Chapter 22
He wasn't entirely sure what to make of this. He put up no resistance when Tucker led him to their car—the big metal boxes he'd first heard when he explored the Outside before Sam found him. Going to the car was one thing, bu going in the car was another matter. This box was an English-speaker's mode of transportation. It transported them…which meant it could transport him, too. But where?
Once the back door opened he sought to flee. He jerked his arm away from Tucker and turned around only to run right into Sam. He didn't know what was up with Tucker but there was no way Sam would ever let him fall back into the hands of other English-speakers.
His next move was supposed to be dashing behind her and back into the house as soon as he could, but her eyes were watering and it made him freeze. She was still biting her lower lip but this time it looked like she was biting it even harder than before. Even if she wasn't crying on the outside he could feel her crying on the inside.
Sam wanted him to go. Why? Why was she just going to force him back to where he used to be? After all those grueling years of not knowing what pleasures he could've found had he only been set free, after all the suffering he'd had to go through for the gain of the English-speakers, after all that time he had spent coming to understand and trust just two people he'd happened to come across…why was he being sent back?
Sam gently took his wrist and tugged on it as she tried to lead him back to the English-speaker car. He reluctantly followed, despite knowing where he would be taken and what would probably happen to him once there. Perhaps he subconsciously considered that if he didn't resist, he was displaying obedience, and therefore was still a viable element to Project Level Up. All he had to do was show them that he wasn't ruined. On the other hand, maybe he was following her because she wanted him to, and for no other reason. It sounded crazy but he wanted to make her happy, he wanted to please her.
She warded off the other two English-speakers with a dismissive hand and a sharp glare as she helped him into the car. Tucker closed the door to his freedom. At least Sam stayed with him. He couldn't say for sure why she would do such a thing. But she did, and in a way he was grateful for her company.
The car began to move and he used his forearms to brace himself against the back of the seat and the door. Not even a minute inside this thing and he already decided he hated it. I was unnatural. Moving was supposed to occur when walking, not with a few circles somehow turning themselves to make a box move. If he had to be in a box why not a stationary one? A normal one.
Sam put her arm around him in an effort to relax him, but relaxation wasn't exactly an option for him right now. Nevertheless, she still tried. She tried for an agonizingly long time but the box kept swaying and bumping and throwing him around all over the place. Each of her efforts were failures.
"Mrs. Fenton, has he ever ridden in a vehicle before…?" Sam asked.
The woman up front turned her head to look at them and replied, "I'm not sure but it's unlikely that he would've."
"What do you mean 'not sure'?" she asked suspiciously. "You guys never transported him anywhere? He just stayed locked up in one place?"
"That was a long time ago, Sam," the man said.
"Yeah, we'll see," Sam muttered.
The two in front either didn't hear her or were completely ignoring her.
Why were these English-speakers treating against each other like this? They were English-speakers. Why didn't they get along like the rest of the English-speakers?
He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes to shut himself out from the Outside…just for a moment. He liked the mental escape he'd made for himself when things got dull or stressful. He liked being in a field of grass, under the shade of a tree, with no rings—no inhibitions—and with Sam in his arms. He would rest his head on here and stare at passing clouds in a beautiful blue sky. He would feel her warmth and be at peace. She would gently run her hands along his and it didn't hurt.
And Tucker would come in sometimes. They would give each other a real high five or fist bump. No more irrational fear of rings. Tucker and Sam both would start acting all weird, pointing at random clouds. Most of the time their voices were filtered, as though he was hearing them while underwater. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but somehow the language barrier had diminished. All of them were free.
Alas, these little daydreams of his were always interrupted, and this time being thrown into Sam was what brought him out of it. He hated this car…
"Don't you have seatbelts or something?!" Sam cried as she helped push him back off.
"Don't worry, we're almost there," the man replied.
"Actually, Jack, you could stand to drive a little…better," the woman said to the man. "Maybe less jerky. A little slower. No more slamming on the brakes."
"Since when have I ever done something irresponsible with the RV?" he laughed.
The woman squinted her eyes and said, "Jack, if I had to make a list of all the irresponsible things you've done just with the RV, I would need legal paper."
Sam snorted beside him.
"I don't need backseat drivers right now, Maddie, I have to concentrate on the road."
He felt another bump and tried to brace himself again. Sam put a hand on his shoulder—as if that could stop the car from beating him up.
"Couldn't you guys drive a little less rough and tumble?"
He could've sworn the next bump sent him three feet into the air. Happyplacehappyplacehappyplace… Wouldn't it be amazing if the English-speakers were taking him to a meadow of grass and dumping him off there? And Sam would follow him and they could be alone together, like in her room? Except they could be alone together all day. The grass could be so soft that they would sleep together on it, and look at the twinkling sky lights. Like miniature suns. And maybe he could reach far enough and grab one. Hand the sky light to Sam and maybe she would love that. She could keep it in a jar like she did with the fireflies from time to time. She could look at it every day and be reminded of him because he was the one who grabbed the sky light and gave it to her. Then she might stop going to the School Building and suffering there.
He was viciously thrown against the back of the front seat. Another wonderful daydream ruined by this infernal car.
"Did you have to brake so hard, Jack?" the woman asked.
"We're here!" the man announced.
He and the woman exited the car and Sam helped him out. His eyes landed on a huge letter order with "F" on top and all the way on bottom was "N".
"This is Fenton Works, Daniel," Sam said. "Mr. And Mrs. Fenton live here with their daughter Jazz. Jazz helps me with schoolwork. You know? The paper on my desk? Schoolwork."
He knew what schoolwork was but his fascination was still caught by this enormous word that wasn't in the correct order—didn't words typically go from left to right…? Not up to down…? What was this trickery…
He mentally snapped his fingers—the English-speakers were trying to confuse him, because they wanted him away from Sam and Tucker. Maybe they were tricking Sam and Tucker. Maybe that was why he was brought here in that horrible car. Yes…it was all so clear now. They were going to take him back.
The English-speakers opened the door under the massive disorganized word. He gave them a distrustful glare as they did so. He wanted them to know he didn't trust them. He wanted Sam to know who he didn't trust. If she knew he didn't trust them then she would bring him back to her room.
"We have to go inside now," Sam told him as she gently tugged on his sleeve, beckoning him forward.
On second thought maybe she needed something from inside… Or something like that…
Despite the icy feeling in the pit of his stomach, and despite every internal alarm blaring, he stuck beside Sam like white, gooey adhesive and even made a point to touch his forearm against hers. Both of the other English-speakers frowned as he passed them to get into the Giant Word Building.
He could tell from their expressions—they knew he didn't trust them. But as he studied Sam's expression, the only thing he could read was her biting her lower lip again. She didn't trust them either. What was she doing here then?
"Hey, Jazz!" Sam called out as the English-speakers closed the door behind them.
The feeling of entrapment grew even stronger. He felt himself start to sweat. His heart was pounding and it wasn't because of Sam. Suddenly he was scared and wanted nothing more than to go back to his corner in Sam's room.
He moved so close to her that she almost fell down from his push.
"Yeah?" a female voice called back from upstairs.
A girl slightly taller than him with red hair made her way over to him. He gave her the same look he had given the other two.
"He's not very um…trusting, for lack of better words…" Sam said. "Anyway, this is Daniel. He'll be staying with you guys for a while."
"How long…?" the girl asked, eyeing him up and down. Studying him. Judging him.
What was going through their sick minds? What did they think about him? What were they going to do to Sam? Their plans for her better not be their plans for him. He could take it. He was strong. He was resilient. She wasn't. The thought of the one English-speaker besides Tucker who would treat him like she would any other English-speaker getting hurt on his behalf was infuriating. It was something he couldn't let happen.
Fear and surprise struck the other three English-speakers. Sam, on the other hand, hardly seemed afraid of whatever they were afraid of. Perhaps they had succumbed to his glares. Surely English-speakers weren't that weak though.
"Daniel, calm down, okay?" Sam said, grasping his arm with one hand and slowly rubbing his back with the other.
"Uhh. H-Has he hurt anybody before?" the woman asked.
The girl put her hands up in defense and took a couple of steps back.
"No, not at all," Sam replied. Then, turning back to him, she said, "Everything is alright. You're alright. Just calm down now."
The words "calm down" struck him. There had been times in the past, more so in the time when Sam and Tucker first found him, when he had gotten so frustrated or upset with something that they would rub on him and tell him to calm down. "It's okay" and "You're okay" had likewise become familiar. However that was in a confined area with only two people who gave him every reason to trust them. This was a new, big area with three new English-speakers who stuffed him in a car and there was a distinct lack of comfort between Sam and them. Even Tucker didn't seem thrilled about them.
Even though Sam claimed that everything was okay here, he knew something was very wrong. Perhaps it was another one of his abilities, or perhaps he had been around their kind long enough to know one when he saw one. It was like they had a massive stamp on them. They were there. They helped. They never cared about him like Sam and Tucker did, they couldn't care about him like Sam and Tucker did.
He wouldn't have any bad thoughts about seeing them running away from a building that had blown up. They could be on fire, chasing their final breaths before burning to death. They could feel a fraction of what he had felt. Then they would understand, to some extent, how evil they truly were.
"Daniel?" Sam's voice was so full of concern. So full of tenderness.
"What's going on with him? What is doing, Sam?" the man asked.
Sam ignored the man.
"Daniel," she said. "Daniel, listen to me." She cupped a hand around his cheek and pushed his head to look her in the eye. "Change back."
He appreciated her attempts to communicate but they weren't enough. Sam was naïve. She was, by a literal definition, ignorant. Blind. Unaware. She didn't have his memories. She didn't know what other English-speakers were capable of. She didn't know just how untrustworthy these monsters were. She'd never had to worry about them like he had. She was safe but she never knew it. Now that he was involved, however, he wanted to keep her safe, even if she still didn't know it.
"You said he wasn't dangerous, Sam," the woman said.
"He was terrified of Tucker and me when we first found him," Sam replied. "He could've hurt us at any time, or at least tried. He didn't even defend himself, he just curled up. He's gentle, I promise."
"Sam, that boy was not made to be gentle, trust me."
The girl decided to leave the area. She went back upstairs and into another room.
"He has a name," Sam growled. "Stop acting like he's some object."
"I don't mean to come across that way at all."
"Then call him Daniel, not 'that boy'!"
His name.
"Is there any way to make him understand we won't hurt you?"
He ground his teeth—Sam had moved his head but not his eyes.
"What do you mean hurt me?"
"He wasn't supposed to form human bonds like this. Clearly he's taken to you. That means that even though he's supposed to protect humanity as a whole, you're his first priority. He wants to protect you more than anything," the woman explained.
"What do you mean he's made to protect humanity?" the girl asked—he assumed she would stay up in the room but she was coming back down with a book of some sort.
"He was born with a single purpose in life. That purpose is to fight off supernatural entities that plague humans. But now that he's bonded with Sam and Tucker, humans are no longer equal in his eyes, and my fear is that he'll turn on other humans to protect the ones he cares about."
"That, and he's already showing signs of aggression," the man added. "See his hair? See his eyes? He looks pretty different from normal humans, right? How often has he looked like this before?"
Sam thought for a moment. "He changed last night when he was fighting the thing that got into my house. His eyes change from blue to green randomly but his hair only ever turned white the one time."
The girl nervously fidgeted with her thumbs while her book was tucked under her arm. "So whenever his hair turns white he'll attack us…? Is it safe to have him here…?"
"It's perfectly safe," Sam immediately answered. "He won't hurt anyone."
"He won't hurt you but that doesn't mean he won't hurt us," the man said. "I think it's for everyone's best that we contain him—"
"NO!" Sam shrieked. "HE'S NEVER GOING TO A CAGE, GOT IT?!" She yanked his sleeve and pulled him behind her. "You said you wouldn't do this kind of thing if we brought him here, you looked me in the eye and said he'd be safe!"
"Not that kind of cage, Sam," the woman said. "More like a room. Calm him down now, he's feeding off your energy."
"How about, instead of everyone calming down and pretending nothing ever happened, we tell each other what we know? You tell me what you know about him—all of it—and I tell you what I know about him."
The woman slowly inhaled but answered, "Very well."
A/N
Well, not much really happened here but I still think this is an important chapter. Again I apologize for the time it took to update. You know...I once read these repeated apologies in A/Ns from another author. "Too busy with college" and whatnot. Eventually I was just like pffffftttttt yeah sure. And then I started college. Dear ALL AUTHORS IN COLLEGE, I am SO SORRY for ever thinking of it as some sort of lame excuse, I feel so bad now. :(
Not an excuse people...the struggle is real. ;-;"