Chapter 6
Kaissy ran past Rowe, pulling him along into ally after ally. The memories of when she last passed through the area were fuzzy, but Kaissy knew how to lose her pursuers in the maze of the city and get Rowe and herself out the other side safely.
She pulled Rowe along as she drifted sharply to the ally on her right. Zalfon and the assassin's footsteps pounded in her head as they slowly gained on them. Letting go of Rowe's hand, Kaissy slipped behind a large pile of boxes and Rowe followed.
Kaissy sat and scooted to the darkest shadow the boxes could provide. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. 'Oh, please, maker, let them not find us.' She thought to herself.
Rowe kept his back against the boxes, looking over to spot the enemy. He ducked his head low as Zalfon and his follower ran past them and into the streets of an old neighborhood.
They sat in silence for a moment. Seeing the pursuers had gone temporarily, Rowe grabbed Kaissy's wrist and pulled her along to one of the small, rundown houses. The door looked too had been thrown off the hinges with great force. However, Rowe did not sense danger or life forms inside the home.
Kaissy tugged back, trying to free her wrist. "No, I won't go in there." Kaissy said in a small, scared tone.
"We need to, Kaissy, at least temporarily." He told her.
"No!" Kaissy cried. "I won't go in there. I would much rather have those men find us."
He stopped trying to pull her toward the house and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Kaissy, please listen. There is nothing in there that will harm you. I promise."
"How would you know?" She shrugged his hand of her shoulder. "You know what's in there? Death. I am not going back."
"Kaissy…"
"No!" She interrupted. She turned and started to walk the way they had come. Within the next second, she found herself struggling out of Rowe's grasp as he picked her up and carried her inside the old abandoned home. "Hey! Put me down!"
"This is for your own good, Kaissy." He told her as he carried her into the main room and placed her on an old torn couch. He saw that she was covering her eyes, refusing to look at her surroundings. "Kaissy, please open your eyes. There is nothing to be afraid of."
"No. You already forced me into this place of death; you're not forcing me to look at it." Kaissy pleaded in a small voice.
"Please, Kaissy…"
She threw her hands down onto the couch and looked Rowe straight in the eyes revealing tears. "They are open! Happy now?" She yelled at him. Her teary green eyes drifted around the room. The Lights were broken, tables were smashed, and the door to a small cupboard in the corner looked too had been flung across the room. There was glass and broken picture frames covering the ground near a large blood stain. Kaissy calmed her voice and questioned to herself, "Where did it go?"
"Where did what go, Kaissy?" Rowe questioned her in a worried but still calm voice. He watched as Kaissy got up, exited the room, and walked down the hall toward the back rooms.
Rowe turned his head toward a small table beside him that had not been broken. There stood a picture frame intact. He moved to the table, picked up the picture, and sat on the couch. He saw in the picture a young child, who looked to be five year of age, standing between her parents. After a moment of studying the faces of the two adults, he realized he recognized who was all in the picture.
"Christen? Tailon? And Kaissy?" He questioned himself. "Oh no."