Chapter Two

"Why? Why, why, why does He torment me so?" Malachai thought to himself as he dragged Maria back. He kept a firm grasp on her arm due to the fact that she kept trying to get away.

She figured that he had to know something. He had to have been able to help her. If he knew her name, he had to know at least something about her.

"You're hurting me," she said as they were walking. She was surprised at how well she could hold down her fear. His grip lessened a bit. She stopped trying to get away.

As he navigated through the corn, they stayed silent. When they came upon a clearing, all of the others stopped to look at them. Everyone seemed to throw smiles in Maria's direction. They were not cruel smiles, but they appeared to be warm and inviting.

"Maria," a boy came up to her. He was short and he had brown hair. Maria felt an essence of authority around him, but was unsure as to why it was there. "Maria, you're bleeding. Are you alright, my child?"

For a second, she wanted to laugh. Here was a kid, obviously younger than her, calling her a child? Still, she thought better of it.

"Apparently she doesn't remember anything," said the ginger next to her.

The boy in front of them seemed to stare at the ginger for a long time. Then he turned to Maria. "Do you know his name?" he asked and gestured to the teenager who still held onto her arm.

She turned and looked at him. He matched her gaze. She figured that they wouldn't be asking if the answer was already "no"; in other words, she was supposed to know him. Who was he? She searched her mind before breaking eye contact and shaking her head.

The boy in front of them sighed. "Don't you remember anything?!" he asked. Maria shook her head again. "What about the Sight?" he asked the ginger. The redhead shrugged.

"Maria, I am Isaac. The man next to you is Malachai. You live here with us," the boy said.

"Where are we?"

"A town known as Gatlin," Isaac answered.

"Are there any adults here?" Maria asked after looking at the faces of silent children, only children.

Isaac and Malachai glanced at each other and then back to Maria. "That is not your concern at the moment. Malachai, take her home. Give her some rest. I will pray the He Who Walks Behind the Rows will guide us and tell us what to do."

Malachai nodded and led Maria away. Maria wasn't paying attention as they walked. She was upset, she was mad because she didn't remember anything but at the same time she felt powerful waves of sadness go through her.

"We're here," Malachai said as they stood in front of a fairly large house. "Isaac seems to think that you need to go to bed." He wouldn't look Maria in the eye, he couldn't.

"Alright," Maria answered.

Malachai led her up the stairs and into a bedroom, which consisted of a dresser and one bed. Maria laid down on it. "Where will you sleep?" she asked him.

He seemed to pause. "Well, usually I'd sleep in here, but you can sleep alone tonight. If you'd like."

"Thank you." He started to leave, and as he shut the door behind him, he heard her whisper, "I'm sorry."

AN: Wow, I'm sorry it's been so long. To be honest, I lost inspiration for this story. I was going to finish it after I finished up "In Our Darkest Days", but I didn't want it to be that way. I wanted to write it, but I had a really bad writer's block. Plus, I've been pretty busy this time of year. Anyway, I really have to thank XxllTwiste dHappyllxX for providing a bunch of inspiration and giving a whole new idea for an ending. She also writes awesome CotC stories, so be sure to go check them out! So thank you for reading, please review as well.