So...How's Luna feeling about Jeff...
Will she give him away to the Seekers?
Find out:
Chapter 7 – Warden
I couldn't concentrate with the clicking of my Seeker's heels as she paced across the tiles.
"Have you found anything yet?" Healer Flames asked patiently.
"I – I'm sorry," I said, frustrated. I was having trouble focusing on the memories. "I didn't get much sleep last night."
And it was the truth; I couldn't close my eyes with Dana restless in my mind, imagining Jeff's eyes ringed in silver.
Jeff, with another being inside his body.
"Jeff Hatch was Dana's brother," I said, weakly, repeating the same information for the second or third time.
"Yes Dana," The Seeker spat, "We know."
"I – I have a vague idea of what he looks like," I offered. The Seeker's eyes sparkled with something I couldn't detect. She turned to me, stopping her incessant pacing.
No! Dana cried, don't tell them, please!
"Would you care to describe him to me?" The Seeker asked, tilting her head to the side.
I knew her. I definitely knew her. This body, Dana knew who she was. Dana had numerous memories of a woman who used to tilt her head in the exact manner.
Dana, who is she?
There was no response.
Who is she? I know you remember something...
No. I don't know who she is.
Dana's voice was soft and strained. Even I could tell she was lying.
The Seeker snapped her fingers.
"Luna? Jeff! What does he look like?" She demanded.
"Perhaps it would be easier for her to draw him? I know her Calling is an artistic one," Healer Flames said pleasantly.
I nodded. "Yes, please. I would prefer drawing him." I decided not to tell them I had a very detailed sketch hidden in the bottom drawer of my dresser.
Please, they can't know.
The memory of Jeff pulling me into a hug on Thanksgiving Day engulfed me. I felt my mouth quirk into a slight smile.
"I'll be right back," Healer Flames said, standing to find me a piece of paper.
The room was silent. My Seeker stood by the window, gazing off into some distant place.
What if I never see him again?
Dana's voice broke into a shuddering breath. I felt her aching for her older brother.
I also felt a twinge of sympathy for the human. Her own mind had become a jail. A jail well deserved, but a prison all the
Healer Flames returned quickly, with a sheet of glossy white paper and a blue pen.
Please, she begged, don't show them who he is.
Her intentions to "protect" her family, though misguided, were admirable.
It's a little late for that, I said, surprised to hear a note of sorrow in my thoughts.
Healer Flames slid the pen and paper across the large table, motioning for me to draw the man in Dana's memories.
Just draw someone else! She exclaimed, as I hesitantly picked up the pen.
Someone else?
Yes! Just…just make someone up.
I thought of Jeff, wondering what he was doing right now. Maybe he was thinking about his little sister.
I started to draw a head, one with a jaw much squarer than Jeff's.
Maybe Jeff was reliving the nightmare of what it must've been to come back to the warehouse the night Dana almost killed herself. To come back and find Dana gone, and her blood on the cement floor.
I continued to sketch a nose rounder and a bit smaller than Jeff's.
Where was Jeff the night that the Seekers…found you?
I was genuinely curious.
He…she said haltingly, He and…he had gone to the dumpster outside of one of the supermarkets a little ways into one of the towns.
Why?
To find food.
You…you ate out of dumpsters? I chose my words carefully.
Yes.
My mind overflowed with thoughts of how badly the humans must want to keep their bodies to themselves.
Selfish creatures.
I drew over the rounded, smaller nose, straightening it and hardening it. Making it look more like Jeff's
No, actually. It wasn't selfish at all.
Dana's voice sizzled with anger. I didn't respond.
How is it selfish to want what is rightfully yours? Selfish people put themselves before others. I am not selfish. I died trying to keep my memories from you people.
Almost died, I corrected.
I might as well be dead. I am to the rest of the world. No…no one knows I'm here.
I heard the strangled pain in her voice, and felt the odd urge to comfort her.
I know you're here.
I gave Jeff smaller eyes that sunk deep into his skin and added small, generic lips. I etched the lines of sleep-deprived bags into his skin and shaded the inner corner of his eyes.
I pulled back, searching the face I had drawn. The Seekers eyes were on me, analyzing each line of my pen. I tried not to shudder. She always seemed to be present, even when she wasn't physically around to watch me. It made me feel strange…like I was vulnerable even though I knew I was safe.
Creeped out. Dana supplied words for my feelings.
I gave the picture of the unknown man dark, curly hair pushed away from his face and falling to the tips of his ears.
Give him a scar, Dana suggested.
Why?
Because when you're looking for a person, you watch for unique characteristics.
Like scars?
Yeah. They'll be searching for a man with a scar…instead of Jeff.
I smiled at the easy deception required to keep Jeff away from my Seeker.
I outline a curved, jagged line running from the eyebrow up to the forehead and dropped my pen.
"I'm finished," I said, pushing the paper across the table towards my Seeker. She snatched the drawing from the table in a manner that reminded me of a toddler trying to steal their friends' toys without the teacher noticing.
"The drawing his quite amazing," Healer Flames observed cheerfully, "Don't you think, Cassandra?"
"It is indeed," She said distantly, studying the sketch with a burning intensity, "But it is not Jeff."
I contained my gasp.
"What do you mean?" Healer Flames asked.
"What I mean is this is not the face of Jeff Hatch."
"I – I don't understand," I stammered, "How do you know?"
The Seeker suddenly became quite flustered. "I don't…well, I mean, of course I do. I just – I just don't know."
Healer Flames eyed her skeptically. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?"
"Yes!" She said with sudden force. Taking a step backwards, she held a hand to her temple.
"I apologize, Luna. I just – I don't know."
It was a half-hearted apology, but I accepted it the way it was.
"And you're sure this is Jeff?" Healer Flames inquired. I simply nodded, fearing that my voice would give away the truth.
"Well," Healer Flames said, getting to his feet, "I think that's enough for today." He headed over to my Seeker, who leaned against the wall, coated in agitation. You could see it easily, in her tight, distraught face and stiff body. He put a hand gently on her back.
"You should rest, Seeker. It's been a long day."
I looked out the window. The sun had just reached the highest point in its climb into the sky. It was noon. The day was far from over, and there was much to look forward to.
Including my outing with Star Blanket.
So...
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So...after Chapter 8 I'm probably not going to able to post chapters every day, because I already had the first five on my computer, which let me get ahead...and I've been having some major writer's block on Chapter 9.
The action is coming. The TRUE love story is also coming. This is just my slightly-boring, slightly-actionless introductory, meet-the-characters kind of chapters.
Check out Chapter 3 for my ongoing thing. Give me some characters, maybe I can break my writer's block.