Well, here's the next installment to "Silence Welcome". I hope you've enjoyed it so far, because I've really enjoyed writing it. I love history fictions, especially when they involve the way two characters met. ^_^ This was supposed to be the last chapter of the whole story, but it's not. I'm pretty sure the next one will be the last, though. So be looking out for it soon! ^_^ Sorry it took me so long to get this one out. I'll try to be quicker with the next one.
****************************
Silence Welcome
"Oh please... Lord..."
"..Help us." Weak and out of breath, she collapsed onto a hard and jagged piece of concrete. Gasping for air didn't help. Every time you breathed, you sucked in nothing but dust and smoke.. It was too much.. just too much.
Dirt, blood, and sweat mingled on her face. Her hands were severely raw from digging long and hard through what seemed to be endless rubble.
Helplessly, she lay there, knowing there were still many children to be pulled from their deaths...
And she could hear them crying...
The children of the Maxwell church...
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
"Duo, what are you doing?!" Sister Helen looked down, shocked, as the little boy quickly ran right up to her, crawled under her robes, and practically flew out the other side.
"Getting away!!" He laughed, running down the hall behind her.
She quickly noticed a small red ribbon was tightly clutched between his fingers.
When she finally turned and saw Hilde running down the hall toward her wearing an irritated pout, she chuckled.
"Where'd he go?!" the little girl huffed, one pigtail donned with a bright red ribbon, and the other with only a plain rubber band. "I KNOW he came by here!!"
Sister Helen chuckled and pointed to the hall behind her. "I believe he went down there, my dear."
Hilde smiled and ran past. "Thank you, Sister Helen."
The nun smiled and laughed once more as Hilde ran after Duo yelling that she'd tie him up with his own braid if he didn't give up her ribbon.
Those two were always getting into trouble. Whether it was by themselves, or with each other.
It never failed...
She clutched the cross around her neck tightly to her chest and sighed tiredly as she continued on down the hall to Father Maxwell's office. Her smile slowly faded into a saddened frown, and her grip on the small piece of smooth wood between her fingers loosened as she neared the door.
Being downhearted around this place was usually almost next to impossible, but not now. Little outbursts like the one she'd just encountered over the past day were the only thing that kept her smiling. And even that didn't last very long.
Soldiers were coming soon. OZ soldiers.
She knew it...and so did Father Maxwell.
The young soldier who'd brought Hilde to the church only two years ago had come back yesterday, out of the blue, to warn them. He informed them that OZ was planning on taking out a nearby village that was believed to be hiding spies and traitors.
Unfortunately, this little town was in the way... So he had immediately urged the church to find refuge as quickly as possible. Then as quickly as he had come, he left.
He'd said he wished he could stay to help them, but that there was no possible way he could. The stop at the little church wasn't supposed to be in his original plan in the first place. He was supposed to be traveling non-stop to the threatened village to attempt a quick evacuation...
Sister Helen remembered his words as she reached for the knob to the office..
~~"I'm sorry Sister Helen, Father Maxwell. I have to go. It's important that this village is saved, yes, and that's why I went against my commander's orders and stopped here, but I'm leaving it up to you now to save it..."~~
Sister Helen had prayed for so long that night...
"The Virgin Mary help us..." she said under her breath as she walked into the office and closed the door quietly behind her. Her eyes fell upon a calm looking priest sitting behind a large oak desk.
"Sister Helen.." He began slowly. "have you finished packing the necessary supplies?"
"Yes, Father Maxwell. We've five full jugs of water and plenty of food. I've loaded them into the truck with some help from the older children..." She quietly looked down at the floor as she finished, gently caressing her necklace and holding it close. "They are the only ones that know about the oncoming invasion right now.."
"Good. We don't want the smaller children in a panic..." He took a deep breath and continued. "If everything else is done, then all that's left is to get the children out of here and to safety. We will leave tonight, so tell the rest of the children to gather some items right away. Tell them only two items, Sister...only two. That's all we have room for. If they ask you why, tell them..." he hesitated for a moment before continuing, tears slowly filling his soft ice-blue eyes, "..tell them that we're going on a late-night trip and that they need to be prepared..." He sighed, mustering up the strength to keep the tears from overflowing his eyes. "That is all...tell them nothing else, Sister."
"Yes, Father Maxwell.." She sadly nodded and turned to leave the office.
Just as she did, the door burst open suddenly and slammed hard against the wall. Luckily, the nun had been a few feet out of the door's range..
"Father Maxwell!" A rugged boy, looking to be about the age of 12, stood in the door frame yelling breathlessly. He gripped the door frame tightly with one hand and gestured one way with the other.. "You have to come quick... There are some men outside.. Me'an Bobby were playin' outside with Duo and Hilde..." He struggled to finish. "And we saw'em drive up outta no where..."
Sister Helen's eyes went wide with shock. "What?!"
Another young boy with a small dirty brown cap thrown loosely upon his sandy blonde hair quickly ran up behind the first, gasping for air just as hard as he. His deep brown eyes fell upon Sister Helen as he opened his mouth to speak. "Did you tell'em, Joe?"
"No, Bobby, let me finish, will ya?!" he snapped back fiercely.
Sister Helen's locked gaze with Bobby loosened and slowly transferred frantically over to Joe. "Joe? What is it?"
"Sister Helen... Hilde and Duo are still out there.. They didn't come in with us, and we didn't notice 'till it was too late.. They must still be out there.." he paused for a moment before continuing sadly. "Do you think those men...do you think they could be the bad men you were talking about earlier? They sure look mean enough..."
Her eyes lost themselves in a wave confusion, blurring her normally good vision, but she kept running...She hardly noticed the two boys behind her who tried to grab her robes and stop her. Her imagination was running wild with horrible possibilities, and the rush of adrenaline pushed it all further...nothing was going to stop her from getting to her children... Especially not a couple of little tugs on her robes..
What was she going to do? Surely, she couldn't just run out of the church and beat the soldiers down with her bare hands.
Who were those men?
This was too soon. Were they really who she thought they could be?
What would happen to all the children...
Joe sneered at Bobby and smacked him upside the head with his flimsy hat. "Idiot. Now she's all worried. The men didn't even have guns... She's gonna embarrass herself."
Bobby flinched, then tried to grab the hat. "Stupid..." He finally grabbed the hat and hit the other boy back. "What would you know?! You ran off before I did! They *DID TOO* have guns. YOU were just too scared to notice."
"Boys! Stop this nonsense now!" Father Maxwell's head was spinning. This couldn't be happening so fast. They had planned it out...had even done it all in advance with much time to spare. The children were supposed to be safe..
He quickly shook himself out of his hotheaded thoughts. In war, there was no 'ready' or 'prepared'. Everyone had to accept that the unexpected could happen...that you can't be prepared for everything. That you had to deal with it...and quickly.
The two boys shut their mouths immediately after hearing the stern warning and looked curiously over at the priest. Surprisingly to the children, his face wasn't filled with anger...instead, it was filled with calm concern...
They both nodded and spoke softly. "Yes, Father."
"Boys, go gather the rest of the children as *calmly* and as quickly as possible...You know where to go afterwards. The plan is just like before, only it's happening a little earlier.."
He didn't have to tell them a second time before they were off and running down the halls of the church.
The priest himself wasted no time and began running down the remaining halls, quickly scooping up confused children into his arms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sister Helen quickly opened the front doors to the church and hurried out. Unfortunately she hurried a little too quickly and smacked straight into the two men in front of her.
"Ma'am?" One of the men caught her in his arms and held her there tightly.
"Who.." Sister Helen quickly realized what had happened and pushed herself away from the man's arms. He quickly let go, giving her a chance to step back and take a quick glance. These soldiers had different uniforms...not anything like the one that Hilde's rescuer had on... Her attention abruptly turned from the two men over to the children she'd so desperately been looking for. "Duo? Hilde?!" she called frantically, still wary of the soldiers.
The two children ran from behind the men happily. "Sister Helen!" they called in unison as they stopped and looked up at her.
"Oh thank heaven." She sighed. "You two, get inside. Lunch... is ready." She said, trying to mask the nervousness in her voice as she scooted the two children inside. They both looked back at her, quite confused, for they had already eaten lunch, but ran off to the dining area anyway. Sister Helen closed the doors behind her.
"Hello." She smiled and gasped in mock relief as she turned back to the men. "I'm sorry for the little outburst." The nun held her chest, still trying to catch her breath. "I'm afraid they are real trouble makers and I wasn't sure if I'd let them have a chance at messing with the townspeople's chicken pens again.." Lying straight faced to these men gave Sister Helen a horrid pang to her chest. But she realized that if she was going to get these children out, she'd have to do anything she could. Lying was only a fraction of what she might have to end up doing later on... She only hoped she was doing a good job of it. The children needed more time..
One of the soldiers smiled. "No, ma'am. In fact, they looked quite like they were playing an innocent game of hide-and-go-seek. No mischief in that, I don't think."
"No, I suppose not." Sister Helen smiled sweetly, a twinge of nervousness making her lower lip tremble. The way that man had just smoothly uttered his words sent chills down her spine. What in the world were they here for? Why hadn't they just destroyed the place and left for their next destination? "Well, I thank you for telling me so." She spoke calmly. "I would've had to scold them if I hadn't known."
"You're very welcome, miss." There was an odd moment of silence as both the soldiers looked the nun up and down. If she hadn't known better, she would've said they were getting a little too free with their eyes...which was quite confusing to her. She was wearing very non-revealing robes.
Clearing her throat politely, she finally decided to be a little bolder. "Excuse me. I don't mean to be rude, but there must be a reason I've bumped into you two fine men. You look like you've traveled far..." she scanned them up and down. "You certainly aren't from around here." As soon as she had looked past both their middles, she caught a glimpse of the gun holsters, very much filled with weaponry. Quickly, she averted her eyes, bringing them back to look the men in the face.
One of the men cocked an eyebrow, his expression curious. He coughed casually and wet his dry lips with his tongue.
"Oh no ma'm, you're 100% right. We aren't from around here. In fact, we've traveled quite far and were going to seek refuge in this quiet town before continuing on with our journey. This church looked like a good place to start."
"Well, I'm afraid all I can offer you is one room. We're holding so many children, we really don't have any room for travelers." The nun hesitated. "B-but, we do try and keep at least one room free, just in case. There's only one bed, and the room really doesn't keep in much heat..." How much longer could she keep this chatter up? Once she confirmed that there WAS enough room, she'd have to let them in... What were they trying to pull anyway? They weren't here for shelter! They were here to destroy them. All of them. The church, the town...all of the people.. Why were they playing with her?
The dark haired soldier nudged the other's side, as if to tell him to cut the idle talk.
Sister Helen's eyes went wide with horror as he finally silenced, stepped up, and grabbed her arm harshly. He leaned down and whispered hotly in her ear, making her cringe in disgust. "Don't worry ma'am. There'll be more room very soon..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hilde! Duo!"
The little boy called to the two children in front of him, fear quite evident in his thickly British accented voice. "C'mon! It's time! We've gotta get out of here..."
Duo whirled around from trying to grasp at Hilde's last ribbon, and faced the frantic child. "Bobby? What?!"
"You heard me, Duo! The soldiers are here! Sister Helen is out front trying to buy us some time. Hell, if we're gonna get out, NOW is the time!"
Hilde looked confusedly at her attacker. "Duo, what is he talking about?"
The braided little boy wasted no time, and to Hilde's disappointment, he wasted no breath either. He didn't say one word as he grasped her hand and dragged her to the back of the church.
Her expression twisted from confusion to anger. Why in the world was Duo dragging her off? And where was everyone? It seemed that the whole church was empty. All the rooms they passed along the way were deserted.
What was going on?
Duo let Hilde's hand go when they came to the back door of the church. He turned to face her and placed his hands on her shoulders firmly. "Listen to me, Hilde. There's a truck out back waiting to take us to a better place. I don't have time to explain, just trust me and go get into the back of the truck."
"I--" the now frightened little girl started.
"No, Hilde. Go now!" he snapped.
Surprised by his serious expression, Hilde stepped back and placed her hand on the knob of the door. "Okay...Duo.."
Duo turned to go back to the front of the church, but felt a hand grab his and pull, preventing him from going any further.
"Duo!" Hilde cried out suddenly, clasping his hand desperately. "What about you? Where are you going?!"
The look on his face when she turned him around was almost too much to bear. How could he look at her with such mean eyes?
"I'm going to help Sister Helen...Now let go of me and get out of here!!"
Immediately she let go of his hand, regretting it in only a few seconds after as she watched him quickly run down the hall and disappear around the corner. What could he do? He was only a child! Those soldiers would kill him and Sister Helen... like they did her mother...
Hot stinging tears ran down her cheeks as old memories became fresh in her mind.
She couldn't let them die...
Little footsteps clopped against the wooden floor as fast and hard as they could go. The sound filled her ears as she ran on, her heartbeat quickening and her breaths becoming shorter.
No, she couldn't let them die...wouldn't let them die. Everyone she'd cared about had been killed, and now it was happening all over again. Dying wasn't an option for them as far as she was concerned. Not as long as she could do something...
Something...
But what?
***************************
Did you enjoy it? I sure hope so! But you have a question? Oh, about that thing at the beginning? Yeah, I was wondering too.. What in the world WAS that? Some kind of premonition? Hmm...maybe I should finish the fic and let you find out? :)
~~Oh my friends, my friends forgive me
that I live and you are gone,
there's a grief that can't be spoken
there's a pain goes on and on
phantom faces in the window
phantom shadows on the floor
empty chairs at empty tables
now my friends will meet no more~~
****************************
Silence Welcome
"Oh please... Lord..."
"..Help us." Weak and out of breath, she collapsed onto a hard and jagged piece of concrete. Gasping for air didn't help. Every time you breathed, you sucked in nothing but dust and smoke.. It was too much.. just too much.
Dirt, blood, and sweat mingled on her face. Her hands were severely raw from digging long and hard through what seemed to be endless rubble.
Helplessly, she lay there, knowing there were still many children to be pulled from their deaths...
And she could hear them crying...
The children of the Maxwell church...
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
"Duo, what are you doing?!" Sister Helen looked down, shocked, as the little boy quickly ran right up to her, crawled under her robes, and practically flew out the other side.
"Getting away!!" He laughed, running down the hall behind her.
She quickly noticed a small red ribbon was tightly clutched between his fingers.
When she finally turned and saw Hilde running down the hall toward her wearing an irritated pout, she chuckled.
"Where'd he go?!" the little girl huffed, one pigtail donned with a bright red ribbon, and the other with only a plain rubber band. "I KNOW he came by here!!"
Sister Helen chuckled and pointed to the hall behind her. "I believe he went down there, my dear."
Hilde smiled and ran past. "Thank you, Sister Helen."
The nun smiled and laughed once more as Hilde ran after Duo yelling that she'd tie him up with his own braid if he didn't give up her ribbon.
Those two were always getting into trouble. Whether it was by themselves, or with each other.
It never failed...
She clutched the cross around her neck tightly to her chest and sighed tiredly as she continued on down the hall to Father Maxwell's office. Her smile slowly faded into a saddened frown, and her grip on the small piece of smooth wood between her fingers loosened as she neared the door.
Being downhearted around this place was usually almost next to impossible, but not now. Little outbursts like the one she'd just encountered over the past day were the only thing that kept her smiling. And even that didn't last very long.
Soldiers were coming soon. OZ soldiers.
She knew it...and so did Father Maxwell.
The young soldier who'd brought Hilde to the church only two years ago had come back yesterday, out of the blue, to warn them. He informed them that OZ was planning on taking out a nearby village that was believed to be hiding spies and traitors.
Unfortunately, this little town was in the way... So he had immediately urged the church to find refuge as quickly as possible. Then as quickly as he had come, he left.
He'd said he wished he could stay to help them, but that there was no possible way he could. The stop at the little church wasn't supposed to be in his original plan in the first place. He was supposed to be traveling non-stop to the threatened village to attempt a quick evacuation...
Sister Helen remembered his words as she reached for the knob to the office..
~~"I'm sorry Sister Helen, Father Maxwell. I have to go. It's important that this village is saved, yes, and that's why I went against my commander's orders and stopped here, but I'm leaving it up to you now to save it..."~~
Sister Helen had prayed for so long that night...
"The Virgin Mary help us..." she said under her breath as she walked into the office and closed the door quietly behind her. Her eyes fell upon a calm looking priest sitting behind a large oak desk.
"Sister Helen.." He began slowly. "have you finished packing the necessary supplies?"
"Yes, Father Maxwell. We've five full jugs of water and plenty of food. I've loaded them into the truck with some help from the older children..." She quietly looked down at the floor as she finished, gently caressing her necklace and holding it close. "They are the only ones that know about the oncoming invasion right now.."
"Good. We don't want the smaller children in a panic..." He took a deep breath and continued. "If everything else is done, then all that's left is to get the children out of here and to safety. We will leave tonight, so tell the rest of the children to gather some items right away. Tell them only two items, Sister...only two. That's all we have room for. If they ask you why, tell them..." he hesitated for a moment before continuing, tears slowly filling his soft ice-blue eyes, "..tell them that we're going on a late-night trip and that they need to be prepared..." He sighed, mustering up the strength to keep the tears from overflowing his eyes. "That is all...tell them nothing else, Sister."
"Yes, Father Maxwell.." She sadly nodded and turned to leave the office.
Just as she did, the door burst open suddenly and slammed hard against the wall. Luckily, the nun had been a few feet out of the door's range..
"Father Maxwell!" A rugged boy, looking to be about the age of 12, stood in the door frame yelling breathlessly. He gripped the door frame tightly with one hand and gestured one way with the other.. "You have to come quick... There are some men outside.. Me'an Bobby were playin' outside with Duo and Hilde..." He struggled to finish. "And we saw'em drive up outta no where..."
Sister Helen's eyes went wide with shock. "What?!"
Another young boy with a small dirty brown cap thrown loosely upon his sandy blonde hair quickly ran up behind the first, gasping for air just as hard as he. His deep brown eyes fell upon Sister Helen as he opened his mouth to speak. "Did you tell'em, Joe?"
"No, Bobby, let me finish, will ya?!" he snapped back fiercely.
Sister Helen's locked gaze with Bobby loosened and slowly transferred frantically over to Joe. "Joe? What is it?"
"Sister Helen... Hilde and Duo are still out there.. They didn't come in with us, and we didn't notice 'till it was too late.. They must still be out there.." he paused for a moment before continuing sadly. "Do you think those men...do you think they could be the bad men you were talking about earlier? They sure look mean enough..."
Her eyes lost themselves in a wave confusion, blurring her normally good vision, but she kept running...She hardly noticed the two boys behind her who tried to grab her robes and stop her. Her imagination was running wild with horrible possibilities, and the rush of adrenaline pushed it all further...nothing was going to stop her from getting to her children... Especially not a couple of little tugs on her robes..
What was she going to do? Surely, she couldn't just run out of the church and beat the soldiers down with her bare hands.
Who were those men?
This was too soon. Were they really who she thought they could be?
What would happen to all the children...
Joe sneered at Bobby and smacked him upside the head with his flimsy hat. "Idiot. Now she's all worried. The men didn't even have guns... She's gonna embarrass herself."
Bobby flinched, then tried to grab the hat. "Stupid..." He finally grabbed the hat and hit the other boy back. "What would you know?! You ran off before I did! They *DID TOO* have guns. YOU were just too scared to notice."
"Boys! Stop this nonsense now!" Father Maxwell's head was spinning. This couldn't be happening so fast. They had planned it out...had even done it all in advance with much time to spare. The children were supposed to be safe..
He quickly shook himself out of his hotheaded thoughts. In war, there was no 'ready' or 'prepared'. Everyone had to accept that the unexpected could happen...that you can't be prepared for everything. That you had to deal with it...and quickly.
The two boys shut their mouths immediately after hearing the stern warning and looked curiously over at the priest. Surprisingly to the children, his face wasn't filled with anger...instead, it was filled with calm concern...
They both nodded and spoke softly. "Yes, Father."
"Boys, go gather the rest of the children as *calmly* and as quickly as possible...You know where to go afterwards. The plan is just like before, only it's happening a little earlier.."
He didn't have to tell them a second time before they were off and running down the halls of the church.
The priest himself wasted no time and began running down the remaining halls, quickly scooping up confused children into his arms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sister Helen quickly opened the front doors to the church and hurried out. Unfortunately she hurried a little too quickly and smacked straight into the two men in front of her.
"Ma'am?" One of the men caught her in his arms and held her there tightly.
"Who.." Sister Helen quickly realized what had happened and pushed herself away from the man's arms. He quickly let go, giving her a chance to step back and take a quick glance. These soldiers had different uniforms...not anything like the one that Hilde's rescuer had on... Her attention abruptly turned from the two men over to the children she'd so desperately been looking for. "Duo? Hilde?!" she called frantically, still wary of the soldiers.
The two children ran from behind the men happily. "Sister Helen!" they called in unison as they stopped and looked up at her.
"Oh thank heaven." She sighed. "You two, get inside. Lunch... is ready." She said, trying to mask the nervousness in her voice as she scooted the two children inside. They both looked back at her, quite confused, for they had already eaten lunch, but ran off to the dining area anyway. Sister Helen closed the doors behind her.
"Hello." She smiled and gasped in mock relief as she turned back to the men. "I'm sorry for the little outburst." The nun held her chest, still trying to catch her breath. "I'm afraid they are real trouble makers and I wasn't sure if I'd let them have a chance at messing with the townspeople's chicken pens again.." Lying straight faced to these men gave Sister Helen a horrid pang to her chest. But she realized that if she was going to get these children out, she'd have to do anything she could. Lying was only a fraction of what she might have to end up doing later on... She only hoped she was doing a good job of it. The children needed more time..
One of the soldiers smiled. "No, ma'am. In fact, they looked quite like they were playing an innocent game of hide-and-go-seek. No mischief in that, I don't think."
"No, I suppose not." Sister Helen smiled sweetly, a twinge of nervousness making her lower lip tremble. The way that man had just smoothly uttered his words sent chills down her spine. What in the world were they here for? Why hadn't they just destroyed the place and left for their next destination? "Well, I thank you for telling me so." She spoke calmly. "I would've had to scold them if I hadn't known."
"You're very welcome, miss." There was an odd moment of silence as both the soldiers looked the nun up and down. If she hadn't known better, she would've said they were getting a little too free with their eyes...which was quite confusing to her. She was wearing very non-revealing robes.
Clearing her throat politely, she finally decided to be a little bolder. "Excuse me. I don't mean to be rude, but there must be a reason I've bumped into you two fine men. You look like you've traveled far..." she scanned them up and down. "You certainly aren't from around here." As soon as she had looked past both their middles, she caught a glimpse of the gun holsters, very much filled with weaponry. Quickly, she averted her eyes, bringing them back to look the men in the face.
One of the men cocked an eyebrow, his expression curious. He coughed casually and wet his dry lips with his tongue.
"Oh no ma'm, you're 100% right. We aren't from around here. In fact, we've traveled quite far and were going to seek refuge in this quiet town before continuing on with our journey. This church looked like a good place to start."
"Well, I'm afraid all I can offer you is one room. We're holding so many children, we really don't have any room for travelers." The nun hesitated. "B-but, we do try and keep at least one room free, just in case. There's only one bed, and the room really doesn't keep in much heat..." How much longer could she keep this chatter up? Once she confirmed that there WAS enough room, she'd have to let them in... What were they trying to pull anyway? They weren't here for shelter! They were here to destroy them. All of them. The church, the town...all of the people.. Why were they playing with her?
The dark haired soldier nudged the other's side, as if to tell him to cut the idle talk.
Sister Helen's eyes went wide with horror as he finally silenced, stepped up, and grabbed her arm harshly. He leaned down and whispered hotly in her ear, making her cringe in disgust. "Don't worry ma'am. There'll be more room very soon..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hilde! Duo!"
The little boy called to the two children in front of him, fear quite evident in his thickly British accented voice. "C'mon! It's time! We've gotta get out of here..."
Duo whirled around from trying to grasp at Hilde's last ribbon, and faced the frantic child. "Bobby? What?!"
"You heard me, Duo! The soldiers are here! Sister Helen is out front trying to buy us some time. Hell, if we're gonna get out, NOW is the time!"
Hilde looked confusedly at her attacker. "Duo, what is he talking about?"
The braided little boy wasted no time, and to Hilde's disappointment, he wasted no breath either. He didn't say one word as he grasped her hand and dragged her to the back of the church.
Her expression twisted from confusion to anger. Why in the world was Duo dragging her off? And where was everyone? It seemed that the whole church was empty. All the rooms they passed along the way were deserted.
What was going on?
Duo let Hilde's hand go when they came to the back door of the church. He turned to face her and placed his hands on her shoulders firmly. "Listen to me, Hilde. There's a truck out back waiting to take us to a better place. I don't have time to explain, just trust me and go get into the back of the truck."
"I--" the now frightened little girl started.
"No, Hilde. Go now!" he snapped.
Surprised by his serious expression, Hilde stepped back and placed her hand on the knob of the door. "Okay...Duo.."
Duo turned to go back to the front of the church, but felt a hand grab his and pull, preventing him from going any further.
"Duo!" Hilde cried out suddenly, clasping his hand desperately. "What about you? Where are you going?!"
The look on his face when she turned him around was almost too much to bear. How could he look at her with such mean eyes?
"I'm going to help Sister Helen...Now let go of me and get out of here!!"
Immediately she let go of his hand, regretting it in only a few seconds after as she watched him quickly run down the hall and disappear around the corner. What could he do? He was only a child! Those soldiers would kill him and Sister Helen... like they did her mother...
Hot stinging tears ran down her cheeks as old memories became fresh in her mind.
She couldn't let them die...
Little footsteps clopped against the wooden floor as fast and hard as they could go. The sound filled her ears as she ran on, her heartbeat quickening and her breaths becoming shorter.
No, she couldn't let them die...wouldn't let them die. Everyone she'd cared about had been killed, and now it was happening all over again. Dying wasn't an option for them as far as she was concerned. Not as long as she could do something...
Something...
But what?
***************************
Did you enjoy it? I sure hope so! But you have a question? Oh, about that thing at the beginning? Yeah, I was wondering too.. What in the world WAS that? Some kind of premonition? Hmm...maybe I should finish the fic and let you find out? :)
~~Oh my friends, my friends forgive me
that I live and you are gone,
there's a grief that can't be spoken
there's a pain goes on and on
phantom faces in the window
phantom shadows on the floor
empty chairs at empty tables
now my friends will meet no more~~