CHAPTER TEN

10

I shouldn't be alive.

No one ever admits that, but deep inside I know that's the truth. I shouldn't be here. Not me.

You might think me being still alive is a miracle. And what else could it be? After all, I seem to survive every single catastrophe I get in. Every god damn disaster that happens, I'm always the one to get out of it with my life.

But at what cost? What is the price of one life for all those who died to save me?

Yeah, I bitterly think. It must be a miracle. A miracle that keeps me safe, but harms everyone around me. Must have been a miracle that killed my parents, uncle Pit, the other Elders, Six, Nine, Crayton, and so many more.

Must be a miracle, that fate always seems to spare my life. It's so damn wonderful to always be the only survivor. To always be everybody's last hope. To have everyone else die, just so you have a chance to live on, isn't that the greatest thing one could ask for in the whole universe?

The cruelty of having to watch all your loved ones die makes it hard to appreciate this kind of gift. It's hard to not be heartless and cold when more and more people you care for die, with you being unable to help them. Or actually, what makes it even worse, being able to help them, but not having the permission to. Having sworn an oath that tells me to just abandon them to their fate.

Because that's the worst feeling in the world, being helplessly bound to a magical promise you made back when you were a little kid. It rips you apart and shreds you into little pieces until all you want to do is crawl into a little hole and cry all day.

And here I sit, in my dirty, dark prison cell, more than a mile under the surface, and cry.

So many people died for me. Good people. Better than I will ever be. So many lives sacrificed, just to save mine. What can I ever do to make it up to them?

No, this is not a miracle. This is a god damn curse. The greatest thing in the whole universe? Don't make me laugh.

The greatest thing in the universe would be to turn back time, but even for me, that's impossible. Still, if I had a wish, just one wish, I would go back to the day I was born, the day the Mogs first came.

Uncle Pit used to tell me this story often when I was a kid. The story about the invasion of my home planet.

That disastrous day, when the Mogs had wiped out and entire civilization, had been a holy day, a day of joy and celebration. No one had expected them to attack, and when their ships had suddenly appeared in the sky, we were completely taken by surprise.

After my people realized what was going on, they fought back heroically, but we didn't stand a chance. We were too unprepared. In the end, when it was clear that everything was lost, they tried to save ten of us.

Us… Oh, how I miss the others. Ten in the beginning, and now how many of us are left? What happened to the former strength and pride of my people?

I sob and hold my head. Sometimes, it's all just too much. I take a deep breath to stop the weeping, and get lost in my thoughts again.

I was a special child when I was small, otherwise I wouldn't be alive now. The moment I was born, they knew I was different. And when our defences were shoved away on that unfortunate day and my people was about to give up all hope, uncle Pit came out of nowhere and offered the ten of us a ticket to freedom, a chance to survive. He offered us to be taken to the closest habitable planet in a spaceship.

The next part always triggers slumbering emotions deep inside my soul. Homesickness, long forgotten sorrows, but most of all the giant hole growing up without parents left in my heart.

At first, my parents didn't want to give me away. I had only been born, and now I would be ripped away from them again? The cruelty of the situation still overwhelms me years later.

But when time got short and the Mogs were only a few miles away, my parents understood that the only way for me to survive was to come with uncle Pit. After a long hesitation, they gave in and let me go.

It's weird, but even though I was only a couple of hours old, I think I actually do remember bits this last scene with my parents. Them, saying good bye, kissing my forehead and holding me in their arms. My mother's long, brown hair, stroking my cheeks. My father's deep, pleasant voice, talking to the ship's pilot.

Then, so uncle Pit had told me, the ship took off, just in time to see the Mogs march through our last defence lines. I don't know how our little spaceship actually made it through the Mog's blockade without being blown to pieces by their fleet, but somehow we escaped.

Ten of us, plus the pilot and uncle Pit. Not much more than a spark of hope in an ocean of despair.

But even the smallest spark can start a fire.

Or at least, that's what uncle Pit would always tell me.

I think, of all the people I've lost, I miss him the most, beside number Five, of course.

Pit's calm nature, his humorous way of talking, and the intelligent, deep look in his eyes. And now, I don't even know where he is, or if he's even still alive.

The last time I saw him comes to my mind.

'There will come a time, when it all depends on you, my child,' uncle Pit had said, just before leaving me for ever. 'You, my child, will be the one to make the choice. Your decision will determine this war, one way or another.'

I had asked him what that meant, but he had remained mysteriously silent about it. And since this was our final goodbye, I didn't want to upset him by digging deeper.

'But be careful, my child,' he had continued after a while. 'Don't let it go to you head. Be brave, be strong, but don't get too self-confident and arrogant. Don't mourn over the past and keep your head up. Use your gifts only when the time is right and the signs have appeared. Your future won't be easy, oh no, anything but that. Your path has many windings, and even I can't tell for sure where you will end up. But I know you, I believe in you, and I know you can make it. I wouldn't want anyone else in the whole world to do the job rather than you, child.'

I had been only six years old back then, just tall enough to tug at his sleeves.

'But uncle Pit, I don't know if I can do this, all alone. Can't I at least tell Crayton?' I had asked, and he had squatted and looked me right in the eye for a long time, his face as serious as never before.

'Listen, you are the last one to hold this secret. If you can't succeed, no one can. My child, you mustn't tell anyone, you hear me? No one must know before the time has come,' he had said in such an urging voice I had to give in. I could tell it was really important to him, even though I didn't really understand why.

'You have to promise, okay? Say it, say that you will keep it a secret until the time is right!' He had demanded, and, because this was the last time I would ever see him, I had nodded and repeated 'I swear it, I will keep it a secret until the time is right.'

A look of relief had crossed his serious face, and he had pulled me in for one last hug.

Then, with no further words, he had turned around, and without looking back, he had walked away into the distance until I couldn't see him anymore.

And since then, the burden is mine and mine alone to carry.

I'm waking up to ash and dust and loud, alarmed shouts. It's the first thing I hear in days.

I raise my head, waiting for any more noise. What could have caused those shouts? News about the others, maybe?

A few seconds pass without anything else ringing through to my cell, so I lie down again. Guess I only imagined it.

I sigh and close my eyes. Not that it would matter if they're open or not, anyway. The darkness of the prison cell is so complete and flawless, I can't see a thing. A whole army of Mogs could be inside this room right now and I wouldn't even notice.

I turn from lying on my back to my belly. How long have I been down here? Must have been at least a two days, probably more, even though I can't tell for sure.

One question has been keeping me busy all this time: What happened to the others after I was captured? Did they manage to escape, or did they get caught, too? Are they maybe even in the same prison, maybe even in one of the cells next door?

For all I can tell, they could even be in this very cell, and I wouldn't know. This darkness really starts creeping me out.

I wonder if you can forget what light looks like, if you don't see any for a very long time.

And then I hear another shout, much closer this time. I jump to my feet with a jolt and listen for any more screams, but again, there's nothing. I sniff and scratch the back of my head.

Could it be that I'm so desperate for something to happen that I 'm hearing voices? Am I going crazy? Have I been down here for so long that I am losing my marbles?

I wrap my arms around my chest and try to convince myself I'm not, when a sudden loud rumble makes me flinch.

This time I'm sure I didn't imagine it. It was real. I press my lips together, holding my breath to hear .

There are more shouts, more of that rumbling noise, a man cries out a few times, then silence again.

My heart races and my arms are shaking from excitement. Finally something is happening! I have to know what's going on out there.

I walk into the darkness, in the direction where I hope the door is. Maybe the sounds will be clearer from there. I keep my hands stretched out in front of me, so that I don't…

Wall!

I ram directly against it and tumble a few feet backwards. Dazedly I rub my head, then I reach out for the wall again and feel my way along it until I reach a corner. No door yet.

I slowly continue walking along the wall for a while. The cell is much bigger than I thought.

Another rumbling noise, even closer than before, makes me prick up my ears.

I'm not sure, but if I had to guess, I'd say it almost sounds like the echoes of people being thrown against walls. I frown in confusion. What the hell could be possibly going on out there?

Then, in the silence that follows once again, I can make out a single persons footsteps echoing through the corridor in front of my cell, and my heart makes a jump. Someone is coming this way!

"What the hell…" I hear one of the 'alpha squad' soldiers, who are apparently still guarding my cell, say. Chairs are being pushed back and I hear all five of them stand up. The clicking of machineguns being brought to positions silently rings through the door.

"Listen, kiddo, I have no idea how you got down here or what you want, but I suggest you go back to where you came from, if you don't want a bullet up your ass," their leader, the top-wanted criminal, says with a malicious undertone.

Kiddo? I gasp. What is a kid doing in a top-secret US military base? And if the soldiers don't know him, then who on earth is he?

"Listen, tough guy," a young male voice answers from across the corridor. "I suggest you open that door right now, if you don't want your head rammed into that wall."

I stop moving in bafflement. The guards laugh, but I hardly notice.

The temperature feels like it has gone up by fifty degrees, and hot butterflies bustle in my stomach. I… I think…I know that voice. My mind rakes its time to process this new change of fate, but a small hope forms in my heart.

Can it be? Is it possible that he survived?

The leader of the 'alpha squad' rips me out of my thoughts.

"I'm warning ya," he says to the new guy, way more aggressively now. "One more step and I shoot."

There's a short pause, in which the person he's talking to seems to consider that threat, then I hear another footstep from across the corridor.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," the criminal guy sighs and then fires a gunshot.

I hold my breath, waiting for the sound of the bullet's impact, or any sign that other person got hit, but all I hear is my own heart, beating faster than a drum.

"What on earth…" Another one of the guards begins, but he doesn't finish the sentence. The rest it is drowned in a scream.

Something – or rather someone, by the sound of it –crashes into the door and I jump backwards in surprise. From the other side of the door, one of the guards groans, then I can hear my other four captors break out in shocked murmurs.

"Boy, I don't know how you did that, but you're going to pay for it," the 'alpha squad' leader says, and I can tell he's not so sure of himself anymore.

"Shoot that greenhorn!" He shouts nonetheless and then they all start firing at that one person.

I press my hands on my ears, trying to shut off the noise of the gunfire. After all this time in complete silence, the loud gunshots feel like knives stabbing into my skull.

I take a few steps forward and finally find the circular door. Because I don't know what else to do, I start hammering against it with my fists, but it is drowned in the noise of the gunshots. I've never felt so useless in my whole life. Out there someone is fighting for me, once again risking his life for mine. Or at least that's what I think.

'Open the door,' the person had said, which technically puts him on my side. Anyone who gets me out of this dirt hole is my friend.

Or does he just want the door open to kill me?

I shake my head. I'm getting too paranoid. No one would go this far down into a secret, hidden military base just to kill me. If they had wanted to, they could have just slit my throat when I was asleep or something. They wouldn't need somebody to rambo his way through that maze, just to get me out of the picture.

No, whoever the 'alpha squad' is shooting at right now must be here to bust me out.

I jump back in shock when another one of the guards gets slammed against the door.

My mind is racing in euphoria. Someone must have fought his way through the whole base, just to get me to me. And that someone is slamming my last captors against the cell's door, then he's going to get me out of here.

And that someone doesn't seem to give a damn about the remaining three guards firing everything they've got at him. I almost can't contain my excitement.

Two more bodies fly against the door, each leaving behind a big dent. Four down, one to go, I cheer in my head.

And that one guy seems to be out of ammo. I can hear the silent clicking sound that signalizes he has fired everything he had. A few seconds of silence pass.

"So, the choice is still yours," the guy from across the corridor yells with a booming voice. "Open that god damn door, or your head really will end up in that wall over there."

The last guard, I guess it's the leader, seems to be really intimidated, as he immediately stands up, and I can hear him type something into the keyboard. It takes him several tries, probably because he's trembling so badly.

But then, finally, the iron door's heavy mechanisms rumble, and inch for inch it slowly opens up.

I can not believe this is actually happening. I am really getting out of here. I pinch myself in the arm to make sure I'm not just dreaming all of it.

The glaring neon light stings into my eyes when I look outside the cell.

I blink fiercely. After all this time in the dark, I need a few seconds to get used to the sudden brightness. And when I do, it's just in time to see the leader of the 'alpha squad' sail through the air in a high arc and hit the opposite wall headfirst.

"He provoked me," the guy that saved me says to my left and shrugs.

I take a deep breath, and with a big grin I turn around to the boy I thought I would never see again.

He trots towards me, calm and cool as always. Whistling a silent tune, he takes his time coming over, but he keeps aiming straight for me.

Words can't express how much I've missed him in the past months. There's not a place I don't think about him, not a time my mind isn't occupied by his heroic sacrifices. There's not a day that passes without me suffering from my infinite guilt towards him.

The endless happiness that flows through me now that I know he's alive and well, is so overwhelming I fear I'm going to faint.

And then he finally reaches me and I almost explode from excitement and emotions when he stops, just a few feet in front of me.

"Hi, Ten," Number Five says and I throw my arms around him.

Heeeey everybody,

Wow, 10 chapters, that's a whole lot. Especially for someone like me. I usually can't force myself to finish anything I start with, but this project really is fun for me.

And I hope it is also fun to you guys out there, as that's the main reason I'm writing this stuff after all.

So, I've been working all day on this chapter, and I'm pretty proud to actually release two full chapters in two days in a row ;)

But enough about me, (derp), let's not forget you, the readers. Without you guys none of this would be here, and never forget that. Your support is what keeps the story running, (and I like the story running), so please, please, please, never stop supporting me, I really need it.

At this point, I'd like to thank all of you for accompaning me on our way to August 2013, when the 4th book will be released. Whether you have been here from the very beginning or just tuned in, thank you so much for staying with me. I can't stress enough how important your feedback is for me.

Hm, I feel like I'm repeating myself, (derp again).

As for the content of this chapter, I know some things may not make sense right now, but be patient, hopefully all the confusion will go away with time.

So, that's all for now, I hope you liked my story so far and make sure to keep on checking back for more updates.

See you next chapter, until then, have a wonderful day, and thank you all so damn much for reading my story :)