Chapter 2

A

 

    

 silent scream filled my head. At first I thought it was my mind screaming at me to get off my lazy butt and actually do something, until I realized all of my energy was out of me- and that the voice was definitely not mine.

         The scream lit up the air again, only this time it sounded more tortured. I jumped up from my spot and spun my head around, trying to locate the direction of the scream. Another scream coming from the north. The wind blew and tossed the scream around I couldn’t find the voice. That is, until I started running.

         With every scream I moved in every direction-north, south, east, west- any direction to find the person the scream belonged to. I only knew two- maybe three- things about whoever was screaming. One, it was a guy possibly my age. Two, he was in a lot of trouble. And three, I needed to get to him fast.

         “Is anybody out there?” I yelled. There was no reply. I tried again, and again, and again. I kept getting the same answer: silence or a scream.

         I finally got a real answer. Sadly, it wasn’t what I wanted to hear.

         “Get away!” the person tried to yell. “Stay away from me!” He screamed again. This person- this boy- was being tortured by god knows what and he wanted me to stay away? How could anyone in their right mind do that? Lucky for that person, I wasn’t at the time.

         I was getting closer to the screams- which were now only faint yelps- and listened for any more signs of danger. I heard footsteps marching through the waving grass, but saw a glimpse of the boy through the grass that surrounded his body.

         “Are you okay?” I asked to boy once I got close enough to see the blood dripping out of his many wounds. He didn’t answer; he just let out a yelp of pain. “Who did this to you?” I asked him, but another yelp was all that came out of his swollen lips.

         Faster than the boy could lift his bruised arm to warn me, a club hit me in the back of the head. I fell right on top of the boy- who let out another yelp as I landed on top of him. Everything was blurry and I couldn’t see a thing. I strong kick flipped me off of the boy and onto my back next to him. I winced, realizing that I had broken a few rips as I fell. Somebody got hold of my collar and yanked it up. I didn’t look into the person’s eyes, but the person obviously wanted me to look into the eyes of my offender.

         The slap stung.

         “Look me in the eye, girl!” a husky voice commanded. I didn’t want to look, but I knew that if I didn’t there would be much worse things in store for me than a simple slap. I looked at the man who held me by the collar. I had a scowl waiting for me, and rusty colored eyes beating into me. I could smell the blood on his hands that he didn’t bother to hide. “Why did you come here?” he asked me. He didn’t let me answer. “Why did you come here? Answer me!”

       “I don’t know why I came!” I cried, “I heard someone scream and felt I needed to help him!”

       “So you’re some kind of hero, eh?”

       “No,” I said, “I just wanted to help. I don’t want people to suffer like-” I stopped, knowing that I couldn’t give any information out like that. “Like people I know.”

       “Weltly, let ’er go.” I heard a women howl over the wind. “She ain’t done nothing.”

       “She has no business bein’ here, Grayl.” The man, Weltly said to the women who probably saved my life.

       “Don’t mean you can just go slapping her all ’round like that, old man! I mean look at her, just a little girl. She didn’t do a darn thing!”

       “You too sympathetic, Grayl!” Weltly hollered. “The girl got lots of other things to do than to go snoopin’ around someone else’s business.”

       “You ain’t gotta say another word to me, Weltly. We got the job done, didn’t we? Don’t have to be swinging that ole club of yours everywhere, ya know,” Grayl said. “Now, let go of that girl and let’s get outta here before anybody finds us!”

       Weltly obeyed and let go of my, letting me fall to the ground again, and started running off into the other direction.

       I might have laid there by the boy for ten, twenty minutes realizing what had just happened. I looked over to the boy who blinked up at the sky. He seemed to be in some kind of daze because surely no one would be mumbling “stars” to a cloudy sky.

       I got up, wincing again and holding my side. The wind blew me off balance a couple of times, but once I got my footing straight I leaned over the boy. The blood from his wound had stopped dripping out a while ago, but the purple bruises on his arms, legs, and neck didn’t look like they would be healing anytime soon.

       I nudged the boy in the shoulder, trying to miss one of his many bruises. “Hey. Hey, you.” I whispered, nudging his shoulder again.

      “Don’t,” I heard him whisper faintly. “You’re. Hurting. Me.”

      “I’m sorry,” I said back, “and I know you’re hurt. I can get you somewhere safe. All I need you to do is stand up and walk. Can you do that for me?”

      “I don’t…want to…move.”

      “I realize that. But if you want to stay alive for more than the next couple hours, I suggest you get up and move.”

      “Who are you?” he asked, slowly getting up from the soft grass.

      “Annabe…Annabe Williams. I should ask you the same question.”

      “Narreed Glearson.” His eyes moved from the sky to me before he stood up onto his feet.

 

 

********

 

 

       I woke up in my room feeling stiff and very, very sick. My head spun once I sat up in my bed, and frankly I’m surprised I didn’t throw up. The back of my head, though, and my sides, felt like they were going to pop. There were no lights on in my room, which lead me to believe nobody wanted me awake, and I was in fresh clothes and actually smelled good.

       I looked over at my clock. It wasn’t even four o’clock in the morning! Then I realized that I was actually in my room. Where was Narreed? Was he okay? How did I get back home? Who got me bathed and clothed? Why wasn’t I in the hospital? Who? What? Where? When? Why? HOW??

       I threw off the covers that lay on top of me and ran towards the door. My legs were shaking as I ran towards Command, and something inside me started to worry. My mother wasn’t even in my room ready to comfort me like she normally would. Something was up, and I didn’t care how much pain I was in. I was going to find out what was going on.

      As I was walking down the empty hall to get to Command I could hear some voices talking. Then I recognized the voices. One was Slackley, the other was Mother. The last one…I wasn’t sure if I was hearing his voice correctly, but I knew it had to be him. He’s the only male alive that would want to see me then.

      I walked to the window that looked into Command. The room was empty other than the three people sitting at the table under a dim light. They talked with hushed voices, and they seemed like they were having an argument over something. Then I heard my name, and I immediately knew it was about me.

      “If it wasn’t for you she wouldn’t have gotten into that amount of danger!” my mother whispered loudly. “You could have just come, explained, and then walk away. But, no. You had to try and trick her to come outside. Well, it worked! Are you happy now?”

      “No, I’m not happy! I never meant for this to happen!”

      “Nobody ever means for things like this to happen,” Slackley said, “but it happened, and you both have to understand that that perfect moment before all this happened will never come back.”

      “Maybe not, but she still deserves an explanation from me!”

      “You just want to tell her the things you regret! That’s not explaining anything!”

     “He’s right, Kristt, and you know it, too.” Slackley interfered. “He needs to explain and we all know Annabe deserves an explanation from him.”

     Mother didn’t speak after that.  

     “And you know she’s right, too. Both of you know what happened tonight, both of you wish it never happened, and I know I wish this could be all over so we could all get some sleep. But you don’t always get what you wish for, do you?”

     I walked into the room, looking at each and every one of them in the eye. They all stumbled out of their seats when they saw me, Mother running up to hug me, in fact, but I dismissed her greeting.

     “I see there was a meeting about me and I wasn’t invited.” I said, letting them hear the sarcasm and anger in my voice. I looked over at Segreth who sat back down once I looked at him. I walked over to the table and stood on the opposite side of where Segreth sat. “I see your finally back where you belong,” I said, “I’m guessing by sunrise you’ll be gone?”

      “Annabe, it’s not like that,”

      “Than what is it like, then, Segreth? You leave without warning, and then come back like nothing happened? My mother is right, this is your fault. This would have never happened if you just didn’t come into Metrial this morning. I wouldn’t be bruised or have a concussion, Narreed wouldn’t be-”

      “Who’s Narreed?” Segreth asked.

      “Like you don’t know!” I spouted.

       Segreth looked at me like I was crazy and stuffed his head into his hands. “Who’s Narreed?” He repeated.

       “He really doesn’t know?” I asked Slackley and Mother, who both looked like they were about to leave in a rush.

      “He came so suddenly, just a few minutes after you were found.” Mother whispered. “We didn’t have enough time to explain to him-”

      “Yet you had enough time to have an argument about me? And how this happened to me?”

      “Annabe, calm down,” Segreth told me, “it’s not that big a deal. Just sit down and let me explain.” I sat down, but the glare didn’t budge. I think Segreth got the message after a minute or two of staring at each other. He sighed and said, “What happened tonight was never supposed to happen. I know you and you mother are right. This is my fault. I should have just came and told you everything I needed to tell you, but I had to be the big idiot we all have somewhere in our lives. Yes I wanted you to come outside, but I wasn’t trying to bait you into any kind of trap. There was no of trap. I know it’s ironic how you’re aloud outside and you get beaten, but I promise you one thing: whoever did this will pay.”

      “What are you trying to say, Segreth?” I asked him. What he was telling me I had already heard and I didn’t want or need to hear it again.

      “What I’m trying to say is…you’re right. Everything that you said about me when I left is true. I am a coward, I am an idiot, and I am most defiantly the worst friend someone like you could ever have. I’ve spent a lot of time alone. For six years I’ve been trying to think of a way I could forgive myself for leaving you to be friendless. I was trying to think of a way to say that I was sorry for what I did to you without actually facing my fear of this place. When I left I thought I was going to enjoy life alone, enjoy time without being called a coward when I walked through the halls. It’s not much better, I can tell you that. Actually, it’s a whole lot worse. Time alone and realizing that the people that you love the most are gone is not what I should have done. Time with someone who could comfort me and realizing that my parents are dead is a much better idea. And I’m sorry for that. I regret not staying here, and I regret not coming back. It was selfish of me to do something like this, and hold it against me if you will. I won’t blame you, because I don’t think I could forgive myself for something like this.”

      “I’m not holding this against you, Segreth,” I whispered, swallowing the lump in my throat, “I just want to know what took so long for you to realize this.”

      He looked up at me, seeing how hurt I had been for years. “I wish I could tell you that, Annabe,” he said, “because I’ve been beating myself up trying to look for the stupid answer.”

       “If I had anything to say to you,” I stuttered, “it’d be thank you. Even after what you’ve put me through in less than twenty-four hours and a lot of other times, you’re the one thing- the one person- that I can actually get back in my life, and I for one am not going to be losing anyone anytime soon.”

       I got up and walked over to Segreth at the other side of the table. He smiled and I’m pretty sure I gave a half-hearted smile. He got up as well and before I could say anything else we hugged. It was the first real hug I had had since Harella.

 

 

********

 

 

      The last thing I needed is another sympathetic smile to greet me at my door.

       It had been more than three days after the little incident happened, and people from Metrial are taking it very hard. People have been pouring into my room like I was an empty stomach just waiting to be filled. Well, I felt just the opposite.

        I was taken to Metrial’s hospital after my talk with Segreth to check for anything broken and it turned out that a few of my ribs were cracked and I did have a slight concussion, but nothing major. I was ridden to bed rest for five days with a few stitches and a wrapped chest that hurt very much.

      Then came the swarms of Metrialians telling me “I’m so sorry to hear…” blah, blah, blah, or “My! You look very well for someone who has been through such trauma!” blah, blah, blah. Commander Slackley noticed how many people were bumping into each other to try and see me, so she gave an announcement saying that there was only to be three visitors every two hours so I could get some rest. The one good thing about Slackley is that she’s been through it all. She knows what you want in whichever situation.

       The whole time that everyone was coming into my room, though, I really wanted to know why people didn’t go see the boy who I’d saved. Why didn’t anybody want to see him? I mean, he’s foreign to this place, and if I remember correctly everybody was swarming into my hospital room when Mother and I first arrived in Metrial. News spread like wild fire around there; I didn’t understand why people weren’t going to see Narreed.