by Rue Volley
I jumped down, as Blake tried to grab me. I landed easily. I knew I would. I rolled, just to make it look like it was somewhat difficult for me to pull off. I looked up as Blake yelled out my name. I smiled and gave him a thumbs up. He shook his head at me. I looked down at the girl and rolled her over. Her eyes were open and her heart was not beating. I looked at her face. She was the same girl who had been in the chocolate shop with that boy. My heart fluttered. She had blood on her mouth. I touched it and almost put it to my lips. I stopped when Blake yelled down to me.
“Is she breathing?” he said.
I looked at her chest and felt it. I knew that she wasn’t, but I didn’t want to act like I knew before I touched her. I looked up at him and shook my head, “no”. Blake lowered himself over the side of the platform and hung on to the edge. He dropped down and grimaced when I saw him land on his ankle sideways. He fell down and looked at me. He didn’t whine though. I had to give him props for that.
He pulled himself over to us and leaned over her. He pinched her nose and filled her lungs with air. He leaned up and pressed on her chest. I didn’t know if I could heal her, I really didn’t know how I pulled anything off really.
He pressed her chest a few times and then leaned back in. He blew more air into her. I watched her chest rise and fall. I heard one beat, then two… then an irregular beat. It was hard to hear but it was there. He blew into her mouth again and she started to cough. He leaned up and looked at her. She blinked her eyes and they blurred to me, way too fast. I stood up and looked down at her. She took a breath and started to push herself up. She stood up and looked at Blake and then at me. Blake leaned over and stared at her.
“Are you okay?” he asked her. She grinned and held her hand out. He took it.
“Rue, I am going to lift you up, then I will push her up to you okay?” he asked me.
I couldn’t stop looking at her. Something was so not right about it at all.
I turned to the platform and Blake lifted me. Hands grabbed mine and I was hoisted up. I looked down at them and she grinned at me and tilted her head. Oh crap. I reached down and yelled at him.
“Give her to me,” I said as I reached down.
He lifted her up and I grabbed her hand. I pulled her to me and over the edge.
A doting woman, who obviously has children of her own, grabbed her up and hugged her.
I looked down at Blake.
“Give me your hand,” I said to him.
He reached for me and I acted like it was an effort to pull him up, but it wasn’t really. He didn’t weigh that much to begin with, but more than me. He got close enough to the edge and I helped him over. He lay on his back and I looked back to see where the girl went. She was gone and so was the woman.
I scanned the crowd and looked at everyone. People smiled and nodded at me. I nodded back. I tried to stand on my tippy toes, but they were gone. I looked down at Blake. He looked up at me.
“I hate to ask, but could you give me your hand?” he asked me. I smiled.
I reached down to him and pulled on him. He pulled himself up and hobbled on his ankle.
I looked down at it and back up to him.
“You are hurt,” I said. He shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s no biggie,” he said as he took a step. He winced and I grabbed his arm and put it around my neck. He glanced at me and half smiled.
“Just accept the help okay?” I said to him. He laughed.
“I have a feeling that even if I said ‘no’, you would force me anyway.”
I laughed, because he is so right.
We hobbled back to the train and Sara stood in the entryway. I looked up at her.
“So… what was all the excitement about?” she said to us.
I stepped up and pulled him with me awkwardly.
“Well… Blake here just brought a girl back to life,” I said. Sara looked at him and grinned.
“Wow… you are like some kind of hero,” she said.
We made it up the last two steps and I looked at her.
“Where were you anyway?” I asked her.
“Oh… busy, busy,” she said.
I rolled my eyes and started down the hallway. She followed us. I reached Blake’s cabin and opened the door. Colin was lying on the bed, under the sheet. I looked over at him. Of course he was asleep; Sara must have worn him out. Gross.
Sara stepped in and looked at him and then at us.
“He is just exhausted I guess,” she said. I looked at Blake and helped him to the other bed.
“Me too,” Blake said as he dropped down on the bed.
I stood up, after getting his arm from around my neck and smiled.
“It really was amazing, what you did.”
Blake grinned and leaned back on his hands. “Maybe now I could earn a date?” he asked me.
I sighed and looked at Sara. I set the bags of chocolate down on the table.
“Maybe,” I said as I headed for the door. Sara leaned over to him.
“We will be up late, if you get bored. Colin drank too much, he will sleep till morning.”
Blake looked at me and then at her.
“I’m going to sleep. We can all meet for breakfast if you like,” he said.
I smiled at him and opened the door up. I looked back at him.
“Yea, sounds great,” I said as I looked at Sara.
She rolled her eyes and followed me. I pulled the door closed and Sara was leaning against the window. The train started to pull out. I looked at her and crossed my arms. She looked at me and started to fidget with her nails.
“What the hell is up with you?” I asked her. She glanced up at me.
“Me? What about you?” she asked me. I started to walk towards our cabin.
I opened the door and she followed me in, closing it behind her. I turned to her.
“There is nothing wrong with me,” I said to her.
She grinned and shook her head at me. I sat down on the bed and flipped the T.V. on. Some blood-curdling scream came from it and I watched as the black and white monster chased the girl in white through some swamp. I kept thinking, “Stop looking behind you and slowing down, you stupid girl.” Sara stepped up in my view. I looked up at her.
“What?” I asked her.
“You are becoming a bore,” she said.
I dropped the flipper on the bed in front of me and half laughed.
“Me, a bore?” I asked her.
“Yes, you, listen… I want to have fun. I brought you here to have fun… Will you just stop being such a downer?” she said.
I scooted back on the bed. I didn’t think that Sara and I have ever had a fight of any kind.
I didn’t know how to do it with her and I laughed because I didn’t know how else to react to her.
“Sara, I’m sorry that you feel like I am ruining whatever you have going on here.”
She leaned towards me.
“You can stop acting like you are better than me anytime, Rue.”
I looked up at her. She doesn’t really think that, does she? I was sorry that I didn’t act like her hooking up with a complete stranger, was cool… I just didn’t think that way. I also didn’t like her tone.
“I just don’t know when you became a whore,” I said… oops.
Sara laughed really loud, the kind of obnoxious laugh that comes right before crap hits the fan.
I started the crap moving so I guess now I got to dodge whatever she is going to throw at me.
“Whore? You are kidding me right?” she said.
“I’m sorry Sara. I didn’t mean...” I tried to say, but she interrupted me.
“What about you and the two boys you have on a hook? Who just so happen to live with you, Rue? I mean one wasn’t enough right? You just string Johnathan along and then you tease Josh.”
I sat up straight and stared at her. She really wants to go there doesn’t she?
“First of all I am not stringing Johnathan along. We are just friends an
d Josh, well, after what you said, I don’t know what we are.”
Sara grinned big. I don’t like it one bit.
“Josh never said anything to me,” she said.
I blinked. Sara, my Sara… lied. No way. I shook my head and felt my heart beat quicken.
“What the hell do you mean, you said…” Sara raised her hand up.
“I know what I said; it was the only way that I could get you to leave that house,” she said to me as she walked to the window and stared out.
The train started to move and I felt it jerk. This was just awesome, I was on a train with my lying two-faced BFF and some boy who thinks that I am going to go on a date with, and I shouldn’t be here. I should be in the town, surrounded by protection symbols, for all I know Caine is on the train, waiting to jump me. Freakin awesome. I shot a glare at her and stood up.
“I can’t believe that you lied to me. We promised to never ever do that Sara… ever,” I said.
She looked back at me.
“I never said that I didn’t do anything with him, Rue.” I blinked and drew in my breath.
If she tells me that she slept with Josh, I am going to rip this train apart.
“What are you saying?” I asked her.
“He has the funniest thing that he does, Rue. He likes to whisper, in the ear your know? It’s cute really,” she said. I felt like I had just been bitten by a snake.
“Get out,” I said to her. She grinned at me.
“Oh, are you upset?” she asked me.
I pointed at the door.
“Get out Sara,” I said, with a little more anger.
“Fine Rue. I just thought we could have some girl talk, maybe tomorrow.”
I stood there and rubbed my palms. I could have strangled her right then if I wanted to.
I almost wished that I had my blades with me, when I packed I forgot them… of course.
Sara walked to the door, she turned back to me.
“I love you Ruebear. You need to understand that Josh is just a boy and like every boy; they want everything. One girl is never enough. He is immortal. He has a lot to choose from and so do you.”
I sighed and sat down; I didn’t want to look at her. Was this that bullshit ‘tough love’ that I read about? Well, it sucks butt. I rolled on my side and I heard the door close. I knew that she would go to cabin 37… good.
Chapter Thirteen
You Idiot
I opened my eyes up. Well, I’m dreaming… awesome. My Mom always told me to not go to bed on a full stomach or upset about something. She warned me that I would nightmare, and there I was. I sat up and looked around the cabin. The train was not moving. I didn’t know why. It looked like it was still dark out. I walked to the window and we sat at the platform. I looked out and one person stood on the platform, the girl who Blake breathed life back into. I stared at her and she flashed out of sight. I sucked my breath in. I knew that she was odd. Maybe she was a rogue. Who knew how many of them there are? She just looked so young. Not twenty-one.
I turned and everything was in slow motion. I looked at the bed and the red cover turned to black. Everything went to black and white. I looked back out the window and a fog had rolled in out of nowhere. I know it’s a dream, I just need to wake up. I closed my eyes and told myself to. I opened my eyes back up and I stood in the train’s hallway, not what I had in mind. Great, I’m in a monster film, I just freakin know it. I walked down the hall and looked at the doors. Every single one of them had the number 37 on them. I guess it didn’t matter which one I opened then, right?
I stopped when I heard a noise and decided to open a door. The hallway was going on forever and I had nowhere else to turn. I reached for the doorknob and turned it. I opened the door slowly and stepped in. The cabin was huge, four times the size it actually was. I stepped in and the door closed behind me. I turned around and Blake stood there with a pizza box in his hand. I looked in it and the pizza had blood on it. It was dripping from a gash on his neck.
I stumbled backward and tripped over a body. I fell on it and rolled over. My heart skipped a beat when I realized that it was Colin. He had been cut too. Blood pooled around his head and neck. He had a pleasant look on his face for someone who had just been killed. I rolled away from him and pushed myself up. I looked down at my hands and I had blood all over them. I fought the urge to taste it.
“No… it is just a dream,” I muttered, as I closed my eyes.
I opened my eyes up and light filled the room. I looked around and it was my room. I heard a noise and looked behind me. I heard giggling under my cool umbrella comforter. I walked towards it and slowly reached for it. It flew back and Josh laid there with Elin and Sara in the bed with him. Elin grinned her famous grin and Sara bit her finger. She looked at Josh and then at me.
“Get in, Rue,” she said to me.
I turned and started to run. I ran down my hallway, which was much longer than it actually was. I finally came to the stairs and looked down. They went on forever. I took one step forward and I felt a push from behind me. I turned as I started to fall and saw that Caine had shoved me down the stairs. I hit the wood hard and tried to catch my breath. I rolled out of control until I hit the bottom so hard I couldn’t breathe. I grabbed my ribs and rolled on my side. I had my eyes shut, but I could see flashing lights.
I opened my eyes and looked up at Jonah with his hat off, bowing to me. He held out his hand and I took it. He pulled me up. Lily rolled the mirror onto the stage its surface already waving like water. I looked out into the audience and saw everyone I cared about sitting in chairs. I ran to the edge and started to plead with them to help me. They all started clapping and stood up one by one, as I stared at them asking them why… why would they be happy to see me on stage...? Why wouldn’t they help me?
I turned around and Jonah flashed at me. He dipped me and kissed me, as he bit my lip. The blood tasted bitter in my mouth and I spat it out as he stood me back up in a jerking motion. I turned to the mirror and watched it roll and the silver surface started to reach out towards me. I screamed as Lily and Jonah grabbed my arms and started to pull me towards it. I looked back struggling while everyone sat down and watched me get dragged towards the inevitable. Jonah and Lily held me in front of the mirror, inches from it.
Sara leaned up to my ear and whispered to me, “You are a curse to the world.”
I closed my eyes and felt myself get thrown forward. The mirror engulfed me and I could not breathe. I did not portal to a new place; I simply got engulfed in metal, it rolled around me and started to enter my mouth. I tried to raise my arms but I could not. I was being eaten alive. I heard laughter and more clapping.
I sat straight up in my bed and tried to catch my breath. I finally got control and squeezed my chest. I pulled the covers off and I had bruises on my legs.
“That sucked,” I whispered to myself.
***
Johnathan blinked a couple of times. His head felt heavy and his body ached. He rolled on his side and felt a little nauseous. He cleared his throat and looked around the room. The sun was coming up. Why he felt so bad he couldn’t understand. Maybe he was sick. He grunted as he pushed himself up into a sitting position and rubbed his head. The house was quiet, maybe it was early, he thought.
He stood up and caught his balance, reached back and grabbed the bed. His legs felt like he had run a marathon. He took a deep breath and walked to his door. He leaned his head against it for a second, when a wave of dizziness crept up on him. He shook his head and opened his eyes up. This all felt very similar to when he was trapped in memory. Your body started to tire after a while. He pulled on the doorknob and stepped into the hallway. Rue’s door was open as usual. He peeked in and saw the comforter piled on the bed. It looked like she was still sleeping.
He started for the stairs. He walked down to the living room and plopped down on the couch. He flipped on the T.V. and started to channel surf. Channels went by until he stopped on the news. A reporter was stand
ing on the platform of a new train station to the north. She babbled on and Johnathan laid his head back against the couch. He heard the girl say something about heroes. He looked up and the cameraman got a fuzzy shot of a girl bent over another girl. There was a dark haired boy by her side. He leaned forward when Rue looked up, and the camera got a good shot of her face.
“What the hell?” he asked.
He turned up the volume and the reporter was wrapping up her short story.
“Unfortunately we were unable to interview these two young heroes, but our thanks go out to them for saving the young girl who had fallen from the platform.”
The channel went to commercial and Johnathan stood up and dropped the remote on the table. He ran upstairs and busted into Rue’s room. He pulled back the comforter and her bed was empty.
“Oh my god,” he muttered.
“Josh?” Johnathan yelled out.
He waited a moment and wondered why Josh hadn’t flashed in. He stepped out into the hallway and looked at his door. It was cracked open, so he should have heard him. He walked to it and swung it open. Josh laid there on his side. Drool on his pillow. Johnathan rubbed his head and stared at him.
“Get up Josh!” he said to him, not quite hitting panic mode.
Josh did not move. Johnathan walked to the side of his bed and leaned down.
“GET UP!” he screamed in his face. Nothing happened.
Johnathan lifted his arm and dropped it on the bed.
“Oh this is ridiculous,” he muttered. He leaned up to Josh’s ear.
“’I am going into Rue’s room to make out with her Josh,” he said as he smiled. He was more than willing to take the crap, if he could just get him up. Johnathan stood up and stared at him.
“What the hell is going on?” he asked himself out loud.
Johnathan flashed downstairs and swung Theodore’s door open and ran to his bedside.