THANK GOD! I finally finished this chapter! It's a miracle! Someone needs to throw a party in my honor as hard I worked! But R&R-ing will have to do since I don't actually know who's reading this. But if you still wanna throw a party for me, no one's stopping you . . . ;)

Chapter 2-Statues

Soldiers ran out of the woods like animals in a stampede as the lieutenant blew his whistle. They were practically running over each other as they scrambled into place, clawing their way through the dust just to find their way. The captain had to shield his eyes to keep out the dirt whipped up by the chaos. The lieutenant put a kerchief to his lips. But then, everything seemed to stop. All the chaos, the dirt, the dust had settled, almost collapsing in on itself. And standing there, lined up as if they had always been that way were the soldiers. Standing straight, staring ahead into the nothingness, they seemed like an army of statues. Nothing out of place. Nothing standing out. Because being human in this statue army was unforgivable. Because being anything but a statue made you the outcast.

Captain Alverez walked down the long line and stared into each set of eyes as he went. No one dared to look him back in the eyes, to show any sign of life on their faces. He smiled, knowing that their fear for him was as hot and restless as the hate he felt for those bastards hiding out in the woods. If it wasn't for them, he wouldn't have to be wasting his time training these idiots to be warriors. If it wasn't for them, he could be out there fighting the real thing; instead he was decaying out here in these woods where no real life remained. He had once been so high in is position and now he could feel all the power he once held, all the contempt his name once brought, reduced to taking back a fort with a boat load of untrained soldiers. And all because of this damn rebellion!

He gripped his gun hard in his hand. Breath. Don't let them know what you're thinking. Just because they're cadets doesn't mean that they can't read your face. He hadn't meant to get angry, didn't even know when his forehead began to crease. He was sure that his face was plastered with frustration of his fate and he tried to mop it up with utter blankness. It was still a strange thing to have on his face; it felt strange and unfamiliar to him. But this nothingness, this lack of all feeling was better than anything at all.

Suddenly, the lieutenant touched his sleeve. "Capitan . . . ." he began. He looked down at him, his squat figure, his glassy stare, his drooping moustache, and wondered how he had gotten stuck with him as a lieutenant.



"Yes?" he sighed , but he only pointed to an empty space at the very end of the line and then looked back at his clipboard. When the captain didn't say anything, he pointed to the empty space, saying "The Lewis boy sir. He's missing again."

But as he uttered these words, a body emerged from the woods. It was a dark blue thing, crashing through the woods on clumsy feet. He was trying to hurry, trying so hard not to be noticed, but as he ran, he could feel so many sets of eyes on his back and knew that he was too late. But he still kept running as if nothing was wrong with what he was doing. It's not like this was his first time being late. He looked up and accidently caught the captain's eyes and instantly looked back down. The captain looked like he would take out his gun and shoot him right there.

Adan walked to his place in line with silent footsteps, hoping that no one would notice the blush spreading across his face. They did-of course-but no one wanted to beat Captain Alverez to the punch and stayed silent. He was in position now, gun resting on his side, eyes straight ahead of him, while all the while, the captain's eyes bored into him like a drill. Adan's lungs seemed broken. He couldn't breathe.

"How nice of you to join us, Lewis," the lieutenant sneered, but the captain held up a hand and he was silenced. This was his game.

"Welcome back, cadet." The calmness in his voice scared Adan more than his anger and he soon found himself staring back down at the ground.

"Isn't it nice that you could grace us with your presence today? And with such a busy schedule- how could you ever possibly manage to squeeze us in? But, since you're here, do you mind telling us what the hell you were doing when my assistant blew the whistle? Come on Lewis. You can tell us." The last part came out through clenched teeth.

He didn't answer. Why were they calling him Lewis? His name was Adan and the last time he checked, no one else here was named Lewis. And yet, it seemed so familiar . . . . . Then, he remembered. He was Lewis now. Adan no longer exits. Only Lewis. Lewis, Lewis, Lewis. Why couldn't he ever seem to remember that whenever he came back from the well?



"Answer me boy!" Suddenly, he was on the ground, unconsciously feeling his face. He didn't need to be told that there was now a bright red handprint stamped to his cheek. The captain picked him up by his jacket and slapped him hard across the face again. And again. And again. Over and over, until he grew tired and dropped him to the ground.

"You little son of a bitch! You think that this is some game you don't have to take seriously? You think that you can just do whatever the hell you want without getting noticed? That nothing matters but you? Well, I'll show you how wrong you are! Cause you're in my world now, and if you care about you're stupid little ass, then you'll do as I say!"

He spat in his direction, muttered some words to the lieutenant, and they and the rest of the cadets began walking off, leaving Adan alone by the woods. He crawled over on his back and sighed. He wanted to kill him so badly. So horribly badly. He could take him on and he knew it. But he had to be patient. Because he couldn't handle all of them alone. Because he had a mom and a dad and a little brother that he had begged to let him do this. Because Mercedes told him to wait, and aren't people supposed to listen to their mothers? Because everything was riding on this.

He opened his eyes and stared up at the sky. It was blue. Bluer than anything he had seen before. And he couldn't stop himself from smiling thinking that was why blue was his favorite color.