Wandering Child

Chapter 5- Friendship and Explanations

Disclaimer: I don't own PotO, or the lyrics to the beautiful lullaby, Close Your Eyes.

"What terminal do we go to?" I asked AM4.

"We don't go to a terminal. Our plane is private." I had a hard time keeping up with his long strides. He was tall and had a muscular build. His black mask covered the left side of his face. No one seemed to think it interesting that there were two people dressed all in black and wearing black masks who were being followed by a tall, skinny girl with shoulder-length blond hair, jeans, and a tank-top in the airport.

As I entered the plane, I saw how luxurious it was, and I gasped. "How could you afford such an expensive plane if everyone hates you?" I asked as I sat down and buckled my seatbelt.

"Everyone doesn't hate us." AM3 said quietly, looking at me in a strange manner. "But they do fear us. All AM1, and AM2 have to do is make a few threats and they get what they want. On occasion they reveal their faces when making the threats if the person is especially unwilling." I looked at her, horrified. "Don't worry." She said. "It's not as bad as it sounds. And it puts food on the table."

"When I was little, my mother would sing as she worked. My mother had a beautiful voice." The left side of her face became clouded with memories and it made her look younger. "Sometimes," She said wistfully, "I can still hear my mother singing a lullaby to me." She began to hum a soft melody as the planes engines powered up. Then she started to sing.

Well the sun is slowly sinking down
But the moon is slowly rising.
So this old world must still be spinning 'round.
And I still love you.
So close you eyes
You can close your eyes, it's alright.
I don't know no love songs
And I can't sing the blues anymore.
But I can sing this song.
And you can sing this song when I'm gone.

It won't be long before another day
We're gonna have a good time
And no one's gonna take that time away
You can stay as long as you like.
So close you eyes
You can close your eyes, it's alright.
I don't know no love songs
And I can't sing the blues anymore.
But I can sing this song.
And you can sing this song when I'm gone.

"That was beautiful." I whispered with tears in my eyes.

"No matter what I looked like, my mother still loved me. If she hadn't died of leukemia, I wouldn't be here right now. My mother was the only one who truly loved me for who I was on the inside and the outside." AM3's eyes glistened as she thought about her precious mother, and how much she missed her.

I realized that AM3 had just confided in me her deepest thoughts. She must really trust me, I thought. "When I was little," I said. "My mom would always read me a story. We would cuddle up on the sofa and she would wrap an afghan around us and then she'd start to read. I really loved it when she read to me. Sometimes, I think that I might have been adopted when I was little and I just don't remember it."

"Why's that?" AM3 asked, looking up from her lap. She had been staring at her hands, embarrassed that she had said so much.

"Well," I said. "Whenever I remember my mother reading to me, the woman isn't the same mother that I have now. I think my real mother died when I was little, and it was so traumatizing that I just don't remember."

An awkward silence passed between us and AM4 came back into the passenger area. "We'll be taking off in a few minutes." He said, sitting down and buckling his seatbelt.

"I just have one question." I said, turning to him.

"What?" He asked.

"Why did that guy try to kill me?" I asked, sure that that had been the man's purpose.

"AM4 started to speak, but AM3 interrupted him. "Don't listen to whatever he says. He'll only lie to you. You deserve to know the truth. That man was part of an elite group of people who are opposed to everything that we stand for. They have spies everywhere. Their goal is to create a world where, if a child is born deformed or becomes deformed, they will be either cast out into the wilderness, or they will be killed."

"That's terrible!" I exclaimed. "But what does that have to do with me?"

"They must have figured out that you had the manuscript. If you have the manuscript, then they knew it was only a matter of time before we found you."

AM4 interrupted her there. "That's why we have to get this over and done with as soon as possible. We can't risk The Others finding us."

"The Others?" I asked.

"That's what we call this group." AM3 said. I sat back in my seat and thought about what they had said. If what they said was true, then I was in more danger than I thought.

-

Margaret Lawrence sat up in bed. Something felt wrong. She checked her clock. It was five AM. She lay back down but she couldn't get to sleep. She got up and went downstairs to get a drink of water.

As she headed downstairs, she felt as though someone was watching her. Her husband was out of town on business. Her daughter, Rebecca, was sleeping in her bedroom on the second floor.

Margaret went to the fridge and stopped short. There was a note pinned in Rebecca's hasty scrawl. It said:

Dear Mom and Dad,

Sorry I couldn't let you know sooner, but I went off to visit a friend who's sick. You won't be able to reach me all weekend. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Love Rebecca.

Margaret tore the note off of the fridge door and ran up the stairs as fast as she could. When she got to Rebecca's room, she threw open the door. There was a large oblong shaped lump under the covers. Margaret threw away the covers. Underneath the blanket were three pillows. And Rebecca's cat.

Margaret looked at the note again. The writing was certainly Rebecca's, but Rebecca didn't use words like 'inconvenience'. Margaret had a bad feeling about it.

A/N: Sorry for such a short chapter, but my cat is sitting on my arm and won't go away. AAWWW! SHE'S SO CUTE! And soft. My mom really would sing that lullaby to me when I was little. That was my favorite lullaby as a kid. Please review.