Chapter 20: Invitations
Ted blinked and looked at me, a confused smile on his lips.
'What?'
'That's bullshit. Everything you said. About us being better than our violent ancestors.'
He frowned.
'What do you mean? We live in the most peaceful and enlightened time in human history.'
'You do. But not everyone does. The cover might be prettier, but human nature doesn't change. Like, do you know what happened to me last night? Some junkies tried to bash my brains out, just because I didn't look like I belonged in their part of town. Those junkies? They were ready to hurt me, just for the fun of it. And it happened just a few miles from here. And then... how long was it since the Cartel War in South America? Five years? We all saw the news reports about the massacres. Africa? Mass shootings every month. Russia? I hear they hang people for a blog post down there. So we didn't become more enlightened. We just learned to hide the ugliness in the darker corners.'
Ted shook his head.
'I didn't say that we're perfect. But we did become better. We don't discriminate against each other based on superficial traits anymore.'
Right. Because why humiliate and kill and torture each other if you can kill and torture a wraith. That's what it means to be a better human, isn't it? I breathed in deeply, trying to strangle the anger, and chastising myself for speaking up.
Claire looked at me, a little pale.
'Wait... you were attacked last night? Are you okay?'