Nothing Is Forever Preveiw

----Contents---- 1 4Prolog 15Chapter One (Valor): Our “Normal” Lives 25Chapter Two (Phoenix): New Group OrderChapter Three (Valor): Gone With The WindThe Old Tongue: Word Meanings

Prologue It has been like this for generations; everything has stayedthe same. Nothing has changed since the government took fullcontrol and threw the states into a living hell. Decade upon decadehas passed, yet the government has still done nothing to help us.Barely surviving, we somehow manage to live. Now and againthere are uprisings. All they do is make everything more difficult.A long, long time ago it wasn’t like this. In other far far awayplaces, it still isn’t like this. Here it is a miracle if streets don’thave crumbling buildings, cracked sidewalks, shattered glassscattered throughout the street, and the smell of smoke that willnever fade away though. Everything is damaged beyond repairfrom the war in most places. This is how our lives are here aconstant struggle for survival. We are never starving, but we arenever truly full. Some of us wish they knew what it was likebeyond the city, beyond the walls. Sometimes we wonder why ourgovernment would do this to us. There has to be some meaning toit, we just don’t know what that meaning is. The government madea capital, it stands in the very middle of the cities. We call thecapitol The Heart. It has thick, towering walls surrounding itprotecting the government officials inside. They built similar wallsthat formed large circles and called them cities. Then theycorralled everyone into them. They created 11 cities total. Eachcity isn’t permitted to speak to each other, but we learn about eachcity in school. They say each city is different, that each have theirown special job. So that means the government still needs us.One’s job is to provide power for the Heart. Two’s job is to <<< 1 >>> Contents

provide meats like beef, pork, and chicken for the heart. Three’sjob is to provide fresh water for the heart. Four’s job is to provideseafood for the heart. Fives job is to provide fruits and vegetablesfor the heart. Six’s job is to do research for medicines that then goto scientists in Seven. Seven’s job is to make the medicines withthe information from Six. Eight’s job is construction, they are theones who repair anything that breaks in the heart. Nine's job isweaponry research that they then give to Ten. Ten’s job is to createweapons with the information they receive from Nine. FinallyEleven’s job is mining different types of ores. There are differentmines all over the country, between the walls that separate eachcity. When a man or woman reaches the age of eighteen they havethree options. On a day we call Choosing Day, there is a specialevent that is held. Everyone who is now eighteen will choose howthey want to spend the rest of their life. They check off 1, 2, or 3on the slip of paper they are given with their name on it. This isn’tany ordinary paper though, once they write on it, that informationis sent to the official of the choice they made. Once they write onthat paper, they can’t take back their choice. The numberssymbolize their choice. Choice one is staying in the city you arealready in. Choice two is switching to a different city. Choice threeis to become part of The Forgotten. If you chose choice one, thenyou go into the profession that your city does for the rest of yourlife. If you chose choice two, then you stay in the building aftereveryone leaves to chose what city you want to transfer to. Afteryou transfer, you are never allowed to come back to your originalcity. You have to leave your life, family and friends behind andpretend they never existed. It is the greatest act of betrayal that youcould comment. If you chose choice three, then you are cityless.You have no job and you are ranked in the lowest standing. Whenyou make this choice you choose to be shunned by society andsurvive on your own. Almost no one wants to be part of The <<< 2 >>> Contents

Forgotten. This is how we live our lives, for centuries this is howwe have lived. Will it always remain like this though? <<< 3 >>> Contents

Chapter One (Valor) Our “Normal” Lives I wake up to a scream from outside. I quickly go outside tosee if I can help but I’m to late. There in a pile of rubble lies a girl,who is probably about sixteen years old. Her neck is at an oddangle, it was probably snapped. Turning away from the girl, I startto walk away from her. She was so young, she probably didn’tdeserve to die. This is a horrid place and I pity anyone who has tolive here. My feet crunch over broken glass and dust from debrisdances through the air. The girls face still haunts my vision but it isfading fast. I see so many dead, still there faces never look thesame. I am still not used to the death of people. I stop and turn intoa old alley. No one comes here very often. I crouch down andcontinue thinking. I prefer not to kill people, I don’t like thatpower. Most enjoy that power, it corrupts most people. Having thatpower coursing through their veins causes them to do terriblethings. Things that I never want to do. Maybe I don’t want to becorrupted or maybe I’m just strange. Although I am capable ofmurder, I don’t like it. It is evil to me, most don’t care though.Most will kill without a second thought. This sickens me, I don’tknow how people can live with themselves. Then again, maybethere is something wrong with me, not other people. I wouldn’tknow, I can’t read other people's minds not that I want to. I am quickly pulled back into reality when I hear the crunchof glass behind me. I snap around, ready to fight when I see my <<< 4 >>> Contents

friend Phoenix. It is strange how prepared I am for a fight. It is likea second nature to me. I decided to focus my thoughts on Phoenix,I’m tired of thinking about myself right now. We became closeback when my parents were still alive. My parents died in anuprising at a mine. The mine was blown up, with almost everyonestill in it. Countless died for what, nothing at all. Just some stupidact of rebellion that went unnoticed by The Heart. Phoenix’sparents had been friends with my parents and when my parentsdied, I went to live with them. I often wander off though. I cannever call where they live home, and I will never call them family.Not that they really care what I do. They have lived in the worstpart of the city since they were young, and it has taken a toll onthem. They care about nothing anymore, Phoenix could die and Idon't think they would notice. At least he has a family though. I amripped from my daze when I hear Phoenix screaming at me “VALWATCH OUT”. Whipping out my gun I spin around, there behind me is aboy, maybe sixteen years old. He is tall, with broad shoulders, mudbrown hair, and green eyes. He runs at me, but I dodge him. Heisn’t very agile and stumbles, almost falling. I take this as anadvantage, running at him I bring the barrel of my gun down andhit him square in the nose. I hear a crunch as his nose breaks; it is asound I have grown used to over the years. He reels back from theimpact, and trips over a large crack in the road. Quickly I kick himin the ribs, again and again. Making sure he won’t be getting upanytime soon. When I am sure he is going to stay down, I slide mygun back between my belt and my pants. Carefully I tuck my shirtover it, making sure it is hidden from sight. I pity the boy, I pityeveryone in this place. There are stories that the states used to besomewhere everyone would want to live. A place of Freedom,where your dreams come true. That just seems like a fantasy now. <<< 5 >>> Contents

No one wants to live here anymore, in fact most can’t handle livinghere. So many die every year. I decide to start thinking about something else well I walkover to Phoenix. I learned to fight after my parents died. Back thenI was only twelve; I am eighteen now. Phoenix and I used to sparsometimes; I almost always won. Phoenix is tall, vigorous, andvery smart. His hair is a dark brown color, he has blue eyes, and heis fairly strong. He is always alert to what’s going on. Phoenix isalways wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt. I don’t know if I’veever seen him in anything other than all black come to think of it.From a young age he has had to provide for himself, since hisparents don’t. His parents minds were lost long ago, they are like apuzzle with multiple pieces missing, never to be found again.Smiling, he congratulates me for yet another win by slapping meon the back. We start to walk towards what used to be a park butnow it is just a lot of rusting structures that look like they have nopurpose. We sit next to each other, on what appears to have been aslide at one time. Now it has been transformed into a bench for thefew who still visit here. It rained the night before, so the grass isslick with dew. Absentmindedly I pluck a tall piece of grass offground and start twisting it between my fingers. I wonder whatpeople used to do here at a place like this. A place like this has nopurpose. It doesn’t provide for a good shelter, and it doesn’t makefor good defense, or anything really. There are stories about whatpeople used to do here but they make no sense in my mind. Thestories say they used to play here. Although I don’t even knowwhat playing is. Just another strange word, another strange part ofthe past that I will never quite understand. I look at Phoenix; he isstaring off into the distance. He is actually very good looking in amessy kind of way, although he doesn't realize it. No, he has farmore important things to contemplate, like surviving in this hell. Iwonder what he is thinking about. I see him tense up, and for a <<< 6 >>> Contents

second I don’t know why. Then I see what he is looking at; on thehorizon is a group of about four to six boys. But those aren’t justany boys they are the Diamondback Group. The most lethal groupto exist in this city in years. I know the leader, we were friends atone point. I don’t see him with them now though and i doubt theywill take that as an excuse. They are all strong and deadly,“Phoenix, we need to leave now,” I hiss at him. We can’t take allof them on at once, the odds would not be in our favor. As westand up, the bench creaks. My breath catches in my throat and Iam terrified that they will hear us. We nod at each other, then boltfor the tree line. We don’t stop until we are positive we weren't followed. Ilean against a tree to catch my breath. The bark is rough and ithurts my hand, but I don't care. A gust of wind whips my hair inmy face and nips at my cheeks. It is late in Fall and almost all thetrees have lost their leaves. I stop leaning on the tree and walk overto Phoenix. As I step on the leaves that have fallen they crunchunder my feet. I glance at Phoenix and realize he is staring off intothe distance behind me. I turn around to find out what he is lookingat but all I see are trees and the park in the distance. The oldswings falling off their hinges blowing in the wind. The creak ofthe bars as a boy from the Diamondback Group leans against them.So I ask \"What are you looking at?\". By now his eyes look likethey are glossed over, and I realize that he is lost in thought.Lightly I tap his shoulder and he snaps out of his daze. Quickly hegrabs for my arm, trying to get ahold of it. I jump away though andafter a few seconds he realizes it's me. I take his hand and squeezeit, so much comfort can come from the little gesture. Normally wewould pull our hands away from each other after a couple ofseconds. This time we don't though, we get lost in each othersgaze. I can feel my face grow hot, so I look away. I have alwaysliked Phoenix more than a friend and he might like me too. But I <<< 7 >>> Contents

am not sure and I don't want to take the risk of getting hurt. Here inthis place you can't afford to hurt, because it is a sign of weakness.If you are weak, then you will die it is as simple as that. Releasinghis hand I ask him what he was thinking about. He smiles hiscrooked half smile and tells me, \"You\". His answer shocks me,how can a single word mean so much. I can't help but smile a little,\"Me, why were you thinking about me\". He blushes a little andlooks away, \"I was just liking about how we used to spare. Backthen you were even good at fighting, before you even needed tobe.\" My smile falters for a minute, but I don’t think he noticed. Ohis all I manage to say because I was hoping he would saysomething else. This is what happens when you have hope, you'relet down. When you have hope countless times you will be letdown. Looking away I start to walk deeper into the woods,although the park with the boys doesn’t seem so bad now. Phoenixruns to catch up with me, although with how tall he is it doesn’tseem necessary. I am shorter than him, with a couple long strideshe could easily catch up to me. Grabbing my shoulder he stops me,“Val what’s wrong?”. I try to pull my shoulder from his grasp butit doesn’t work, “I was just hoping you would say somethingdifferent before. Ok!” He still doesn’t let go of me, instead helooks into my eyes. I feel like if he looks into them for too long Iwill no longer have any secrets from him. He looks serious but Ican tell he is fighting back a smile, “What were you hoping Iwould say”. My face feels like it is burning and I know I must beturning bright red, “That you, I don’t know, like me maybe”. Thesmile he was trying to hide comes forward, “Val I do like you, Imade that sparring story up. I was worried you wouldn’t like meback. It would have been extremely awkward if you hadn’t.” Bynow I am smiling like a child who got extra food. “Hey Phoenixwanna know something, I like you to.” In that moment it seems <<< 8 >>> Contents

like time stops, we like each other. What do we do now, I don’tthink either of us know. Instead of talking we just start walkingdeeper into the woods to an old shack we had found. Years ago, itwas our first time in the woods together. We were walking thisvery path when we stumbled upon the old shack. Ever since then itwas our place to hide, our place to escape. I come here often whenI don’t want to be at Phoenix’s house. It is a little log cabin, but weprefer to call it The Shack. Inside there are two simple bed settings,a furnace to heat the place and cook on, a small table to eat on, andtwo chairs placed on either side of the table. When we first foundthis place it was almost barren. The only thing that was here was abox with stripes of red fabric and a black marker in it, and thefurnace. Little by little we gathered supplies and made it into whatit today. Phoenix swings open the door and I here it's familiar creak.As we walk in, dust floats through the air. The old floor boardscreak under our weight. Phoenix turns around to look at me, “Weshould stay here tonight. It has been a long time since we have.It’ll be just like old times back when we were young”. I smile, ithas been a long time since we stayed here together, “Ok we willneed to gather some supplies though. We’ll need fire wood,possibly some rations. Here let me check.” I walk over to the stoveand look behind it. This is where we have our food hidden. I pullout the leather bag and open it. There is still a couple pieces ofdried rabbit and squirrel. “So we should have enough food but weare going to need fresh water”. Phoenix starts towards the door, heturns to me just as he reaches it. “Make sure to stay within yellingrange. I’ll get the wood, you get the water”, with that he walks outthe door and into the woods. After we found this place we madesure to locate a stream where fresh water could be found. The onlyother way to get clean water, would be buying the solution to cureit. However that is hard to come by and when you do find some it <<< 9 >>> Contents

is extremely expensive. I walk over to the container we put thewater in and grab it. As I turn around I hear the crunch of leavesoutside the cabin. Quickly I sling the water container’s handle over myshoulder, then pull out my gun. Carefully I stalk towards the doorand peer out it, I don’t see anyone though. Then from the rightsomeone comes bolting out from behind a tree. The boy carries amachete, and looks to be about my age. He is about my height anddoesn’t look to be very strong either. His hair is a dirty blondcolor, and his green eyes look the eyes of a cat. He will probablybe easy to beat, then again appearances can be deceiving. What hedoes next surprises me, he drops his machete. Then raises hishands in surrender, this has never happened to me before.Carefully I sit my gun down beside me where I could easily grab itif need be. I chose my next words carefully, “What is your nameand what do you want”. He looks me in the eyes, and responds“My name is Mythical, most people call me Myth though. I amhere because I wish to join you and your group.” I almost laugh, “Idon’t have a group. It is just me and one other person”. “Ok, so.Two people can be considered a group, especially if they are goodfighters. So as I said before, I wish to join your group.” By now Iam slightly annoyed, so I bend down and pick up my gun. Slippingit back in between my belt and pants I turn and call back to him,“Follow me, we are going to go find Phoenix, but first I have waterto collect”. Quietly he bends down to pick up his machete. Then hestarts to walk towards me, “Ok”. I turn and walk in the direction ofthe stream. When we get there I see a girl who appears to be about tenyears old. She hears us and quickly spins around to see who weare. Brightly smiling she runs towards myth, “Do you know hereMyth?”. He embraces her, then looks at me. “She is my sister hename is Pixie, but most call her Pix”. I smile at her, she looks at <<< 10 >>> Contents

me shyly. “Hello Pix my name is Valor, but most call me Val”.She waves shyly at me, “Hello”. Myth looks at me, “She will alsobe joining your group, if you let me in”. I looks at Myth, “I think Iunderstand why you want to join our group now. You arerunaways, trying to escape the life they had before. Aren’t you”.Myth shakes his head at me, “Yeah”. Trying to survive when youare on your own can be hard, having a child to look after makes iteven harder. “I don’t know what Phoenix will say but you have mypermission to join our group.” Myth smiles at me, “Thank YouVal”. I quickly fill the pouch with water and close it. “Follow mewe have to go back to the cabin and wait for Phoenix.” Just then Ihear a blood curdling scream and I am terrified that it belongs toPhoenix. I bolt in the direction of the sound, weaving through treesand shrubbery. I reach an opening in the forest where I see Phoenixsurrounded by at least three other boys. I whip out my gun thenrush into the fight. I kick one of the boy's legs, taking him down.Then I kick him in the ribs repeatedly, making sure a couple break.After I hear a couple snap I turn to the other boy. I am about to runat him when Myth slams into his side. Myth is temporarily on theground but he quickly gets up. He takes out his Machete andquickly slits the boy's throat. I guess he doesn’t care as much aboutkilling someone as I do, that might be a good thing. I race over tothe boy fighting Phoenix and kick the back of his leg taking himdown. Then Phoenix takes out his gun and brings it down on theboys temple. The blow either knocks him out or kills him, I am notsure. Phoenix looks at me and I see a brightness in his eyes fromthe adrenaline. Wiping sweat from his forehead he motions towards Myth,“Who’s he?”. Myth walks over to us and responds for me, “Myname is Mythical, but most call me Myth. I wish for my sister andI to join your group”. Phoenix looks at me, then takes my arm and <<< 11 >>> Contents

pulls me to the side. “Do you trust him Val? Cause if you do, sinceyour instinct is normally right I’ll trust him too”. I look intoPhoenix’s eyes and see that excited light fade as his face turnsserious. “I do trust him. He is a runaway and his sister is onlyabout ten years old, I think we should give them a chance”. Hesmiles a little, “Ok”. I turn and walk back over to Myth, his sisterhas joined him now. I smile at them, “You are now officially partof our group”. Pix smiles brightly and hugs me. Then she looks upat me, “Thank you Val!” She then turns around and walks backover to Myth. Phoenix calls from behind us “We should make ourway back to the cabin it will be getting dark soon.” Phoenix bendsdown and picks up the firewood he had gathered before the attack.Then him and I lead the way back to the cabin. As we walkthrough the woods tangling through vines, thorns and othershrubbery I can’t help but smile. We have our own group now, agroup of people we can trust to watch each other’s backs. Mythproved that before when he took out that boy to help Phoenix. Thewind whistles through the trees. Some leaves and twigs crunchunder our feet as we walk. This all seems so normal, so perfect butit can’t possibly last for long can it? I ponder this question lookingat it from all angles as we walk back to The Shack. By the time weget back to The Shack, I still don’t have an answer. All I have ishope, hope that it will stay this way. I swing open the door and walk in, letting the others followme in. I turn to Myth and Pix, “We only have two bed settings butI think we may have some old blankets you can sleep on. Here letme check”. Walking over I open a small closet door, inside are afew spare blankets. “Here you go, take your pick”. I move out ofthe way and walk over to Phoenix, as they walk over to the closet.I watch as he puts some wood in the furnace, so we don’t freezetonight. The motions are like water running into a glass, or a leafas it dances to the ground. When he is finished he turns to me, and <<< 12 >>> Contents

hugs me. Quietly he says to me “Thank you for the help backthere, it was needed. I don’t even know where they all came from.One minute I was bending down picking up some sticks, the next Iwas surrounded” Taking his hand I squeeze it and smile at him,“You're not getting rid of me that easily”. I notice a deep gash onhis arm, “Do you want me to look at that? It needs taken care of”.He squeezes my hand, “Yeah you probably should.” I walk over tothe table and open a box sitting on top of it. This is our medicalbox, we have bandages, healing gels and lotions, medical tape, andcleanser for wounds. I take out some gel and carefully rub it intohis wound. Then I take out the bandages and tape. Carefully I wrapsome bandages around his arm where the wound is, and tape theends together. “There you go, just be careful you don’t want tomake it any worse. He takes my hand in his and squeezes itreassuringly, “Didn’t plan on making it any worse”. I smile at himand he smiles that half smile of his back at me. Then doessomething I don’t expect, he kisses me. It is like the time stops andeverything disappears, so that the only thing left is us. In thismoment it is like we are one, and nothing can separate us. When hepulls away I let out the breath I hadn’t known I’d been holding in. Ilook into his eyes and smile at him. He smiles back at me andspeaks, “I have wanted to do that for a long time, it was better thanI imagined.” Letting my hand fall away, he walks over his bedsetting. I stay where I am for a few seconds more than I probablyshould, but I have to. Just sitting there in my chair I stare blankly atthe wall. I have to digest what just happened. After a minute I walkover to my bed setting, all the while wondering what happens now.Covering myself with my blanket, I watch Myth and Pix as theyfinish setting up their make-shift bed settings. Then I glance atPhoenix who has already managed to fall asleep. He looks sopeaceful so calm, even with everything that has happened. So <<< 13 >>> Contents

much has happened today, so much has changed. I let the imagesflood into my mind. They began take their course in my head. Theday started out normal, me wandering the streets. The streets whereso many died so long ago and continue to die. Then Phoenix foundme, and a bit after that I was attacked. We came here to The Shack,once again for old times. Myth randomly showed up, with hisblond hair and cat like green eyes. Phoenix almost died, if wehadn’t heard the scream he probably would have. I don’t knowwhat I would have done if Phoenix had died. Not wanting to thinkabout that I think about something else. I underestimated Myth’sability, he helped save Phoenix’s life. Myth proved himself in thatmoment, he didn’t back away from the challenge. Instead heslammed right into the challenge literally. I lay my head down onthe rough pillow, as the images slowly fade away. Quietly I driftoff into the darkness, as sleep triumphs over conciseness. <<< 14 >>> Contents

Chapter Two (Phoenix) New Group Order I awake and the first thought that bubbles to the surface ofmy mind is the events from yesterday. It is hard to believe so muchcan happen in one day. The images flood into my mind and I letthem take hold. I see everything that happened yesterday. It startedoff with me simply waking up to the clatter of somethingdownstairs. I had walked downstairs and found a beer bottle lyingon the ground. Next to it was my father, who had passed out in achair. The bottle had fallen out of his hand and onto the floor.After that I had decided to leave and go find Val and never comeback to this place. Walking off out of the house I turned left intothe street. The smell of rotting flesh filled my nose. Lookingaround I tried to find the source of the terrible stench. Lying on theground is a girl who appears to be about sixteen. Her neck is at anodd angle and I know that was how she died. She had probably <<< 15 >>> Contents

gotten into a fight and lost. At least snapping her neck was a quick,easy way to go. Turning away I quickly walked away from her andcontinued looking for Val. I found her in an old alleyway lost in thought. She wascrouching down, absent-mindedly twisting a piece of grassbetween her fingers. I’m not sure when she started the habit, butshe always does it when thinking now. Carefully I walked up toher and watched as she spun around at the sound of my footsteps.Ever since we were little, she has always been ready for a fight.She is an amazing fighter, one of the best I have ever meant. So Iam glad she is my ally and not my enemy. She smiled when shesaw me and relaxed. The relaxed feeling wasn't permitted to lastlong though. Only a couple minutes after I had gotten there a boyshowed up and wanted to fight with her. Watching her fight himshe looked so natural, actually watching her fight at all looksnatural. Like she was meant for it, how many times has she had todo those motions to make it like that. How many times has shebeen in a fight to be so trained. Sparing prepares you for little, ifanything, sparing is nothing like fighting. In sparring you don’thave to fear for your life, in a real fight you do. The ways she runs,the way she kicks and hits it all looks so perfect. The fight wasover within minutes and she had won. Of course she had won, Iwould be shocked if she hadn’t. When she walked over to me, Icouldn’t help but admire her. She is a beautiful girl, with dark redhair and amber eyes. She is a bit shorter than me, probably abouthalf a foot. After the fight, she just started walking to the old park, so Ifollowed her. I’m not sure why people would come here in thepast. I mean I know why, to play of course, but playing preparesyou for nothing. It doesn’t teach you how to hunt, gather, or fight.Playing is pointless, just like sparring is pointless. If Val hadn’tseen the group of boys, then we might have been ambushed. <<< 16 >>> Contents

Instead of saying something though I froze, we could have beenkilled. Our death would have been on my hands. We bolted intothe woods to escape the boys. After we were safe we decided to goto The Shack in the woods. Since we needed firewood Ivolunteered to go collect some. The last thing I expected was to getambushed well collecting the firewood. Lucky Val heard me, but Ididn’t know she would bring back up, let alone a boy about herage. She said he wanted to join our group, although I didn’t evenknow we had a group. He did help me though, he actually helpedsave my life. There is a little girl, she is his sister. She is going tobe raised in our group, she’ll probably be trained by Val. It isstrange to think about how only yesterday morning we only hadeach other, Val and I. Now there are four of us, we are no longeralone. Then I remember the kiss, the kiss changed everything. Itchanged my outlook on how Val felt about me. Even though shesaid she liked me, I thought she was lying to make me feel better.During the kiss though, she kissed me back. She wanted to kiss mejust as much as I wanted to kiss her. So much happened yesterday,so much has changed. Our lives are never going to be the same. Asthe images fade away as my vision comes back into focus. I see Val she is already awake, but hasn’t gotten up yet. Allshe is doing is staring at the ceiling. She looks like she is lost deepin thought. For a moment I consider pulling her from her thoughts,but I decide against it. I stretch and start to stand when I hearruffling next to me. So much for not disturbing her. Sitting backdown I ask what she was thinking about. She smiles at me, “I wasthinking about you”. I smile back at her and take her hand, “Yeah,what were you thinking me”. She squeezes my hand, “What we arenow, now that we kissed. I mean it changed so much, we can’t goback to being just friends. No, that would never work even if bothof us wanted it to. So Phoenix what are we?” She stares into myeyes, my soul. I want her to see the very essence of my soul, <<< 17 >>> Contents

because that might be easier than explaining what we are. I smileat her trying to act normal, “I want use to be a couple, but what ifwe end up like my parents?” I have always worried about that, Valand I falling in love. Only to lose our minds in the end and notknow what love is. She laces her fingers in mine, “We are nothinglike our parents, you especially. So if you want to be a couple, thendon’t let that thought stop you”. How does she always know whatto say to calm my nerves. It is like she reads and analyzes mythoughts so she knows the perfect words to say. I wish I could dothe same thing for her, but words aren’t really my strong suit.Words have never come easy to me, they are like a foreignlanguage. I prefer body motions and actions to words. One motioncan say as much as a thousand words can. Sometimes words arerequired though because body languages can be misinterpreted. AsI get lost in my thoughts, I almost forget that Val is still in front ofme. Still sitting there hanging on my every word, my every move. Iclimb out of my mind and embrace her, “Ok, if you want to be thenwe will be a couple. After all, your instinct hasn’t failed us yet”. Ismile at her and at my comment. She smiles back at me, her smileis small act but it shows her opening up. Opening up to me, givingme a part of her heart, she knows I could break. She has to place somuch trust in someone to give them a piece of herself. This littlesmile is worth more than words could hope to explain and I amgrateful for it. We lace our hands back together and stand just tosee what it feels like. Standing here with her hand in mine,knowing she is mine, everything seems perfect. After a coupleminutes of just standing there in silence we let our hands fall apart:slowly untangling from the other. A ruffling noise shatters the silence. I look towards thenoise, it’s Myth and his sister they have started to awaken. I watchas they slip out from under the covers and stand. I wonder whythey ran away, how bad could their lives been. Then again the only <<< 18 >>> Contents

reason I wanted to stay in The Shack was because I was runningaway. Running away from all my problems that my parentscreated. I told Val it was for old times sake but really it was for myown sanity's sake. I couldn’t stay in that house a second longer. Ican’t take the screams of the dying I hear well falling asleep. Thesmell of their rotting corpses that seep through the walls as I wakeup. It is all too much. So I went to find Val, to run away with her.That was always my intention, although she doesn’t know that.Now we have a group, an even better reason to stay here. We livehere now, everyone together under one roof. It is a new feeling,being safe. The protection this group can provide, it is unsettling.Will we become the next most lethal group. I don’t think I wantthat, I don’t want to be feared by everyone. Then again maybepeople will leave us alone, probably not. People tend to try andtake down their biggest threat. However whether it is for fame orto survive I’m not sure. Were going to need to establish some kindof system if this is going to work. Everyone can’t just do whateverthey want, there will be chaos. “Now that everyone is awake, wehave to discuss order. We need to each have a job if anything isgoing to get down. I normally collect firewood and hunt. Valnormally collects water and edible plants. One person should stayhere and guard The Shack, that way if something happens they cansound the alarm”. By the time I am done speaking, everyone isawake and alert. Myth speaks up, “Pix could take over gatheringplants, she was the best in her advanced plants class. I could takeover gathering firewood, I’ve never been very good at hunting.” Ilook at Pix, she could probably handle that and Myth should beable to carry enough firewood. “Ok, I’ll continue hunting. Val youcan continue collecting water. Now who wants to take the guardposition. Remember you will be here alone, you can only do yourjob when the others are here.” I look towards Val and so doeseveryone else. So I decide to speak everyone's mind “Val are you <<< 19 >>> Contents

okay with guarding? You are our best fighter”. She lookssurprised, “Ok, I guess if everyone agrees then I will”. We allshake our heads in unison and with that everything is figured out. I am surprised when I hear Pix speak, “We should usesomething to identify we are a group. Like a band, each of uswould have the first letter of our name on it. That way if anythingever happens to use, we can leave it in somewhere. So when weare tracking them, we know we are on the right path”. Pix is asmart little girl, she thinks about the things no one else would haveeven thought of. She is right though that would be a good idea. Iwalk over to the little closet and pull a box out of it. Inside thereare stripes of red cloth. They were here when we found the place,although we were never really sure what they were for. I pull out athick black marker that is also in the box. Then I pull out twostripes of fabric and write P on each of them. I tie them aroundeach of my upper arms. Then I pull out two more stripes and writeV on them. I hand them to Val, then pull out two more stripes. Iwrite M on them and hand them over to Myth. On the last stripes Iwrite Pix, since mine already have the letter P on them. I handthem to her, then stand up, “We should all go out and do our jobs,we need to be prepared for the next couple weeks.” Everyone nods,Val stays where she is and we all walk towards the door. Grabbingthe crossbow and bolts from beside the door I swing open the door.I can feel her eyes on my back as I walk through the door and intothe woods. We split up, I go right and they go left. I didn’t wantthem to go with me, they would make to much noise and scareaway the animals. I watch as Pix and Myth walk away in theopposite direction until they are just dots in the brush. Quietly I stalk through the woods. I catch sight of a rabbitsitting in a bed of wild flowers, nibbling on one. Carefully aiming Ifire at it. It pierces the rabbit's eye and I watch as it falls still. I’vealways been good with a crossbow, better than I am with gun. The <<< 20 >>> Contents

only reason I carry a gun is because a gun can be quicker to firemultiple shots with and carry than a crossbow. When I huntthrough my weapon of choice is a crossbow. I walk over and pickup the rabbit. Then I tie a thin rope around it’s hind legs and attachit to my belt. I continue creeping through the woods, careful not tomake a sound. When I hunt, I feel like I belong somewhere. Like Iam part of the woods, like I’m part of nature it is a wonderfulfeeling. Just then I hear a twig snap to my right. Quietly looking tomy right I see a deer, the first I’ve seen in a year. Carefully I raisemy crossbow and aim. The bolt pierces the air and seems to begoing as fast as lightning. I watch as it stabs into the deer’s heart. Iwalk over to it, we shouldn’t need anymore food for at least a weekor two. I grab it’s front legs and begin to pull it back to The Shack.I forgot how difficult it was to drag a deer this far. Finally I seeThe Shack in sight, but what I didn’t expect to see was Valor downon the ground being circled by someone from the DiamondbackGroup. Quickly I cover up the deer with some leaves and twigsmaking sure it is out of sight. Then I run towards the guy, I kneweverything couldn’t remain perfect. I am almost to her whensomeone slams into my side. This guy is shorter than me butbulkier. I whip out my gun and shoot him at him. The first shotclips his ear and the second goes through his eye. I watch as hegoes pale and crumbles to the ground. I stand up and sprinttowards Val. She is up now but doesn’t look like she can takemuch more. I was right I watch as Val crumbles to the ground asshe loses consciousness. Tackle the guy who was attacking her Ibring him crashing to the ground. He is caught off guard and thatgives me a chance to bring out my gun and shot him. He goes slackand I watch as his eyes gloss over. I don’t care about that right nowthough, all I care about is Val. I rush over to her and I am at herside in seconds. I pick her up and hold her in my arms. Carefully I <<< 21 >>> Contents

brush her hair out of her face and carry her inside the shack. As Ilay her down on her bedspread I hear a piercing scream fromoutside. I cover up Val and then creep towards the window. OutsideI see a boy who is on top of Pix. I hear him say one word d​ ie,​ thenI see as Pix bursts into tears. Swinging open the door I run at fullspeed towards them. Slamming into him, I sending us sprawling tothe side. My shoulder is in pain from the hit but I don’t care. Justas I am about to reach for my gun, I see Myth burst through thebrush. He cuts the guy’s throat with his machete and screams,“YOU MESS WITH MY SISTER YOU MESS WITH MEASSHOLE”. He walks over to his sister and picks her up. I watchas he carries her inside, she is balling her eyes out. Val really needsto teach her how to fight, no one may be here the next time thishappens. I push myself up and there is a splitting pain runningthrough my shoulder. As much as I want to go inside and relax Ihave to go get the deer. I can’t just take its life and leave it there torot. I walk towards the deer and when I reach it, there is a boythere. I am about to fight him but he backs away. “Hello P, whatdoes that stand for anyway. My name is DiamondBack and I wouldlike peace between our groups. It is clear you are a powerful groupin the making and in the future you might threaten my ranking. SoI want to propose a truce. Your group stays hidden in the shadowsand leaves well enough alone. In return my group will not botheryour group. Deal?” I ponder his words for a few minutes, Val willbe mad if I make a truce without her knowing. “I need to discussthis with my group.” Diamondback just keeps that same smug lookon his face, “Very well, you have until sunset tomorrow. Untilthen”. With that he turns and walks off into the woods. Well thatwas unexpected, then again these last couple days have been filledwith unexpected events. <<< 22 >>> Contents

I grab the deer's legs and try to drag it. I only get a couplefeet before the pain in my shoulder is to much to bare. I walk backto The Shack disappointed in myself. I sling open the door and callto Myth, “Hey Myth there is a deer a couple feet from the tree linego and get it will ya. I tried to but I hurt my shoulder in the fightand the pain is to much to bare”. Myth turns from his sister to me,“Yeah I’ll go get it”. As he walks past me he quietly sayssomething to me, “Hey thanks for saving my sister”. Before I canrespond he is out the door. Val has regained conscious, but she stilllooks dazed. I will have to wait till later to talk to her. I walk overto Pix but before I can speak she speaks, “Do you want me to lookat that. For a while when we ran away we stayed in an abandonedhospital. I read every book I could find in case something everhappened to Myth or I. I wanted to be as prepared as I possiblycould.” Pix never ceases to amaze me, “Ok, come over here”. Wewalk over to the table where the box of medical supplies still sits. Isit down and she sits across from me on the other side of the table.She looks at me, “Take off your shirt so I can look at yourshoulder”. I slip off my shirt and turn so my back is to her. Shewalks over and looks at my shoulder closer, a worried sigh escapesher lips. “What is it, what’s wrong?” I turn around to face her asshe replies, “It is dislocated, It’s shouldn’t be hard to relocate it.However it hurts like hell” I frown at her, pain has never been aproblem for me. Pain only makes you stronger, or at least that’swhat I would like to believe. “Ok, just do it”, I turn back around.She places her hands on my shoulder and an excruciating pain runsthrough it. Then she relocates it and it’s like it is breaking. Thenpain is so tremendous I barely hold back a scream. Breathingheavily I tell her something, “Please look at Val now, I can takecare of everything else that is wrong with me”. She stands withoutsaying a word and walks over to Val. I slip my shirt back on, then I <<< 23 >>> Contents

put healing gel on a few gashes I got from the fight. Then I wrapthem in a thin layer of bandages. I stand and walk over to Val, I’m still more concernedabout her than I am about myself. I sit on my bed setting acrossfrom her and take her hands. She tries to pull away like a scaredanimal. Her eyes look hazy like she is in a daze. Her skin is paleand cold. I look to Pix for answers, “She was hit on the head in thefight she has temporarily lost her memories. Her eyes and skinlook like that because she lost a lot of blood. She needs to rest, eat,and drink more than usual to get better. As for her memory beingin familiar places with familiar people should help.” Sighing I getup and walk towards the door, “I need to take a walk” I say quietly.Myth is on the ground outside The Shack skinning the deer. I walkpast him without saying a word. I increase my speed until I am at afull sprint. I run until my lungs burn and my legs feel numb. Icrumble to the ground in the middle of a small clearing in thewoods. I stay on the ground paralyzed by guilt as a sob escapes mythroat. No one is here to judge me, I can do whatever I want. Iscream until my throat is sore. The tears stream down my face andthey seem like they will never end. It is my fault this happened toVal, I am the one who said she should stay and guard. Although Iknow that’s not true, everyone was thinking she should guard. Thatdoesn’t stop the guilt though, it still continues to eat away at mysoul. Finally I stand and start to walk towards The Shack. I knowone thing is for sure, I need to accept that deal. I can’t, no I won’tlet anything else happen to Val. <<< 24 >>> Contents

Chapter Three (Valor) Gone With The WindMy entire life, all my memories have vanished. I don’t even knowmy own name. I am with these people and I suppose I shouldrecognize them, but I don’t. They tell me that my name is Val, thatthey are my allies, my friends. My mind is just a blank spacethough. They could really be my enemies and I wouldn’t know.The last thing I remember is laying on the cold ground. I had asplitting pain, like a heartbeat ripping through my head. In fact my <<< 25 >>> Contents

entire body was aching. It felt as though I’d been tossed aroundlike a rag doll. There was a thick red liquid running down the sideof my face. It must have been blood. I remember falling, that’swhy I was on the ground. The boy I had been fighting caught meoff guard. I tried my best to stay standing, I knew if I feel Iwouldn’t be able to get up. I knew if I feel, it was all over. I didfall, twice actually, I got up the first time though. But the secondtime I had been hit with a powerful blow to the head. For a fewseconds I stood there and watched the world dance around me.Increasing it’s speed by the second, until everything was just a blurof color. Slowly though I collapsed to the ground, silently I layedthere. I wanted to stand up, cry, to scream, to do anything but laythere, but I was so tired, so weak. So as I layed there motionless,my eyelids fluttered shut as the world faded away and I wasengulfed by darkness. Everything was silent in this eerie blackplace. In this place no one not even my own thoughts, my ownmemories could reach me. When I finally left that place, I emergedinto this old log cabin. They say it is called The Shack, I think thatis a strange name. I didn’t want to stay in The Shack, so I walkedoff into the woods after everyone feel asleep. Apparently I have catlike night vision, because it was in the middle of the night when Ileft. Everything should of seemed pitch dark, since the only lightwas the moon’s translucent rays. Still I could see every detail ofmy surroundings clearly. It was as if it was the middle of the day.As I make my way through the woods I remember something fromwhen I was young. It isn’t much, but it is something. It means I amstarting to remember everything, or at least I hope it does. Notknowing, not remembering anything about yourself is a terribleway to live. I stop walking and close my eyes as they memorybegins to take shape in my mind. I am sitting in my bed, the one Islept in when I was a child. It had one thick blanket, a simple whitebed cover, and a single pillow. The blanket was wrapped around <<< 26 >>> Contents

me, so that only my face was showing. It was freezing cold thatnight and even under the blanket I was still chilly. I must've beenaround six or seven years old. It was raining and the raindropswere falling so hard that it sounded like fists pounded against thewalls of our little house. I was terrified, and when the sound ofthunder boomed through the house I screamed. My mother hadcome in to find out what was wrong. When she saw me, she camein and sat next to a chair beside my bed. As she sat down the oldchair creaked under her weight. Quietly she clicked on my smallbedside lamp. It’s glow dimly lit the room but it was better thanonly the light from the moon shining in through the window. Shesilently tucked me in and began to sing to me as a way to calm medown. Under the moonlight Lay down your sleepy head On the soft grass of the meadow With bright stars overhead The fairies of the twilight Will protect you from the dangers of the night No harm shall come to youI was tired, and had quietly drifted off by the end of the first verse.Opening my eyes I continue walking. My mind still thinking aboutthe memory. It seems like a strange song to sing to a child. At thesame time though it is soothing. I wish those fairies could protectme now and help me remember. Right now I am like a stranger inmy own body. It is a terrible feeling, when you are like a strangerin your own body. I stop walking when I reach a clearing. It has a clear viewof the night sky. As I lay down on my dewy grass, I stare up at thesky. There are no stars in the sky tonight. I wonder if there are everstars in the sky anymore. All that is in the sky is a large full moon, <<< 27 >>> Contents

shining brightly on the land below. It is a beautiful sight to behold.It is the last thing I see as I quietly drift off. *** I wake up to the sun shining brightly in my face. My backis damp from the grass. I move in a sitting position and lookaround. I quietly whisper to myself, “What the hell am I doinghere? I don’t even remember how I got here.”. Stretching I standup the rest of the way. As I stand the world starts to spin. I​ have tomake it back to The Shack everyone will be worried. ​Forcingmyself to walk I make my way through the woods in the directionof The Shack. Even though I don’t know how I got there, this isstill a place I know well. I come to that clearing often to think. Inmy head there is a voice screaming at me, R​ EMEMBER YOUHAVE TO REMEMBER!​ I can’t remember anything after I walkedout of The Shack though. My mind goes back to that moment as Itry to remember what happened. T​ hinking I had saw someone, Iwent out of The Shack to investigate. I had just walked of the stairswhen someone came slamming into me. Stunned I laid on the coolgrass for a few seconds to long. I got kicked in the leg. Getting up Ireached for my gun, only to find it wasn’t on me. Franticly I lookedaround and saw it laying on the ground a foot or two away fromme. I ran towards it but he had seen it first. He grabbed it andlaughed. “Looking for something” he said with a wicked grin. Inan effort to get my gun back I ran at him. He somehow knew I wasgoing to do this though. It was like he could read my mind. At thatmoment I remembered something I had learned about in the. Whenthe government first started the war with the states they createdhybrid humans. They called them The Specials, they had specialabilities. The abilities are incredible strength, speed, sight, andmind. Each ability carrier has a special name: Strength is Enots SaGnorts, Speed is Thgil Sa Tsaf, Sight is Hturt Sah Gnihtyreve, andmind is Sterces Fo Relaever. The names are written in the old <<< 28 >>> Contents

tongue, we were never taught what they mean. Through thegenerations they have become hidden. Not wanting to seemdifferent from others but wanting to be accepted. My mother wason of them, she passed it onto me. Her father was one too, it is inour blood. I am a Hturt Sah Gnihtyreve, I see everything as it is. Isee lies that behind the truth. My mother used to say behind everytruth is a thousand lies. He must be one of them, he must be aSterces Fo Relaever. He realizes what I am and quickly charges atme. I decide not to use my sight on him, it would be a waste ofstrength. Tired from being knocked over again and again I amslow on my feet. I am never like this during fights, he must be usinghis power against me. To bad I can’t use mine against him. I don’tsee him until it’s too late. He hits me over the head with my gunand everything goes black.​ I am almost to the tree line when I hearPhoenix’s voice. He is talking quietly so I can barely hear what heis saying. The only words I hear are, I accept your truce. That is allI need to hear, I start walking in the direction of his voice. The lastperson I expect to see is Diamond. I knew him when we were kids,we were good friends. But then I quit school after my parents diedand we drifted apart. Now he is the leader of one of the most lethalgroup in the city. He catches sight of me and smiles, “Why helloVal, how’s whole memory thing going. I heard you got hit in thehead pretty hard yesterday and lost your memory”. I smile back atDiamond, it’s like we picked up right where we left off. “It’s goinggood I guess, but I don’t remember anything from yesterday. I dohowever remember everything else” He walks past Phoenix andover to me. Swiftly he pulls me into a tight embrace, “Long timeno see. How’s life been treating you”. I hug him back, “It’s beenbetter considering I could have died yesterday”. I pull away fromhim so I can see his expression. He frowns, “Yeah about thatsorry”. I frown a little, “It’s not your fault.”. He gives me a sadlook, “Oh but it is, since he was one of my men. I had no clue you <<< 29 >>> Contents

were apart of this group, so as I said before sorry.” I look him inthe eyes, “It’s fine, it isn’t that easy to get rid of me anyway”. Ilaugh a little at my comment and so does he. “A-hem”, I turn tolook at Phoenix I almost forgot he was there. “Sorry to interruptthis heartwarming reunion but we still have unsolved business toattend to Diamondback.” Diamond turns to Phoenix, “Please callme Diamond and yes we do. Don’t you think we should runeverything by Val though?”. I look from Diamond to Phoenix,“Run what by me?”. Phoenix frowns slightly, “Diamond wants atruce between our two groups. We don’t threaten his ranking, andin return his group leaves us alone”. I look to Diamond, “I acceptthe Truce old friend”. Diamond looks towards Phoenix, “Whatabout you P?”. The expression on Phoenix’s faced shows he isannoyed at the fact that Diamond called him P. He looks from meto Diamond, “I also accept”. With that Phoenix turns and walksaway in the direction of The Shack. I look to Diamond, “I shouldgo after him, but it was nice seeing you”. Diamond smiles at me,“That it was. Until the next time we meet I bid you good day”.With that he turns and starts off deeper into the forest. I start to run after Phoenix, but by staying to say goodbyeto Diamond I gave given Phoenix a chance to put some distancebetween us. Fortunately though I am a fast runner so it only takesabout a minute for me to reach him. I grab his hand to stop himfrom continuing forward, “What’s wrong?”. Phoenix sighs andlooks at me, “How can you be friends with him?” I look into hiseyes, “Why wouldn’t I be friends with him? He is a guy who hasbeen through rough times. You more than anyone shouldunderstand that.”. I look into his eyes and try to figure out what’swrong. Phoenix looks more integrated than angry, “And why doyou think that?”. Trying to stay calm I continue, “Your parentsthat’s why. Your entire life has been hard times. Ever since youcould walk you had to provide for yourself and after my parents <<< 30 >>> Contents

died it was even harder for you. I know you looked up to them, Iknow you thought of them as your parents more than you thoughtof your own parents as your parents. Well news flash Diamondwent through the same thing, only his parents died when he wasthree. So even if his parents could have turned out like yours, theydidn’t have the chance to. He depended on my parents for help andguidance. I grew up with him, he was like a brother to me. Sowhen they died it hit him hard too.” By the time I am downexplaining a anger has bloomed inside me. Phoenix sighs, “Well Idon’t like him.”. I look into his eyes, and read the words that arewritten there, that no one else can see. I​ don’t like how close she iswith him. What if she leaves, or worse what if he is tricking her. Hemay seem like a good guy, but I don’t trust him. At the moment Idon’t know if I trust Val right now either. Something just seems off,but I don’t know what.​ I am taken aback by what I read. I neverknew you could want to slap someone and want to cry so much atthe same time. He doesn’t know I have this power though, and Ican’t tell him I just read the truth from his eyes. So I angrily yell athim, “Phoenix I have always dealt with your stubbornness, but oneday it is going to be the death of you!” I glance at his eyes one lasttime, I​ knew I shouldn’t of trusted her. H​ e has a look of hatred onhis face, and I can’t bare knowing I put it there. I can’t take thisanymore, no right now away. So I turn and I bolt off into thewoods. I’m not sure where I am going but for now I know it has tobe away from here. I hear Phoenix yelling after me but I don’tcare. I may be shorter than him but I am faster and after a fewminutes his voice is just a whisper in the wind. *** As I emerge from the woods, I see I am behind an oldabandoned bakery. I am surprised to see that only a couple of thewindows are cracked. Apart from that there is no visible damage tothe building. Swinging open the back door I walk inside. To my <<< 31 >>> Contents

surprise the bakery still smells like fresh bread. I haven’t smelledfresh bread in so long, it is a welcome surprise. I hear a creakcoming from the other room. Quietly I walk over to the door andpush it open. I see a boy who is probably my age maybe a yearolder. He has dirty blond hair and with golden brown eyes. Whathe is wearing, a loose flannel and jeans, seems familiar. He looksshocked to see me. I smile at him a little, “Hello, who are you”. Hesaid up and walks over to me, “My name is Natess and your nameis Valor. Although everyone at school always called you Val. Iremember when we were in the first day of school, we were inclass. The teachers asked if anyone new the our cities anthem, ofcourse everyone did. Then the teacher asked if they new any of theother cities anthem, your hand shot straight up. You were the onlyone to raise your hand. I remember the teacher asking which cityand how you new it. You said city five and then you said yourmother was a transfer. The teacher had barely gotten the questionout before you started singing. Your voice filled the little room,even back then you weren’t afraid to speak your mind”. He startsto laugh quietly to himself. My smile doesn’t waver for a second, Ican’t believe I didn’t realize who he was. I remember him now,when I was twelve and my parents had just passed he helped me.His parents used to own a little corner store. It was snowing badlyand I had no place to go. His father told him not to let me in, that Icouldn’t be trusted. His father must of thought I would steal ordamage something. Natess didn’t care though, he snuck me inanyway. Then he hid me away in the back room, where almost noone goes. He gave me food, it wasn’t much but I hadn’t eaten indays so it was a lot for me. I look at him, he looks different fromwhen we were kids. His hair is longer than it used to be and he ismuch taller. Walking over to him, I pull him into an embrace. Hehugs me back and for a moment we are both silent. When he pullsaway, I look into his eyes and smile, “Thank you”. I remember that <<< 32 >>> Contents

his mother was the sweetest person, she passed that on to him. Hesurely didn’t get it from his father, he was a cruel old man. Sadlyhis mother passed away when Natess was seven. I remember sheused to send two cookies with Natess. He would always give meone of them and eat the other. I smile at that memory, “I haven’tseen you in forever, what ever happened to you?”. He frowns, “Myfather slipped in the corner store and hit his head. He must havebeen laying there for hours before I found. If I had just gotten theresooner, maybe I could’ve helped”. He looks away, and seems to begetting consumed by guilt. I take his hand in mine and squeeze it.He smiles at me, but I can tell guilt is still eating away at him. Helets go of my hand. In an attempt to get his mind off it, he changesthe subject, “So choosing day is next month.”. I frown, “Icompletely forgot about that. What do you plan on doing?”. Hesmiles, “I am moving to a different city. What are you doing?”. Iam shocked, I never thought Natess of all people would move, Ialways assumed he would take over the store, “I don’t know,maybe I’ll go with you”. I don’t know why I added that last part,maybe because part of me wants to leave with him. Leave thisplace, all the death and terrible memories that it holds. I see a sparkof hope twinkle in his eyes. Smiling at it, I sit down. He sits downwith me, and entwines his fingers with mine. I don’t know why, but I feel the safest now than I everhave. I feel safer than I ever have with Phoenix, or anyone else.Leaning my head against his shoulder I sigh. I am with Phoenixthough, what will become of that now. I have always likedPhoenix, but having to survive on your own since a very young agehas taken a toll on him. He can be cold sometimes, and is alwaysassuming things about people. Sure he can be kind and caring butsometimes that isn’t enough. In the back of my mind I knew wewould never actually work. Now that I left, now that I have ranaway I am beginning to accept that. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to <<< 33 >>> Contents

see how this plays out. Looking out the window, I see the sun set.Natess sees it and smiles, “Isn’t it beautiful. My favorite part isafter it fully sets and I can look up at the twinkling stars.”. I turn tolook at him, “The moon pulls the entire night sky together. Thenight sky with a full moon and thousands of twinkling stars isperfect.”. Moving I grab a blanket I see crumbled in the corner ofthe room. Carefully I spread it out across the floor by the window.I lay down on my side and stare out at the night sky, how beautiful.There is a full moon tonight and just like I said it ties the entire skytogether. I hear footsteps then feel a small gust of wind fromNatess as he laid down beside me. “You were right, the full moondoes tie the entire sky together”. I roll over and smile at him, “Toldyou”. I roll back over and continue looking at the sky. Natesswraps his arm around my side and for a moment I freeze. He startsto pull his arm away, “Sorry”, but I take his hand in mine. Withoutanymore words we both silently drift off. The Old Tongue Word Meanings <<< 34 >>> Contents

Enots Sa Gnorts-​ Strong As StoneThgil Sa Tsaf-​ Fast As LightHturt Neddih Sah Gnihtyreve-​ Everything has hidden truthDlotun Eht Fo Relaever-​ Revealer of the untoldNatess-​ Sunrise <<< 35 >>> Contents