Well this is a nice change. She's actually updating! Lol, here it is guys, I hope its long enough! Enjoy!
To say that father took the news poorly would be an understatement.
He was very upset that we hadn't been notified as soon as the eagle had landed in the village.
I sat in the middle of Ella and mother on the haystack in the corner of the living room. Gazzy was at my feet, slurping the soup I made him out of the herbs Anne gave me. Iggy was near the window with a thoughtful expression on his face, while father paced the small room angrily.
"Visitors? Three days? Why weren't we informed about this? Honestly out of all-"
I tuned father out after that. I didn't think it would be that appropriate to point out the fact that father wasn't really involved in the talk of the town anymore. He really hasn't been since the wall was built. No, the villages turned to the Minister instead.
I shuddered at the mere thought of his name. Minister Joseph had spent many years haunting my dreams. I would dream that he had transformed into the beast, and I watched helplessly as he went on with his life in the village, just watching and waiting for his opportunity to strike.
Iggy's gruff voice brought me out of my trance.
"It just doesn't make sense." he started. He crossed his arms over his big chest and leaned against the glass. "Why now?"
Gazzy slurped from the bowl loudly before making a smacking sound with his lips. I smacked his head and he quickly put the bowl down.
"I think perhaps King George had forgotten about us. Maybe he got caught in the surrounding war of the kingdoms." Gazzy suggested.
"No." Father was quick to shut it down. "Even if king George did forget, he has people working in the kingdom that wouldn't. There's more to this than it seems I'm sure of it..."
With that last statement, everyone retreated into their own thoughts, coming up with our own scenarios. As always, it was mother that stopped our stressing.
"Enough for one day. Off to bed all of you, we'll all need our rest," she said.
She stood and took fathers hand in hers and led him to the bedroom. With a solemn expression, he nodded at each of us and turned the final corner. Iggy continued to stare at the window, but sagged his shoulders in a tired sigh. He and Gazzy dispersed into their respective rooms. Ella sighed and brushed her skirt off as she stood.
"Are you coming?" she asked looking down at me.
"In a moment. I need to have sequestration for a while..." I said looking at the fire pit.
She chuckled. "Sequestration? Are you ill? Since when have you used such advanced vocabulary?" she teased.
Since I found out I must be smart if I were to leave this forsaken town.
But I merely shrugged. Without further question, she went to our room. I stared at the fire, warm and glowing. The flames licked the rocks hungrily, desiring to grow higher with heat. As usual, my mind drifted away.
Would I be able to leave this town? I know that I am capable, my physical state isn't poor, it's quite exceeding if I should allow myself to say. But could I climb that wall, knowing that I would be leaving so much behind?
My family? My friends? My three Angels?
Could I really just...leave them all behind? Just like that?
I searched desperately in the fire, as if the answers would come to me if I stared hard enough. With an exhausted sigh, I killed the fire, and went to bed.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The wall was destroyed.
It lay in a pathetic and crumpled heap surrounding the outskirts of the village. Ruble and grime were evident at the scene and the air was hard to breathe in. As I closed in on the debris, I noticed the rather big pool of blood on the ruble and the way it trickled in the moonlight. I knelt down on one knee and dipped a cautious finger down in the pool and swiped it back up to my face.
The groaning of branches cracking made me tear my gaze away from the pool and towards the source of the noise. I whirled around and stuffed my finger in the folds of my cloak.
It was father. He stood with his arms to his sides near the watering well. His face betrayed no signs of emotion, but his body was rigid and stiff.
"Father?" I called.
As if the mere sound of my voice excruciated him, he cringed. I decided it would be better to stay in place.
"Father? What's going on?"
Father stared at me. He didn't blink, he didn't breathe. The glint of love and happiness in his eyes were no longer there, it was just blank.
He sunk to his knees.
"Father!" I cried running towards him.
Before I could even register what was happening, father fell forward, his face making a permanent decoration in the earth. The scream halted in my throat however, when I saw the cause of his sudden demise.
A black form stood where father was. It was huge in height, at least 8 feet tall. His talons were stretched on in front of him, glinting with blood.
The beast.
Terror erupted through me from the deepest parts of my being, and I scrambled backwards, tripping over my own feet.
Slowly, he turned to face me, and our eyes met. I immediately shrunk backwards as far as I could go, but my back was pressed against the debris of the wall. I couldn't escape the malicious smile he sent my way, or the way his eyes seemed to dance with the mere thought of tearing me apart.
He slowly stalked towards me, stepping over my father's dead body.
Dead.
Dead.
"What have you done?" I whispered.
I was finally able to break eye contact, but my eyes immediately found my father's lifeless ones.
I felt his hot breath on my face and I closed my eyes. I anticipated death because perhaps it would help take away my fear. I waited expectantly.
Nothing happened.
Slowly, I opened my eyes. I was met with two deep brown eyes that were so captivating that they took my breath away. Instead of the malice that was there, I saw fear. I saw pain and sorrow. The humongous beast whimpered and tucked its head near my feet. His eyes stared into mine.
The beast was at my mercy.
"Help." He whimpered.
When my shock finally dissolved, I quickly turned and hoped over the small wall of debris and sprinted as hard as I could. I never passed the wall, ever. Even when it wasn't there I never saw it necessary to see the forest.
This was all foreign territory to me. I ran blindly through the forest letting fear and sadness be the fuel that burned my fire.
I heard the loud howl that pierced the night and quickened my pace.
One second I was running, and then another I'm being slammed into the ground. The scream finally surfaces on my lips and I let the tears fall freely. My body aches, my heart is shattered, and I eagerly await death. I can feel his fangs grazing my cheeks, and I let out another strangled cry.
"Max," he hisses.
I scream.
"Max!" he howls.
I scream louder.
"MAX!"
I jolt up in surprise and looked around. I was surrounded by my family, Ella being the closest, and she supported a candle. Father was farthest, guarding the door but looking at me with fear and concern, also holding a candle in each hand. Mother was on my left, gripping my hands in hers and Gazzy sat at the foot of the bed.
"What-"
"You were having a nightmare," Ella said sadly.
She reached up and swiped beneath my eyes, showing me the tears that had welled up.
"What were you dreaming about?" Gazzy said timidly.
He looked scared. He looked 12 years younger, more baby faced and innocent.
"Nothing important." I said quickly.
Something in my heart told me to keep this dream to myself. I couldn't tell why, but I didn't want anyone to know that I dreamed about the…beast.
"Max-"
I cut father off with a shrug and a shake of my head.
"I'm fine. Honestly. Get back to bed the lot of you," I said jokingly.
Mother studied me, and I knew that she wouldn't give up on the subject. Her eyes became hard and she watched my closely. Then with a sigh, she nodded, kissed my head and she and father retreated to their quarters.
Iggy was next, embracing me in a bone crushing hug that sent me spluttering for breath. He kissed my cheek and was off. Gazzy enveloped my in his thick arms and encouraged the thought that everything would be okay, that he would always be there to protect me.
Ella merely brushed a strand of hair from my face, and then turned around to pinch out the flame with her thumb and middle finger.
"Good night," she said.
"Good night," I whispered.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Three days passed in no time.
By now, all the villagers would be eagerly awaiting at the head of the wall. All craning their necks to look around their neighbors, standing on tip toes to get a better view. The children would be running around, getting scoldings from mothers and disappointed glares from others. JJ would be glaring at Lissa heavily as she cooed in Darius' ears, and flush with sadness when she saw him blush.
"Mother says it's time to go," Iggy's voice rattled me out of my rant.
I looked at him at the door of my room and nodded. I quickly turned back to the window where I was and slapped down the shutters. Grabbing my cloak and boots, I walked out of the room followed by Iggy.
Mother and father had just walked out the front door, waiting patiently on the porch. Ella walked out next in a beautiful brown gown, her matching cloak wrapped firmly around her neck. Her hair was up in a complicated bun, and she smiled when she saw me. She was attached to Gazzy's arm, who wore his favorite black trousers and dark green cotton shirt. His cloak hung loosely around his neck. They both waved then walked out behind mother and father.
Iggy had his white cotton shirt on with grey trousers and black hunting boots. His small knife was tucked firmly in the loop of his pants and he offered me his arm. I looped mine through his, and clutched my green gown in my other hand as I stepped over the little step in the doorway. Iggy made sure the door was locked with the piece of wood before we joined our family.
Walking hand in hand, we met the rest of the village at the head of the wall. Father was quickly swept into conversation with Paul, Anne's husband, while mother and Anne chatted happily.
I scanned the faces of my familiar villagers and my lips curved downwards when I found Nudge.
She was standing behind Atticus and his wife Debra. Lissa and her brother William were on both sides of their parents, snidely looking at her with distasteful looks. Nudge kept her eyes glued to her snow covered boots. My frown deepened when I saw Darius standing wordlessly beside Lissa, looking at Nudge with no emotion.
I looked to Gazzy for any reaction, but it seemed as if he hadn't even spotted her yet. A small frustrated sound squeaked its way out of my lips and Iggy stared down at me in question.
"Go find Kate," I told him.
He looked uncertain, and I just rolled my eyes.
"I'll be fine. Go," I said.
He smiled softly, detached himself from me, and started weaving through the crowd. I waited until both he and Gazzy were a fair distance away before I angrily made my way over to Nudge. I barely caught the end of Lissa's remark, but it was enough.
"-dirty whore," she spat.
"Perhaps it would be wise not to speak of yourself in public Ms. Lissa," I said stepping beside Nudge. I could feel the gratitude for Nudge in the way she looked at me. I could also feel the shame when Darius looked at me, but I refused to make eye contact with him.
"Excuse you?" Lissa shot back looking at me. "How dare ye!"
William gave a low chuckle and turned to me with hungry eyes. I snarled at him with all meanings of being disrespectful.
"You heard me Ms. I'd appreciate it if you left my friend alone," I told her.
Her glare didn't waver in the slightest. Neither did mine. I watched her as she blew out an exaggerated huff through her nose as she whirled around and faced the wall. William turned as well, but not before throwing a wink over his shoulder.
I felt Nudge's hand slip into mine, and she gave me a blinding smile.
"Thank you," she mouthed.
I just shrugged and smiled in return. Darius tapped my shoulder and I turned to face him angrily. His eyes were pleading.
"Can we talk?"
No, I wanted to tell him. But this was Darius, the guy who's been one of my best friends since I could walk. I owed him this.
I gave Nudge a soft smile before walking back towards the center of the village with Darius. When we got to the bakery porch, I sat on the steps while he paced back in forth on the snow.
"Well let's talk shall we?" I said in fake pleasantry.
"I could do without the sarcasm Ride," he growled.
"Yeah and I could do without the bastard before me but I'm still here," I told him.
His hands flew to his hair and he seemed to be tugging at the roots. I automatically felt bad for him. He has the kind of effect on you. All you have to do is see his pout and you're like bread dough in his hands. His doe eyes are almost as good as Angel's.
I sighed. "Darius, what's been going on with you? JJ tells me you've been joined at the hip with Lissa."
He groaned and kicked a small mountain of snow. It flew and landed all over in pretty shards.
"It's not like that I swear it," he said.
"Well then explain it!" I almost shouted.
"I just want..."
"What? What do you want?" I asked him gently.
"JJ." He said softly.
My breath hitched in my throat and I blinked in surprise.
"I'm sorry? Could you repeat that?" I asked in a strangled voice.
He threw his hands in the air and started pacing again.
"You heard me the first time Ride. I love, as in I'm in love with Jennifer Jackson and she doesn't even know it!" he nearly shouted.
Well…there's a nice twist.
"So why are you with Lissa all the time?" I asked him.
I studied his face, waiting for his answer. His eyes begged me to understand, he didn't want to admit it out loud. It hit me.
"You're trying to make her jealous aren't you?" I sighed.
He shrugged a bit. "It's been working. I see the way she glares at her…maybe she actually likes me," he said.
"You need to stop this. You're only hurting her," I told him.
"I don't know what to do! She'll be 19 soon and other men will request her hand in marriage. Someone who's worthy of her affectionate eyes…her beautiful green eyes…her sense of humor and knowledge…her lips-"
"Ok enough!" I exclaimed.
With a gruff, he sat down next to me.
"I don't know what to do Ride," he said miserably.
Hell neither did I!
"Darius-"
CREEAAAKKK!
We both froze.
CREEAAAKKK!
"Darius…" I whispered.
He nodded and we both looked at the walls of the village.
"They're here."
CLIFF HANGER! YAY! LOL.
Ok yeah thats all. I hope you guys liked it!
-Shift