Chapter 1

I woke up to the sound of rain drops pouring on the roof.
What time is it? I thought. I looked out the window that showed it was still dark outside. My eyes met the face of the clock which read three o’clock. It’s only three o’clock. I doubt I’ll get anymore sleep. I decided to get up and get dressed. I headed to the kitchen after I was dressed so I could grab some breakfast. Well, mind as well get some fresh air before we’re sent off to school. I thought stepping outside into the black, fall morning. I decided to run to the woods where I had my little hideout. No one ever goes into the woods any more after they heard about the boy who suddenly vanished into it. I of course don’t believe in such foolishness. Even if the story is true, I would be glad to vanish and never come back. No one ever notices I’m gone anyway. I’m pretty sure they don’t care about me at all. If you were cared for and loved, would your father just abandon you? Would you not have any friends? Father left when I was young and mom could really care less about how I feel. She tries to help me but I just push her away. I don’t need her or anyone else. I’ve learned to take care of myself. My mother tries to support the family but always fails at doing it. With mother always failing to support the family, I always end up taking matters into my own hands. It’s always hard to support the family when all my mother does is fight with what I’m doing. I just ignore her and try not to pay any attention. It works sometimes, but mostly mother just starts yelling at me and we get into a fight. My little sister, Mandy, would run to her room in tears because she doesn’t like it when mother yells at me. I blame all the arguing between mother and I on Father but it’s partially my fought. Everyone says I have an anger issue but I really could care less what they think. I was never a really angry child but I guess it all started because of the situation with my father.
I remember the day my temper began like it was yesterday. It was a sunny summer day two years ago when I was fourteen. Mother sent me off to go get the mail from the post office like she does every other day. A letter came for us that day in a fancy envelope. No one in our town ever gets fancy envelopes unless it’s something really important. The letter was addressed to my mother, Mandy and I. At the moment I saw who it was addressed from, I knew my face had turned white. Knowing it had to be important I rushed home as quickly as my legs could carry me. I busted through the door like a mad person wanting to kill someone in this house. I was so anxious to see what was inside the envelope. My mother was sitting at the kitchen table when I burst through the door. She just looked at me with a puzzled face. She came over to me and tried to calm me down because at that point, I was breathing heavily. As she was trying to calm me down, she noticed the fancy envelope I held in my hand. I could tell she wanted me to give it to her by the way she was staring at it. As I gave her the letter, her face went pale like mine was when I first saw the envelope. All the calmness in her voice that tried to calm me down disappeared. I saw her rip the letter open and her face just explained it all. Her eyes were swelling up with tears, her hand holding her mouth, her gentle rocking back and forth, and her small cry of “no”; something was on the table so I decided to look at it. I wasn't a nosy kid but when a fancy letter is just sitting there right in front of me, I just had to look. I picked up the paper and started reading it. What I read made me feel hurt and angry. My father, who left us starving, had died. I knew I shouldn't have been happy but I was. He left my family when I was nine, Mandy five. My mom loved him so much that she begged him not to go. My father pushed us away when we begged him to stay. He said it was for the best if he went away. He abandoned us that night all alone in the dark. My mother cried for days. I knew what was going on but didn't want to show it. Now, here I was reading a letter that said my father had been shot and died immediately. I was so angry that when I stood up, my chair fell to the ground with a great thud. My mother heard the thud and rushed out to see if everything was okay. I just stood there looking at her with the letter in my hand. She was looking at me back. Then tears started swelling up in my eyes and I couldn't control it. My mother rushed to my side and held me close. The anger, the pain, and hurting I was feeling started showing through. I had to get out of there. No one has ever seen me like this and no one ever will. I push away from my mother’s arms and just look at her. Then I bolt off towards the door. I just had to get away. Get away to someplace that I knew I could pour my feelings out. That place was the woods. Yes the woods. Just the sound of it going through my mind made me feel more relaxed. I could hear my mother calling out to me. Saying, "Kate! Kate! Come back!" I know she said more but I forced myself to drain out the screams from my mother’s voice.
Every night since that day I would wake up to the sound of Mandy screaming in her sleep. Mom had told Mandy a couple of days after we got the letter. Mandy was young when father left but she still remembers him like he never left. When Mandy screamed, I knew she had a nightmare about father. I would then hear my mother footsteps rushing down the hall trying to comfort Mandy. I always wondered why I never had nightmares about father. Besides, I've known him longer than Mandy. Maybe it was because I was so angry at him for leaving his loved ones behind. If he even did love us.
All these thoughts go zooming through my mind as I’m sitting in the forest floor. Living here would be great, I thought, I could live my own life. Not worry what people think of me. I never had any friends anyway. I did have one friend named Paige but her family moved while we were in the fifth grade. I have never heard anything about them since. Of course I’ve seen and talked to a couple kids my age in town, but never really became close friends with them. They all went to a different school than me which was a good thing. The people at my school make me feel like an outcast. They make me feel unwanted. At school, every girl has either red or blonde hair and is just beautiful. All the boys are attracted to them. Then there’s me, the only one with long, brown hair and brown eyes. I’m glad the boys aren’t attracted to me because I swore I would never get married because of how my father treated my mother. I just never want to deal with that situation again. The pain my mother had to go through was too much even for me.
As the sun started to rise I figured that it was about time for me to go home. It’s always hard to leave this place because for once I feel wanted and alive! I have had a lot of memories here that remind me of certain things. I was just about ready to stand up when all of a sudden I hear something scurry behind a bush. I jump up from my sitting position and peer behind the bush where the sound came from. Nothing. It’s probably just some animal, I thought. But then I see a pair of footprints. The footprints only a human could make!

Chapter 2

The sight of the footprints puts a shocked expression on my face. Never in my life have I seen human footprints in this part of the woods. Especially after that story was told about the boy who vanished. I always assumed I was alone. It didn’t really dawn on me that someone could use the woods as a place of relaxation like me if they dared to come here. I figured that this was my own private place and no one knew that it existed. But then the sight of those footprints made me reconsider. The thought that this place was private was a stupid thing to think of. I mean, this place is located in the west side of our town. There are two parts of the woods but no one should know about this part. But still, what are the odds of someone not finding this place like I did? As much as I want to investigate this disturbing situation, I have to get back home and get ready for school. The agony of leaving this place, knowing that someone has discovered my world, was building anger up inside of me. I can’t do anything right now because of school. School. It always seems like something to do with the government gets in the way of letting me have a normal life. It’s like they know how to torcher me. I’ve considered running away several times but never had the guts to do it. Now is one of those times where I want to go, run away and never come back. Although leaving this place was torcher, I manage to get back to my house. When I walked through the door, my mother was there sitting at the table with my food. It’s like she was expecting my arrival.
“Katelyn Cove, where in the world have you been?” she said not looking up from her newspaper.
“Umm… I just decided to go outside and get some fresh air. I couldn’t sleep this morning and decided getting fresh air was the best thing to do,” I said half way lying and half way telling the truth. As I walked over to gobble down my breakfast, I noticed Mandy just sitting in the corner eating her breakfast quietly. “What’s wrong Mandy?” She didn’t answer. Normally when she doesn’t answer a question, it’s an indicator that something is wrong. “Mandy?” Still no answer. As I look at her closer I could see the tiny tears streaming down her face.
“Mandy’s dog got killed this morning. Someone forgot to let Benny inside last night so some strange animal came and attacked it. Poor Benny couldn’t do anything to fight the creature off,” mother said with sincerity in her voice while glaring at me.
“Oh, I’m so sorry Mandy. Don’t worry, I’ll find you a new pet.” I said trying to make her feel better. But all she gives me is a faint smile and a nod. I know it will be hard in the next few days for her. Mandy got Benny right after father died. It’s not like mom didn’t like trying to comfort Mandy in the middle of night when she woke up from nightmares, It’s just she couldn’t get herself out of bed most of the time. She got Mandy this dog so that it would be someone she could talk to whenever she was sad, scared, or hurting in anyway. The good part of it is that it worked. She loved that dog more than anything. Now with it being gone, she will have to face her sadness at night alone. Mandy does go to mom or I once in a while but mostly went to the dog. Now I can see the real pain shooting through her eyes. “Mandy, it’ll be okay. Trust me.” Those were the only words I could get out as I ran to her and held my arms open to her. After about five minutes of Mandy’s constant crying in my arms, mom finally tells us that if we don’t hurry and get changed that we’ll be late for school. Again, school gets in the way of everything.
“Oh by the way,” mother said as we climbed the stairs for our rooms, “Come straight home after school. We are having company over for dinner.”
“Who?” I asked a little rudely.
“You’ll know them when you see them. But I want you two to be on your best behavior when they get here,” mom said shooting me a stern look.
“Whatever,” I said under my breath. When I finished getting ready for school, I decided to go into Mandy’s room and see if she’s ready yet. When I walk into her room it has looked as if a tornado has blown through leaving a terrible mess in its place. I looked around for Mandy but couldn’t find her. Finally I saw her huddled in a corner with her stuffed bear that father had bought her when she was born. “Mandy, are you ready?” I asked trying to sound sincere. “If we don’t leave now, we’ll be late for school.”
“I don’t care! I don’t even want to go to school! I hate school!!” Mandy started to say sternly.
“I know how you feel. I don’t want to go to school either. In fact, I hate it too!” I said stroking her hair back behind her ear.
“You do?” she asked me when she turned around, “I always thought you loved it. I mean, the way you act. It just seems that you do.”
“Me, like school?” I said laughing, “Mandy, that’s the last thing I would do. Love school. I despise it so much! In fact, I’m thinking about quitting it and never returning”
“Really?” she said with a hint of smile coming from her mouth, “could I quit too?”
“Well now. That depends. You will have to be a good girl and obey whatever mom says. If you can do that then maybe you can quit. If I ever do quit, I’ll be sure to drag you out with me only if you follow what I just said!” I said smiling at her. She just laughs and then gives me a hug. While hugging, I hear her voice as soft as a mouse whispering something in my ear, “Kate, thanks so much!”
“You’re welcome,” I whisper back, “Now onto prison!” I could tell by the way her face looked she wasn’t getting my joke. “Prison means school. It’s my new nickname for it!”
“Oh, well in that case, off to prison!” She exclaimed cheerfully. I couldn’t help myself but laugh the whole way to school.
“Why hello there Kate,” one of my classmates said in a mocking tone when I got to school.
“Hello Ella.” I said back trying to ignore her.
“I almost didn’t recognize you today,” Ella said in her usual mean tone, “I thought you were some new girl that got her hair colored but then as you came closer, I knew it was you by that tacky hair cut you have.”
“Whatever Ella, I’m not in the mood,” I say pushing her to the side as I walk into the school door with Mandy. Why do I even go to school? I thought. All you do I die when you’re older. Why waste your life on learning about stuff that you won’t need to know after you die? Of course, what I do in class is much different than what others do. Maybe I had at least one friend my life would be different.
I was so glad that I had to go straight home after school. I didn’t even want anyone to be here altogether. “Mandy, we need to go home. NOW!” I said grabbing Mandy by the arm.
“Why are you in such a rush Kate?” Ella asked as I was pulling Mandy out of the classroom. “I mean, I know you don’t have a date or anything.” That did it. She knows how to get on my nerves but this really hit the spot. “Your right Ella, I don’t,” I say firmly trying not to show my anger. “But if I were you, I would stop worrying about those eyebrows of yours or else you’ll never get a date.”
“AH!” Ella said as she stormed away from us.
“Mandy, let’s go.” I said pulling her out the door. I lean in close to her ear so that no one could her and whisper, “Let’s get out of this prison?” All she does is look at me with a smile and a girly giggle.
“Mother, were home.” Mandy said when we walked through the door of our house. All of a sudden she stops. She stopped so suddenly that it almost made me fall on top of her. “Mandy, keep walking.” I said trying to not crush her with my body. As I look up, I see why she stopped. I could feel my mouth just drop in disbelief. There, right in front of me, was our old history teacher. I never liked him and after today, probably never will.
“Ah, there you are. Just on time,” my mother said with a hint of a smile, “girls, this is Mr. Brooks. Kate, I think you know him.”
“Why yes,” I try to say in my nicest way possible grinding my teeth together, “how could I forget him?”
“It’s nice to see you again Kate,” Mr. Brooks said in a polite way, “It’s been what, three years?”
“Yes. Excuse me please,” I said looking at Mandy while quickly walking to my room. There in my room, tears started to build and run down my face. The tears then turned into anger. Anger that was gushing inside of me just waiting for me to explode it into the world.
“Kate?” I heard Mandy’s voice say as she opens the door to my room.
“What?” I said trying to wipe the tears from my eyes. I didn’t want her to see me crying but apparently I didn’t do a good job when she asks if I’ve been crying.
“Are you okay?” Mandy asked making her way to where I was lying on my bed.
“No,” I say sitting up on my bed. “I want him out of this house now!”
“Why? He seems like a nice guy.” She said sitting right next to me on my bed.
“Well, he’s not. He’s the worst guy that ever walked the planet!” Normally I don’t have this harsh of feelings towards another human being but when someone puts you through a lot of trouble, you kind of have to be.
It all started three years ago. I was in school, as usual, when Mr. Brooks came. He had come to be our new history teacher because our old one had retired. At first I thought he was a nice guy until I got beaten by him. Ella pushed me off a tree one day and of course, with my temper, I punched her. She then took a punch at me while knocking me to the ground. I was kicking and punching just trying to get her off. Then all of a sudden, Ella got off of me so I of course tackle her down to the ground. Someone must have gotten Mr. Brooks because the next thing I knew he yanked me off of Ella by my braid. As I was lying on the ground, I could see Mr. Brooks face. Angry, dark, cold and evil. Then, he pulled me off the ground and told me to go behind the school. I obeyed but knew that there was going to be severe punishment. After I got behind the school, Mr. Brooks wasn’t far behind me. He told me to turn around and put my hands on the wall. I, of course, obeyed. He then pulled my shirt up in the back and whipped my back with his belt. It wasn’t just one time, it was four of five. After he beat me, I was crying on the ground in a little ball. He put his belt back on and told me I’d better get to class quick. If I didn’t, more whipping. I rushed to my feet but the pain from my back pulled me back down to the ground. He then told me before he left not to tell anyone about what happened. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who got whipped. There was this little boy, about a year younger than Mandy, got whipped so much that his mother had to pull him out of school because they didn’t like the way the teacher was treating us. After we got abused several times, the government kicked Mr. Brooks out of our school and told him he could never come back into this district unless he straightens up his act. After the day I got beaten several times and then the times after that, I put Mr. Brooks on my list of people who I will never forgive. Now that he’s here in my house with my mother just made me even mad.
“Wow, just give Mr. Brooks a chance please. For me!” Mandy said wiping the tears from my eyes. “Besides, you said so yourself that Mr. Brooks couldn’t come back here unless he straightened up his act.”
“Thanks.” I said getting up off the bed. “I’ll give him a chance but if he fails, well, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
“Girls, dinner.” I could hear our mother’s voice say. I told Mandy not to mention the conversation ever again. She agreed and then we walked down to the kitchen together. While walking to the kitchen, I could hear my mother laughing. I haven’t heard my mother laugh like that since before my father died. Maybe he’s not so bad after all. I thought to myself, Wait! No! What am I saying! He is not a nice guy and nothing will change what I think about him!
“Ah, you girls look so pretty and older,” Mr. Brooks said when we sat down at the table. Mother shot me an ‘I thought I told you to change’ look. Then I realize that I didn’t change out of my school clothes. I shot her back an ‘I’m sorry’ look.
“Thanks.” I said since Mandy didn’t answer Mr. Brooks comment. Throughout dinner, everyone just made small talk except me. I stayed quiet trying not to let my anger show through my emotions.
“So Kate, how do you like the new school?” Mr. Brooks finally asked me. You see, when you get into high school, they send you away to a different class room as all the other kids. The first two years of high school here is to help you learn all the basic working skills. Then in your last two years you work on whatever career the government chooses for you. The first two years are to show the government what you’re capable of doing. If you don’t like your job they give you, so be it. You’re forced to do whatever they tell you to do.
“Why do you care?” I asked with my voice filling with anger. “You’ve never cared about me. You treated me like I was a piece of dirt!” Realizing what I just said, I got up from my chair and ran outside. What did I just do? I thought to myself. What’s it matter? He deserves it! As I sat on the grass crying, I felt someone grab my shoulder. My first reaction was telling me to run but when I saw that it was mother I just started at her.
“What do you want?” was all I could get out with the tears still streaming down my face.
“Honey, I know you have had bad situations with David but he’s changed. The first thing he asked to me today is if I could forgive him for treating you that way.” mother said stroking my hair.
“And you said yes?! I can’t believe you! You’re turning your back on your own daughter!” I said pulling my head away from her hand.
“I’m sorry darling but it’s not what you think. David has changed. And right now he’s very hurt by what you said.” My mother said trying to reach for my hair again.
“I can’t believe you!” I said pulling away from my mother again. “I don’t care if he’s hurting right now! I’m never going to forgive him! He has hurt me so many times!”
“I know he has hurt you but he’s older now. He was drunk mostly when he taught at the school several years ago. He tortured you guys because he was drunk. He had no control over his body. He’s not that type of man. He wants us to forgive him,” mother said trying to reach out to me again. She’s taking sides. She’s taking sides with him, the guy who beat her daughter, whereas she should be taking sides with me.
“Never! I will never forgive him!” I shouted back at her after I had gotten up from where I was sitting. “You’re taking sides on me. You’re taking his side instead of mine! How could you?” I could see Mr. Brooks standing by the door listening to our conversation. I could see the hurting and laughing in his eyes. I looked at my mother. The same hurting was in her eyes too. She wanted me to forgive him. I just couldn’t. Not after what I’ve been through. “You’ve never really loved me. No one ever has! Just leave me alone!” At that moment, I dart off to the only place I felt loved. The woods.
“Kate! Kate! Come back!” I could hear my mother scream. She sounded like she was crying. Was she crying because I left or because I hurt her? I couldn’t take it. The sight of that man sitting in my house trying to ask for forgiveness. My mother crying for me to return. I thought about returning back home and saying I’m sorry but I just couldn’t face mother right now. Not her, not Mr. Brooks, not even poor Mandy. By the time I got to the woods the sun was setting. I found my knife that I keep hidden in a tree and went to sit down on a log. I just sat there crying. Not just cries of sadness, but cries of pain and anger.

Chapter 3

Why here? Why now? these questions kept traveling around in my mind. “Why did he have to come back here? Why now? Out of all the years to say he’s sorry he picks this year.” I asked myself quietly. ”Why? Why?” As I was crying, a noise moved through the bushes in front of me. I completely forgot what I saw earlier. The footprint! Hopefully the human that owns those feet isn’t a murder. If it is, I’m here all alone with a murder. All I have with me is my little knife. Oh great. I thought. All I wanted to do was start my life over and if this murder kills me, instead of starting a new life, I ended mine altogether. The noise was getting louder and louder. I grab my knife just in case it was going to attack. Then silence. I decide to end my life with bravery by seeing what was behind the bush that was making noises. As I was just about ready to peer behind the bush, I hear a noise behind me. I turn around as quick as I could to see what the noise was. There sitting by a log was a rabbit. At least it kind of looked like a rabbit. I couldn’t really tell what it was. It looked like a rabbit but it had bird like qualities. The creature was like a rabbit’s body with wings and a beak. It seemed friendly so I went over to it. I was just about to pet it when someone shouts, “Don’t touch it!”
I turn around to see where the voice was coming from and saw a boy around my age. He had black hair and sea blue eyes. He looked very familiar but I couldn’t tell where I’ve seen him at.
I was just about ready to touch the creature again when he said, “I said don’t touch it! Move away from it now!”
“Why?” I asked not thinking the creature was dangerous.
“Because I said so! That’s why!” He said to me again with a stern expression. “NOW!”
“Okay okay.” I said backing away from the creature. What happen next was strange. The boy pulled out a dart from inside his jacket and threw it at the creature. The creature, surprisingly, shot fire out of its mouth and melted the dart before it hit him. The boy then pulled out a spear and threw it after the dart had melted. The spear pierced the creature’s neck and fell over dead. Then then creature started dissolving into thin air.
“What did….what just happened?” I asked unable to move. “And who are you?”
“I’m Austin Clam.” the boy said pulling the arrow out of the ground where it pierced the creature. “And you just about got yourself killed.”
“What do you mean?” I asked starting to move closer to him. “You look familiar. Do I know you?”
“What I mean is, is that if you would have touched that creature, it would have killed you within seconds.” Austin said standing up. “And yes, I used to live in town and went to your school. Except, no one knows that because they didn’t pay any attention to me.”
“Um… I’m pretty sure I would have remembered you if you were in my class,” I said right behind him.
“Well, I am, Kate.”
“How do you know my name?” I asked looking at him straight into his blue eyes when he was facing me.
“I told you. I used to go to your school. And besides, I’m supposed to keep an eye on you.” Austin said with a smile.
“I don’t understand. Why do you need to keep an eye out for me?” I asked getting mad again. I hate it when people don’t give me exact answers. It used to not bother me when I was younger but after my tempter started, that’s when I couldn’t stand not getting an exact answer.
“It’s not safe to talk here. I’ll explain on the way. Follow me,” Austin said grabbing my arm.
“What!? Wait!? Where are we going?” I asked trying to free myself from his grasp. But he just grabbed on harder and pulled me along.

“Okay so explain. What’s all this about?” I asked as we were walking along the path.
“Well it’s hard to explain.” Austin said jumping over a log.
Oh great. I though. I’m just following some stranger that apparently goes to my school. Who knows what will happen to me? “So why is it so hard to explain?” I asked waiting for an answer.
“It just is. It’ll be clear soon enough.” Austin said stopping, “um… have you ever heard of Sten?”
“Um...no, what’s that?”
“Do you always ask so many questions?” Austin asked me with a smile on his face.
“Yes, that’s how I learn things.” I said getting annoyed.
“I see. Well anyways, have you ever heard about the story about the boy who didn’t think he mattered in the world and ran into the woods? And while he was in these woods he disappeared?”
“Yes. Our whole town knows about that story. That’s why no one ever comes into the woods.” I said sitting on a log nearby when Austin stopped. “But what does that have to do with this thing called Sten?”
“Yeah, I’ve heard about your town scared to come into the woods. I’ll explain in a little bit. It’s getting dark so we should probably make camp for the night.” Austin said setting his backpack down beside me.
“Um… okay.” I said a little nervous. Should I trust this guy? Or should I just take off in the middle of the night? I mean, he did save me from whatever that strange creature was. But then again, he might have just saved me so that I wouldn’t suspect any danger from him. He could kill me for all I know. “Do you need help collecting firewood or something?”
“No it’s okay. I can do it myself.” Austin said grabbing some logs nearby.
“Are you sure? I don’t want you to do all the work.” I said getting up from my log.
“Yeah I’m sure. You just say put and don’t get into trouble.” Austin said glancing over at me with a faint smile.
“You don’t need to worry about me. I can take care of myself.” I said sitting back down from my log. By now I was laughing quietly.
“Yeah, well, tell me that next time you save yourself from getting killed.”
“Whatever!” I said still a little annoyed. Night was falling on us fast. Thankfully I ate dinner before I ran away. But I have no clue what I’m going to do for breakfast, if I’m not already dead! “So, do you like live around here now?”
“I used to. My family does anyway. I ran away three year because I was angry,” Austin said bringing some logs back. “Do you know how to start a fire?”
“Oh, um, no. I was never taught how to build a fire.” I said shyly. “Why were you angry? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Well, first I’ll show you how to start a fire and then I can answer all your questions,” Austin said nodding for me to come over where he laid some logs and leaves down in a pile.
“Okay, so what’s first?” I asked getting down right beside him.
“It’s really, really, hard,” Austin started to say. “This is what you do: First, you pull out a match from inside you backpack. Then you light the match. After you have lit the match, you put a leaf on fire. Then you carefully place the leaf down on the wood pile and ta da, you have a fire.”
“Oh yeah, that’s really hard to do!” I said being sarcastic back.
“Are you sure you can handle it?” he asked me with a smile.
“I’m sure!” I said smiling back. After I started the fire, Austin and I got more logs to put beside the fire.
“So, you said you were going to answer my questions now.” I said sitting on a log by the fire.
“Yeah,” Austin said sitting on a log across from me, “As I have already told you, I ran away because I was angry. Since everyone in town is red head, they made fun of me. They told me that I wasn’t important and that my parents didn’t want me. I should have known that they weren’t telling the truth right there. I mean, why would your parents not want you? Aren’t they supposed to love you and take care of you?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” I said thinking about what he just said. It made me think about my second thoughts about my father loving us.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t think so. My parents always fought. I always got in trouble. Dad was always beating me because I didn’t get the chores done. After the kids at school told me that I didn’t matter to my parents, I started to believe them. They even showed me a note that was supposedly from my parents saying that they were very disappointed in me and said they didn’t love me. For me, it all started to made sense. I mean, the way my parents were always fighting in front of me. My father beating me if I didn’t get the chores done. I knew right then that I didn’t matter to them. So I ran away into the woods. Thought that I could find a way a new place outside of the town and start a new life on my own. I ran away and never came back.” Austin said poking the fire with a stick.
“I’m so sorry. But I know how you feel.” I said looking at him while he was poking the fire. I really was glad that at least someone has been through the same pain as I have. Well, not exactly like mine but close enough to feel my pain. “But don’t you think your parents miss you?”
“I doubt it. I’ve been into town a couple of times without anyone knowing and saw my parents happily working. They even have a new kid to look after. Apparently they had another kid after I left.” Austin said after a long pause. “But yeah, it was such a long time ago when I left. I’m used to living on my own. You don’t need to worry about me. You should worry about yourself and the danger you’re in. So why are you in the woods?”
“I ran away too. My father…umm…he abandoned us seven year ago. He left us without any money. Then about two years ago, we received a letter that said my father died. He got shot and died immediately. I was so happy. I know I shouldn’t have been but I was. It was a joy to think the man that took our money had died. Then in the same year that my father died, I got beaten by my school teacher. He apparently was drunk and did stupid things. He whipped my back if I did something wrong. I know one time I did deserve because I was beating up one of the girls. Now, tonight, he was at my house. I think he’s dating my mother. I found out when I got home from school today. The man who was torturing me was in my house. My mother knew that I didn’t like him and tried telling me that he had changed his ways. She said wanted for me to forgive him for the things he’s done. But I just couldn’t do it. So I yelled at my mother saying I would never forgive him or her for taking sides and ran out here. Figured I could live in the woods, start a new life by myself,” I said looking at him in the eyes. It seemed like he was actually listening to me. No one has ever really put in the time to listen to me besides Mandy. They just all act like there listing but be dreaming about something else. But Austin, he was different than anyone I’ve ever met. He seemed like he cared about me. Wanted to help me. It’s probably just the lack of sleep and the fumes from the fire that are causing me to say such stuff but still, Jake was different.
“I see.” Austin said bringing me back into reality. “It looks like you’ve had a rough life. You know something, it’s so funny how much we have in common.”
“Yeah, it is funny. You probably got really bored of listening to me go on and on about my life,” I said looking down at the ground.
“What?! No! I wasn’t bored at all! I enjoyed listening to your life story. Do people not listen to you when you talk about your life?” Austin asked with a smile. “You were probably really bored listening to me talk about my life.”
“Oh, I wasn’t bored. I enjoyed it too!” I said smiling back. “Well yes and no. I don’t really have anybody to tell it to and if I do find someone, they don’t listen. They could really just care less.”
“Yeah same here. I’m glad that I have at least one friend who doesn’t turn their head away when I tell them my life story.” Austin said still smiling.
“You mean you actually consider me as one of your friends? Are you sick or something? Normal people usually think I’m weird and don’t even bother to try to talk to me.”
“Well, maybe it’s because they’re not normal. People nowadays judge others before even get to know them. I think your cool.” Austin said throwing a stick into the fire. “I’ve always thought your cool.”
“Thanks! I think you’re cool too!” I said in a shy voice. “Have you ever had a real friend besides me?”
“Yeah. I had a friend before we moved here. We did everything together! Then a couple years ago my family moved to where we are today. It was really hard on me. I’ve never seen him after that,” Austin said with a sad tone to his voice. “What about you? Did you have a best friend?”
“Yep. I used to have a friend named Paige. We met in second grade and then she moved away in sixth grade. She left without saying goodbye. I don’t know why they left but it made me so upset. I lost my best friend and have never really had a friend ever since. Except now.” I said with a hint of smile on my lips. “So what was that story you wanted to tell me?”
“Oh right! But first, do you seriously not remember me?” Austin asked with doubted look on his face.
“Um…should I?” I asked.
“My family’s the owner of the Dinner in town.” Austin said shyly.
“Oh my word! No way! Your family owns that dinner? No wonder you looked so familiar! For a second there I thought I was going crazy. I should have recognized that name.” I said with a shock expression.
“Yeah, that’s my family. I didn’t think you would remember me. Besides, you only came into the store a couple of times. I always saw you but never really thought you saw me.”
“Are you kidding? I saw you. I always wondered why you weren’t in school. I always thought you were the lucky one because you didn’t go to school.” I said starting to laugh.
“Really? I always thought you were the lucky one. I always wanted to go to school. My parents couldn’t afford schooling for me so that’s why I didn’t go.” Austin said shyly again. “But I’m glad you remember me.”
“I’m glad you said something because not knowing if I knew you or not was driving me crazy. I was just to scared to ask.” I said.
Austin just laughed. I couldn’t help but laugh too. I mean, I can’t believe I didn’t recognize him. I never really talked to him but I have seen him before. Austin was always the quiet type. He didn’t talk to a lot of people in the town. At least, every time I was in town he was always quiet. He didn’t talk to anybody, especially girls.
“Hey, so what’s with that story?” I asked.
“Oh yah, it looks like time got away from us” Austin said. “Well, you’ve heard the story. The boy ran away into the woods and never returned. People searched and searched for days but never found him. They finally decided that a witch got hold of him and made him disappear. That’s why no one ever comes in here anymore.”
“Yeah I know that part of the story but what does that have with that Sten place you were telling me about?” I asked picking up a rock and throwing it into the fire.
“Well, that boy didn’t vanish. He found a barn that was abandoned. It started to rain so he decided to make shelter inside the barn. He walked up to the barn trying to find a door but never found one. He walked and walked all around the barn hoping he would find a door to get out of this rain. Finally he found something that looked like a door. But it was covered in ivy so he couldn’t get it opened. He pulled and pulled at the ivy until it revealed a door. He pushed the door open and ran inside. Before making camp for the night, he decided to search the barn in case there was anyone living there already. As he was searching the barn, he came across light. He followed the light to a door. The light was coming from under an ivy covered, small door. He pulled the ivy away to reveal the door jacked up with fancy locks.
“The locks would only open unless you had a key.” Austin continued. “It so happened that this boy had gotten a key from his parents saying it will be important one day. The boy decided to try this key. Not thinking it would open the door, he put the key into the lock and turned. It was a perfect match. The door slowly opened to reveal the place called Sten.”
“How do you know all this?” I asked trying to take in all he had told me.
“Because, the president of Sten was that boy. That’s why he’s the president. He found Sten. Of course he found Sten forty years ago. That’s one of the stories they tell you in Sten.” Austin said.
“Okay, so it’s starting to make some sense. But why did I have to come with you?” I asked.
“I’m trying to protect you from either getting killed or captured.” Austin said getting up from where he was sitting.
“Haha very funny!” I said pretending to laugh. “But really, why do I have to go to this place called Sten? And why am I in danger?”
“People are trying to kill you! My mission is to take you to Sten and to keep you alive. There’s this guy named Caesar. He used to be the head of Sten, under the president. Caesar was always a weird guy. Don’t ask me how he even became vise-president because I don’t know. Anyways, he decided he would try to take over Sten by killing the president. A lot of people in Sten liked the idea of killing the president but others didn’t. When the president figured out what Caesar was going to do, he had him arrested. Caesar except the prison and fled to the dark side of Sten. He took many villagers with him to be his assistants. Caesar has been trying and trying for years to over-rule the president but always fails. Now he actually has found a way to do it. All he needs is the diamond from the crystal mountain.” Austin said going over to our firewood pile to get more firewood.
“There’s a crystal mountain!” I exclaimed excitedly. “You guys have the coolest things! What else do you guys have?”
“Haha! A lot! You’ll just have to come to Sten and see.” Austin said returning with some more logs.
“I guess. So why am I so important?” I ask rubbing my arm because a mosquito bit me.
“I’m not really sure why. All I know is that you’re in danger. The president told me to go and find you but didn’t tell me why.” Austin said sitting back down.
“Oh. Hey do you have mosquito spray?” I asked itching my arm over and over. I put my arm by the fire so I could see what was wrong with my arm. My arm was now swelling and red.
“Yes. Just wait one second while I find it.” Austin said grabbing his backpack. “I know it’s in here somewhere.” He finally found the mosquito spray and tossed it to me.
“Thanks.” I said while I was spraying myself with mosquito spray. I tossed it back to him and that’s when I noticed how dark it was. “Are we supposed to spend the night here?”
“Yeah, sorry about there not being a bed. But these rocks do make good pillows.” Austin said smiling.
“I’ll take your advice on it!” I said smiling back. As I laid my head down on the rock, I noticed how cold it was. “Austin, I don’t mean to bug you but do you have any blankets?”
“I knew you would ask me that sooner or later.” Austin said grabbing a couple of blankets out of his bag. “Here you go.” I caught the blanket and wrapped it around me. It made me warm instantly. I don’t know what kind of blanket it was but it had a fuzzy texture to it. It was almost like sheep fur. This blanket should keep me warm for the whole night. “Austin?” I asked laying my head down on the rock.
“Yeah?” Austin asked me back. I could tell he was almost asleep by the way his voice sounded.
“Thanks.” I say yawing. “Good night.”
“You’re welcome.” Austin said. “Good night.” It didn’t take me long to fall asleep. I was so tired; emotionally and physically. Well, better get used to this type of environment because it looks like I’m going to be here for a while. I thought to myself. I shut my eyes and dreamed about everything that had happened today.
Kate! Come here! I saw my mother standing in the door way of our house. Come here Kate! I started running to my mother but I couldn’t get there. I started running faster and faster. I saw Mandy standing in the field nearby. I started running to her. She had on a white dress and was picking flowers. Mandy! Mandy! I called to her while I was running. Kate! Come here! I have a present for you! Mandy said when she saw me. I ran to her. She looked so pretty. I was about two feet away from her when she started to transform. She started turning into a dragon. A dragon with wings and very sharp teeth. I stopped running to her. I couldn’t believe it. She now was a fierce dragon with wings trying to eat me. I tried running away but I couldn’t move. It was like my feet were trapped in quicksand. I turned my head to see Mandy open her mouth looking like she would swallow me whole. I screamed and screamed! Tried to move but couldn’t. Then, Mandy opens her mouth and swallows me whole!
“Ahhh!” I said waking up from my nightmare. I’m sorry if Austin woke up from my screaming but I couldn’t help it. Mandy transforming into a dragon and then eating me was just too much to bear. Still panting and dripping sweat from my dream, I noticed that Austin was still asleep. It was just a dream, I’m perfectly fine. I kept telling myself. Austin didn’t seem to notice my screaming which was a good thing. I didn’t want to have to explain it all to him. Just thinking about it made me feel really sick. Maybe if I just go walk around for a little bit, I’ll feel better. I thought this was a good idea so I get up from my earthy bed and grabbed my knife. I knew it was morning because of how the sun was positioned in the sky. I started walking away from camp but that’s when my stomach growled. I guess I was so scared about my dream that I forgot of how hungry I was. I looked over a Austin’s stuff but nothing there seemed edible. I decided to help him out and go hunt. I could at least find a rabbit or some small animal for breakfast. I slipped on my boots and walked further away from camp. Since its morning, the animals should be out by now. I kept walking until I heard a twig snap beside me. I then remembered what Austin had told me last night: “People are trying to kill you! You need to be more careful!’ I turned to the direction where the sound came from but saw nothing. Then a rabbit came out of the bush. “Ah, perfect,” I said quietly to myself. I approached the rabbit but it must have seen me because it started to hop farther and farther away. I started to follow it thinking that I didn’t go very far away from the camp. I turned around expecting to see a glimpse of the camp but instead, I just saw a bunch of trees. I stared to panic but then I realized that I was big enough to take care of myself no matter what Austin tells me. The only thing that I was thinking about was if Austin would get worried if I’m gone or not. He’ll get over it. Besides, I’m not that far away from the camp. I said to myself. The rabbit finally stopped hopping and turned around to face me. Then something strange happened. The rabbit’s eyes started glowing orange. It stands on its two hind legs and gets bigger and bigger. It’s taller than me when it finally stops growing. Wings then come out of the creature. It looks like a bear, a rabbit, and a dragon all squished into one body! I thought about running back to the camp but then the creature started breathing out fire from its mouth. It could disintegrate me by the time I started running or worse, while I was running. I figured that that option was out of the question. My next option was to stay and fight. No matter what I did, I know I would get killed. At least I could die trying. I clutch my knife in my right hand. My fingers gripped it so tightly that I thought my fingers were losing circulation. The creature starting running towards me so I pulled my knife up ready to plunge it into its body. The creature then stopped right in front of me. I don’t know why it stopped but this would give me a good shot at killing it. Sweat was dripping down my face. The creature pounced on me before I could throw my knife into it. I got knocked to the ground with a hard thump. My knife flung out of my hand and landed about five feet away from me. I tried to grab it but the creature stepped on my arm crushing it. The creature was so heavy. The pressure of its paw on my arm felt like my arm was breaking into two pieces. “AHHH!” I cried out when the creature put even more pressure on my arm. “Austin!! Austin!!” I knew it was hopeless for me to scream out his name. I was to far away from camp for him to hear me. Well this is it. I thought, I’m going to die all by myself!

Chapter 4

“Austin! Austin!” I screamed out again. I started kicking the creature with my feet but it just made it crush my arm more. “Get off of me!!” I screamed at the creature. I was lucky that it didn’t spray fire at me, otherwise, I would be toast. Literally speaking! The creatures eyes where still glowing. I couldn’t do anything else but just stare into those huge cruel eyes. By looking at his eyes, I got a glimpse of his teeth. I’m surprised I didn’t see them before because they were huge. At any moment know they could rip my face off. I shut my eyes trying to think of happy thoughts while the creature killed me but I couldn’t think of any. What thoughts are happy when you’re just about ready to get killed? I asked myself instead. Then, I could feel the creature slowly lift its paw up from above my arm. I was for sure my arm was broken by how numb it was and how much it hurt. I still had my eyes shut when I felt the creature drop beside me. It scared me so much that I jumped lying there. I opened my eyes and turned my face to see the creature lying dead beside me. Through its heart I could see and arrow. Stunned by the situation, I closed my eyes again tell myself that it was all over with. Then it hit me, who shot the arrow? Was it Austin? It couldn’t have been. He was to far away from me. I opened my eyes again and shot up from my lying position. I looked around for the owner of the arrow but didn’t see anyone. I looked back at the dead creature but it wasn’t there. All that was left was the arrow punctured into the ground. I retrieved the arrow looking for some sign of who shot it but I couldn’t find anything.
“Better be more careful now Kate,” someone said in the distance.
“Austin! I’m so sorry! I can explain.” I said turning around to where the voice came from. “Oh sorry, I thought you were my friend.” There before me was a boy that looked around my age. He looked like Austin but with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. Besides that, his height and his body appearance all seemed to be like Jakes.
“It’s okay. I’ve reckon you met Austin?” the boy asked coming closer to me.
“Maybe,” I said trying not to give away to much information in case he was someone I shouldn’t trust. “Who are you? And how do you know me?” The boy did look mighty familiar but then again, so did Austin. It was probably the boy’s looks that threw me off. I mean, he does look a lot like Austin and I didn’t know him.
The boy started to laugh but the said, “I see. Don’t worry, you can trust me. I know Austin too.”
“How do you know him?” I asked stepping farther away from the boy. “And what’s your name?”
“Oh, pardon me. My name is Jake.” The boy said coming closer and closer to me. “I’m Austin’s partner from Sten. Do you by chance know where he is?”
“Why do you want to know where he is?” I asked suspiciously.
“Wow, they didn’t tell me you were this hard to get information out of! I like it!” Jake said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask raising my voice.
“Shhhh…. Never mind. Forget I said that. But please be quiet,” he said quickly.
“Why should I be quiet?” I asked raising my voice. I know raising my voice would irritate him so that’s why I did it. “You could just be telling me that because you don’t want me calling for someone to help me. You could kill me for all I know.”
Jake nods his head and sighs. “Okay, you have to believe me this time. I’m not a bad guy. Look,” Jake said pulling up his sleeve to reveal a tattoo. It was the strangest tattoo I’ve ever seen. It was in the shape of a circle with the letters ‘S’ and ‘C’ in it. It was strange but I knew I’ve seen that same tattoo before.
“Yeah, I see it. What is it?” I asked still looking at it.
“It’s a patch that means we are citizens of Sten. The ‘S’ means Sten and the ‘C’ means citizens. If you don’t believe me, go look on Austin’s arm. I guarantee you that he has the exact same one.” Jake said pulling his sleeve back over the tattoo. Austin’s arm! That’s where I’ve seen it before! When Austin was picking up firewood he rolled his sleeves up and there it was. Sitting plain as day on his arm. I can’t believe I didn’t notice it before.
“Can you please take me to Austin?” Jake asked. I completely forgot he was there until he said something.
“I guess.” I said heading in the direction to our camp. Then I remembered how much pain my arm was in. I grabbed onto it and about cried out in pain.
“What’s wrong?” Jake asked me when I dropped to my knees.
“Oh, nothing.” I said trying to show the pain.
“It must be something. Why else would you be sitting on the ground?” he asked coming towards me. It was the first time I noticed he was right. I was sitting on the ground holding my arm. How could he not think I wasn’t hurting?
“It’s my arm. I got tackled by that creature back there before you killed it. I tried reaching my knife but the creature stepped on my arm. It put a lot of pressure on my arm. Now it just kills.” I said holding my arm even more.
“Here, let me help you,” Jake said grabbing something out of his backpack.
“What are you going to do?” I asked kind of scared.
“I’m going to give you medicine.” Jake said pulling up a needle with a bottle attached to the end.
“What is that?” I asked really scared.
“Don’t worry. I’m just going to inject this needle into your arm. It should heal it fast. If not, it will at least kill some of the pain. If it doesn’t heal it, we can take you to the hospital in Sten. They can fix your arm up in no time. It will be good as new.” Jake said as he was just about ready to inject the needle into my arm. “Ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I said closing my eyes shut. I didn’t like needles. Especially ones that were injected into my arm. The sooner this is over with the sooner I’ll be happy. I feel a slight pinch and then relief. Finally, I thought. It’s over with.
“Um Kate. You can open your eyes now.” Jake said.
“Oh, um thanks!” I said opening my eyes.
“Don’t mention it.” Jake said putting the needle back in his bag.
“No. I mean thanks for everything. For saving me from being attacked and for helping me with my arm. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you a while back.” I said getting back up unto my feet.
“It’s okay. I’m used to it.” Jake said smiling at me. “If it makes you feel any better, I was just as bad as you.”
“Oh, so what’s that supposed to mean?” I asked with a hint of laughter in my voice.
“It just means that I was just like you before I had my training. I was clumsy, self-reliant, and fearless.” Jake said looking at me straight in the eyes. His eyes looked so familiar but I couldn’t tell why. “But next time, be prepared to fight by yourself because I’m not going to help you.”
“Whatever!” I said pushing him slightly while laughing.
“No I mean it!” he said laughing with me. “Let’s get going.”
“Yeah your right.” I said as I starting walking again. Jake of course followed me. We made small talk until we got to camp.
“So um… what where you doing out there with that creature?” Jake asked walking right beside me.
“I was trying to get breakfast for Austin and me.” I said. “He was still sleeping when I left. He did so much for me last night that I thought I would return the favor by getting breakfast.”
“Oh. What a nice thing to do!” Jake said sarcastically. “But you do know that this backpack we carry has all sorts of stuff in it. Like, um… let’s see…food!”
“Well, we can blame this incident on Austin. He didn’t tell me there was food in his pack!” I said shaking my head.
“Okay. Next time you should tell Austin where you’re going though. We’re trying to protect you and can’t really protect you when we don’t know where you are!” Jake said looking at me. “You’re lucky that I was strolling around in the woods otherwise, you would have been killed.”
“What, so now I have to ask Austin if I can go out or not?” I asked. I could feel my checks getting red from my anger.
“Well yes and no. But since we’re trying to protect you, you should at least tell us where you’re going.”
“Look, I can take care of myself! I don’t need you guys!” I started shouting at him. “I’ve never had anyone to protect me and I turned out fine!”
“Kate! There you are! I thought someone kidnaped you! I was so worried!” Austin said when he spotted us coming through the bushes. “Jake! Hey man! What are you doing here?”
“I was just leaving! Better ditch while you can! Kate can take care of herself!” Jake said walking away from us. I could tell he was mad. I didn’t mean to hurt his feelings. I guess it was my anger taking advantage of me, again.
“Jake! Wait!” Austin shouted as Jake was walking away. “Kate, what did you do?”
“He got on my nerves. We were walking here and he told me that I should always tell you where I’m going so in case I’m in danger, you could rescue me. I told him that asking permission to go somewhere was stupid. I’ve taken care of myself long enough and I’m not going to stop now.” I said starting to feel bad about what I said to Austin. “He’s right though. I guess it’s my responsibility to tell you guys where I’m going so I don’t get myself killed. It’s just that, I’ve never had people looking out for me before. I’ve always been on my own. No one cared about me. Then when I met you guys, I guess I’m not used to the whole protection thing.
“I’m really sorry about what I did. I blew up on him. Can you tell him I’m sorry and really want him to stay with us?” I continued.
“Kate, I know you’re sorry. When I first came, I wasn’t used to the whole protection idea either. You’ll get used to it. Trust me!” Austin said about to walk over to Jake. “In the meantime, I think you should be the one who says sorry to Jake not me. Jake’s been through a lot.” Austin then left to go bring Jake back to his senses. I just stayed right where I was, in my awkward standing position. I watched Jake make his way over to Austin who was just about ready to leave our camp site. Austin just looked at Jake. The same hurtful expression crossed his lips. I know I hurt Austin’s feelings really bad especially not even knowing a thing about him. I wouldn’t blame him if he just left and never wanted to see or speak to me again.
“Why did I blow up on him?” I asked myself quietly. I turned my back against Jake so that they couldn’t see me talking to myself. “Jake didn’t do anything wrong. I’m the one who should be over there talking to Jake not Austin. I’ve got to control my temper more.”
“Kate?” someone asked behind me.
“Ah!” I exclaimed in surprise. I didn’t even hear Austin come up. “Austin! How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough to hear that you have an anger problem!” Austin said with a smile on his face.
“That’s not funny! I didn’t want anyone to hear that!” I said pushing him slightly. “Anyways, how’s Jake?” I looked over Austin’s shoulder to see if Jake was still standing in the back ground. He wasn’t there. He probably didn’t want to talk or see my again just like I thought.
“Well, he’s been better.” Austin said looking over his shoulder to where Jake used to stand.
“Did he leave?” I asked.
“No, he went back to the camp.” Austin said looking back at me. “He’s pretty ticked. You really hurt his feelings. Maybe you should go and apologize to him when we get back to the camp.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” I said following Austin back to the camp. “Austin thanks again!”
“You’re welcome! Hey, that’s what friends are for.” Austin said smiling at me. This is the first time I noticed how blue his eyes where. Then Austin shouted, “Jake!” That brought me back into reality.
“Jake!” I exclaimed running towards where he was sitting. “Jake, I’m so sorry! Can you ever forgive me?”
“Kate, Austin told me what you told him about never having anyone to look out for you before. It’s okay. I forgive you!” Jake said standing up from his sitting position. “We’re cool!”
“Thanks Jake. You’re the best!” I said giving him a hug. I didn’t think Jake was expecting a hug because he kind of backed away. “What, you’ve never had a hug before?”
“I have just not in a long time.” Jake said rapping his arms around me too. I’ve been so busy trying to get Jake’s friendship back that I didn’t even notice that the camp was completely wrecked.
“What happened here?!” I asked after I broke away from Jake’s hug.
“I woke up this morning to a rustle in the bushes.” Austin said picking up another log so that I could sit down. “I grabbed my sword and was ready to fight. Then the next thing I know is this dog/wolf was charging at me. I could tell it was a mutation because of its size and shape. Before I attacked it, I glanced over at where you where you were supposed to be sleeping but didn’t see you. I became very worried that someone kidnapped you and that I’d failed the President. I used my anger from not saving you into killing the beast. The beast is dead now.” I just look at him with a shocked expression.
“Take a seat. I’ve got breakfast. By the way Kate, where were you this morning?” Austin asked pulling some food out of his backpack.
“I thought I could help you out by getting some breakfast. You’ve done so much for me that I wanted to return the favor. That’s when I met Jake.” I said taking the food that Austin handed me.
“Correction, she met me when she was being attacked by a mutation. I was strolling along in the woods when I saw that this mutation was on top of her.” Jake said with a smirk on his face.
“Oh, I see,” Austin said starting the fire again. “Kate, Jake is my partner. Back in Sten they have two people be partners. They go with each other on every mission they are sent on. Jake was chosen to be my partner and his sister will be yours. When I first met him, Jake didn’t know how to use any of the weapons! The President couldn’t afford to wait any longer so he sent me by myself until Jake completed his training. So, Jake, does that mean you’ve finished your training?”
“I guess it does pal,” Jake said taking his breakfast from Austin. “Thanks.”
“I’m going to get more logs for the fire.” Austin said getting up from where he was sitting. I just watched him make his way to the firewood. I noticed he was limping. Why haven’t I noticed it before? The next thing I know Austin was on his knees grabbing his leg. Then he cried out.
“Austin! Austin! Are you okay?” I asked getting on my feet. “Are you hurt?” I tried to make my way over to where Austin was lying on the ground but Jake’s arms stopped me.
“Stop Kate!” Jake said pushing his body in front of mine. “Don’t go near him!” Austin was now crying out even louder.
“Jake! What are you doing? Why can’t I help him?” I asked angrily. Then I saw Austin’s left pant leg soaking in a puddle of red blood. “He’ll bleed to death!”
“Ah!” Austin cried out again. By this time, he was lying on the ground holding his leg.
“Trust me!” Jake said pushing me back farther away from Austin.
“No! I’m going to help him!” I said trying to push myself free from Jake’s arms.
“Kate! Stop!” Jake said grabbing my shoulders and shaking me.
“Why? Tell me why I can’t help him? I can’t have him die!” I said with tears streaming down my face.
“Look, Austin is under a mutation attack. He must have gotten scratched when he fought the mutt. If you go near him he might kill you. Being scratch by a mutt puts you in a nightmare. You don’t know where you are and your friends become your enemies.” Jake said looking at me straight in the eyes.
“Can’t you do something?” I asked to upset to shout. I couldn’t bear to look at Austin so I just looked at my feet. “He’s going to die!”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t trained on this situation.” Jake said pushing my head up so that I could look at him in the eyes. I turned my head quickly away. My eyes caught glimpse of Austin. His face started turning purple.
“Jake?” I asked still looking at Austin. “Why is he turning purple?”
“It’s just the venom. Every person has their own side effect.” Jake said turning to where Austin was lying.
“Jake, turning purple means that you’re suffocating. If you suffocate, you could eventually die!” I said. The tears where building their way back into my eyes. “Jake! You have to do something! He can’t die!”
“Okay calm down Kate. I’m not sure what to do for him.” Jake started to say. “Wait! Quick, get my backpack.”
“But…” I started to say.
“Don’t ask questions.” Jake said cutting me off. “Just do it quick!” I ran over to the log where he used to sit. I picked up his backpack and ran back to Jake. The tears where gone but my nose was still running.
“Got it.” I said giving the backpack to Jake.
“Thanks!” Jake said searching for something in his backpack.
“What are you looking for?” I asked looking over his shoulder.
“The morphine.” Jake said pulling out a small needle. “When I stab this into Austin’s arm, it will release medication causing the venom to slow down. If it slows down, we might be able to get the venom out and save him. It will also make him fall into a deep sleep so we can operate on him.”
“Okay. Do it quick! I don’t want him to die!” I said looking over at Austin. It’s only been a day and I starting growing feelings for Austin. Not like the love feelings but something I couldn’t explain. I couldn’t figure out why I cared for Austin so much. Maybe it was because he was the first person who made me feel special and wanting to exist. Whatever the reason was, I wanted him to stay alive. Austin’s body began to shake uncontrollably. His eyes where bloodshot and was turning into a purplish blue color. He looked like an almost dead mad person. “Hang on Austin. Help’s on the way.” I said so quietly so that no one could hear me. I turned around so that my back was facing Austin. I couldn’t bear to see him like that. I shut my eyes and just listened. All I could hear was Austin’s constant screaming. It reminded me of my mother screaming after me when I left yesterday. Then, Austin’s screaming stopped so suddenly that I was for sure he was dead. It was so quiet that you could hear the bee’s buzzing around. I turned around prepared to see Austin’s dead body just lying there. Tears where building in my eyes again. I looked at Austin and noticed Jake standing by him. I wondered if Jake just killed him but then I saw the needle that Jake showed me in Austin’s leg. Surprisingly the sight of the needle gave me relief.
“We’re going to have to do this fast. The morphine wasn’t supposed to destroy the venom, it was just supposed to slow it down.” Jake said getting up from where he stabbed Austin’s leg. “Do you want to do this or do you want me?”
“I can do it. I’ve had a lot of medical experience. But just in case I do something wrong, could you help me?” I asked making my way over to where Austin was lying unconscious. Austin looked so peaceful. His face was still purple but relaxation was all over his facial expression. I helped Jake rip some of Austin’s left pant leg so that we could operate. It was easy to do because Austin was wearing some sort of sweat suit material like Jake’s. “So what do we have to do?”
“I thought you said you knew what to do,” Jake said looking worried.
“I kind of do. I’ve treated snake wounds before but never mutation wounds.” I said getting a little worried too.
“Don’t worry. If you know how to dress snake wounds then you know how to dress mutation wounds. They told me in training that dressing a mutation wound was the same as a snake wound. The only difference is that the mutation can kill someone faster if not treated properly.” Jake said looking down at the big gap in Austin’s leg. “It can also kill someone fast if you don’t treat it quickly.” I think that was one of Jake’s signs that he wanted me to get started if I were to save Austin.
“We need to cut the wound deeper then.” I said looking around for something to cut Austin’s leg with. “Where’s my knife?”
“Did you leave it when you got attacked by the mutation?” he asked looking around too.
“Ah! I did. After if flew out of my hand, I never picked it up.” I said nervously. What could I use that was sharp enough? “What are we going to do now?” I could feel myself getting upset again.
“Don’t cry. I think I might have another knife in my backpack. Could you hand me it?” he asked pointing at his backpack. I toss him the backpack and in a few short seconds he pulls out a knife. “Will this work?”
“Yeah, I think so.” I said taking the knife from Jake’s hands. To be honest, I’m a little scared to cut Austin’ leg. I’m so scared that I’m going to hurt him but it’s for his own good. I gently pushed the knife into Austin’s leg. Blood begins to gush out again. I pull the knife out because I saw Austin stir.
“Ah, I can’t do this.” I said looking at Jake.
“Yes you can. I believe in you.” He said looking at me straight in the eyes. I took in the words he just said. ‘Yes you can. I believe in you.’ No one has ever believed in me before. I just looked at him and smiled. I can do it. If Jake believes that I can do it, then I can do it. I push the knife back into Austin’s leg and begin to twist it back and forth. Blood continues to gush out. I stop for a minute and then continue the drilling. After twisting the knife around and around in the wound, I saw white bubbles start forming at the surface. That indicated that the poison was at the surface. I pulled the knife gently out and looked at Jake who was just sitting there watching me. “All done.” I said putting the knife down on the ground.

Chapter 5

Austin looked so peaceful as he was just lying there. Jake handed me a leaf to wipe off the blood on the knife.
“What’s next chief?” Jake asked after I was done cleaning the knife.
“Oh, please don’t call me that! It’ll make me feel lousy if I don’t save him.” I said shyly. My eyes slowly made their way to where Jake’s eyes where. Surprisingly, he held me gaze. His eyes felt so familiar to me. It’s like I’ve seen them before. But where? I’m positive that I’ve never seen Jake before. I looked away from his gaze because it kept reminding me of someone but I didn’t know who.
“Okay then. How about follower?” he asked laughing at my answer.
“Oh, please no! Don’t call me that either!” I said.
“Fine, but what am I going to call you?” he asked smiling. I just smile back and then said,
“Hi, I’m Kate.” I said giggling and reaching out my hand to shake his.
“Why hello Kate, I’m Jake.” Jake said reaching out his hand to shake mine. After we shook hands, we just bust out in laughter.
“Wow Kate.” Jake finally said after we were done laughing. “I didn’t think you had a sense of humor!”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked in my joking tone.
“Just means you have a great personality. It reminds me of my sister.” At this comment I just couldn’t help but blush.
“Thanks.” I said shyly. “Um…we should get back to work on Austin before the poison sinks back down into his skin.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Jake said looking down at the hole I made in Austin’s leg. “So, ah, what do we do now, Kate?”
“We suck out the poison.” I said putting the knife back in Jake’s bag. “And you can do that.”
“Fine, but your list of I-OWE-YOU’s is getting longer and longer.” Jake said getting ready to suck out the poison. “You by chance know how to do this, do you?”
“Not really. I’ve watched my dad do it several times to his patients. All he did was just suck out the poison and then spit it out. But make sure you don’t swallow it!” I said watching Jake getting ready to suck out the poison.
“Great advice!” Jake said sarcastically. Even though Jake said he didn’t know how to suck out poison, he looked like he had been doing it for years. The longer I watched him, the more he reminded me of my father.
I got bit from a snake on the arm on summer when dad was still around. I started screaming because of all the pain that my arm was producing. My dad was outside with me when I was screaming because the next thing I know, he was at my side. “What’s wrong honey?” he asked looking at me with the same caring eyes as Jake’s.
“It’s a snake! It bit my arm!” I exclaimed with tears gushing out my eyes.
“Lie down for me. We don’t want the poison spreading through your body now do we?” he said lying me down on the ground. He pulled my arm out so that he could see it. He then gently pulled up my sleeve to see where the snake bit me. “This isn’t that serious but just in case, don’t move sweetie.” I knew he was trying his hardest to calm me down but it wasn’t working. I was going into shock mode and nothing could calm me down after I went into that. Although his smooth voice did cause me to relax.
“Yes father.” I said trying to endure the pain.
“This won’t take long.” He said putting his lips against my arm. I watched him put his lips against my arm and gently suck. After every few seconds or so, he would lift his head up and spit out the something. Since I was seven at the time, I didn’t know what he was spitting out or why. I learned out later that it was the poison. I closed my eyes and lied back down one the floor. The longer my father sucked, the more the pain decreased. After what I thought to be five minutes, my father pulled his head up and didn’t go back down.
“Kate, you’re all fixed up. Now go inside and have mother put ointment on the wound.” Father said lifting me up to my feet.
“Thanks father!” I said giving him a hug.
“You’re welcome!” he said giving me a hug back.

“Okay Kate,” Jake said bringing me back to reality, “I’m done sucking out the poison. It’s your turn now.”
“Oh, okay.” I said looking at what he did. “Good job. It looks like you got all the poison. Now we need to clean the wound with water. You by chance don’t have water in that backpack do you?”
“Here Kate,” Jake said handing me his back. “Just look for yourself. You find everything you need in here.”
“Oh Jake, thanks!” I said taking the pack from his hands. I looked inside the pack and there were a lot of stuff inside. Stuff like medicine, food, survival supplies, and a lot more. I found a water bottle and a napkin in the pack too. This would help me clean the wound. I dripped some water on the napkin and then dropped some on the wound. I had a half a bottle of water left so I decided to give the remaining to Jake. He could wash his mouth out because there was a possibility that he could have poison in it. Besides, he was over there wiping his mouth with his hands. I handed the bottle to Jake who took it without hesitation. I then wiped the watered napkin on Austin’s leg. Hopefully doing so would clean the top so it wouldn’t bring infection. I’ve watched my mother do it to me when I got bit by a snake. After I finished wiping the wound clean, I looked over at Jake who was still cleaning his mouth. He looked so funny. He would drink some water and then spit it out while wiping his tongue on his hand. I giggled quietly so he couldn’t hear me. After watching Jake for a couple minutes, I noticed Austin stirring. I quickly finished putting medication on the wound that I found in Jake’s backpack. Jake came over and asked me if it was okay if he could go back into the woods to get something. It was more like telling me that he was going to go into the woods than asking me. I let him go and returned to my work on Austin’s leg. I just finished putting a white bandage when I heard something stir behind me. Thinking it was another so called mutation, I grabbed the spear that Austin had used earlier and pointed it at the spot where the noise came from. I didn’t really know how to throw a spear but some kind of weapon was better than no weapon. Something started moving in the bushes again. I was ready. Spear in my hand and a bucket load of determination and fear. Just then Jake came breaking through the bushes. He stopped right in his tracks when he saw me. He just looked at me with a puzzled expression. Here I was, never holding a spear before, aiming it at him ready to kill.
“Okay Kate, you can put that thing down now.” Jake said making his way over to me.
“Sorry Jake. I thought you were a mutt.” I said putting the spear down.
“That I can see. Well, at least you picked up something that would have killed me better than a knife.” Jake said with a smile. “Do you even know how to use a spear?”
“Hey, don’t go dissing on my knife. It’s very special to me. And no, I don’t know how to use a spear or any other kind of weapon.”
“Well, at least you’re willing to try.” Jake said with a smile. “Are you done nursing Austin back to health?”
“Hahaha, very funny!” I said pretending to laugh. “And yes, I did finish.”
“By the way, I think this is yours.” Jake said handing me something. I looked at what he had in his hand. It was sharp and shiny. The closer I looked at it the more I could tell what it was. It was my knife! Jake went back to get my knife!
“Oh Jake! Thank you so much!” I said taking the knife out of his hands.
“You’re welcome! I kind of figured it was special to you when you were freaking out because you couldn’t find it.” Jake said.
“Yes, thanks so much! It means so much to me!” I said smiling at him. “Well, I’m done nursing Austin. Do you want to go finish our breakfast?”
“Well, I already finished mine but I’m still hungry. I could use another muffin.” Jake said heading to where our seats where.
I laughed and then said, “Yeah, me too! How long until Austin comes back to consciousness?”
“Oh, it shouldn’t be long. If he was moving when you were finishing him up, then he should be conscience within a few minutes.” Jake said sitting down on his log.
“Okay.” I said sitting back down on my log. “So, how did you come across Sten?”
“My sister and I came across it when we were searching for help,” Jake started so say.
“It was about two years ago. Our home got bombed which killed most of the people in the town including my parents. My sister and I were sent out of town to get baby supplies from our Aunt because our mother was having a baby. At the time, we gave them all to her because we had no room in our house. We were half way there when we heard a big explosion behind us. We turned around quickly to where the noise came from. All we could see was smoke rising about the trees. I turned and looked at my sister who was now white as a ghost. Her eyes where focused on the smoke. Whatever just happened was unexpected. We just stood there motionless waiting, watching, wondering what just happened. After the smoke cleared, we headed back down to where the explosion was. When we got back down to our town, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Everything was destroyed. From houses to trees to flowers to shops. Walking through the streets was different because there was hardly anything to see. I looked over at my sister who was now crying. I ran to where our house used to stand. I couldn’t bear to go stand on the ruins because of thought that people where dead under where I stood. I just stood there at the entrance hoping that our parents made it out. By the looks of things, it would be very hard to get away. The thought of my parents dead blurred my memory from thinking clearly. My sister was now besides me. She wasn’t standing though. She was on her knees rocking back and forth. I look down at the ground where the ruins of our house stood. Everything was covered in black. Then, something moving in the ashes nearby caught my eye. I just stared at the moving pile of ashes wondering at what it was. Nothing could have survived this explosion. So there couldn’t be anything alive underneath that pile. I knelt down besides my sister and gave her a hug. She seemed to feel more relax after I gave her that hug. Then I heard a moan. To be honest, it made me jump. I stood up immediately after I heard that moan. It seemed like the moan was coming from the pile of ashes I saw move earlier. I slowly made my way over to the pile. Then a black hand popped out of the ashes. I jumped back in surprise. Then it dawned on me. Someone was trapped in that pile, alive! I rushed over to the hand and started digging. I didn’t know who I was digging up but the thought of there being someone alive made me dig faster. I dug and dug until I came across a head. The head was black from the ashes but I recognized it immediately. It was my mother! She opened her eyes and just stared at me. I just started back at her. My sister must have finally realized what was going on because she was standing right beside me with her hand covering her mouth. My mother was still starting at us when I looked back at her. Tears started to accumulate in her eyes. She just looked at us and tried to smile. Even with the smile I could see the pain in her eyes. She looked so fragile and so pale. My sister was now bending down besides our mother grabbing her hand. My mother’s lips started to move. I could tell she was trying to say something. Her voice was so quiet. Almost like a whisper. I couldn’t hear her so I leaned in closer. My ear was touching her lips. She then whispered again. All I could hear was “I love you guys. Get help.” I raised my head and just looked at her. I nodded and then stood up. I told my sister that we had to go but she wouldn’t let go of our mother’s hand. I finally had to pull her by her arm to get her to let go. She stood up to follow but before she followed me, she bent back down and gave our mother a kiss on the check. She then ran to me. I was already out of the house and on the street. I turned back around to get one last glance at my mother. I could still see her head but she wasn’t moving. From where I stood, I could see that her eyes where shut and the pile of ashes on top of her stopped moving. She wasn’t breathing so that meant she was dead. My mother was dead just like everyone else in this town. I looked over at my sister who was holding something up to her lips. She just turned at started at me back. She then dropped her hand and showed me what was inside. It was a necklace. I remember our mother wearing it before we left her. My mother had given it to my sister before we left. I grabbed my sister’s arm and started running to these woods. I had to get out of that dead place. We were about fifteen minutes away from here when the President Cove found us. He’s the president of Sten. He took us to Sten and cared for us. Raised us up like we were his kids.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,” I said after Jake was done. Now I felt really embarrassed that I asked. “Austin said you have had a rough life but I seriously didn’t think it was that rough. I’m really sorry I asked about your personal life. I’m really sorry Jake.”
“No no. It’s fine. Actually, I’m glad I told someone. The only people I’ve told this too are to President Cove and Austin. Besides them, I haven’t told anyone else. Now you know.” Jake said grabbing another bottle of water. “I only share personal information to people I trust.”
“So you’re saying you trust me?” I asked with a smile. “For all you know, I could kill you with my mad spear throwing skills.”
Jake laughed and then said, “Yeah, I’m sure you could. But I’ve got to warn you, I’m pretty fast when it comes to battles. I could kill you before you could kill me. And yes, I do trust you.”
“You wish you had my skills don’t yah?” I asked sarcastically.
“Yes Kate. I sure wish I had your mad skills.” Jake said smiling at me. “But Kate, please don’t tell anyone this information. It’s not that it’s embarrassing, but it’s still useful information. If this information is put in the wrong hands, it could become a weapon to use against me.”
“Don’t worry Jake. I won’t tell anyone. Someone would have to kill me to get information out of me. You should know that I don’t spill any information out about anyone easily.” I said remembering when I first met Jake.
“Yeah, you’re pretty good at not sharing information out about someone. I knew I could trust you.” Jake said with a chuckle. “Looks like Austy is waking up.” I looked over to where Austin was lying. He started to move and moan again.
“Looks like your right.” I said still staring at Austin. “And really Jake, Austy?”
“What? He calls me Jakey. I have to have some nickname for him. He’s as much trouble as you.” Jake said getting up out of his seat.
“I’m not that much trouble.” I said getting up out of my seat too. “What do you mean that Austin’s as much trouble as me? Why do you say that?”
“Trust me. You don’t know him like I do. Remember, you just met him yesterday. I’ve known him for about a year and a half. He’s a huge trouble maker. He begged President Cove for him to do this mission. He must be very fond of you.” Jake said with a smirk on his face.
“Yeah, I’m sure he is. We’re just friends.” I said sitting back down. “Look Austin’s coming back.” Jake walked over to Austin’s side as he started moving.
“Hey Austin, feel better?” Jake asked Austin as he was opening his eyes.
“You could say that. What happened? All I remember was that I was going to get some logs for firewood and then I fell.” Austin said sitting up.
“You must have gotten scratched by that mutation when you were fighting it. Next thing we know, you’re on the ground screaming. Kate wanted to help you but I wouldn’t let her because, well, you know why you shouldn’t get close to a person who’s been scratched.” Jake said helping Austin to his feet.
“Okay, first of all yeah, you wouldn’t let me go close to him and second of all, you weren’t even going to do anything like you should of!” I said looking at Jake.
“Yeah, yeah, but we did do something.” Jake said looking at me back. “We saved him. Isn’t that all that counts.”
“Yeah, I guess.” I said looking a little embarrassed.
“Wait, so how did you guys save me if you couldn’t go near me?” Austin said trying to get into our conversation.
“Well, Kate insisted that I do something so I did. She was like yelling at me again.” Jake continued. I just gave him a long hard glare. He of course gave one right back at me. “After I shot you with medicine, Kate put matters into her own hands. She has had experience with snake bites before so she knew what to do.”
“Really? Well doesn’t that sound like the Kate we all used to know?” Austin said with a smile on his face. “It’s good to have the old Kate back.” The smile on my face disappeared when I heard Austin’s last words. It’s good to have the old Kate back. What does that mean? I knew I had changed but I didn’t think I’ve changed that much.
“What do you mean?” I asked a little puzzled and mad.
“I mean, a couple of years ago you would always help the school nurse. After your father left, you’ve changed quite a bit.” Austin said catching himself from falling.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I said quickly. I knew exactly what Austin was talking about but didn’t want to admit it. I’ve never really talked about my life after my dad died. Occasionally I would talk about it but not very often. That’s one of those things that I only say aloud when I’m in the forest alone.
Before my father died, I used to help him at school. He was one of the doctors there so he let me help him in between classes. That’s how my whole interest in medicine got started. My dad always said that I was really good at being a doctor and said I should go into the field of medicine. I loved that idea at the time and wanted it more than ever. I decided right then and there that when I got older, I would follow in my father’s footsteps. Of course, that was before he left us. After he left I made up my mind that I would never be a doctor. I didn’t want to do anything that reminded me about the times I had with my father. Apparently everyone still remembers my love for medicine.
“Of course you do!” Austin said bringing me back into reality. “Remember, you always helped your dad at the school and the…”
“Okay okay. I think we get it.” I said cutting him off. I didn’t want any more talk about my past being brought up. By now everyone was staring at me like I just did something really bad. “Um…are you hungry Austin?” I said trying to change the subject.
“Yeah, I’ll eat something if there’s anything left.” Austin said giving Jake and I a hard glance.
“Oh trust me Austin, I made sure Kate didn’t eat it all.” Jake said trying to cheer me up. I just lightly smiled and kept my head down.
“I can see Kate doing that!” Austin said laughing. Apparently, he didn’t see me behind him upset. Otherwise this conversation would have ended. I watched Austin make his way to a log. He stumbled a couple of times but he got himself back up. Austin seemed a little weird. He didn’t ever talk about my past to other people unless he had my permission. And I centrally didn’t give him my permission. I started to think that the venom got to his brain and made him go loopy.
“Kate?” Jake asked me. Jake slowed down so that he was right next to me as we were watching Austin make his way to a log.
“Yeah?” I asked realizing he was right by me.
“Is everything okay?” he asked. “You seemed a little upset after Austin started talking about your life. It’s almost like you didn’t want him to talk about it at all.”
“Yeah. I don’t really like it when people talk about my past. Especially if that person you’re talking about is standing right next to you.” I said shaking my head. “My life isn’t that great and no one really knows about it unless I told them.”
“I see. So you’ve had a rough past. We’ve all had one of those. Take my past for example. I didn’t want my parents to die. Do you think that was easy for me to just leave them there buried under all that rebel? I’ve had hard times just like you. I know what you’re going through. Trust me.” Jake said looking at me with his gently, kind eyes. I couldn’t help but smile. Jake was really nice and it’s glad to know that he knows what I’m going through.
“Thanks!” I said shyly.
“Don’t mention it.” Jake said smiling down at me.
“Jake?” I asked him as we were just about ready to sit down.
“Yes Kate?” Jake asked sitting down. Austin was on the other side of the fire so hopefully he wouldn’t hear me.
“Is it just me or does Austin seem a little strange?” I asked looking at Austin.
“What do you mean by strange?” Jake said grabbing a bottle of water out of his pack.
“I mean, does he seem like himself?” I asked while staring at Austin. He was now throwing all his stuff out of his backpack.
“Yeah, sort of.” Jake said looking at Austin too. “He seems a little loopy. It might still be from the medicine we shot into him. The medication should wear off. If it doesn’t, we’ll just take him to the medic’s in Sten.”
“Are you sure it’s because of the medicine? I was thinking it was because of the poison. I probably didn’t clean it out good enough and the poison is probably spreading as we speak!” I said starting to worry. “And if the poison continues, he could lose it. He could die! Oh Jake! What do we do?”
“First of all, calm down. He’s not going to die. Trust me!” Jake said looking at me in the eyes.
“How do you know?” I said quietly looking at him in the eyes.
“Because, we’ll get him to the medic’s in time. If we get moving soon, we can get there to save him. Like I said before, trust me.” Jake said still looking at me in the eyes.
“I trust you. But we need to go now. I can’t lose another friend.” I said almost about to cry.
“I know. He doesn’t have a lot of time left so we need to get going. We’re almost to Sten anyway.” Jake said trying to calm me down.
He doesn’t have a lot of time left. That simple sentence kept going through my mind. It made me worry even more.
“Austin! Don’t eat that!” Jake said getting up from the log. “That’s not food, it’s a rock!” Jake was now running to Austin trying to get him to put the rock down. I couldn’t help but laugh a little. I’ve got to say, that cheered me up a little. I decided to go help Jake out with Austin because they were fighting over the rock.
“Boys, stop fighting!” I said grabbing the rock from both of their hands. “We need to get going.”
“Kate’s right. Austin, grab your backpack. We need to get going.” Jake said standing up from his sitting position.
“Okay. Where are we going?” Austin said reaching for his backpack. Jake just looked at me with a concern look.
“Home.” Jake finally said.

Chapter 6

I grabbed my knife while Jake grabbed his backpack. I didn’t want to leave it again. I looked over at Austin who was sitting quietly on a log. After Austin’s incident of not knowing where we were going scared me. He was defiantly messed up but hopefully it could be cured. I haven’t ever really talked to Austin back when he lived in our town. I would see him occasionally when mother sent me into their diner to pick up something. And even when I did talk to him at the diner, he never acted this strange.
“Ready?” Jake asked us as he made his way over.
“Yep.” I said standing up from where I sat.
“Great! Let’s get going,” Jake said helping Austin up from the log. Jake about collapsed because
Austin jumped on him. I just stood there and rolled my eyes. Jake finally regained his balance after he pushed Austin after him.
“Okay, I’m finally ready.” Jake said smiling. “Let’s go.” We started to walk but we didn’t walk really fast because of Austin. He could walk but a lot of times we had to hold on to him because he kept falling. Austin’s weight on my shoulder started to make it hurt. It didn’t help because the shoulder the weight was on was my bad shoulder. I was glad that the other half of Austin’s weight was on Jake’s shoulder. I would have collapsed without a doubt if Jake wasn’t there helping me. We didn’t talk while we were walking. I was kind of glad because I didn’t want Austin to say anything weird. We walked and walked for a long time. We finally stopped when we got to an old barn. I didn’t believe this was the entrance to Sten if Jake hadn’t said that we were there. The barn looked so old that it looked like it could fall apart any second now. I followed Jake and Austin up to the door stops. The door was all rusted and had vines all over it. If no one would have told me that this was a door I would have never guessed. The whole barn was covered with vines. The vines made the barn blend in with the scenery. It was almost like the barn wasn’t there no matter what direction you stood in. Jake went up to the barn and reached behind a vine. He pulled the vine away from the barn to reveal a door. There was nothing special about this door like I thought there would be. It was just a plain, normal looking, wood barn door with hundreds of vines covering it. I watched Jake pull more vines away from the door so that it would be easier to open. After the door was visible, Jake pushed the door open to reveal a dark, dusty room. At first I just stood there in disbelief. There was no way that this dirty, old barn could be the entrance to Sten. I noticed Jake, who was already inside, motioning for me to come in. As I walked into the barn, the floors kept creaking under my feet. I got to about the center of the room when I stopped. I always like to become familiar with my surroundings before I make a decision if I should go any farther or not. I looked up at the roof which had holes in it. No hayloft, so no one could be hiding, waiting to shoot me. I kept scanning the barn until I saw Jake and Austin who were sitting on the farthest corner from the center. I decided this place was safe so I made my way over to where the boys were sitting. By the time I got over to them, Jake had already moved to a different place on that wall. I made my way over to where Jake was messing with something when I caught a glimpse of Austin. He was sitting on that same haystack that I saw him sitting on earlier but now smiling and staring at me. I just kept walking towards Jake. Who knows what kind of sentences would come out of Austin’s mouth now!
“Hey baby! What’s up?” Austin said suddenly. I spun around quickly to see Austin trying to act all cool.
“Excuse me? What did you just call me?” I asked marching back over to him.
“I called you baby because you are as cute as one!” Austin said moving his eyebrows up and down. “Do you have a boyfriend?” I could tell he was thinking Jake was my boyfriend.
“No. And I’m not planning on having one.” I said turning my back on Austin. I was just about ready to walk back to Jake when Austin said, “Whatever babe. But I’m here if you need someone!” That really did it! I marched my way back to Austin and slapped him. I don’t care if it hurt. He needs to wake up from this weird dream. Austin was getting stranger and stranger. I don’t even ever recall him telling any girl was cute. Anytime I saw him in the diner, he always was in a corner. Always being quiet. Never talking to anyone but his family.
“What was that about?” Jake asked me when I came over to him.
“Oh, just having a friendly conversation with Austin.” I said trying to see what Jake was doing.
“A friendly conversation? It looked to me like a slap off.” Jake said with a huge smile on his face.
“Stop it! Austin’s getting weirder and weirder. Besides, he deserved it this time.” I said shooting Jake a look.
“What did he do this time?” Jake asked with a sigh.
“He started flirting with me. Said I looked as cute as a baby.” I said getting mad again.
“Really?” Jake said with a shocked expression. “Cute as a baby, huh? I’m sorry Kate, but that’s funny!”
“Jake! Knock it off!” I said hitting him on the shoulder. “It’s not funny! There is seriously something wrong with him!”
“Really? Your just now noticing that?” Jake asked smiling.
“Jake! This isn’t funny!” I started to yell.
“Kate, calm down! I’m just kidding! I know that his condition is serious. We’ll get him to a doctor as soon as we get to Sten which will be soon.” Jake said getting serious. “I promise.”
“Thanks.” I said sitting down by him. For the first time I noticed why Jake was sitting here. It’s because there was a door. Another door with vines. Jake pulled out a key from his pocket and stuck it into one of the vines with a hole in it. The vine then released itself from the door revealing the key in a keyhole. Jake stepped back from the door and just watched. All the vines on the door started moving away to reveal a steal door. To my surprise, the door had all sorts of fancy locks on it. I caught Jake looking at me with a huge smile. I couldn’t help but smile back because of how unrealistic all this seemed. Jake went back to the door and punched in some numbers in the number locked. After it seemed like five minutes, the lock finally clicked. At last! I thought. We can finally go in! Just when I thought we were done with locks another lock appeared. It was a strange lock but then again, what could possibly be stranger than this whole situation! Jake rolled up his sleeve and put his arm over the lock. I guess it was one of those scanning locks because it was scanning Jakes arm. I couldn’t tell what it was scanning but when Jake turned around I could see that it was his tattoo. Jake stepped back right as the door slowly opened. As the door opened light filled the whole room. I looked over to see Jake smiling. I could tell he was happy to be going home again.
“Ready?” Jake asked me as the door completely opened.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” I said smiling. I figured nothing could get any stranger than this situation.
“Are you coming Austin?” Jake asked turning around to Austin.
“Yep,” Austin said hopping up from his sitting position. As he was walking towards us, he kept falling. He was walking like he just got drunk!
“You need any help there buddy?” Jake asked as he noticed Austin falling.
“Huh? What are you talking about? I’m fine.” Austin said looking a little confused. “Why do you think I need help?”
“Well, you were walking sort of funny so I figured you wanted help.” Jake said trying to explain calmly.
“I’m not walking funny!” Austin exclaimed loudly. I could tell he was getting angry.
“Well, yeah you were!” Jake said loudly back.
“Jake!” I said looking at him sternly. “Drop it!” Jake just looked at me and then said okay.
“Shall we get going?” I asked Jake trying to change the subject.
“Yeah, let’s get someone into the doctors fast!” Jake said quietly so I could only hear him.
“Yes please.” I said quietly too. Jake walked through the door first, then Austin. They walked in with no problem but I was scared. What would I see when I walked through that door?
“Come on Kate! Just walk through the door!” Jake said through the door. I couldn’t see him but I could hear his voice. I took a deep breath in and then exhaled it out. Here I go. I walked towards the door slowly. The light from the door was so bright so I had to cover my eyes with my hand. As I got to the door, something rustled behind me. I spun around quickly but nothing was there. It’s got to be the wind. I thought. I turned back to the door and walked in with my eyes shut. When I opened my eyes there before me was a forest. A forest so green I thought I was walking through a green paint splotch.
“Kate! Over here!” someone yelled from the distance. I turned to where the voice was coming from and sure enough, Jake and Austin were sitting down behind a tree. As I made my way towards them, Jake got up and said, “So, what do you think?”
“It’s so pretty here!” I exclaimed as I walked towards them.
“Oh, if you think this is pretty, just wait until you see the rest!” Jake said with a huge smile on his face.
“Alright,” I said smiling back. “But first, let’s get Austin to the hospital.”
“Right.” Jake said going back over to Austin. “Okay Austin, let’s go.” Austin was delayed for a little bit but finally go up. We followed Jake until we got out of the forest.
“Wow!” I said amazed when we got out of the forest. Before me was a great blue lake with green grass and a blue sky surrounding it. “How far does Sten go?”
“Well, how far does your home place go?” Jake asked.
“Okay, I get it!” I said trying not to show my embarrassment.
“Don’t worry Kate, I know people who have asked stupider questions than you.” Jake said with a smile.
“What! Shut up!” I said in a joking way pushing him slightly. We just stood there for a bit laughing until Jake said, “Hey look! It’s some of the guards or Sten.” I looked over to where Jake was pointing and sure enough there were three men standing by the Lake. They looked like men in their thirty’s. Two of them had rough beards while the other one was clean shaved. While I was watching the guards, Austin starts running towards them. Jake gave me a look and we start running after Austin. For Austin not totally being mentally there, he sure ran fast. This was the first time I’ve seen Austin run without falling. As Austin was running, he started shouting at the Guards. I kept running after Austin. I stopped when I saw the Guards pull out their guns.
“Austin, stop!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. All of a sudden, two of the guns that were pointed at Austin were pointed at me! Jake stops running too when he realizes what I just did. I just bite on my lip when he turns and looks at me. I slowly make my way to where Jake was standing praying that I wouldn’t get shot.
“Kate, why did you do that?” Jake asked me quietly when I got up to him. By now we were about twenty-five feet away from the Guards.
“I’m sorry Jake. I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t want to cause trouble!” I said whimpering. “I’m so sorry!”
“Shhh, Kate, it’s okay. You didn’t know better.” Jake said watching the Guards.
“Agent Austin?” one of the Guards asked. “Agent Jake? Is that you two?”
Yes.” Jake answered with a sigh of relief. He also answered because Austin wasn’t.
“Oh Jake, we’re so sorry. We didn’t know if it was you two or not. The government made us these new glasses for us yesterday and we still haven’t been able to see things far away.” Another Guard said as Jake and I came closer to them. When reached them the put their guns down because they could tell I was a little scared.
“Why did they give you glasses?” Jake asked.
“The government says that they will, well of course, protect your eyes.” A Guard said. “And they give us abilities to see in the dark and will supposedly help us see farther.”
“Who’s the girl?” another Guard asked.
“This is Katelyn Cove.” Jake answered. “She’s the one that we are to look after and protect until this whole situation is taken care of.”
“Oh pardon us Ms. Cove. Like I said before, we just got these wacko glasses and aren’t used to them yet.” The tall guard with the beard said. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Hunter and these are my boys, James and Ryan.” Hunter pointed to the men on his left and right.
“It’s nice to meet you all.” I said smiling back. “And please, just call me Kate.”
“It’s a pleasure to have you, Kate.” The clean shaved guard named James said.
“Agent Jake, what’s wrong with Agent Austin?” Hunter asked looking over our shoulders.
“Well, we’re not exactly sure. He got attacked and scratched by a mutation. We cleaned out the wound but apparently we didn’t get everything out.” Jake said turning around to watch Austin play with the grass.
“Well, we better take him up to the hospital just in case it’s anything major.” Ryan said picking up his gun.
“Yeah, let’s go.” Hunter said picking up his gun too. “Oh, and Kate, if you need anything, we’re here to protect you and help you.”
“Thanks!” I said with a smile. We walked in the same line formation for what seemed like hours. Ryan leading, Austin following Ryan, Jake and I following Austin and then James and Hunter in the back.

Chapter 5

Austin looked so peaceful as he was just lying there. Jake handed me a leaf to wipe off the blood on the knife.
“What’s next chief?” Jake asked after I was done cleaning the knife.
“Oh, please don’t call me that! It’ll make me feel lousy if I don’t save him.” I said shyly. My eyes slowly made their way to where Jake’s eyes where. Surprisingly, he held me gaze. His eyes felt so familiar to me. It’s like I’ve seen them before. But where? I’m positive that I’ve never seen Jake before. I looked away from his gaze because it kept reminding me of someone but I didn’t know who.
“Okay then. How about follower?” he asked laughing at my answer.
“Oh, please no! Don’t call me that either!” I said.
“Fine, but what am I going to call you?” he asked smiling. I just smile back and then said,
“Hi, I’m Kate.” I said giggling and reaching out my hand to shake his.
“Why hello Kate, I’m Jake.” Jake said reaching out his hand to shake mine. After we shook hands, we just bust out in laughter.
“Wow Kate.” Jake finally said after we were done laughing. “I didn’t think you had a sense of humor!”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked in my joking tone.
“Just means you have a great personality. It reminds me of my sister.” At this comment I just couldn’t help but blush.
“Thanks.” I said shyly. “Um…we should get back to work on Austin before the poison sinks back down into his skin.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Jake said looking down at the hole I made in Austin’s leg. “So, ah, what do we do now, Kate?”
“We suck out the poison.” I said putting the knife back in Jake’s bag. “And you can do that.”
“Fine, but your list of I-OWE-YOU’s is getting longer and longer.” Jake said getting ready to suck out the poison. “You by chance know how to do this, do you?”
“Not really. I’ve watched my dad do it several times to his patients. All he did was just suck out the poison and then spit it out. But make sure you don’t swallow it!” I said watching Jake getting ready to suck out the poison.
“Great advice!” Jake said sarcastically. Even though Jake said he didn’t know how to suck out poison, he looked like he had been doing it for years. The longer I watched him, the more he reminded me of my father.
I got bit from a snake on the arm on summer when dad was still around. I started screaming because of all the pain that my arm was producing. My dad was outside with me when I was screaming because the next thing I know, he was at my side. “What’s wrong honey?” he asked looking at me with the same caring eyes as Jake’s.
“It’s a snake! It bit my arm!” I exclaimed with tears gushing out my eyes.
“Lie down for me. We don’t want the poison spreading through your body now do we?” he said lying me down on the ground. He pulled my arm out so that he could see it. He then gently pulled up my sleeve to see where the snake bit me. “This isn’t that serious but just in case, don’t move sweetie.” I knew he was trying his hardest to calm me down but it wasn’t working. I was going into shock mode and nothing could calm me down after I went into that. Although his smooth voice did cause me to relax.
“Yes father.” I said trying to endure the pain.
“This won’t take long.” He said putting his lips against my arm. I watched him put his lips against my arm and gently suck. After every few seconds or so, he would lift his head up and spit out the something. Since I was seven at the time, I didn’t know what he was spitting out or why. I learned out later that it was the poison. I closed my eyes and lied back down one the floor. The longer my father sucked, the more the pain decreased. After what I thought to be five minutes, my father pulled his head up and didn’t go back down.
“Kate, you’re all fixed up. Now go inside and have mother put ointment on the wound.” Father said lifting me up to my feet.
“Thanks father!” I said giving him a hug.
“You’re welcome!” he said giving me a hug back.

“Okay Kate,” Jake said bringing me back to reality, “I’m done sucking out the poison. It’s your turn now.”
“Oh, okay.” I said looking at what he did. “Good job. It looks like you got all the poison. Now we need to clean the wound with water. You by chance don’t have water in that backpack do you?”
“Here Kate,” Jake said handing me his back. “Just look for yourself. You find everything you need in here.”
“Oh Jake, thanks!” I said taking the pack from his hands. I looked inside the pack and there were a lot of stuff inside. Stuff like medicine, food, survival supplies, and a lot more. I found a water bottle and a napkin in the pack too. This would help me clean the wound. I dripped some water on the napkin and then dropped some on the wound. I had a half a bottle of water left so I decided to give the remaining to Jake. He could wash his mouth out because there was a possibility that he could have poison in it. Besides, he was over there wiping his mouth with his hands. I handed the bottle to Jake who took it without hesitation. I then wiped the watered napkin on Austin’s leg. Hopefully doing so would clean the top so it wouldn’t bring infection. I’ve watched my mother do it to me when I got bit by a snake. After I finished wiping the wound clean, I looked over at Jake who was still cleaning his mouth. He looked so funny. He would drink some water and then spit it out while wiping his tongue on his hand. I giggled quietly so he couldn’t hear me. After watching Jake for a couple minutes, I noticed Austin stirring. I quickly finished putting medication on the wound that I found in Jake’s backpack. Jake came over and asked me if it was okay if he could go back into the woods to get something. It was more like telling me that he was going to go into the woods than asking me. I let him go and returned to my work on Austin’s leg. I just finished putting a white bandage when I heard something stir behind me. Thinking it was another so called mutation, I grabbed the spear that Austin had used earlier and pointed it at the spot where the noise came from. I didn’t really know how to throw a spear but some kind of weapon was better than no weapon. Something started moving in the bushes again. I was ready. Spear in my hand and a bucket load of determination and fear. Just then Jake came breaking through the bushes. He stopped right in his tracks when he saw me. He just looked at me with a puzzled expression. Here I was, never holding a spear before, aiming it at him ready to kill.
“Okay Kate, you can put that thing down now.” Jake said making his way over to me.
“Sorry Jake. I thought you were a mutt.” I said putting the spear down.
“That I can see. Well, at least you picked up something that would have killed me better than a knife.” Jake said with a smile. “Do you even know how to use a spear?”
“Hey, don’t go dissing on my knife. It’s very special to me. And no, I don’t know how to use a spear or any other kind of weapon.”
“Well, at least you’re willing to try.” Jake said with a smile. “Are you done nursing Austin back to health?”
“Hahaha, very funny!” I said pretending to laugh. “And yes, I did finish.”
“By the way, I think this is yours.” Jake said handing me something. I looked at what he had in his hand. It was sharp and shiny. The closer I looked at it the more I could tell what it was. It was my knife! Jake went back to get my knife!
“Oh Jake! Thank you so much!” I said taking the knife out of his hands.
“You’re welcome! I kind of figured it was special to you when you were freaking out because you couldn’t find it.” Jake said.
“Yes, thanks so much! It means so much to me!” I said smiling at him. “Well, I’m done nursing Austin. Do you want to go finish our breakfast?”
“Well, I already finished mine but I’m still hungry. I could use another muffin.” Jake said heading to where our seats where.
I laughed and then said, “Yeah, me too! How long until Austin comes back to consciousness?”
“Oh, it shouldn’t be long. If he was moving when you were finishing him up, then he should be conscience within a few minutes.” Jake said sitting down on his log.
“Okay.” I said sitting back down on my log. “So, how did you come across Sten?”
“My sister and I came across it when we were searching for help,” Jake started so say.
“It was about two years ago. Our home got bombed which killed most of the people in the town including my parents. My sister and I were sent out of town to get baby supplies from our Aunt because our mother was having a baby. At the time, we gave them all to her because we had no room in our house. We were half way there when we heard a big explosion behind us. We turned around quickly to where the noise came from. All we could see was smoke rising about the trees. I turned and looked at my sister who was now white as a ghost. Her eyes where focused on the smoke. Whatever just happened was unexpected. We just stood there motionless waiting, watching, wondering what just happened. After the smoke cleared, we headed back down to where the explosion was. When we got back down to our town, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Everything was destroyed. From houses to trees to flowers to shops. Walking through the streets was different because there was hardly anything to see. I looked over at my sister who was now crying. I ran to where our house used to stand. I couldn’t bear to go stand on the ruins because of thought that people where dead under where I stood. I just stood there at the entrance hoping that our parents made it out. By the looks of things, it would be very hard to get away. The thought of my parents dead blurred my memory from thinking clearly. My sister was now besides me. She wasn’t standing though. She was on her knees rocking back and forth. I look down at the ground where the ruins of our house stood. Everything was covered in black. Then, something moving in the ashes nearby caught my eye. I just stared at the moving pile of ashes wondering at what it was. Nothing could have survived this explosion. So there couldn’t be anything alive underneath that pile. I knelt down besides my sister and gave her a hug. She seemed to feel more relax after I gave her that hug. Then I heard a moan. To be honest, it made me jump. I stood up immediately after I heard that moan. It seemed like the moan was coming from the pile of ashes I saw move earlier. I slowly made my way over to the pile. Then a black hand popped out of the ashes. I jumped back in surprise. Then it dawned on me. Someone was trapped in that pile, alive! I rushed over to the hand and started digging. I didn’t know who I was digging up but the thought of there being someone alive made me dig faster. I dug and dug until I came across a head. The head was black from the ashes but I recognized it immediately. It was my mother! She opened her eyes and just stared at me. I just started back at her. My sister must have finally realized what was going on because she was standing right beside me with her hand covering her mouth. My mother was still starting at us when I looked back at her. Tears started to accumulate in her eyes. She just looked at us and tried to smile. Even with the smile I could see the pain in her eyes. She looked so fragile and so pale. My sister was now bending down besides our mother grabbing her hand. My mother’s lips started to move. I could tell she was trying to say something. Her voice was so quiet. Almost like a whisper. I couldn’t hear her so I leaned in closer. My ear was touching her lips. She then whispered again. All I could hear was “I love you guys. Get help.” I raised my head and just looked at her. I nodded and then stood up. I told my sister that we had to go but she wouldn’t let go of our mother’s hand. I finally had to pull her by her arm to get her to let go. She stood up to follow but before she followed me, she bent back down and gave our mother a kiss on the check. She then ran to me. I was already out of the house and on the street. I turned back around to get one last glance at my mother. I could still see her head but she wasn’t moving. From where I stood, I could see that her eyes where shut and the pile of ashes on top of her stopped moving. She wasn’t breathing so that meant she was dead. My mother was dead just like everyone else in this town. I looked over at my sister who was holding something up to her lips. She just turned at started at me back. She then dropped her hand and showed me what was inside. It was a necklace. I remember our mother wearing it before we left her. My mother had given it to my sister before we left. I grabbed my sister’s arm and started running to these woods. I had to get out of that dead place. We were about fifteen minutes away from here when the President Cove found us. He’s the president of Sten. He took us to Sten and cared for us. Raised us up like we were his kids.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,” I said after Jake was done. Now I felt really embarrassed that I asked. “Austin said you have had a rough life but I seriously didn’t think it was that rough. I’m really sorry I asked about your personal life. I’m really sorry Jake.”
“No no. It’s fine. Actually, I’m glad I told someone. The only people I’ve told this too are to President Cove and Austin. Besides them, I haven’t told anyone else. Now you know.” Jake said grabbing another bottle of water. “I only share personal information to people I trust.”
“So you’re saying you trust me?” I asked with a smile. “For all you know, I could kill you with my mad spear throwing skills.”
Jake laughed and then said, “Yeah, I’m sure you could. But I’ve got to warn you, I’m pretty fast when it comes to battles. I could kill you before you could kill me. And yes, I do trust you.”
“You wish you had my skills don’t yah?” I asked sarcastically.
“Yes Kate. I sure wish I had your mad skills.” Jake said smiling at me. “But Kate, please don’t tell anyone this information. It’s not that it’s embarrassing, but it’s still useful information. If this information is put in the wrong hands, it could become a weapon to use against me.”
“Don’t worry Jake. I won’t tell anyone. Someone would have to kill me to get information out of me. You should know that I don’t spill any information out about anyone easily.” I said remembering when I first met Jake.
“Yeah, you’re pretty good at not sharing information out about someone. I knew I could trust you.” Jake said with a chuckle. “Looks like Austy is waking up.” I looked over to where Austin was lying. He started to move and moan again.
“Looks like your right.” I said still staring at Austin. “And really Jake, Austy?”
“What? He calls me Jakey. I have to have some nickname for him. He’s as much trouble as you.” Jake said getting up out of his seat.
“I’m not that much trouble.” I said getting up out of my seat too. “What do you mean that Austin’s as much trouble as me? Why do you say that?”
“Trust me. You don’t know him like I do. Remember, you just met him yesterday. I’ve known him for about a year and a half. He’s a huge trouble maker. He begged President Cove for him to do this mission. He must be very fond of you.” Jake said with a smirk on his face.
“Yeah, I’m sure he is. We’re just friends.” I said sitting back down. “Look Austin’s coming back.” Jake walked over to Austin’s side as he started moving.
“Hey Austin, feel better?” Jake asked Austin as he was opening his eyes.
“You could say that. What happened? All I remember was that I was going to get some logs for firewood and then I fell.” Austin said sitting up.
“You must have gotten scratched by that mutation when you were fighting it. Next thing we know, you’re on the ground screaming. Kate wanted to help you but I wouldn’t let her because, well, you know why you shouldn’t get close to a person who’s been scratched.” Jake said helping Austin to his feet.
“Okay, first of all yeah, you wouldn’t let me go close to him and second of all, you weren’t even going to do anything like you should of!” I said looking at Jake.
“Yeah, yeah, but we did do something.” Jake said looking at me back. “We saved him. Isn’t that all that counts.”
“Yeah, I guess.” I said looking a little embarrassed.
“Wait, so how did you guys save me if you couldn’t go near me?” Austin said trying to get into our conversation.
“Well, Kate insisted that I do something so I did. She was like yelling at me again.” Jake continued. I just gave him a long hard glare. He of course gave one right back at me. “After I shot you with medicine, Kate put matters into her own hands. She has had experience with snake bites before so she knew what to do.”
“Really? Well doesn’t that sound like the Kate we all used to know?” Austin said with a smile on his face. “It’s good to have the old Kate back.” The smile on my face disappeared when I heard Austin’s last words. It’s good to have the old Kate back. What does that mean? I knew I had changed but I didn’t think I’ve changed that much.
“What do you mean?” I asked a little puzzled and mad.
“I mean, a couple of years ago you would always help the school nurse. After your father left, you’ve changed quite a bit.” Austin said catching himself from falling.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I said quickly. I knew exactly what Austin was talking about but didn’t want to admit it. I’ve never really talked about my life after my dad died. Occasionally I would talk about it but not very often. That’s one of those things that I only say aloud when I’m in the forest alone.
Before my father died, I used to help him at school. He was one of the doctors there so he let me help him in between classes. That’s how my whole interest in medicine got started. My dad always said that I was really good at being a doctor and said I should go into the field of medicine. I loved that idea at the time and wanted it more than ever. I decided right then and there that when I got older, I would follow in my father’s footsteps. Of course, that was before he left us. After he left I made up my mind that I would never be a doctor. I didn’t want to do anything that reminded me about the times I had with my father. Apparently everyone still remembers my love for medicine.
“Of course you do!” Austin said bringing me back into reality. “Remember, you always helped your dad at the school and the…”
“Okay okay. I think we get it.” I said cutting him off. I didn’t want any more talk about my past being brought up. By now everyone was staring at me like I just did something really bad. “Um…are you hungry Austin?” I said trying to change the subject.
“Yeah, I’ll eat something if there’s anything left.” Austin said giving Jake and I a hard glance.
“Oh trust me Austin, I made sure Kate didn’t eat it all.” Jake said trying to cheer me up. I just lightly smiled and kept my head down.
“I can see Kate doing that!” Austin said laughing. Apparently, he didn’t see me behind him upset. Otherwise this conversation would have ended. I watched Austin make his way to a log. He stumbled a couple of times but he got himself back up. Austin seemed a little weird. He didn’t ever talk about my past to other people unless he had my permission. And I centrally didn’t give him my permission. I started to think that the venom got to his brain and made him go loopy.
“Kate?” Jake asked me. Jake slowed down so that he was right next to me as we were watching Austin make his way to a log.
“Yeah?” I asked realizing he was right by me.
“Is everything okay?” he asked. “You seemed a little upset after Austin started talking about your life. It’s almost like you didn’t want him to talk about it at all.”
“Yeah. I don’t really like it when people talk about my past. Especially if that person you’re talking about is standing right next to you.” I said shaking my head. “My life isn’t that great and no one really knows about it unless I told them.”
“I see. So you’ve had a rough past. We’ve all had one of those. Take my past for example. I didn’t want my parents to die. Do you think that was easy for me to just leave them there buried under all that rebel? I’ve had hard times just like you. I know what you’re going through. Trust me.” Jake said looking at me with his gently, kind eyes. I couldn’t help but smile. Jake was really nice and it’s glad to know that he knows what I’m going through.
“Thanks!” I said shyly.
“Don’t mention it.” Jake said smiling down at me.
“Jake?” I asked him as we were just about ready to sit down.
“Yes Kate?” Jake asked sitting down. Austin was on the other side of the fire so hopefully he wouldn’t hear me.
“Is it just me or does Austin seem a little strange?” I asked looking at Austin.
“What do you mean by strange?” Jake said grabbing a bottle of water out of his pack.
“I mean, does he seem like himself?” I asked while staring at Austin. He was now throwing all his stuff out of his backpack.
“Yeah, sort of.” Jake said looking at Austin too. “He seems a little loopy. It might still be from the medicine we shot into him. The medication should wear off. If it doesn’t, we’ll just take him to the medic’s in Sten.”
“Are you sure it’s because of the medicine? I was thinking it was because of the poison. I probably didn’t clean it out good enough and the poison is probably spreading as we speak!” I said starting to worry. “And if the poison continues, he could lose it. He could die! Oh Jake! What do we do?”
“First of all, calm down. He’s not going to die. Trust me!” Jake said looking at me in the eyes.
“How do you know?” I said quietly looking at him in the eyes.
“Because, we’ll get him to the medic’s in time. If we get moving soon, we can get there to save him. Like I said before, trust me.” Jake said still looking at me in the eyes.
“I trust you. But we need to go now. I can’t lose another friend.” I said almost about to cry.
“I know. He doesn’t have a lot of time left so we need to get going. We’re almost to Sten anyway.” Jake said trying to calm me down.
He doesn’t have a lot of time left. That simple sentence kept going through my mind. It made me worry even more.
“Austin! Don’t eat that!” Jake said getting up from the log. “That’s not food, it’s a rock!” Jake was now running to Austin trying to get him to put the rock down. I couldn’t help but laugh a little. I’ve got to say, that cheered me up a little. I decided to go help Jake out with Austin because they were fighting over the rock.
“Boys, stop fighting!” I said grabbing the rock from both of their hands. “We need to get going.”
“Kate’s right. Austin, grab your backpack. We need to get going.” Jake said standing up from his sitting position.
“Okay. Where are we going?” Austin said reaching for his backpack. Jake just looked at me with a concern look.
“Home.” Jake finally said.

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 16.05.2012

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