Chapter 16: Aaron
It was fairly early when I woke up, at least six in the morning Eastern Time. Not as early as I usually got up, but not too late either. I got out of the tent that I ended up sharing with Zatanna and looked up at the colorful sky. A pattern of oranges, reds, and pinks cascaded through the sky. I had to admit that it was more beautiful in real life than in the pictures. I quickly changed in the campground restrooms and decided to take a walk into the woods.
Honestly, I was pretty afraid to go through the trees, seeing that Cathryn would be out for blood after the unfortunate event the day earlier, but thinking back to all my time I had spent inspecting and memorizing every square inch of the forests I had lived in made me feel better during each single step I took.
I walked down a small hill, seeing water pooling at the bottom and sat down in the tall grass, looking at the sparkling blue water. I wasn't much of a nature freak, nor a girly girl to say the least, but I did appreciate what the world had to give to me, especially when it gave me a place to hide or collect my thoughts in frightening and frustrating situations.
I heard a branch break and froze, listening to a few leave rustle. I reached behind my back, standing up a little and turning around quickly, aiming the barrel at the target.
"Do you always carry that around?" I sighed and rolled my eyes.
"What the hell do you want?" I asked, putting away the handgun. Roy laughed.
"Well, your attitude hasn't changed a bit." I sat back down and Roy sat next to me. "Do you always get up early?"
"Yeah, I'm not much of an early bird though. You?"
"I'd rather go to bed early and wake up early. So I guess you could say I'm an early bird."
"Well, congratulations, You can go catch the worm." Roy laughed.
"Yeah, the only problem is that I'm not a bird. And I don't eat worms."
"I guess that good right?"
"Oh, yeah. I'm good with not eating worms." I laughed and it became silent. "So, you going to tell me what happened yet or are you going to keep your walls up?"
"There's a big difference between keeping your walls up and being a bitch." I said.
"And so you choose to be a bitch?"
"No, I was raised that way." Roy raised his brow.
"You're not going to tell me anything are you?" I was quiet.
"Depends. What's in it for me other than humiliation and hatred?" I could feel Roy's gaze on me.
"The fact that we'd understand you more if you actually told us the truth." I could feel tears in my eyes, but I kept them in as I laughed lightly.
"That's the problem. You wouldn't understand. Hell, you couldn't understand." I stood up and walked off.
"How do you know?" Roy grabbed my arm and pulled me back as I glared at him.
"Because you all have one vision in your minds. And if I told you, you'd think about your way." I stomped off.
"Why do you care about how we look at you?" I stopped and turned around staring at Roy's confused eyes.
"Because your fate lies in my hands, and my fate lies in Dinah's hands. It a ripple effect that I'm not willing to take. But you won't understand, and I'm okay with that." I walked off, leaving Roy speechless. I sighed as I walked away back to camp with Roy on my tail.
The day went by normally, which was pretty surprising seeing that I wasn't exactly the safest person to be with. It was eight o'clock at night and just like before we all sat around the newly lit campfire to play another game. Since I had walked off early I had evidently missed the massive game of Truth and Dare so they all decided to play it again. With me as the first victim.
"Okay, Sarah, truth or dare?" Zatanna asked me. I could feel everyone's eyes on me, but Roy's eyes seemed to be glued on me the whole entire time.
"Um...truth." I said, not wanting to take a dare in case it had something to do with Roy.
"Okay...uh..." Robin whispered in Zatanna's ear and her eyes shot open wide. "Why would I say that?" She asked. The two had a quick conversation and I rolled my eyes. "Fine!" She said to Robin. I sighed. "Okay, Sarah, how many boys..." Robin whispered and Zatanna glared at him. "and girls...have you dated?" Somehow, I was expecting something about me being gay or lesbian, but I was pretty shocked to hear it from Robin, or even from Zatanna's mouth.
I thought about it for a moment. "Um...five-six guys, no girls." I said.
"Wow, how long did you keep them?" Wally asked me.
"It was more how long could they keep me in check, which with their background and stability, almost a year each, well except for that one guy. Six months passed and he was pretty much ready for a casket."
"You killed him?" M'gann asked. My eyes widened.
"No! No! I didn't kill him, he just couldn't handle my attitude or my family for that matter..." No one spoke.
"Your turn, Sarah." Zatanna said. I sighed.
"Fine. Uh..."
"Ask Roy." Artemis whispered in my ear.
"Why?" I asked her. She didn't say anything but smiled. "Sometime I'm going to think back and hate you for this." I said to Artemis. She laughed. "Okay, Roy, truth or dare?" I asked.
"Uh, dare. Wait, no truth!" He said looking at Artemis. I looked over to see an evil look on her face.
"Dare it is!" She said. "Tell him that you dare him to say something nice to you." Artemis whispered in my ear. I raised my brow.
"No thank you. Give me something better to work with." I said. Artemis smiled.
"Roy, she dares you to kiss her." Artemis said out loud. My eyes widened.
"What?!" I screamed. "Hold on, Artemis. I said something good to work with, not...well...that." I said, pointing at Roy.
"I like that dare!" M'gann said. Raquel and Zatanna began to laugh. I sighed.
"Wow...this is not how I thought my day was going to end..." I said out loud. I looked at Roy who had his eyes wide. He seemed frozen and I raised my brow.
"Uh..." He said as he focused his attention on Artemis. "I'm not so sure kissing a girl who has her heart set on kicking my ass and is carrying a concealed weapon is a good thing." He said. I laughed.
"I'm with you on that one." I said.
"Hold on, you carry a gun?" Wally asked, looking frightened. I rolled my eyes.
"Yes, and if I wanted to use it on you, I would've used it the day I met you so don't look at me like that...actually don't look at me in any way possible." I said. Robin laughed.
"So, the dare?" Artemis said. I rolled my eyes again.
"No, Artemis." I said.
"Ah! I wanted to see someone kiss!" M'gann said. I sighed.
"M'gann, one day you will understand, but for now just listen. Watching people kiss isn't always the best, especially when they're in that teenager to young adult age." M'gann raised her brow.
"Something you've experienced?" Roy asked.
"You could say that." I said. "Well, anyway, I think I'm going to go take a little walk down the road." I said, standing up. Roy's eyes followed me until I was unseen and I kept wishing that I could just get out of his view.
Honestly, I just wasn't comfortable talking to teenagers, let alone those teens, about my love life and what my pleasures were, even if they weren't talking about sex. It wasn't just uncomfortable though, it was also hard, seeing that they all had been raised better and were luckily a little more naive to most of the dirty world.
I walked through the trees, back towards the lake I had gone to earlier that morning. I felt my heart rate go down, slowing from its pounding state. The trees made me feel protected and shielded, well more than I was at camp. It made me feel more at home, even though it was nothing like the cold, frozen Siberian forests I had lived in for a little over a year and the cold, snowy areas of northern Canada.
I looked down at the lake from the hill I was standing on. The water looked so peaceful and calm. Not moving except for the small ripples that was made from the few drops of water falling from the sky. Of course, a little rain was followed by more and more, but I didn't care. I didn't want to leave the scene.
The rain began to die off surprisingly, seeing that it barely rained enough to sprinkle the floor and my clothes. My cream-colored wool sweatshirt was barely damp, same with my soft, cotton, aztec patterned leggings I never wore. My black ankle boots barely felt stuck in the mud which to me, was like heaven itself. I may not have been to big into fashion or the way I looked, but boots stuck in the mud killed me, literally. They slowed me down, tripped me, made my heart race. It was not something that I could ever afford to happen in the end.
I felt something grab my waist and I fell, the thing still wrapped around my waist as I plummeted into the deep water. I got up to the surface quickly, my lungs gasping for air. I looked around to see nothing around me, then something pulled me down. I struggled, finally getting back up and gasping for air once more. I looked in front of me and I could see something come up right next to me. My eyes widened as I tried to back away, my body suddenly forgot I was in water and my head bobbed under as I pulled myself up.
"W-what do you want?" I asked. He laughed as he pulled out a sharp pocket knife. His jet-black hair stuck to his forehead, lying there helplessly as his familiar bright blue eyes stared at me with admiration, lust, and unfortunately hatred.
"Me? Something I can't have. But him...you're death certificate." I swallowed hard, listening to his words. I couldn't think of anything more ironic between Zatanna asking me about my dating life and my ex attacking me.
"Aaron, you don't have to do this." I said softly. I could see the hatred disappear from his eyes as he looked at me and I realized that the hatred wasn't for me, it was for him. The man I hated to speak about.
"Yes, I do. I can't die. Not yet. Not with my family's murderer on the loose." I could feel tears forming in my eyes.
"No, you don't. You can run. You can hide. You can fight back. You have it in you. You just need to find it." He didn't say anything. "Please." I said softly. "Don't do this." I could see the fear in his eyes.
"I'm sorry." He said, holding up the knife. I closed my eyes. "Go." He said. I opened my eyes to see him drop the knife in the water. "Go. I can't do this."
"But what about-"
"He'll understand. You're very strong, inside and out. He'll be pissed, but he wants me to kill you either way. So I guess we're safe until our next meeting." I felt a warm tear fall down my cheek.
"How did I ever let you go?" I asked softly.
"Because I couldn't handle the stress of him. It was too much and I cracked. But you deserve better than some low life like me."
"You're not a low life."
"You can be way too kind when you want to be. Now go, before someone catches you or me. That'll turn into one hell of a mess." I smiled and swam next to him, kissing him on the cheek.
"Thank you." I whispered, quickly swimming back and getting up, shivering from the cold clothing stuck to my skin. I walked quietly back to camp and noticed that everyone was gone, but the fire was burning. I sat down on the log and stared at the fire, letting my clothes dry by the heat, even my wool sweater.
Nearly a half an hour later my clothes became dry. I sighed as I got up, throwing water onto the fire and letting it finish burning out before I went to bed. But I couldn't sleep. Aaron's face came up in my mind nearly a million times before I finally went to sleep, but sleep wasn't much better. Dreams of Aaron dying or him risking his life haunted me. I couldn't let him die for nothing, but I sure as hell didn't want to encounter him again after nine years of hiding. I didn't know what to do, nor how to do it.