Chapter 3 - Robin

I awoke and felt the softness of my bed under me, and when I finally pealed my eyes open, I saw Fate leaning over me.

“What happened?” I asked, holding my head.

“He kicked you in the head,” she said, and all that had happened came flooding back to me.  The look I gave her must’ve said what I was thinking, because she said, “He didn’t do anything.  He stumbled out of here right after you went unconscious and passed out in his room.  He won’t be up for a while.”

“What time is it?” I asked.

“It’s almost midnight,” she said, and I sat up quickly, making everything spin as I did so.

“You need to rest,” she said, laying a gentle hand on my bruised arm.

“I need to go,” I said. “It’s the perfect time.”

“But you’re hurt!” she exclaimed. “And you just woke up; you need to lay down for awhile.”

“I need to go,” I repeated with a pleading look. “I’ll rest when I get far enough away, but for right now, I need to leave.”

She looked at me stubbornly for a moment, and then nodded. “Okay,” she said, “but I need to give you something first.”

She got up and disappeared through the doorway, and then came back moments later with a small bag in her hand. “It’s not much, but you need all you can get.”

I took the bag suspiciously from her outstretched hand, and as I opened it she pushed a blond lock of her hair behind her ear.  I looked at what was inside the small thing, then closed it and held it out for her to take back.

“I could never take this,” I said stubbornly, and she just looked at me with tired blue eyes.

“But you have to,” she said, pushing the bag of silver coins back to me. “I won’t need them, anyway.  You do, though.”

I gave her a stern look, and then let my hand fall. “Thank you,” I said, hugging her. “If I do okay, I’m helping you escape, too.”

I broke away from the hug to see her smiling, and I grinned at the fact that this was finally happening.  I got up and grabbed my bag, shoving my books beside a pair of blue jeans and a T-shirt I had stolen from the laundry room.  I then grabbed all the coins I had saved and shoved them inside the bag with the ones Fate had given me, and then placed that inside with my books.  I slung it over my shoulder and felt it lightly hit my hip, where it would rest until I found an okay place to sleep.  I wrapped my beautiful red cloak around my shoulders and tied the strings, then put up the hood and took one last look at my one and only friend.

“Bye, Fate,” I said, and then turned and opened the window.

“Bye, Robin,” I heard her say, and then I climbed out without another look so she wouldn’t see the tear rolling down my cheek.

I climbed down the vine and looked up to see Fate looking down at me, then retreat and close the window.  No one would ever know where I had gone, nor how far.  All they would know is that I disappeared.

I would never come back.

 

*        *        *

 

I walked all night and all the next day through the forest that had stood behind the orphanage, and by the time that dusk had come, I could barely take another step.  I was lucky enough to find a small cave as I ran out of the last of my energy and I sat down just inside.  I rested there for a few minutes, then got up to find a few stray sticks and create a fire.

An hour later I had one warming me as the night grew colder.  I sat just inside the cave, the flames right outside.  I had surrounded the sticks with rocks like I somehow knew I should, and somehow had lit it.  I don’t know how, though, but I was too tired to care.

I laid down and rested my head on my bag, taking out the lump of coins beforehand, and made my cloak cover me, then fell into an uneasy sleep.

“Come here, Robin.”

“No!” I shouted into darkness. “I won’t!”

“But you want to…we all know you do.”

I got up and tried to run away from the voice, but it was everywhere.  I was unable to escape the malice, I couldn’t see where it was coming from, but I couldn’t see anything, either.

“Help!” I shouted into the nothingness, even though I know that no one can hear me. “Someone help me!”

“With what?”

I opened my eyes and sat up quick, and when I could see straight I looked up to see a boy my age crouching in front of me.

“Um, sorry, I-I was having a nightmare,” I stuttered.  I looked up at him again, even though I could feel my face burning, and studied him.  He had blond hair that was tussled this way and that, and deep green eyes that made me forget who I was.  He smiled and made my face burn brighter, so I looked down and avoided his gaze, shaking me back to reality.

“I know,” he said. “Hope it wasn’t too bad.”

He stood up and looked around. “It wasn’t,” I said as I looked back up at him. “I-it was nothing.”

“Good,” he said, meeting my gaze. “What’re you doing out here anyway?”

“I-I,” I stuttered.  What could I say?  I can’t say that I ran away, I don’t even know him!  Think, Robin, think!

“You can tell me,” he said with a smirk. “It’s not like I’m going to go running to your parents saying that I know where you are!”

Ouch.  That hurt me. “I would take that back if I were you.”

“And why would that be?” he asked, leaning down.

I stood up, and saw just how tall he was, I barely came to his shoulders. “I’ve never known my parents, they died when I was days old.”

“Oh,” he said, guilt showing in his eyes. “I-I’m sorry.”

I smirked and bent down to pick up my bag. “It’s fine,” I said, standing straight to face him again, then shrugged. “I’ve survived this long.”

He looked at me quizzically, and then seemed to see something on the side of my face. “What happened to you?” he asked, reaching out a hand.

I backed away from it and put my own up to where he was looking, feeling a cut near my temple.  That was where the Head kicked me; it would be a terrible scar in a while. “It’s nothing,” I said quickly, pulling my hair out from behind my ear to cover it. “I’m fine.”

“It doesn’t look fine,” he said, then looked at my arm. “What happened to you?”

The hand I had put up was the one with my bruised and bloodied elbow and bruise from him holding my arm too tight.  I quickly hid it behind my cloak and became aware of every other injury and scar, hoping he wouldn’t see any of them.  I averted my gaze and let my hair fall so it was like a curtain blocking him out, muttering a small, “Nothing,” before turning to my fire and stamping the smoking remains.

“That sure didn’t look like ‘nothing,’” he said, “but if you don’t want to tell me, fine.”

I turned back to see him walking away, leaves crunching under his feet as he went.  I ended up staring after where he had gone long after he had disappeared in the distance.

What was it about him that made me want to follow?  But I can’t, I have to make it on my own.  What was he even doing out in the woods, anyway?  I actually had a reason; he was just randomly walking in the woods at dawn.  Who does that?  Him, I guess.

I don’t know why, but I couldn’t get him out of my mind as I headed off in the same direction he had gone, there had to be a town somewhere and he was probably heading towards it.  All I could think about was his sparkling smile and beautiful eyes…

No! I told myself, shaking my head to hopefully get rid of the thought.  I’ll never even see him again, why should I be thinking this way?  And he was just some self-centered, cocky guy.  He only stopped by to shake me from my nightmare, nothing more, nothing less.

My thoughts still lingered on him as I ran my fingers along a bush, the leaves soft against my skin.  I picked a bud, what would’ve become a beautiful white flower if I hadn’t taken it.  I twirled it in my fingers, picturing what it would look like if I had left it be, then watched as it bloomed right before my eyes.

It was now the beautiful white flower I had pictured.