CHAPTER THIRTEEN: ESCAPE FROM HELL
I came in and out of it a few
times, then I woke up again, telling mysefl I had to save Zavier.
Despite the biting cold, I got up slowly and opened the door of the
shed. Inside, it was warm and I felt myself grow
stronger.
Inside
the shed, the stretcher was empty. My father was gone and I thought
How long have I been out? I looked around for the gun, but didn't see
it. I did find a drawing of a pretty lizard monster with long hair
and a set of small, bat-like wings.
"Randy?"
asked a small, weak voice. I spun around and saw, standing behind the
door, the same pretty lizard monster.
Her
hair was black, like her scales, and she had slanted yellow eyes with
small short horns. There were rainbow patterned scales on her back
and tail and her wings were small indeed, bat-like and gray. She wore
no jacket. "Where's Zavier?" I demanded. I would fight this
monster if had to. "Randall, it's me." she said sadly. She
looked at the floor and closed her eyes. I took a closer look, and
saw that she had a small, red, crescent- shaped mark on her left
forearm.
"Zavier!"
I gasped, my jaw droping to the floor. She nodded and ran to me. She
threw her arms around me and, taken by surprise, I hugged her back.
Pressing my face into her hair, it was cold and felt like silk. Her
scales were warm and dry, mine cold and wet. I don't know how long we
stood like that, but after awhile, I pulled her away. She was crying,
for real this time.
"Come
on, Zave. Let's get outta here." I urged softly. "What
about your sister and that guy, your dad?" she asked softly. I
frowned. "Those walking corpses aren't my family. My family is
dead and happy in another life somewhere." I said bitterly. I
dropped the picture of Zavier on the floor and looked at my
feet.
Then Zavier
did something that no one had done since I was a very small child.
She reached over and kissed my cheek. I didn't react at first. She
stood there, looking like a lizard monster with no happiness anymore,
staring at me. "You know, Randall, maybe you could be a writer
someday." she said thoughtfully. I laughed and opened the door
again. The cold greeted us like a parent. We shivered and ran for
it.
Back in the car, I found that the keys were still in the
ignition and the heater still ran. Gratefull to be alive, I started
the car and blasted the heater as high as it would go.
"Hey,
Zavier?" I asked before backing out. She looked over at me from
the passenger's seat. "Yeah?" she asked. "How did you
end up like this?" I asked. She looked out the window and
shrugged. "Ray shot me with that gun thing. It changed me, made
my skin burn. It felt like a thousand knives stabbing me over and
over again." she mused.
She
looked back out the window again and I was suddenly struck by how
much I cared for her then. We had so much in common, both abandoned
early, both with no family, both raised in orphanages, and both of us
liked music. She's beautiful, always had been, and I'm not model
material, but I'm very good looking. There were things about her that
annoyed me sometimes, sure, but despite her reputation as a rocker
and all her sarcasm, faults and pickyness, I loved her. It sounds
strange, because she had been human, but it's true.
"Come
on. Let's go home." she smiled at me and I backed out.