The Devils Inside – Chapter 1 – Arya Redwolf
Arya's PoV
Gunfire, The Smell Of Gunpowder, My Comrades Being Killed Before My Eyes, Explosions…. That Is All I Have Known For The Past 5 Months, Ever Since I Turned Eight, I Have Been Spending My Time On A War Zone. I Fear My Life Will End As I Huddle In This Trench Next To My Best Friends, We Clutch Our Rifles As Bullets From A Bunker Come Flying Over Our Heads….
I Am Brought Back To My Senses When Lucan Yells, "Arya!" I Look At Him and I Croak, "What?" He Hugs Me and Whimpers, "You Wouldn't Respond So I Thought…." I Sigh and Reply, "Sorry Lucan" Our Commander Looks At Us and Commands, "Redwolf! Get Up To The Sniper Tower and Try and Take Out The Gunner! We'll Keep You Covered!" I Nod and Answer, "Yes Sir!" and I Run Towards The Sniper Tower While My Unit Draws Their Fire.
Once I Get Up To The Top Of The Tower, I Pull My Rifle Off My Shoulder and I Line Up The Shot. I Rest My Finger On The Trigger I Steady My Breathing and Then I Fire. The Bullet Hits The Gunner Directly In The Head and I Smirk.
I Pull The Bolt Handle Back and The Empty Cartridge Flies Out and Lands On The Wooden Floor and I Place A New Bullet In The Chamber and I Am About To Put My Rifle Back On My Shoulder When I Hear More Gunfire. The Tower Begins To Wobble and I Yelp, "Shit!" When It Collapses.
Theo and Lucan Run Over and Theo Yells, "Arya! Are You Alright?!" I Nod Slowly and I Cough, "Yeah, I'm Alright!" He Nods and They Begin To Move The Wooden Beams. I Crawl Out From Under The Tower and Lucan and Theo Help Me Up and They Take Me Back To The Commander. The Commander Nods At Me and Says, "Well Done On Killing The First Gunner" I Nod and Answer, "Just Doing My Job, Sir" He Nods and I Look Down At My Feet and I See Some Grenades.
I Smirk, and I Say, "Sir? I Have An Idea" He Raises A Brow and I Continue, "If I Walk Up To The Bunker Without My Uniform On and With These Grenades Tied To My Foot Then I Can Distract Them Temporarily and Throw The Grenades Through The Gap" The Commander Hums and He Answers, "Do It" I Nod and I Place My Rifle Down and I Strip From My Uniform and I Tie The Grenades To My Foot and I Begin Walking Towards The Bunker.
The Soldiers Aim Their Guns At Me and I Stop. I Gulp and I Reach Down Towards My Foot When They All Turn Away To Talk and I Prime Them All and Throw Them. I Spin On My Heel and I Sprint Back Towards The Trench. I Turn Around and I Watch The Bunker Explode.
I Drop Down It The Trench and Theo Yells, "It Worked! We Won! We Can Go Home!" The Commander Smiles and He Says, "That Was A Reckless Plan" I Salute and Say, "Anything To Help Our Motherland, Sir" He Nods and Then Stands Up and Commands, "Alright You Laggards! Time To Head Home!" We All Cheer and I Pull My Uniform On and I Grab My Rifle and Then We All Run To The Train. I Sit Down and I Lean My Head On The Wall and I Finally Let Myself Rest After 5 Months Of No Sleep.
Back At Liberio
I Jump Off The Train and I Search The Platform For My Parents. I Spot Them and I Take Off From The Others. I Collide With My Parents and My Dad Smiles At Me and Murmurs, "We Missed You" I Hug Them Tighter and Mom Picks Me Up and Says, "Did You Get Hurt?" I Shake My Head and Reply, "No Mom" Dad Grins and Asks, "Did You Kick Their Asses?" I Nod, and I Am About To Reply When Mom Hits Dad On The Shoulder and Hisses, "Sarah! Language!" I Chuckle, and I Hear, "Your Daughter Did Very Well. She Was The Reason We Defeated Them, Actually"
Mom Looks At The Commander and Answers, "Thank You For Keeping Our Little Girl Safe" Dad Nods and Agrees, "Yeah. If We Lost Arya…. I Don't Know What We Would Have Done" The Commander Smiles and Replies, "Don't Mention It. Now I Would Suggest Getting The Little One Home and Bathed. She Will Be Required To Collect Her Medals Soon" I Grin and My Eyes Light Up and Mom and Dad Turn Around and Walk Home.
At Home
I Pull On My Clean Uniform After My Bath and Dad Says, "You Look Beautiful, Honey" I Grin and Say, "Thanks Dad" Mom Smiles and She Asks, "Are You Ready To Go?" I Nod and Mom Takes My Hand and We Walk Out With Dad Following Behind.
At The Award Ceremony
I Pull Away From My Parents and Towards My Unit and I Sit Next To Lucan and Theo. The Commander Walks Out Of Stage and Announces, "Now This Is A Big Day For Marley! We Have Finally Defeated One Of The Enemies That We Had Been Fighting For Over 50 Years!" The Crowd Cheers and He Looks Down At Us and He Says, "Now This Wouldn't Have Been Possible Without The Courage and Bravery Of One Of The People In My Unit. Can Arya Redwolf Come Up Here Please?" I Stand Up and I Walk Towards The Stage.
I Stand Next To The Commander and He States, "This Girl, Stripped From Her Uniform and Tied Grenades To Her Foot. She Looked Like A Prisoner Of War, So She Walked Up To The Bunker and While The Enemies Were Distracted, She Primed The Grenades and Threw Them Into The Bunker. The Explosion Was Amazing"
Everyone Gapes At Me and He Places A Medal On My Chest and He Says, "This Girl Is Now A Captain Of Her Unit! Her Unit Will Now Be A Scouting Unit and They Will Gather Information About Our Enemies!" I Grin, and Everyone Cheers, and I Am Sent To Sit Down.
24 Years Later – 30th December 833
I Sit In The Living Room With Ilia and Leon's Wife Talia and I Ask, "Should We Try Singing To Them?" Talia Nods and Ilia Smiles and Replies, "Yeah" She Clears Her Throat and Begins Singing,
"She said she gave all her love to me
We dreamt a new life
Some place to be at peace
But things changed, suddenly
I lost my dreams in this disaster
I'm crying
Missing my lover
I don't have the power
On my side forever
Oh, where is my lover?
And I got no power
I'm standing alone, no way
Calling out your name"
I Feel My Baby Kick and Ilia and Talia Smile and I Ask, "Did Your Babies Kick?" Ilia Nods and Answers, "Yep. I Think She Kicked In Response To Yours" Talia Nods and Agrees, "Yeah. He Kicked In Response To Your Girls" I Grin, and I Say, "It Seems Our Little Ones Have A Connection" Talia Nods and Replies, "It Seems That Way" I Look At The Time and I See It Has Just Turned 3am.
Talia Yelps and I Ask, "Talia?" She Whimpers and Yelps, "My Water Just Broke" I Gulp I Say, "Ilia! Get Leon and The Doctors!" Ilia Nods and Walks Out Of The House. I Lead Talia To The Bedroom That She Shares With Leon and I Lie Her On It. The Doctors Run In A Few Minutes Later With Leon and I Get Shuffled Out Of The Room.
3 Hours Later
Ilia and I Walk Into Talia's Room and I See Her Holding A Small Bundle. I Smile and Ask, "How Is He?" Talia Looks At Us and Whispers, "He's Perfect" Leon Grins and Says, "His Name Is Bertholdt" I Sit Next To Talia and I Stroke The Boys Head Of Dark Hair.
He Grabs Hold Of My Finger and He Sucks On It. I Smile and Ilia Says, "We'll Let You Rest" I Nod and I Pull Away From The Boy and I Say, "Goodnight Bertholdt" He Gurgles, and I Say, "Congratulations You Two" They Smile and I Walk Out and I Walk Towards The Room I Share With Lucan and I Lie Down and I Fall Asleep.
3 Months Later – 22nd March 834 – 5 Hours After Danielle and Annie Had Been Born.
I Look Down At My Daughter With A Smile and Ilia Walks In With Her Daughter and Danielle Whimpers. Ilia Sits Next To Me and I See Their Small Arms, Absentmindedly Reach For Each Other. I Smile and Say, "These Girls Have A Serious Connection" The Door Opens and Bertholdt Waddles In With His Parents.
Bertholdt Crawls On The Bed and He Asks, "Who Are They?" I Smile and Say, "This Is Danielle and That Is Annie" Bertholdt Smiles Toothily and Ilia Points Out, "It Will Be Your Job To Protect Them, Okay Bert?" He Nods and Asks, "Like A Big Brother?" I Nod and Bertholdt Kisses The Girls Foreheads and Answers, "I'll Be The Best Big Brother Ever"
Talia Grins and Answers, "We Don't Doubt That Bertl. Let's Let Them Rest Now, Okay? You Can See Them Tomorrow" Bertholdt Nods and He Follows His Parents Out. I Smile At Ilia and She Says, "I'll Let You and The Little One Rest" I Nod and She Walks Out. I Place Danielle On The Bed Next To Me and I Stroke Her Cheek and We Both Fall Asleep.