Only a Moment....
Chapter3
~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ **~~
Shadows of Memories . . .
Sally climbed out of the river, and after Wufei. The wind was picking up now, as the first drops of rain started. They quickly gathered up their few belongings. They were going to have to find shelter now. This was going to be a worse storm then they first thought.
"Damn it! We can't stay out in the open like this! We need a place to stay till this passes."
"This way! I found a place earlier we might be able to use." Sally led him to a huge tree deeper in the forest. The top half of it was missing, and the bottom half turned out to be hollow. A small opening in the side led into the empty cavity. There was not a lot of headroom. It was more long and narrow then anything. About 4 feet high you could sit up against the 'wall' in certain places. The sides were mostly made up of the roots of the old tree.
"Sally why didn't you say anything about this place earlier?" Wufei asked pulling the rest of their supplies in the small opening. Bumping his head on the low ceiling, he cursed.
"Well I though maybe I could find the communicator and get us a ride out of here, and I couldn't drag your senseless carcass any further." Sally turned on a flashlight and hung it up in the roots of the tree. Sally stretched out the sleeping bags again into a makeshift bed one for the top and one for the bottom, and placed her backpack as a pillow.
Wufei watched her the whole time. He couldn't understand why she was doing this. They had been in similar situations before, but he could sense that there was something wrong with Sally. Something just didn't seem to be right with her. A flash of light brought him back to his task. Using one of the garbage bags they had, he covered the entrance to there small hole. Punching some holes in the plastic with his finger to keep air flowing through.
The rain started, making a patter sound as it hit the plastic. He turned back to Sally. She was back to him and something was wrong. She was curled up hugging herself. A crack of thunder confirmed what Wufei thought. She pulled herself closer. Sally was afraid of thunder.
"Sally . . . you ok?" he asked placing a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump.
"Fine," she answered in a calm voice. But it did nothing to cover the fear on her face. He could make fun of her right now, as revenge for earlier, but for some reason he couldn't. He didn't want to hurt her. Swallowing his pride, Wufei crawled past Sally to the back of the hole. Sitting up against the wall, he motioned for her to come sit in front of him . . .
"Come." It was a straight, and firm command. The kind he usually gave when faced with a situation, he didn't know how to deal with. Slowly Sally crawled over to him and sat down. They looked at each other for a moment before he grabbed her arm. Pulling her she stumbled into him. Her chin on his shoulder, and her hands on the front of his jacket. At first she didn't know what to do, they had never been this close before. Reaching down behind her, he pulled the sleeping bag around them.
"Sleep." He commanded, only this time it was more of a whisper. Adjusting slightly she rested her head on his chest again. She could hear his heart beat through his jacket. It was fast and hard. Sally smiled to herself, and started to fade off. Thunder and lightning continued to fill the sky as the temperature started to drop.
~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ **~~
Rain continued to pour down from above, as the wind whipped past the small opening of their tree. He was still awake, still watching her sleep in his arms. That's where he wanted her, right then, right there. Sally squirmed as she snuggled closer to his body heat in her sleep. Wufei chuckled softly. `She is so beautiful, even with her hair falling down out of its usual style.` He pulled the sleeping bag closer around them.
"Stop."
Wufei looked down at her in surprise. He thought she was asleep, but he might have been wrong. She hadn't moved, or opened her eye. He watched her a bit longer. Was she dreaming?
"Please."Tears rolled down her face as she started to cry.
"Sally what's wrong?"
**Sally's dream**
*Light flashed. A small girl about the age of 10 huddled deeper under the covers. Shadows moved across the walls, onto the floor, and up the side of the bed. Branches scratched the window every so often as the wind would pick up. Sounding like some ones fingernails trying to find a way into her room from the storm outside.
A clap of thunder echoed through the small house. Another clap shook the far wall, or at least that's what she wanted to believe. She knew it wasn't the storm outside that had shook the house that time. It was the storm inside. More furious and deadly then anything nature could dream up. This was the storm of her life. The one she had been born into, and knew would soon kill her.
Just like it was doing right now . . . to her mother.
Another scream and the wall shook again with the force of the body that had hit it. Screaming . . . screaming bloody murder. And that's what it was. Murder. The murder of her mother because of what she was. Something that could not be change, only persuasion, shamed, and beaten on a regular basis.
Another scream, this time from the killer. Trying to block out the words' she hide deeper in the bed. Crying . . . screaming . . . her body being slammed against the wall over and over again. Thunder mixed with the crying, increasing the pain. Fear. She didn't want to be alone. She wanted to be with her mother. Even if it meant she would die the same way.
Slowly she moved, off the bed and onto the floor. Slowly she crawled to the door. The angry words were easy to make out now. One of the board under her creaked. She froze. But the screaming and pounding went on . . . opening the door and crawling out into the short hall way, she moved for the door with a crack of light from beneath. Lighting lit up the hall for a moment, before it was once again cast in dark.
The dark was good. The dark was safe. The dark you could hide in. The young girl moved further and peaked through the key hole.
Blood . . . everywhere. On the walls it ran to the floor where it puddled with the rest. Shreds of fabric stuck to the bloodied form on the floor. The girl's eyes widened in fear. He had always beaten her, but never to this extent. She couldn't even recognize her own mother.
"Worthless bitch!" the man kicked her. "Why did I ever agree to marry you? What was my father thinking when he arranged that damn marriage? I never got a good thing out of the whole thing!" he kicked her again.
She cried out again. "Stop, please stop. I'll try again. Please . . . " her voice was chocked with tears, and her blood where she had bitten her tongue. He himself was covered in it, but he could care less.
"No, you're not even worthy to look at me. You couldn't do a simple thing like give me a son. Instead you gave me a good-for-nothing girl!" he kicked her again. This time hard enough to cause her head to hit against the wall. "Now I'm going to have to see if that brat can do anything useful for me, you can't!" He spat at her.
The girl on her knees now watched in horror as he grabbed his sword off the shelf. "I should have done this a long time ago." He swung the sword at her.
"Mother!"
The man stopped, and turned to the door. His eyes widening in anger. " You little bitch! Now I'll have to kill you too."
"Leave her alone! Sally run!" her mother flung herself at father. Sally never saw her mother again, she turned and ran out the back door and into the storm. Another scream was heard above the wind as her father ran her through. She keeps running. Deeper into the woods, and farther from that house and him. The rain soaked her clothes and chilled her to the bone, she keeps running. He was right behind her.
"You get back here!" his voice hissed with anger. He was getting closer. Branches whipped her face. The briers cut her legs and left them cut and bleeding. She could hear him getting closer. Finally the trees parted. She was at the edge of a river. The water thundered past her feet in raged by the rain from the storm.
"Sally!"
She turned. There he was. Blood trickled off the blade of the sward in his hand. Madness flashing in his eyes. She stepped back, and fell into the water. Cold, and dark.*
"No!" Sally screamed and ran from Wufei's arms.
TBC . . .
Chapter3
~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ **~~
Shadows of Memories . . .
Sally climbed out of the river, and after Wufei. The wind was picking up now, as the first drops of rain started. They quickly gathered up their few belongings. They were going to have to find shelter now. This was going to be a worse storm then they first thought.
"Damn it! We can't stay out in the open like this! We need a place to stay till this passes."
"This way! I found a place earlier we might be able to use." Sally led him to a huge tree deeper in the forest. The top half of it was missing, and the bottom half turned out to be hollow. A small opening in the side led into the empty cavity. There was not a lot of headroom. It was more long and narrow then anything. About 4 feet high you could sit up against the 'wall' in certain places. The sides were mostly made up of the roots of the old tree.
"Sally why didn't you say anything about this place earlier?" Wufei asked pulling the rest of their supplies in the small opening. Bumping his head on the low ceiling, he cursed.
"Well I though maybe I could find the communicator and get us a ride out of here, and I couldn't drag your senseless carcass any further." Sally turned on a flashlight and hung it up in the roots of the tree. Sally stretched out the sleeping bags again into a makeshift bed one for the top and one for the bottom, and placed her backpack as a pillow.
Wufei watched her the whole time. He couldn't understand why she was doing this. They had been in similar situations before, but he could sense that there was something wrong with Sally. Something just didn't seem to be right with her. A flash of light brought him back to his task. Using one of the garbage bags they had, he covered the entrance to there small hole. Punching some holes in the plastic with his finger to keep air flowing through.
The rain started, making a patter sound as it hit the plastic. He turned back to Sally. She was back to him and something was wrong. She was curled up hugging herself. A crack of thunder confirmed what Wufei thought. She pulled herself closer. Sally was afraid of thunder.
"Sally . . . you ok?" he asked placing a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump.
"Fine," she answered in a calm voice. But it did nothing to cover the fear on her face. He could make fun of her right now, as revenge for earlier, but for some reason he couldn't. He didn't want to hurt her. Swallowing his pride, Wufei crawled past Sally to the back of the hole. Sitting up against the wall, he motioned for her to come sit in front of him . . .
"Come." It was a straight, and firm command. The kind he usually gave when faced with a situation, he didn't know how to deal with. Slowly Sally crawled over to him and sat down. They looked at each other for a moment before he grabbed her arm. Pulling her she stumbled into him. Her chin on his shoulder, and her hands on the front of his jacket. At first she didn't know what to do, they had never been this close before. Reaching down behind her, he pulled the sleeping bag around them.
"Sleep." He commanded, only this time it was more of a whisper. Adjusting slightly she rested her head on his chest again. She could hear his heart beat through his jacket. It was fast and hard. Sally smiled to herself, and started to fade off. Thunder and lightning continued to fill the sky as the temperature started to drop.
~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ **~~
Rain continued to pour down from above, as the wind whipped past the small opening of their tree. He was still awake, still watching her sleep in his arms. That's where he wanted her, right then, right there. Sally squirmed as she snuggled closer to his body heat in her sleep. Wufei chuckled softly. `She is so beautiful, even with her hair falling down out of its usual style.` He pulled the sleeping bag closer around them.
"Stop."
Wufei looked down at her in surprise. He thought she was asleep, but he might have been wrong. She hadn't moved, or opened her eye. He watched her a bit longer. Was she dreaming?
"Please."Tears rolled down her face as she started to cry.
"Sally what's wrong?"
**Sally's dream**
*Light flashed. A small girl about the age of 10 huddled deeper under the covers. Shadows moved across the walls, onto the floor, and up the side of the bed. Branches scratched the window every so often as the wind would pick up. Sounding like some ones fingernails trying to find a way into her room from the storm outside.
A clap of thunder echoed through the small house. Another clap shook the far wall, or at least that's what she wanted to believe. She knew it wasn't the storm outside that had shook the house that time. It was the storm inside. More furious and deadly then anything nature could dream up. This was the storm of her life. The one she had been born into, and knew would soon kill her.
Just like it was doing right now . . . to her mother.
Another scream and the wall shook again with the force of the body that had hit it. Screaming . . . screaming bloody murder. And that's what it was. Murder. The murder of her mother because of what she was. Something that could not be change, only persuasion, shamed, and beaten on a regular basis.
Another scream, this time from the killer. Trying to block out the words' she hide deeper in the bed. Crying . . . screaming . . . her body being slammed against the wall over and over again. Thunder mixed with the crying, increasing the pain. Fear. She didn't want to be alone. She wanted to be with her mother. Even if it meant she would die the same way.
Slowly she moved, off the bed and onto the floor. Slowly she crawled to the door. The angry words were easy to make out now. One of the board under her creaked. She froze. But the screaming and pounding went on . . . opening the door and crawling out into the short hall way, she moved for the door with a crack of light from beneath. Lighting lit up the hall for a moment, before it was once again cast in dark.
The dark was good. The dark was safe. The dark you could hide in. The young girl moved further and peaked through the key hole.
Blood . . . everywhere. On the walls it ran to the floor where it puddled with the rest. Shreds of fabric stuck to the bloodied form on the floor. The girl's eyes widened in fear. He had always beaten her, but never to this extent. She couldn't even recognize her own mother.
"Worthless bitch!" the man kicked her. "Why did I ever agree to marry you? What was my father thinking when he arranged that damn marriage? I never got a good thing out of the whole thing!" he kicked her again.
She cried out again. "Stop, please stop. I'll try again. Please . . . " her voice was chocked with tears, and her blood where she had bitten her tongue. He himself was covered in it, but he could care less.
"No, you're not even worthy to look at me. You couldn't do a simple thing like give me a son. Instead you gave me a good-for-nothing girl!" he kicked her again. This time hard enough to cause her head to hit against the wall. "Now I'm going to have to see if that brat can do anything useful for me, you can't!" He spat at her.
The girl on her knees now watched in horror as he grabbed his sword off the shelf. "I should have done this a long time ago." He swung the sword at her.
"Mother!"
The man stopped, and turned to the door. His eyes widening in anger. " You little bitch! Now I'll have to kill you too."
"Leave her alone! Sally run!" her mother flung herself at father. Sally never saw her mother again, she turned and ran out the back door and into the storm. Another scream was heard above the wind as her father ran her through. She keeps running. Deeper into the woods, and farther from that house and him. The rain soaked her clothes and chilled her to the bone, she keeps running. He was right behind her.
"You get back here!" his voice hissed with anger. He was getting closer. Branches whipped her face. The briers cut her legs and left them cut and bleeding. She could hear him getting closer. Finally the trees parted. She was at the edge of a river. The water thundered past her feet in raged by the rain from the storm.
"Sally!"
She turned. There he was. Blood trickled off the blade of the sward in his hand. Madness flashing in his eyes. She stepped back, and fell into the water. Cold, and dark.*
"No!" Sally screamed and ran from Wufei's arms.
TBC . . .