by Dawn Husted
“Did you tell Falcon about the vials my father took as well?” My emotions became unstable and I slapped him across the face. “Was all of this, you and me, just a game? Don’t answer that!” I didn’t want to focus on me with much larger issues around.
“What vials? I have no idea what you’re talking about. I didn’t follow him twenty-four seven, only when time allowed in between training and well… you.”
“And I’m supposed to believe you now? After everything you just told me?” Every word leaving his mouth was a stab to my heart.
“Guys,” Lucan said.
“I can’t believe I ever loved you!”
“Guys,” Lucan repeated.
“I’m sorry, Penny. I really am sorry,” James replied.
“G-u-y-s.”
“What?” James and I yelled back in unison.
“As much as I want you to continue your little conversation,” his fists shook more as he looked at James, “we are standing in the exact spot where these bodies were buried. Which begs the question—are there any guards still in the area?”
Immediately, James and I scanned the open field. There were no visible signs of anyone else. And between the birds screeching squawks and the sound of rushing water, neither James nor Lucan heard anyone nearby. But that didn’t put our minds at ease. Nothing would settle our thoughts after what we had seen.
“We need to run, keep going north as far as possible. And then if we don’t come across anyone, we’ll make camp tonight,” James said.
“I’m the first one wanting not to agree with him, but he’s right. We need to go,” Lucan said.
I grabbed my sack, which had fallen off my back, and Lucan threw his duffel bag over his shoulder.
“Lucan, I’m only going to slow us down. Would you mind?” I asked.
“Of course not,” he replied. “Here, carry this for me.” He hurled his duffel bag at James, letting go of some anger for the both of us, and then I climbed onto his back.
“Wait,” I said, looking for the dog. “Where is she?” Then I spotted her laying down at the edge of the hole, not moving. I hopped off Lucan’s back carefully and walked over to her. She was staring at the bodies. I wasn’t sure if she could even see which one was Jace, but somehow she knew he was among them. I bent down and stroked the back of her head gently. “I’m sorry, girl. But he’s gone. I know he loved you too.” I knew she couldn’t understand what I was saying, but her head turned towards me. “Let’s go,” I said, running my fingers through her damp fur one last time before turning around.
I climbed on Lucan’s back again and we began running out of the clearing, across to the opposite side from where we had entered, the dog following behind.
I no longer saw James behind me, but he was there.
Chapter Twelve
We ran for hours. Hours. It was all we were doing since this whole thing started and I was tired of it. Done.
“Put me down!” I screamed.
Lucan stopped. I jumped to the ground and threw my hands in the air. “I can’t do this anymore.”
“What do you mean?” Lucan asked. “You can’t go back now. You saw what they did to those people. You don’t have vines either; they’ll do the same to you.”
“I know—that’s not what I mean. I’m done running, for now. I just need to stop. We haven’t seen any guards since we crossed the perimeter. Do you hear anyone now?”
Lucan closed his eyes and dropped his head, concentrating.
“No,” he said.
“And what about you, James?” I asked, though his input wasn’t really wanted.
“I don’t hear anyone either,” he said.
“Then let’s stop. Besides, I have to eat something—my stomach is killing me,” I said. As hungry as I was, food was the last thing on my mind. Eating was furthest from what I wanted. But the lack of nutrition cramped my stomach and I hadn’t drank much either. If I wanted to stay strong, I had to take care of myself.
“If we’re stopping, then let’s at least find a better spot. We’re on a hill,” Lucan said.
I didn’t notice the terrain we were standing on—a giant, grassy, unstable incline. Lucan placed his feet sideways and took small steps in between sliding. I followed his technique for the short distance until we climbed down the hill and stopped as soon as the ground began leveling out. Unfortunately, there weren’t any streams nearby and my ankle could’ve really used the relief. Instead, I propped my left leg up on a log and leaned back, warming near the fire Lucan and James made—James trying to be helpful now. My ankle didn’t appear swollen, but the pain from jiggling up and down while Lucan ran had jumpstarted the throbbing sensations now shooting up my calf. If I positioned my ankle and aligned it with my knee just right, the pain lessened. I reached over into my pack, shared the rest of my cranberries with the dog, and opened up a small package of dried, roasted nuts.
Neither Lucan nor I offered anything to James. I felt bad, but only a little. He deserved the treatment.
James sat against a tree out of the cleared circle and closed his eyes with his arms folded across his chest.
Lucan was quiet too, his mind in a different place, joking demeanor from before completely gone. The Lucan I knew this morning was drastically different than the one sitting beside me right now. He pulled chunks of roasted rabbit off with his teeth and sat with his legs crossed as he stared at the fire. His eyes gazed straight through the flames, his mind elsewhere.
“Lucan, do you think that was the first time something like that happened? I mean the bodies. Why choose to kill them now after all this time? Why not just give them the choice to leave for the other Land?” I asked.
Lucan ripped off another piece of meat and the flames of the fire danced, reflecting off his eyes. “How do you even know there is another Land?” he replied.
“Of course there is, my sister lives on it,” I said.
“If there was another Land, then why the mass grave?” he asked in return. “People that chose execution have always been buried inland. Why would there be a need to hide a massive slaughtering like the one back there?”
I pondered the question for a few seconds, placing a handful of nuts in my mouth. “I don’t know. Maybe they died of the sickness?”
“We’ve been over this. There is no sickness. They were as healthy as you are right now. And you look fine to me,” he said.
“But if you’re right and there is no other Land, then where did all the other families go from before?”
“Penny, stop being so naïve. They’re dead too. Why would your sweet President Falcon keep them alive?” The questions between us led me down a path I wasn’t sure I wanted to take. “Think about it. Did you ever actually see them leave alive on a boat sailing away to the other Land?”
“No, but someone did. You can’t just kill a bunch of people without anyone noticing,” I said.
“Who knows what Falcon is capable of? None of you has ever questioned his authority. He’s a great speaker and everyone blindly puts their trust in him. You know I’m right.”
“But then what does that mean about my sister?” I dug around for the picture in my backpack and handed it to him.
Lucan studied the picture with the light of the fire. “She’s beautiful. Y’all could be twins. Maybe this is a fake? I’m sure they could’ve enhanced a photo of you, making it look like your so-called sister.”
“No,” I said, half believing the word that left my mouth. I snatched the photo from Lucan’s hands and studied the girl. “This isn’t me. I’m sure of it.”
“Well, let’s say you’re right. And some mysterious island exists with your sister on it. Then what?” Lucan was only mocking me now.
“I’m going to find her, that’s what. Why are you being so mean?” Since we met, Lucan had never assumed such a pessimistic demeanor, like he had lost all hope. “What’s wrong with you?” I put the picture carefully back into my pack, not wanting to ruin the only image I had of Madeline.
&nb
sp; “Nothing,” Lucan shot back. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. I know we’ve had a long day and you saw people dead that you obviously were closer to than I thought. But it’s hard on all of us.” I nicely included James as I said the word all.
Lucan rolled the meat back up in his bag and placed it in his duffel. “It’s not that,” he said.
“Then what?”
“It’s Jessica.”
“Who’s Jessica?”
He bit on his lower lip and swallowed more water. “She was my girlfriend —” He sniffled and wiped his nose with the edge of his hand.
“Do you want to go back to her? If that’s the case, you don’t need to stay. I’d understand. You’ve helped us out more than enough.”
“No,” he interrupted. “She’s the reason I joined you in the first place. Four years ago, her parents were surprised when they unexpectedly became pregnant with her little brother. They didn’t think they could have anymore kids, so when they found out the news, you can imagine how excited they were. But when her brother was born, he didn’t have any vines. The others in the village told them about your father and what he could give them. But they refused. They didn’t want any help from anyone that lived in the Colony—they didn’t trust him. So they tried to hide the birth of their son, but it didn’t matter. Eventually there was nothing they could do and Falcon sent guards to give them the option of execution or leaving. So they chose to leave and according to the law, that meant Jessica had to go with them. The following day they were gone, and I was told they were living on the other Land.”
Now I understood. “And you were planning to find her?”
He nodded his head.
“So now you think she’s dead.”
“I know she is,” Lucan said, looking at me. “It’s the only real answer—it all makes sense now. Why would a President who could kill innocent, healthy children leave other ones alive?”
“Lucan…” I didn’t know what to say. I knew what he was telling me made complete sense. “But what if you’re wrong, what if she is alive?”
“Even if she is alive, after seeing what I saw and knowing what President Falcon is truly capable of, I can’t just leave my mom and friends back in the perimeter without letting them know the truth.”
“When do you plan on leaving?” I asked.
“Soon but not yet. I want to make sure you can trust him first.” He pointed to James, listening to our conversation.
At this point, I wasn’t sure if I could trust James either, but I knew he wasn’t capable of physically hurting me. He could’ve done that a long time ago if that was his plan.
“Well, it would make me feel better to stay a while,” Lucan said.
That night I had a hard time sleeping with the howling of wolves in the near distance, and an owl hooting in the branch above me. I shoved my hands over my ears, trying to mute it all out. Eventually, after much tossing and turning, I fell asleep, only to wake up a few hours later.
I stretched my legs and ran my fingers through the dog’s fur. James sat against the same tree, eyes wide open. Lucan was already awake, eating more rabbit.
A gust of energy ran through my body, and I knew trying to fall back to sleep would be pointless. “Do you think you could teach me to fight?” I asked Lucan.
“How do you mean… like shooting a gun, throwing a knife type of stuff? Sure,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders.
“No, not that. I mean hand to hand.” I felt more defenseless now after everything we’d been through and I didn’t know what to expect once we arrived on the other Land. I wanted to be capable of protecting myself. Plus, I wasn’t the least bit tired. Every time a minute passed, pictures from the grave crept into my thoughts.
“I’d love to, Penny. But I’m really not great in that area.”
“Of course you are. I saw you back there with Rexx,” I said.
“No, what you saw was me with a knife in my hand. I’m great with weapons. In fact, I’m freaking amazing, though not the kinda thing you’re talking about. Ya, I’d be able to teach you a few moves, but nothing substantial. Believe it or not, I was the nice guy growing up, never got into a single fight, charming my way out of every situation.” A glimpse of the old Lucan spread across his crooked smile.
“Oh.” I was disappointed, though not shocked by his reference to charming his way out of situations. “That’s alright; I just thought I’d ask.”
“I could teach you,” a voice murmured from behind me. James.
“No thanks,” I replied sharply.
“Look if you want to learn, then let me teach you. I won’t hurt you,” he said.
I wasn’t worried about that. I just didn’t want his help.
“Do you want to learn or not?” He sounded annoyed, only causing me to want his help that much less. Though as much as I didn’t want to be near him or even talk to him, I needed to learn. And this was about finding my sister.
“Fine,” I replied.
James stood up and walked over to a large open area to the left of where Lucan was sitting. “We need a little bit more space.” He gestured for me to stand next to him.
I was hesitant and took small steps towards him, prolonging the situation as much as possible—buying time before I had no choice but to be close to him again.
The moon was our only light, along with the flickering fire casting tall shadows from the trees.
“Are you ready?” He faced directly in front of me, close enough to touch.
“Sure.” I wondered what I was supposed to be ready for.
Suddenly, he tapped my cheek with his right hand, sending a stinging pain. He wasn’t trying to really hurt me, but nevertheless, that didn’t make me happy either.
“Are you ready?” he asked again.
“Yes,” I said.
“Stand like I am.”
I observed his wide stance, right foot in front of the other.
“Standing like this will help you keep your balance if you were attacked from the front.”
I mimicked him exactly, just with a smaller gap in between my feet, a lot smaller than him.
“Now put your hands up.”
I did.
“No,” he said, before opening my fists. “This is important, leave your hands open. Your knuckles aren’t conditioned like mine. If you try to use the outside of your hand to hit, you’ll end up hurting yourself more than your attacker, especially if you’re not as big as they are.”
I opened my fists, palms out, legs wide, one foot in front of the other.
“Okay,” he said. “Now I’m going to come at you slowly with one of my hands. The idea is to block a punch. Alright?”
I nodded and James threw a fast punch towards my face, gently, not with full force as he could have, and I moved my lower arm, blocking his punch.
“Ouch!” I said, flopping my hurt hand in the air, trying to release the pain. “What the hell, James? I blocked it like you said.”
“Sorry,” he winced. “Sometimes the best way to learn is by personal error.”
The dog growled in my defense and I had a sudden urge to slap James across the face again. But I didn’t.
I flexed my hand and wiggled my arm, shaking the pain off, then stood back in position. Remarkably, my ankle wasn’t throbbing anymore.
“This time instead of blocking my punch, just thrust your hand against it, pushing me off to the side. This way you’re not blocking my momentum. Instead, you’re just simply moving it elsewhere.”
The next blow came from the left and I quickly moved my hand in front of his, then shoved my arm outward, deflecting his punch to the side of me.
“It worked,” I said, smiling. “Okay, what’s next?”
Chapter Thirteen
For hours that night, James helped me work on basic defense moves I could easily use. My frame was small, so instead of focusing on anything that needed a lot of body weight, I focused on simpler moves.
“There are six places on
a person’s body that are considerably vulnerable,” he said. “The nose, eyes, throat, groin, knee, and shins.”
I repeated each to myself, staring as James pointed to them on his body.
“If someone comes up and attacks you from behind, throw your head backwards into their face. If you hit them hard enough, they’ll let go and grab towards the pain, giving you ample time to either run or turn around to attack them back. Now let’s say the person is too tall for your head to reach them—in that case, use the back of your foot and kick them as hard as you can against their shin. There’s a tender bone which runs from top to bottom, starting just below the knee.”
He continued talking, showing me more examples, such as a side kick into the knee joint, or if I was prepared to block a punch, then I was to try and grab the attacker’s wrist and force them into an elbow lock position (this one was more advanced than I’d probably be able to do).
Lucan sat back and observed the whole charade. Throughout, I couldn’t help thinking about what James had done. The first day we met, and our first kiss, was an entire sham. Because of him, many people were dead. I wrestled with the thought; I knew he didn’t know his actions would lead to such horrendous consequences. However, as much as my mind was telling me to hate him, my heart couldn’t help but love him. No matter what happened, I would always have the good memories and the flowers he planted for me.
“I’m not feeling good and it’s getting really late, maybe we should just call it a night,” I said. I felt that I had learned all I was able to in a short period of time. Plus, it wasn’t helping that my feelings were all over the place, confused. I hoped by the morning that everything would seem less complicated. James told me I did a good job and I gave him a look as if I appreciated it, like everything was normal, but we both knew things would never be the same.
The next morning, for the first time, I awoke before either of them. Lucan and James both snored—first Lucan, then James, then Lucan, and so on—like a horrible, never-ending song I just wanted to end. I bent over and rubbed my ankle, happy that it was finally healed, and stretched my arms out to the side. They had never been this sore before. The fighting lesson from last night stretched every muscle in my body. Raising my arm was tough to do without feeling like I was being tortured. It wasn’t a surprise. I was not an athletic person, though I had no idea how out of shape I really was until now.