Chapter 3

I’m not very girly. I don’t usually have dreams about my crush kissing me. Not until now when it actually happened. And let me tell you, the dream was almost as good as the real thing.

This must be what heaven is. Replaying the moment over and over. Maybe the Beast ate me and I’m in heaven. Then I realize that my back aches and that I’m on a hard surface. No heaven. Possibly hell?

When I open my eyes I expect to see me lying in the cage. Or maybe dismembered. What I don’t expect to see is a teenage guy standing above me with cupped hands that are full of water. I skillfully roll out of the way, dodging the water as it spilled out of his hands, causing it to miss the target of my head. Oh yeahhhhhh. Right. Not eaten alive, rescued. Gottcha.

“Ever heard of just saying ‘wake up’?” I ask as I slowly get to my feet.

“I tried.” He says, “Not as easy as it sounds.”

I shrug. “A girl’s gotta get her beauty sleep.”

He laughs, “ You don’t seem the type.”

I raise an eyebrow. I know that I just said that I’m not girly but that doesn’t mean that he is supposed to say it out loud. “What is that supposed to mean?” Watch it, Buddy.

He laughs more but nervously this time. “Um nothing. Just�"um�"that uhhh.” He looks to the heaven as if the sky will give him the words that he needs to say so I won’t rant-yell at him again.

“I’ll let you off with a warning this time.” He looks relieved. I didn’t know I was so intimidating. My work here is done.

We get to work. This guy has foooooood! So I go around looking for dry wood while he gets the food and utensils out of his pack that I somehow failed to notice the night before. I come back a little while later with an arm of burnable sticks. Not the best firewood, but all I can find. So we’ll deal.

We sit around the newly-built fire, watching the soup bubble. “So what’s your name?” he asks.

“Mallory. Yours?”

He whistles low. “Unlucky, huh?”

“Excuse me?”

“Your name means unlucky.”

“Oh.” I laugh at the irony. “Yeah, that about describes my life.”

“Why? I mean other than the being chosen to be sacrificed thing. What happened?”

“Well, my mo�"” Realization suddenly hits me. “Hey! You avoided the question. You never told me what your name was.”

“Dang it. And it was working so well. Now what happened with your mom?”

I study him for a moment. “I’m not gonna get an answer of you, am I?” he shakes his head and I sigh. “Fine. Well my mom abandoned me in the woods to die right after I was born.”

“Oh. Rough.” And so I end up telling him my whole life story, ending, after much consideration, with Sam.

“How did he know that you would be picked?”

Blink one. Blink two. A moment of doubt enters my mind and then I wipe it away. No, not Sam. He couldn’t be in on it. “It was just in case.”

He studies me. “You don’t look too sure about that.”

“I’m positive!” What is it about this guy that makes me go from calm to fuming in 3.5? “New topic.” I order.

“Okay.” There I silence while we both try to figure out something to say. I run a list of options threw my head, then knock off the ones that could possibly go in the wrong direction. While I’m doing this, he speaks. “Yesterday, did you say that you were sixteen?” I nod. “I thought that you couldn’t be picked at sixteen.”

“You can’t if you turn sixteen before the Trial. I turned sixteen yesterday.”

“Oh. Happy Birthday.”

“Oh yeah. It was very happy.” I say sarcastically. “Did I mention that I was almost eaten alive?”

“Yes many times. But you forgot to mention the part where you were rescued by a brave, heroic, incredibly handsome man.”

“Man? How old are you?”

“Okay: guy.”

“You’re not gonna tell me that either, are you?”

“Nope.”  

I give up on him. “Fine.”

We begin packing up the leftover food and stuff and start walking. “We should be there in another few miles.” He says to me as we set off.

“Great. I can’t wait to get home!”

He stops and turns to me. “We’re not going back to town.”

“What?!”

“Well if we go back to town they’re just gonna lock you back up in that cage aren’t they?” No, no, no, no, no, no. But he’s right.

“So.” I say, my voice crackling a bit. “Where are we going?”

“This place I know. We’ll be safe there.”

And just like that, all my dreams about going home and everything being okay and being with Sam are crushed. Again.

Reviews

[JadeForever]

HAHA I laughed in the beginning. The characters are really funny.

-Jade

[Krista Weiss]

Really good! Keep writing :)

[Lydia]

Great again! I'm really loving this story and I can't wait to read more. I love how you mix humor into a very serious situation. Great!

[Odayin]

Haha oh my gosh I love this guy character. He's so secretive but yet so reliable. Big fan. I also like the "Blink one. Blink two." part. Very descriptive on the little things and it helped me picture it perfectly. So great imagery. Your conversations flows really well, a little better than expected to be honest.
Nice job Brooklyn, keep it up

[Sophie]

made me lol

“Yes many times. But you forgot to mention the part where you were rescued by a brave, heroic, incredibly handsome man.”

AHAHAHAHA! Great chapter, continue now.

[shawlyn]

Hi Brooklyn,
Another great chapter. You have the ability to write what your characters say and think as if you were actually there listening to an actual conversation. Well done.
Regards
Shawlyn

[Legolas]

Great chapter!! Im looking forward to more!