Enlighten: - Nick Venom (book recommendations for young adults TXT) 📗

turning around to slice her a piece of the cake. While he did, Riley glared at him. Why do I have to deal with you? Why couldn’t I be with the talented brother? She thought to herself, her negative expressions overtaking her face. However, as soon as Eden turned around to face her, the frown and glare she had disappeared. In their place was a smile and happy eyes. 

“H-Here’s your slice,” He said, handing her a slice of cake on a plate. She took it with a smile, glancing down at the cake with half-disgusted eyes.

“Thanks.” She responded half-heartedly. Eden nodded with a foolish grin on his face before turning away from her. He cut himself a slice before sitting down. Riley sat across from him, eating her slice of the cake. She reluctantly ate it, looking away from Eden to hide her expression - full of disgust and regret. 

After they finished their slices, Eden rose from his chair. “H-Hey Riley?” He started. She looked up at him, furrowing her brows. “U-Um… I wanted to know if… i-if you wanted to-” 

“Young Master?” A woman dressed in the attire of a maid said as she approached him. Eden nearly jumped ten feet into the air by her presence. 

“When did you get here?” He asked.

“Several minutes ago, Dirtblood. Sorry… Young Master, correct?”

Eden scowled at the maid. “Yeah, it is.” He spat. “What do you want?”

“Your presence has been requested. So has Miss Riley.” She informed them before turning around. “Follow me, I’ll contact others to ensure your cake and other items are safe from nature. Unless you enjoy the taste of dirt.” She shot him a side glance, full of overconfidence. Eden glared at her, hesitant to follow her. However, he couldn’t go against a request from his father. He glanced at Riley, motioning for her to follow him. She nodded, following the maid. She was a few steps in front of him. 

The maid, meanwhile, led them out of the forest and towards the mansion. They entered through the front door, passing by the glares of the staff, and entered the dining room on the first floor - towards the back of the mansion, but several hundreds of feet away from the outside walls. 

Waiting for them was Patriarch West,  his wife, Jay, and two other children. Patriarch West’s wife, Matriarch West, Eden’s mother, looked at him with scorn. Her eyes tracked Eden as he walked deeper into the room. She sat up straight, her children following her lead. She intertwined her fingers, laying them on the table. She faced Eden, staring intensely. “Why is he here?” She asked. 

“Because I called for him.” Patriarch West answered, not in the view of his wife’s judging eyes. Her focus was stuck on Eden.

“What is your intention with him?”

“I will reveal later.” He whispered before turning to the nearest waiter. “Where is the food?” He barked. The waiter bowed his head and apologized before leaving to talk with the cooks. The food was swiftly brought out of the kitchen, carried on silver platters. They laid the platters in front of them; they took some time to deliver Eden’s food while Riley was given hers earlier than him.

Patriarch West waved off the waiters and cooks, now staring at his family. He was at the head of the table, able to see everybody with one angle. On his left were his wife and Jay with Riley two seats down. On his right were his two children, younger than Eden but with more talent than him. Several seats down was Eden. He was looking down at his platter, taking off the dome and finding a raw steak waiting for him. He stared at Patriarch West, his eyebrows furrowed. 

“Eat up,” Patriarch West remarked, staring at Eden.

Eden kept his emotions bottled up, hiding a glare. If he acted like that in front of the head of the family, he would face a serious punishment - which included banishment. Instead, he nodded his head and grabbed his utensils. He began cutting into the sneak, glancing up at Riley. She was fed a large chunk of steak, happily devouring it. She didn’t show the same expressions that she did when eating the cake. 

Meanwhile, Eden poked at his food, searching for a part of the steak that was cooked. However, nothing was cooked. His food was raw and there were no apparent attempts to cook it. The steak nearly moved on its own. 

“What’s wrong? Is it not to your liking?” Matriarch West asked, spitting out venom. She stared at him with a small smirk. Eden didn’t glare at her, biting his tongue to suffocate his words. 

“I apologize, mother-”

“Mother?” She shouted, shooting out of her chair. “I am not your mother. I am Matriarch West to you!” The venom was peppering his body, attempt to seep into his pores. 

Eden bowed his head slightly. “I apologize, Matriarch West. I didn’t mean to insult you.”

Matriarch West sat down, taking in several breaths in and out. Once she calmed herself down, she intertwined her fingers and sat them back on the table. “What is he doing here?” She asked Patriarch West without looking at him.

Patriarch West glared at her. “I will… when it’s time.”

Matriarch West glared at him before looking away. She un-intertwined her fingers and began eating. Her children and Riley, who all stopped eating because of her outburst, went back to eating. They devoured their food while Eden made very little progress through his meal. He poked and ate small pieces of the raw steak. Enough to stop his parents from criticizing him, but not enough that he would get sick from eating it. 

The maids and waiters stared at him, watching his every movement. They were disgusted by him. Eden ignored them all, doing his best not to provoke his father’s wraith. He didn’t want to stick out more than he already did. 

With Riley at the table, he didn’t feel as out of place as he usually did. However, he felt something scratching at the back of his neck. Riley was never invited to the dining room table before and Eden rarely ate with his family. The waiters or maid would chuck him his breakfast and dinner at him and he would eat at his usual spot in the woods; sometimes with Riley. 

Although suspicious, Eden didn’t want to think about it further. He hoped that everything would end quickly and he would be released from the nightmare of family dinner time. 

Unfortunately for him, his father invited him to the table for a reason. Once everybody finished eating, Patriarch West stood up. He grabbed his glass cup as he rose, swishing the wine around before addressing Eden. 

“Today, is your thirteen birthday, correct?” He asked, his voice devoid of emotions. Eden nodded his head. “How are your sword skills?”

Eden swallowed hard. “It is… not good, sir.” He stated honestly. 

Patriarch West shook his head disappointingly. “Then… it’s time.” He pointed a scrawny finger at Eden. “You no longer deserve to be called a West. You have no worth here, anymore. You are free to stay in the woods for the rest of your life, but you cannot talk with anybody here. Is that clear?” He barked.

Eden stared at his father with wide eyes. His jaw was threatening to collapse because of the bombshell. “F-Father?”

Patriarch West balled his fingers into fists and slammed them on the table, rattling the utensils. “I am not your father. You will not address me as so. I am nobody to you and you’re nobody to me. Do I make myself clear?” Eden tearfully nodded his head. “Good, now leave, black sheep.” Eden shot out of his chair, turning towards the door. He took a few steps towards the door before glancing at Riley. His eyes pleaded with her to follow him. I need you. You are my pillar of light. The reason why I tough it out through this discrimination and hate. Please follow me! 

Patriarch West cracked a smile as he crossed his arms. “I said to not talk with anybody here, right? She works under me.”

Eden turned around to face his fath-… the head of the West family. “W-What do you mean?”

Patriarch West motioned for Riley to speak. She nodded, rising from her seat. She turned to face Eden with a large grin on her face. “He is right. I work under him.”

Eden tilted his head. “Y-You do?” He said, his voice beginning to crack.

She nodded her head. “I was employed by him to be your friend. He didn’t want you to commit suicide in case your talent showed up later down the line, but… you no longer have any worth.” She said. Eden’s eyes widened even more. She was correct as anybody thirteen or older couldn’t materialize their talents. Once they became thirteen and their talent wasn’t present, they weren’t blessed by the Gods to have it. They had no chance after thirteen to become a knight or normal swordsmen. They were, in simple terms, worthless.

Eden, now piecing together weird things that he noticed but never thought too much about, crumbled to his knees. The pillar of light keeping him sane and alive was crumbing alongside him. His only reason to hold onto the thin strings of life was withering away. And he could do nothing about it.

Meanwhile, Patriarch West and the rest of his family laughed at Eden’s expense. Even Riley joined in, pointing and mocking him. 

“It appears that I hired the right person. You’ve been holding onto his emotions so well.” Patriarch West said through the laughter. Riley nodded, bowing her head. 

“Thank you, sir.”

Patriarch West smiled. “Now a reward is in order. What do you want?”

Riley thought about her answer for a few moments before finding the perfect thing. “Money, sir.”

“Blunt, I like that. I’ll grant you enough money to let you enjoy your life peacefully and even make you one of my concubines.” He said. Matriarch West glared at him but he ignored her. 

“Thank you, sir.” She responded, her head still lowered. 

Eden stared intensely at the floor. His mouth was dry while his eyes were bubbling with tears. He felt himself being torn to pieces, the sharp piercing feeling running throughout his body. He croaked dry gasps and took in shallow breaths of air. He felt his heart beating faster than usual, attempting to jump out of him and escape like Riley. 

He was left behind as Patriarch West dismissed everybody. His children went to their rooms or the training grounds while Matriarch West went upstairs to speak with Patriarch West about taking Riley as his concubine. The staff gossiped about Eden in the next room over, talking so loudly that he could hear them clearly.

With them all gone, he slowly rose to his feet. He trudged out of the mansion, passing by the glares of the staff that grew intenser, and went to the training grounds. Jay, who was training himself, noticed Eden and mocked him. However, Eden wasn’t paying attention to him. Instead, he went to the wall of weapons, finding a bundle of rope. He took the rope, heading into the forests. Jay furrowed his brows before deducing what was going to happen. 

“Well, I won’t have to deal with that dirtblood anymore.” He remarked before chuckling softly to himself. He turned away from the direction Eden went in and re-focused himself on training his sword talents. 

Meanwhile, Eden trudged through the woods and reached the clearing. He went to the oak tree while building himself a noose. He was used to building them, doing it effortlessly. 

He reached the tree, throwing the empty end of the rope over the thickest branch he could find. It took him several attempts before he could wrap the rope around the branch.

  With half of his plan completed, he turned around and headed for the fallen log. He moved it towards the oak tree, positioning it slightly behind the noose. He stood on the log, grabbing the noose and wrapping it around his neck. His plan was completed - all he needed to