Chapter 4- A Familiar Sound

Chapter 4

A Familiar Sound

 

 

      Standing in the pouring rain was not enough to move Seth. He watched Amelia walk away until her figure disappeared, until all he saw was the glare of the car lights passing by. Seth found something inside of him that made his legs move. Going back to where he left Jordan, Seth made it to the payphone that was at the corner of the street and called the police. Afterwards, he walked over to Jordan, who was still passed out, but alive. He stood over him for a few seconds, feeling sick inside again. He was never known to be violent, ever. Of course, he is violent but not the way Jordan was going to be. Not in the way a person with cold blood running through their veins would be. Just, as a means to an end. Kill or be killed. Picking up the lucky 45, he heard something in the distance. Gunshots were being fired and they were getting closer. Seth stood up against the brick wall and got ready to fire. He looked to the street expecting one of the guys that were with Jordan. Instead, he saw a group of men dressed in military uniforms, aiming right at him. Before he could do anything, they fired and Seth went back a few steps and crashed into the wall. Lifting the gun up to shoot back, his mouth dropped. The street was empty with no sound but that of the rain.

 

       His head leaned back and hit the wall, hard enough so that he knew he was awake, his grip still tight on the gun and trigger. Seth peeled himself away from the wall and ran as much as he could back to his apartment. Hearing the ambulence in the air behind him gave him the slightest bit of ease. At least Jordan wasn't going to die.

 

       How he ended up in his kitchen was not too clear to him. What was clear was the men shooting relentlessly at him. Piercing his flesh with ten or so bullets. With his bare feet on the tile, he began to feel cool, not cold. The sequence played back in his mind over and over until he took off his shirt and saw that there were no fresh bullet holes, just their scars. A breath of relief blew out from his lips as he leaned over the sink, his hands on the counter holding him up. Amelia had moved to the back of his mind as memories of war came rushing through, closer and closer to his eyes. One of the worst came so fast to him that he actually jumped backwards. His hands flung up from the sink as though it were made of lava. He covered his eyes. It was a remedy that worked well sometimes. Sometimes. A girl had just been thrown out of a room and outside. Her hair dry and short. Her body, frail and dead, covered in bruises and blood. Most of the blood centered in between her legs.

 

      She waited a moment or two there. The dirt ground had more color in it than she and it brought a cold, slow trickle of ice down his spine. When the men who raped the girl would not come out, the girl stood up somehow and began to walk, then fall, then walk again. All the while Seth watched from a few feet away. The girl had no idea he was there when put his hand out for her to hold on to. The girl stood there, her doe eyes white and still. Knowing that if she so much as blinked, she would die. Seth didn't know if she was a virgin or if she had just been raped that violently. But, the thought that they made it to her before he did made his skin crawl. He took a step towards her and their eyes never left one anothers gaze.  It had been one hundred years since he had seen, and failed, her last. Before he could say anything to her, the door of the room she was just in started to open and let out a bit of the artificial light from inside, clashing against the afterglow of the sunset.

 

        Seth grabbed Amelia and turned the corner to the building next to them. His mouth covered her bleeding one, not realizind at first that he was hurting her. All they heard was laughter. It was a familiar sound, one that he had heard many times from those sorts of men. The laughter grew faint and he looked down at the terrified eyes staring back at him.

 

         "I will not hurt you." He said, but she did not understand. He said the same words in German and then finally in Hebrew. That was when she nodded, barely blinking. As he let go of her mouth, he noticed he was the only thing that kept her standing. He managed to take her to his room without being noticed. He convinced her to shower and gave her a fresh pair of clothes. But he tattered them so they looked like everyone else's. As she was eating, he wanted to tell her everything. It would have been hopeless though. She remebered nothing, just as he was told.

 

    "We will leave here." He waited for her to acknowledge him. But she was too busy eating. " I am going to take you away from this place, do you understand?" She looked up and nodded again. But it was a cautious nod.

"I am not one of them. I came here to find you but you have to trust me. Do not be afraid of me. Can you do that?" She had stopped eating and smiled. A real smile. Seth smiled back and took the plate from her to the kitchen. But something was not right. There was a sound in the air. A sound he would give anything not to hear again. But he was hearing it now, as he remembered this. His hands still covering his eyes, he keeled over, finally meeting with the tiles beneath his feet.

 

     The same officers were at his door. They knocked and knocked again. The plate flew from his hand and he ran to Amelia, who, here, was Hannah. Grabbing her, they ran to the back window in his bedroom. There was no way he could get the both of them out now without her getting shot. Outside, they could hear people screaming and shots being fired.

 

 "Go to your room and wait for me there. Just wait for me." His hands were on her shoulders and they had gone up to her small head.

 

"I will wait for you." She replied back. He kissed her forehead and helped her out of the window and watched her run away from him. He opened the door and saw two of the four officers that had been in the room with Hannah, taking anything they could from her.

 

      "We are having a meeting. Come with us." They spoke in German and they spoke lies. Seth, Lukas in this time, was one of the higher officers and knew nothing of a meeting. He went with them anyway, walking as slow as possible, giving time for Hannah to make it back to her place. As they turned the corner, people were being moved everywhere. Some taken to the gas chambers others to the incinerator and others, others were lined up on their knees, being shot in the head. Standing calm he was searching frantically with his eyes for her. He had told her to wait for him. He ran to her room and saw people already dead on the ground. As he went inside, he tripped over a child, shot in the back of the head. Lukas shouted out fro Hannah. He saw a body laying face down in her bed. He turned her over but it was Hannah's mother. Relief came over him because she could still be alive. But, now he had no idea where she would be. He ran out of the room and stood there. Looking in every direction. Only two of the four men were at his door. Two. Where were the others? "No. Please." He ran again, faster and faster, passing officers shooting and others dragging people to towards the gas chamber. He made it to the room where he found her about an hour ago.

 

     More shots were fired around him and then, one more. Lukas made it within a few feet from the door. He made it just in time to see Hannah come out of the room and he called out to her. She turned to look at his face and then one more shot was fired. One more shot was fired just as he came close enough to take her hand. 

 

     The blood from her head splattered an his face and as she fell, he fell with her. Lukas was about to be shot as well. Tears streamed down his face as the officers shot him in the head. But, the officers didn't know Lukas that well. His eyes had met hers on the ground while both their blood poured from their heads, but he did something Hannah could not. He stood up and took the gun that killed Hannah from the officer. Shot both him and the other one dead. Lukas dropped the gun and took a look at the girl on the dirt ground. Lukas ran after that. He just ran. 

 

      Seth couldn't hear the sounds anymore and he couldn't see anything else either. He sat there contemplating for about 15 minutes whether or not he should sleep right there or take Jordan's gun, point it to his face, and pull the trigger. A tiny laugh actually fell out of him and his head dropped to the side. One leg was outstreched and his other was bent with his arm resting on his knee. He knew nothing would happen. What would be the point?

 

    The gun was in his hand now as he went to his room. The gun went underneath his pillow and Seth's head rested on top of it, if you could call it rest. You would think this guy would just let up, you know. Let it be for God's sake. Live his damn life, if you could call it that, and forget all this bullshit. Forget her just like how she forgot him. Well, maybe not just like how she forgot him. I mean, that part. That part is a bit too screwed up, even for me. I really don't know what he was thinking when fell asleep. He was breathing, I could tell you that much. But, I think we know that he was thinking of her.

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright ©2008 Anorin Arssinous

Reviews

[Fallen_Immortal]

Wow. This was really sad. I didn't cry this time, sorry to disappoint, but that heavy feeling came about. This is great. I really like where this is headed so far. I'm confused a bit, but I think most of that is purposeful, because it's not developed in the story yet. Some of the changing of flashbackish things with Seth's memories were a little confusing and blurred, but I kind of liked that, because the confusion did add to how I imagine he was feeling.

I really like this so far, and hopefully I'll have read it all very soon!