by Rue Volley
“So,” Evil said as she turned to her and placed her hands on her hips.
“Do you wish to know why he has done this?” she asked her.
The girl sniffled and looked up at her brother.
“I… I don’t know. He wanted freedom, as do I,” the girl said.
“Well, he achieved just that. Do you know where his spirit has gone off to?” Evil asked her.
The girl shook her head.
“Oh, you are unaware of this… I should have known. You and your brother probably grew up here in Valon, uneducated to the fact that beyond this plain, we have a beautiful place awaiting us,” Evil said. “Well, you humans do anyway. Protectors guard this secret here in Valon. They do not want humans to realize that if they simply allow death to come; they will be free.”
The girl looked at her brother as tears streamed down her face.
“I want to be free with him,” she said.
Evil smiled.
“You simply need to make it happen,” she said in a calm voice.
The girl tilted her head at her, “How?”
“Well you could go as your brother did, but I would think that you would prefer something less violent.”
The girl looked up at her brother and covered her face.
“You are in control. I would suggest that you jump from the window,” Evil said to her.
The girl lunged at her brother and hugged his legs as she looked up at him.
Evil leaned over to her.
“Where you will go, will allow you to be with him forever,” Evil whispered in her ear.
“He will be there?” the girl said as she tried to grin.
“Yes, he awaits you,” Evil said as she held her hand out towards the window.
The girl walked to the window and opened up the glass doors.
She leaned out and looked down, swallowing hard. She looked back at Evil and bit her lip.
“I know he will be happy to see you,” Evil said.
The girl climbed up on the windowsill and dropped out the window silently. Evil turned to the door and ran quickly down the stairs. She stepped up to the front door and looked out; the girl lay on the stone road, motionless. Her eyes open, staring at the sky. Evil turned and left out the back of the building, heading towards her stolen home.
***
Have I ever said that sometimes I find it hard to not want more? Maybe not, but I do. Sometimes I feel so selfish in the fact that I have a great family, although it was bound in tragedy.
Okay, I had a great boy who was getting a little strange on me, and I had a sickness that was controlled by something as small as this little pill. With one eye closed I tried to focus in on it in my fingers. It looked like it had liquid in it; I blinked when I thought I saw it swirling. The door opened up and I lowered the pill from my face and grinned. Sam walked into the cabin and sat her backpack down. I looked at it and then back up at her.
“So, here we are… all going to school together,” I said to her.
She smiled and walked to the window and looked out as the scenery passed us by.
“Yea, looks that way,” she said.
I stared up at her; she was so pretty. Her hair the coolest red I have ever seen. Her lips always look like they had lip gloss on them and her skin, god, her skin glowed like porcelain. She caught me staring and looked at me.
“So, did Johnathan try to put the moves on you, or what?” she asked.
I snorted and dropped the pill on the floor. It rolled from the movement of the train and I stopped it with my fingers. I rose back up and slammed the back of my head on the bottom of the table. I ‘owe’d’ and leaned back up as I rubbed it.
“Johnathan isn’t exactly like that,” I said as I winked from the pain in my head.
She laughed at me.
“All boys are like that, Rue… The faster you realize it; the better off you will be able to navigate.”
I leaned my head back, thinking it would help alleviate the sharp pain from my self-inflicted banging I did to it.
“Oh… okay. I don’t think that I have anything to worry about since Johnathan is the only boy who has ever noticed me,” I said as I relaxed my hand and tilted my head, trying to stretch my muscles.
“Oh, you will be noticed,” she said.
I looked at her and wondered why she would ever say that. I am so not her. I was neither built nor pretty, really. I am shorter than her, and other than my wit… I really don’t see the allure. She looked at me and smiled, and I realized that she wasn’t joking. I guess that Kai has turded out on me so often, that I don’t know how to take a compliment.
“Okay, if you think so,” I said as I stood up and walked to the bathroom.
I looked in and down at the identical cabinet to the one in my old one with Johnathan.
I looked back at her and bit my lip.
“Hey, I totally left some stuff in the other cabin… I gotta go get it,” I said.
“Okay,” Sam said as she continued to watch the land go by the window.
I walked to the door and opened it up. I glanced back at Sam and smiled. She was gorgeous, and to have her say that I will be noticed by boys nonetheless is such a huge thing to hear. I took a breath and stepped out into the hallway.
I looked up and there the strange boy was from the previous night. He had a girl backed against the wall; she looked like she was enjoying it. He leaned up and whispered something in her ear and she giggled. He backed away from her ear and leaned against her as he placed his hand on her neck and kissed her. I could hear her moan a little. I cleared my throat and looked past them as I started to walk. The boy stopped kissing her and she sighed.
“Oh, there you are,” he said.
I kept walking because…
1, I could not believe that he was looking for me and…
2, What?
He stepped away from her and stared at me. I stopped and looked at her and then at him. He grinned and grabbed the girl’s wrist behind him. He moved her without looking at her, and she grumbled as she started to walk away from us. I stood there feeling weird. I mean, last time I saw him he was hanging out in a room with people half-naked and kissing. I was so not one of those girls. He held his hand out, kinda blocking my way as I started to move.
“Did you drink?” he asked me.
I looked at his eyes and they caught the light weird and looked like they shimmered.
I hate the lights on this train, I do.
“Ummm, yea,” I said.
He grinned and started to lean towards me.
I backed up and ended up against a door to somebody’s cabin.
“And did we enjoy?” he asked me.
I looked down, up, over to the side… anywhere but in his face.
He is actually quite pretty, but the creep factor is off the charts.
“Was I supposed to?” I asked him.
He laughed and smelled me. Yep... smelled me. Okay, that is so weird, right?
I closed my eyes and imagined Johnathan stepping out into the hallway and for once just getting all boy on his ass. I felt a breeze and opened my eyes. The boy was gone. The cabin door opened behind me and I fell in, on my back. I ‘ooomf’d’ as I did and looked up to see Johnathan smiling at me.
“Hi,” I said, not knowing what else would be the proper thing to say.
“Hi,” he said.
Theo leaned into view and held out his hand to me.
He pulled me up and I looked around the room.
“Ummm, I left some stuff in the bathroom. I came to get it,” I said.
Johnathan rubbed his neck and looked at Theo. Theo shook his head.
“Okay then,” Theo said.
I walked to the bathroom and shut the door behind me. I leaned down and opened the cabinet door up. I reached all the way back and pulled out the bottle wrapped in a towel. I pulled it out and pushed it in my pocket. I grabbed my toothbrush and opened the door up. Johnathan looked up at me and smiled.
“Did you
get whatever it is that you needed?” he asked me.
Theo peeked up from his book and grinned.
I held up my toothbrush and grinned.
“I so needed this… Thanks,” I said.
They both watched me walk back to the door and I felt weird. I was not usually privy to keeping stuff from them… but there I was grabbing a bottle of god knows what to sneak it back to my cabin. Problem was, since I drank it, it keeps popping up in my mind. I want to drink it… it’s like I have to. Just great. I was a drug addict. Perfect.
I stepped to the door and opened it up. I looked back and smiled at Johnathan. He winked at me and I turned and walked out, pulling the door behind me. I stood there for a moment leaning on the door and then I straightened up, realizing that I could just as easily find myself on the floor again if Johnathan opened the door again. I looked down the hallway and for a split second wished I had dragged him out here, even if it was three doors down. That boy freaked me out. Yea, absolutely freaked me. I walked quickly back to my cabin, opening the door up and rushing inside. I closed the door behind me and Sam looked up at me.
“Why do you look flustered?” she asked me.
I smiled and gripped my toothbrush in my hand.
“Hallways… they creep me out,” I said to her.
She shook her head and went back to reading her magazine.
I walked to the bathroom and shut the door behind me. I stood there looking at myself in the mirror. Why didn’t I just hand the bottle to Theo and say, ‘Some boy gave this to me and I drank it’? I guess because I knew he would take it from me. I pulled the bottle out and looked at it. I would have taken a swig from it right then, but Sam was in the room outside my door. I found another small towel and wrapped it up. I buried it under the cabinet like a dog buries a bone.
I stood up and looked at myself in the mirror.
“Liar,” I whispered to myself.
I waited for a response. Nothing. Of course nothing, like my reflection would say anything unless I opened my mouth. I felt the train start to jerk a little and I held onto the sink. I hated all the movement. It made me feel like I didn’t control anything. I opened the door up and Sam was standing, looking out the window.
She looked at me and smiled.
“It’s almost one o’clock; the train is slowing down,” she said to me.
I smiled… I was so ready to walk on ground that didn’t move. Don’t get me wrong I loved the train… minus Johnathan naked in the shower… oh, and freak boy in the hallway. Other than that, I loved it. It is taking me to school.
Chapter 14
I’m So Telling
Jonah sat at the head of his old table. He was accompanied by Lily on his right and a young rogue on his left. He glanced at the girl and took a much needed drink from his glass. He looked up as the new master of this camp strolled in with a small girl by his side. He hadn’t given much thought to the boy; he had simply taken the place of a fallen rogue in a mundane task… manning the ticket booth. Now though, he was a formidable foe, heading this loosely woven group of rogues who had ruthlessly crossed the countryside over and over looking for nothing more than a meal.
The boy smiled as the young girl ran past him and sat down in her chair. He stopped and looked around the table as he held onto the back of his chair. His eyes rested on Lily and he grinned. Jonah tilted his head and took Lily’s hand in his, rubbing his thumb across the top of her hand. She smiled at him, not noticing the rogue eyeing her at the other end. Jonah leaned over to her and whispered.
“Be mindful, the new master seems to like you.”
Lily smiled at Jonah and giggled… pretending that he had just said something clever to her. Jonah smiled and looked at the new master.
“I fear that I may have overlooked your name,” Jonah said as he stared at him.
The boy smiled and pulled out his chair. He sat down and leaned back holding his hand out to the small girl to his right. She jumped into his lap and he held her there, playing with her hair.
“Bailey… and this is Mia,” he said, as the girl leaned back on his chest and grinned at Jonah.
“Bailey and Mia… quite the pair. Did you not come to us just last year?” Jonah asked him.
“Yes, we were fortunate to have a family; we were turned and then we ate them… Hunger is such a treacherous thing,” Bailey said as Mia kissed him on the cheek.
She popped off his lap and ran down to Jonah. Jonah stared at her as she opened her hand up to him. He smiled at her as she showed him that she held a small bird in her palm.
“You have a pet, love?” Jonah said.
Mia looked at him and then quickly opened her mouth and pushed it in. She chewed making faces until she swallowed. She grinned and then coughed up a feather. She pulled it out of her mouth and placed it in Jonah’s cup. She laughed at him and ran back to Bailey. Bailey opened his arms up and she hugged him. He whispered something to her and she nodded and took her seat.
“Quite the exhibitionist,” Jonah said as he pulled the bloody feather out of his cup and dropped it on the floor.
“Mia is mine; I am responsible for her. She has a funny way about her,” Bailey said.
Jonah looked at Lily as she squeezed his hand. Jonah sighed and looked down the table.
“Well, I will say that it is good to see familiar faces, although a few new ones have emerged since our departure… I find it quite refreshing after a thousand years.”
“A few things have changed since the two of you left unannounced. Of course you see that I am the new master here and we have started a new branch of our adventures,” Bailey said.
Jonah stared at him with no change of expression, waiting for him to expand on his comment. Bailey stood up and held his hands out to the table.
“We are all in agreement that the carnival is, by far, the perfect home to nomads like ourselves. Well… Mia and I got our start, before coming to this oasis, on the train line. So many travel, some without real destinations… Some simply getting away from problems, conveniently not alerting their friends and family as to their intentions. It is there that we have started to establish ourselves; it is there that will be the future of the tribe.”
“Tribe,” Jonah said, not as a question but a repeat of his words.
“Yes, we are a tribe… not unlike a pack of wolves or a pride of lions.”
Jonah covered his mouth to not insult him with his smile.
He cleared his throat and glanced at Lily.
“You have sent some to the train line then?” Jonah asked him.
Bailey poured his drink and Mia’s.
He took a drink and placed it in front of him, running his finger along the rim.
“Yes, I sent ten to start… Word will come when we are to have more,” Bailey said.
Jonah took a drink and raised his eyebrows to him. Bailey waited. He expected for Jonah to swoon from the excitement of his plan, but no. Jonah simply grabbed a piece of meat on the plate in front of him and bit into it. Bailey became impatient and slammed his fist on the table. Jonah stopped chewing for a moment and then went back to enjoying his meal. Bailey leaned forward and stared at him.
“You have nothing to say then?” Bailey asked him.
Jonah held out his hands, a knife in one and a fork in the other, and shrugged his shoulders at him. A couple of rogues at the table smiled and started to eat. Bailey looked around the table and yelled.
“I did not take my first bite yet!”
The rogues lowered their utensils and looked at him. Bailey piled food on his plate and took a messy bite of his meat, holding it in his hand like a Viking. He grinned, letting some meat fall out of his mouth. He wiped his chin with his hand and wiped it on the tablecloth. Jonah continued to eat, while Lily smiled at him. Jonah swallowed, washing it down with the blood in his cup. He dabbed his mouth and placed the napkin on the table. He leaned back and looked at Bailey.
“I find it boring,” Jonah said, as Bailey stopped chewing and dropped th
e meat on his plate.
He started to laugh and more meat fell out of his mouth.
“What do you find boring, Jonah? My idea of using the train, or yourself?” Bailey asked him.
Jonah smiled and Lily looked at him, trying not to laugh out loud.
“No… you,” Jonah said.
A few rogues laughed again and Bailey stood up and stared him down.
“Me?” Bailey asked as Mia looked up at him and shook her head at him. Bailey ignored her.
“I find that rich coming from you. You and your sister have held this carnival in a holding pattern for what… a thousand years?” Bailey asked him.
Jonah cleared his throat and rose up slowly. The young girl to his right slid out of her seat and backed away from him. Lily sat there and leaned back, clicking her heels together. Jonah took a drink and then set his glass down, returning his gaze to Bailey, who stood there… heart pounding, infuriated at the fact that Jonah insulted him in front of everyone. Jonah grinned.
“Well, it would seem that you are in desperate need of a history lesson.”
Bailey held his hand out and mocked Jonah’s famous bow. He rose up and looked at him.
“Please… inform me of your greatness,” Bailey said.
“Well, let’s see,” Jonah said as he stepped out from the table and tapped his fingers on the edge of it.
“Lily and I were born in Valon… What was it, love? Ten or twelve thousand years ago...? Oh, how the mind fails you with age. Anyway, we were born of two brutal parents, who had us for no other reason but rank and nobility. You see, unlike you, we come from a time when having children was seen as a social acceptance beyond what you would have now. Our mother was insane, giving no real guidance… treating us more as a nuisance than her children. Our father, on the other hand, spent all his time pursuing Lily, as she reminded him of our mother prior to her loss of wit. Listening to Lily cry out night after night, as that beast had his way with her, has a way of changing you into something that you would never imagine… something that has no morality, or compassion. No feeling, or regard. Not that our race was really bent on honing those skills to begin with, but a few of us did feel… more than we should have.”