticipating our arrival or perhaps they’d only gathered here once we got into the territory, we were received by a crowd of the Moretti’s family workers.

Jamie was the first to exit the car while I followed shortly after.

As soon as I stepped out, I could notice the reactions on the faces of the workers, from awe to well masked disgust, they were all present but I said nothing or rather I couldn’t, there was no reason to.

I couldn’t be bothered by them as I had no emotions and didn’t see the need for such.

Jamie walked up to one of the servants that were gathered, the man in question was obviously one of high status within the hierarchy of the Moretti family’s workers.

His gray hair was neatly styled alongside his stubble; he wore transparent glasses which complemented nicely with his tuxedo.

The both of them exchanged a few words which I couldn’t pick up and then the elder turned to look at me briefly before nodding towards the servants who opened the main door of the Moretti’s family mansion.

As I took a step forward, a familiar notification screen popped up directly in front of me causing me to halt my movement