Hurt…
Written By: Cameron M. Hess
PROLOGUE
Beautiful bright blue hues gazing into mine. Those eyes belonged too a goddesses who called me her love. Her warm tender touch brings warmth to my
body and her scent has the most heavenly aroma that shrouds her figure. Her
body was as perfect as can be, and her smile was enough to make anyone melt
on the inside with a feeling of happiness. Her personality was by far the
most unique, interesting, and uncanny to any other. The one who called me
her love

That beautiful women's name was Rachelle. A name that always lingers within my deepest thoughts. Always will she remain in my soul, and fill my heart
with our memories. She haunts my dreams with a magnificent kiss, and she
holds me close. My love…

Courageous and heroic. his muscles were the most finely tuned of our age,
and he was my greatest friend. Kind, loving, protective, and great in every
way. My best friend. his friendship will always hold a place in my heart, and
our bond together can never be broken. Our bond is as strong as the
mightiest blade. Eyes as cold as ice, but his heart as warm as the sun. He
is the bravest person I know...

CHAPTER 1: The Orphanage

Firm and uncomfortable was the old and stained mattress. My eyes wide open
gazing into the darkness of the room that shrouded me. I could hear the
other children snoring, or rustling about. Me. I was always quiet, and always
unmoving. My few strands of dark brown hair hung in front of my face, and my
dark hues always just gazing at a smudge on the ceiling. It always bothered
me, but I never really told anybody about it. I wanted to talk to somebody,
I wanted to get up and go someplace; we all feared the mistress who ran the
orphanage though. None of us liked upsetting her, we all had the fear of
being beat.

The orphanage was an old building. Built of rotting and moldy wood, It's
amazing that it's still standing. The stench is…well terrible. The furniture
inside is old, cheap, and very poorly made. The entire building is not taken
care of at all, and the food is…well usually old or expired. Nobody ever
came to look at us orphans, people always were too afraid to come inside
because it looks like a haunted house. I was always afraid that I would be
one of the few orphans that gets stuck here till there eighteen and then
have to leave with no money, home, food, or even more then one pair of
clothing, not that we do now.

My eyes slowly look to my left, only to be met by those bright blue
hues. She was so beautiful, every time I saw those eyes it made me smile. It
was hard to make out what she looked like, but after awhile a dark
silhouette appeared. Was she smiling back? I couldn't tell. I leaned up
looking around seeing that most of the other orphans were already asleep and
the mistress must've gone to her room already. I very quietly got up out of
my bed, and my feet firmly rested on the old wooden panels.

Creek! I winced at the sound hoping that nobody had heard it; luckily
nobody had moved. I very slowly and quietly crept over to her. Stepping
heel first, then slowly resting the rest of my foot on the ground. I heard
her rustle in her bed, scooting over for me. I quickly slipped into bed with
her being as quiet as possible. The bed was tiny but I didn't mind it just
meant that I could be closer to her.

I heard her giggle and it was cuter then anything. Our bodies were close
and I could feel warmth coming from her. I pulled the old tattered blanket
over us and put an arm around her, and she returned it with a smile. We
didn't say anything for the fear of somebody snitching on us or even hearing
us. Instead of saying anything I leaned my head close to hers and pressed my
lips against those of an angel. Her moist lips met mine for that brief
moment and it made me happier then any man. I felt as if I was in a daze
and I just gazed at her.

She was the only one who brought me happiness here besides Brock, but she
made me feel a different way. She made me feel so many different things that
nobody else could, I can see myself being with her forever, and I never
wanted that to change. My feelings for her were stronger then anything, and
they were never going to change, I could feel that deep within my heart.
Another kiss was planted upon my lips and…are my eyes watering? I was so
happy; she parted those gorgeous lips of hers and spoke with the voice of a
siren.

I love you, she said quietly. Her head then rested against my chest
and her hands resting on my body. My hand slowly slides up her back to rest on
her head, and my fingers lacing with the long strands of her dark hair. I closed my
eyes tightly and rested my head against hers.

thump thump thump! my heart was beating so fast. It almost felt as if I
was going to have a heart attack. I was pretty sure she could hear it but
she didn't say anything. I didn't mind though, it might have embarrassed me
otherwise. I could tell she was tired, the way her body moved and the way
she breathed. It didn't take long but then she was out. I slowly and quietly
slipped out of bed and made my way to mine. Pulling the blanket over me and
gazed up at the ceiling once again. Thoughts flooded into my mind and a faint smile slowly came upon my face. Only sixteen
and in deeper in love then I ever will be.

The sun shined in brightly through those old and dirt encrusted windows.
Dark lines under my red and puffy eyes. I never got enough sleep, I always
had to much to think about. I was thinking already, thinking about
Rachelle. maybe we can go someplace in the woods or maybe me her and Brock
could go to the creek or something, anything sounded good to me as long as I
could be with her.

It's corny I know but she is the one who makes my heart beat and she's the
one who makes me go on. I don't know how I lived without her, I love her so
much and she's all I seem to think about. It's sad I know but I love her
more then anything, take away anyone but her and I'll be fine; just let me
hold her in my arms.

Suddenly I felt a strong hand clamp onto my shoulder and violently jerk me
around. My eyes widened and blinked a few times. I turned my head to see my
dark skinned friend Brock. A big grin on his face, he was wide awake like
usual. I don't see how he manages to get up so early and so easily. Brock is
a year older then me, but looks to be twenty, probably the reason nobody has bothered to pick him. He's muscular from doing all the heavy lifting, and
then some. He was handsome, he just looked older.

Yawn! I slowly leaned up and got out of bed, being in only my boxers. Brock
was fully dressed in one of the many fowl outfits that everybody has. I
stretched and heard my back pop about several times then cracked my fingers.
I do this every morning, not sure what started it.

"Yo Cade you ready to go to duh creek?" he said with his deep voice. Yeah
he spoke a little funny but you get used to it after awhile. He does sound
kind of like an idiot but he was actually pretty smart. Not many people made
fun of him though mostly due to his size and the fact that he beat a kid
nearly to death once.

I rubbed my watery eyes and then let my arm drop to my side. "mm I think
I'm going to get some breakfast first." my stomach growled, craving the
mush, and slop that we called food. It smelt as bad as it tastes.
"Heh food, if you wanna call it dat. Well I'll meet yah at duh creek in a
while den." He said, and then turned walking towards the old wet looking
wooden door; then he walked out. I gave him a wave goodbye and then turned
to the chest that is beside my bed. I popped it open and pulled out one of
my two pairs of cloths and slipped into them.
My bare feet clapping against the ground with my every step till I made it
into the kitchen. There she was, the mistress. She looked to be in her late
forties, but she was actually only in her late thirties. Dealing with
orphans a majority of your life I guess will do that. That and maybe the
fact that she smokes a pipe has to do with the wrinkles. Her clothing was
only as good as ours.

Steam rising up out of the pot she was hunched over in front of. She was
stirring it with a wooden spoon, I could hear the spoon scraping against the
inside of the pot. Her eyes half open and an apron rested against her round
body. She didn't look happy, but then again she never really did. The only
time she did was when she was putting on a show for 'customers'.
"Isabella is breakfast ready?" yeah…her name is Isabella, but we call her
mistress because she likes to be in control at all times when in truth she
almost never was. She had more orphans then she could handle.

"Yeah…there's some already out on the table kid." she called almost all of
us kid and very few of us by our names. Now Isabella isn't' a mean women but
at times she could be. She wasn't exactly nice either she was just well…a
depressing person.

I walked over to the table and sat down. The table was actually more of a
picnic table. Maybe it was, maybe she stole it. I sat down on it and it let
out a loud creek. It felt wet, maybe it rained the night before and it
leaked through the ceiling or maybe one of the younger kids wet
themselves…lets just hope it's the first idea. I grabbed one of the bowls
that were stacked atop of each other. I then reached for the ladle and
pulled it up. Some of the white creamy liquid dribbled off of it. I made
sure all of the dripping food fell back into the pot before I pulled it over
to my bowl not wanting to make a mess on the table. I poured it into my bowl
filling it only a quarter of the way. I got about two more scoops and then
started to eat.

Food here was never good but you had to force it down. Usually we got bread
in the morning but I guess we were all out today because there was none. Or
maybe the kids who got up first ate all of it…some of the kids here are
pricks like that. I quickly forced down my food and ran outside.
Outside was so beautiful. To bad this ugly orphanage had to be it's
centerpiece, the centerpiece of this magnificent forest. It was on the
outskirts of some massive military fortress that held a tiny town inside. I
forget what it's called but that just means that it's not important. My bare
feet rested on the soft and dark green blades of grass that bent beneath my
feet, some curving between my toes, the many shades of green blending
together before the beautiful sunrise. The chirping of birds and the sound
of the gentle breeze always made me feel at home. The temperature was always
just right for me in the morning.

The grass was a little wet but it was fine with me. I started to walk
towards the dirt trail but I walked beside it. There were usually chunks of
rock embedded into the dirt. I swayed past the trees, looking at the rough
bark that had unreadable names carved into them. It only took me about five
minutes to make it to the creek.

I stood before that beautiful, clear, lake. I smiled looking at it, looking to the very bottom watching the fish swimming along the bottom, there bodies swaying as they wiggled there tails. The water rippled and the sunlight reached the very bottom of the lake. I looked over to my right shoulder and saw Brock with his pants rolled up and was ankle deep in the water. His tattered shoes where left at the shore, and he was standing barefoot on the stony surface. Rachelle was behind him just a little ways away, sitting on an uprooted tree; her hands resting on her lap, and her legs swaying back and forth. The sun shined brightly on her beautiful black hair, and made her body emit a magnificent majesty. The shade from the leafs above her, mixed with the sunlight made her look all the more beautiful…whenever I stare at her I cant help but wonder if I'm dreaming…

She turned her head to look at me and a smile grew upon her face. "Ey Cade. how are yah?" I smiled as I listened to her beautiful voice, it was as if the holiest of all angels was whispering into my ears and telling me to slip into my own Nirvana. My eyes closed partially and said "good I guess…food wasn't all that great."

"When is it good?" she said with a small chuckle coming afterwards.
"Yeah guess your right about that…" I rolled my eyes and she let out another small chuckle. I saw Brock turn his head with a smirk glancing back at us then he went back to staring at whatever he was looking at.

"So Cade…when are you going to carry me off and take me someplace better then this?" Rachelle spoke softly with a smirk on her face, but obviously she spoke loud enough for Brock to hear. Brock turned his head to look at them with a quirk upon his brow.

"Cade, if yo takin Rachelle away, you betta take me wit yah!"
"Heh well of course I'd bring you with Brock, if you weren't around I wouldn't have anyone to protect me."

We all laughed because we all knew it was true. There were a couple of times when Brock had to help me out in bad situations. Rachelle defiantly wasn't a fighter and me well…I can hold my own but so can almost all of the other orphans, Brock to me is the strongest…it's always good to have him around.
"Yeah, heh, yoh skinnay ass wouldn't last vewy long." He said with a big grin.
I sat down next to Rachelle and planted my hands firmly on the rough bark of the round tree that we sat upon. Soon I a soft touch and warmth, and I looked to my hand to see Rachel's resting on top of mine. The sunlight shined brightly on our hands and I just stared at them for the longest time. My eyes very slowly followed up her arm and stared into those eyes that glowed in darkness. They returned my gaze, as I looked at her with passion…so many emotions came to me as I stared at her the way I did, so many things I wished to say to her but they couldn't force there way out of my throat.

She leaned her head forward and planted a kiss upon my dry lips, and her kiss seemed to rejuvenate me. Her kiss felt as if God had shined his light upon me and granted me immortality…but instead it was coming in the form of a kiss from a pretty girl. My eyes closed immediately and puckered my lips to return the kiss. My lips became moist and she slowly pulled her head back and parted our lips. I yearned for another kiss, but I didn't pursue, Brock was there, and I doubted he wanted to watch us.

"geh, I shoulda figured dat if you two where here dat you two would end up doin dat!" He then cupped his hands and dipped it into the cold, clear water; he got a good amount of water in his cupped hands and then flung his hands in our direction and all that icy water landed on us. Rachelle let out a shriek and I jumped but it didn't stop the water from hitting us of course. Random patches of my cloths clung to my body, seeing the darkened spot…Rachelle was having the same Ordeal.

I smirked looking at Brock and heard Rachelle shouting at Brock. Brock obviously wasn't listening to her either; I hopped off of the downed tree and ran at Brock. Brock smiled looking like he was holding in a laugh, Rachelle said something but I wasn't paying attention. When I was within range of Brock I jumped up trying to pounce on him but he caught me like a child. My eyes widened and he holstered me over his shoulder. I started to kick and flail. Brock and Rachelle starting laughing as Brock took me deeper and deeper into the water till he was in waist deep and then threw me like a rag doll. I landed in the deep water. The weak current pushing me and disorienting me but it wasn't anything serious. I quickly swam to the top.

I swam back towards shore and coughed out a bit of water. My cloths were now dripping water, and my hair clinging to my body. Brock was the same but his hair was dry.

"hehe, that's what you get Cade, trying to tackle Brock." She said holding back her laughter as she was re-enacting the event in her mind.

I shot my head in her direction with a devilish glare and her eyes widened and her lips parted a bit. I took one step towards her and she was getting ready to run already, before I would give her the chance I ran towards her, she got up but didn't' get very far. I wrapped my arms around her and started to rub my face against hers as she flailed and screamed, Brock ran up and did the same. We all started laughing, and eventually let go of Rachelle who was almost as wet as we were now.

"AHH! I can't believe you guys did that! You jerks! Ahhh…it's going to take so long to dry these cloths out." Rachelle followed it up with a long sigh and closed her eyes partially.

"Pfft…you'll live" I said with a big smile on my face. "Just have the mistress fix it up for you, that's what I plan on doing."

"She's going to flip out on us! She's going to be angry that our clothes are soaked, she doesn't like us playing in the lake!"

"I'm not all that worried, she doesn't nearly hit as hard as she used to…"
Brock nodded in agreement and uttered "yeah…I dun think she's been able tah hurt me since I was twelve."

Rachelle blinked a few times looking between us well "she still can hurt me" she frowned.

"yuh well dats because yohr so small"
That time I nodded in agreement with Brock. Rachelle pouted and glared at us the same time.