Promise: The Scarred Girl Page 8

Nea is not as smart as the dog and that thought is only conscious when she sees a stone already flying at of her hand and at the bear’s head.

  “Hide yourself,” she shouts to Hope before the bear turns toward them and roars loudly and growls menacingly. Hope quickly finds refuge in a bush next to the entrance to the cave.

  With slow threatening steps, the bear emerges out of the cave. Its eyes fix on Nea and the dog. The dog begins to whine anxiously and hides behind Nea’s legs. The closer the bear gets, the further the dog recedes behind her. Her heart is pounding like crazy and she wonders what she was thinking again. Suddenly she turns around and runs off as fast as she can and climbs a nearby tree. She pulls herself up the first branch and can feel the awesome power of the bear right behind her. With its massive body, it tries to knock the tree over. Desperately, she grabs for a higher branch when she feels a terrible pain in her leg. It is her luck that her presence of mind remained strong enough to not allow her to let go of the higher branch due to the shock and pain. Instead, she climbs up to the branch with clenched teeth. The pant leg of her left calf is already soaked with blood.

  The bear strikes at her again with its huge claws. Nea is dizzy from the injury and the blood loss; she believes she is beginning to faint.

  The bear roars and bares its teeth while swatting at Nea with its huge paws. It is now in the tree, but not high enough to reach Nea. However, the bear will not give up until it has knocked Nea from the tree. On the contrary, it has just taken a liking to this game.

  Nea’s gaze wanders back to the cave. There she sees Faith and Hope in the bushes, eyes wide with fear and tear stained faces, shakily holding each other. They stare up at her, unable to help. She does not see the dog with them, to her horror, she instead sees the dog at the base of the tree growling up at the bear. He probably wants to play the hero according to her stupid model. If the bear had swiped at the dog, instead of a slashed calf, it would have slashed his whole body.

  “Go! Get out of here!” Nea frantically cries to the dog from above, making the bear roar furiously. But the dog ignores her and continues barking. Soon the dog draws the bear’s attention. The bear turns around and faces the dog.

  “You stupid, stupid animal!” Nea screams in a panic with tears in her eyes. To her, she sees the little dog already dead in front of her.

  But neither the dog nor the bear give her much attention. Growling, they approach each other. Quickly, Nea pulls the knife from her waistband. Without thinking, she lets herself fall from the tree to the ground. The crash terribly hurts her already wounded leg and leaves her gasping for air. The bear is again aware of her and she has no time yet to think about anything as his massive figure runs toward her. She stabs him with the only weapon she has in his neck as it tries to grab her with its big mouth.

  A loud yelp penetrates from its throat and he flinches before her, so fast that the knife is stuck in its throat. Defenseless, she stands before the huge animal. The pain in its neck and the smell of blood makes it furious and lunges after Nea, trying to grab her again. This time the bear hits the target and its teeth sink deep into the flesh of Nea’s shoulder. The pain robs her of breath. She feels close to death, but with the last of her strength, she manages to grab the knife and pull on it as hard as she can. The bear loosen its grip in her shoulder just before she loses consciousness.

  Nea ran through the narrow streets of the old fishing village. The shadows of the houses are almost completely swallowed by the faint moonlight. From a distance, the sounds of binge drinking can be heard. Normally she avoided the streets at night, but as always, she had again quarreled with Miro and furiously stormed out of the old barn camp. The dispute had been so ridiculous and petty, that it was hard to remember what it was about at all. Nevertheless, she felt ashamed to return like a mangy dog. Honestly, she wanted to return after five minutes. She wanted to make him feel as she did after one of their arguments where he would be gone for hours or days. She wanted to show him how it felt when you worry about others and if you would ever see them again at all. Miro should feel what she has felt a thousand times. He should care about her. He should miss her.

  The sound of fast approaching feet on the floor pulled her out of her thoughts. Several people came running in her direction. They were not yet in her vicinity, but Nea could literally feel the floor vibrating as they approached her. She looked around, but there was no corner or niche where she could hide in this dark alley. So she ran to the end of the road. She felt her heartbeat quicken with every step and suppressed the urge to look around. She did not know if the noise she heard was her own heartbeat pounding in her head or the fast approaching footsteps. Just when she had nearly reached the end of the road, she reached to pull on the handle of a house when a man placed his cold hands on her mouth, preventing her from screaming and pulled her inside another house. She held her breath and looked into Miro’s sparkling blue eyes. Sweat stood on his forehead and he was out of breath. He was so close that she could feel his chest rise and fall with the effort. He took his hand from her mouth and instructed her to be quiet with a hand gesture. Outside loud male voices could be heard, “Where is the bastard?”

  “This experience can be a nasty surprise.”

  Miro pointed to the rotten ladder that led to the attic of the small house. Horrified, Nea shook her head. She had a fear of heights and ladders have always been her enemy.

  Miro leaned so close to her that his lips brushed her ear, “I’m right behind you.”

  Instead of obeying him, Nea became like a stubborn donkey and stepped further away from the ladder.

  Miro pulled his lips back to her. “Do you trust me?” he whispered in her ear.

  Nea looked into his eyes. She knew. She knew she trusted no one more than she trusted Miro. He’d never let her down. Whenever it mattered, he was at her side. She nodded.

  Miro pushed her toward the ladder and held if firmly as she climbed the first rung.

  “He must be here somewhere.”

  “Maybe he’s hiding in one of the houses.”

  Nea took the rungs faster and faster and tried not to think about the ground they left so far below. She climbed and climbed and several times kicked Miro with her foot, who was climbing right under her, but he did not complain once.

  Once they reached the attic, Miro rushed past her to the next window. The windows were already broken, but not enough to be able to climb through unharmed. He quickly looked around for an object when suddenly they heard the door on the lower level fling open. Both of them froze in their movement and listened to the silence. They could hear the feet of the stranger on the creaky wooden floor. If they moved, the stranger would hear it as clearly as they could hear him.

  “Miro, where are you? Come on, I want to talk to you,” the man purred from below.

  “It really was not fair, touching Ricko’s girl like that, you know. But I can understand, she really is a hot and sexy lady,” he chuckled. Nea felt the anger rising in herself. It was a heat that began in her stomach and ascended up into her forehead. She sent flashes in Miro’s direction, but he just shrugged his shoulders innocently. Again, was this predicament they found themselves in his fault? She was hoping he had missed her but instead he had simply gone to be with another woman. She wanted these men accusing him to devour him.

  The creaking of the ladder could now be heard. If they did not hide now, the stranger would discover them soon. They had to use its sounds to cover up their own. Miro gestured with his head toward a pile of blankets right next to the window. As soon as the man took the next step, Nea hurried in Miro’s direction. She made it to the blankets and they threw themselves under just as the man reached the attic.

  The blankets smelled like urine so much Nea almost gagged. Miro was on top of her with his full weight on her and pushed her to the ground so hard that she could hardly breathe. His hair tickled her nose, while his breath was on her neck.

  “Miro!”

  They listened as the steps stopped. He ha
d to be standing in front of them.

  The seconds passed without anything happening. Suddenly the stranger lifted the blanket and shouted: “Now I’ve got you!”

  Shocked, Nea stared in the weathered face of the man. His beard was wild, which was framed by a long shaggy mane. His eyes widened when he saw Nea and he let the blanket fall, befuddled.

  “Sorry for interrupting, I was expecting someone else,” he stammered and turned to the ladder. Nea did not understand the world any more. What was that now? Had he not seen Miro?

  “I’m off. Sorry again, and have fun you two,” he chuckled lewdly as he descended the ladder.

  Miro remained motionless atop her until the man was gone, only then did he jump up and burst into peals of laughter. When he saw Nea’s puzzled look, he laughed even louder. There were tears in his eyes. This amused him to no end. Nea felt the anger return in her belly and punched at Miro, but missed.

  “Why are you laughing?” She shouted angrily at him. “What do you think is so funny?”

  Miro tried to catch his breath and took a deep breath in his lungs and wiped the tears from his eyes. “That man thought he actually caught us having sex,” he snorted.

  Outraged and injured, Nea summed up her clothing, how could anyone think she was naked. “Why would he think that? We’re both still fully dressed...”

  “Oh Nea, do you really think you have to take all your clothes off every time? Have you never heard of a quickie?”

  Nea was glad of the darkness, for her cheeks burned with a shame as hot as fire. No, she did not know what a quickie was. She did not know much about sex. The disease had destroyed her life before her mother or the school could explain. All she knew, she learned from Miro. In contrast to her, he seemed to be more experienced. He let her stand there like a silly girl. He loved treating her condescendingly and it was extremely effective at getting her riled up.

  The sound of her popping the back of her hand across his cheek echoed through the empty house. “I hate you, Miro,” she hissed, and in that moment, she meant it.

  Miro, however, did not seem to be impressed, but instead took her hand and folded it into his own and breathed a kiss on it. “And I love you for it all the more, Nea.” It angered her more.

  “I feel her pulse, she is definitely still alive!”

  “Then why is she not moving?”

  “Maybe she is in a coma or something?”

  Something wet brushes against Nea’s face, accompanied by a faint whimper.

  “What shall we do with her if she is in a coma? We cannot leave her here.”

  “No, absolutely not. She saved my life!”

  A warm hand sets upon Nea’s neck and the dog howls a heartbreaking howl.

  “Oh look at how the dog mourns her. Our dogs would try to snip a piece of meat from her.”

  Nea wants to open her eyes, but she finds it incredibly difficult. Her whole body cries out in pain.

  She can feel the warm pressure of a foreign hand in hers. “Nea, give us some sign that you can hear us,” someone says desperately to her. She tries to and somehow manages to squeeze the hand. A joyous but frightened shriek follows.

  “See, I told you that she lives!”

  “Nea, do not worry, we are with you. Everything will be all right.”

  The dog has stopped howling and presses his wet tongue onto Nea’s face. She then opens her eyes and turns her head away slightly. She sees the tearful, but happy faces of the twins who keep her from laughing in the dog’s face.

  Eight

  Nea is touched by the twins taking care of her. Very carefully and cautiously, they carried her away from the cave and back to their old resting place by the lake. They tore her habit to make bandages for Nea’s injured calf and shoulder. Following Nea’s instructions, Faith managed to not only make a fire, but also roast the three fish herself. They do not have to worry about their next meal, it was probably luck more than anything else, but the bear is dead. Nea managed to sever the bear’s windpipe, then he collapsed on her and twitched for a few minutes before he stopped moving. Of this, Nea knows nothing; she had already lost consciousness by that time.

  Faith and Hope were afraid that Nea would have suffocated under the weight of the bear. But Nea is more impressed with the sisters, because they slaughtered the bear without any squeamishness so they can fry up the bear’s meat gradually. Nea thought they would balk in disgust, but they just laughed and said that a bear was just larger than a goat or a sheep, which they slaughter regularly.

  Since then, the dog spends more time with Nea than before. He snuggles up to her so she can scratch him behind his ears, loving on her as though he were the one who almost died. Actually, Nea has determined that the dog is not really a he, but is really a she.

  Smiling, Nea sits wrapped in her sleeping bag waiting for food. On cue, Hope walks up with bloodied arms again. She has taken her habit off to work, so now her short auburn hair can be seen. Without her habit, Nea can see her full face and how narrow it is. Her face is very slim and is reminiscent of a delicate and rather frail ballerina. Under her habit she wears a simple black top and black pants.

  “You must be hungry, right?” I’m sorry that we took so long, but we’re ready now.” She goes to the lake shore and washes her arms.

  “Yes, but it’s not bad, we have enough food to eat for days.”

  When Hope returns from the lake, Faith also comes back. Faith’s hair is so long that it ends just above her butt. She wears the same simple clothes like her sister. Now it is easy to tell the two apart. Nea was surprised when she noticed it. But when they noticed Nea looking at them, they both ran their right hand through their hair at the same time.

  “With the habits, it is hard to tell us apart, but it is not too difficult. Earlier, it was important to us that everyone perceive us as independent personalities and not always speak of the twins, but when the plague broke out, we only had each other and wanted to be one again.”

  Nea nods understandingly and thinks that the two used to play pranks on other people.

  Faith gives Nea a fried fish and places at least a dozen skewers of bear meat on the fire. Nea again shares her fish with the dog. When she looks up, she notices the twins staring at her with tears in their eyes.

  As the first tear tumbles down Faith’s cheek, she says to Nea: “I really do not know how I can ever thank you for what you have done for me. You saved my life.”

  “No one else could have done such a thing for us. I was stupid and all I could do was yell hysterically, almost as though you had already died.” Hope says as a tear rolls down her thin cheeks.

  Nea feels uncomfortable because she does not feel like a hero. She acted with stupidity and carelessness. She realizes that throwing the stone at the bear was a stupid choice and would have reversed it if she could. Now that she only has a few painful injuries, she does not regret her rash behavior, but at the moment the bear was running toward her, it was definitely a harrowing moment.

  “And how you even saved the dog, it was just incredible,” Hope praises her further.

  “It was like something from television,” Faith adds sadly, but still manages to smile.

  Nea says nothing, but looks at the two of them in front of her so full of enthusiasm and tries in vain to ignore the lump in her throat. Tears form in her eyes because she feels bad about lying to them and her guilty conscience is getting bigger. The twins admire her, how disappointed and shocked they will be when they find out the truth. All this time Nea played them and they believed everything about her and then to find out none of it was real? As the first tear rolls down her cheek, Faith calls to her, “Oh, Nea.” Immediately both girls sit next to her, one on the left and the other on the right. They close in to hug Nea with the dog still in her lap.

  “As of today we are no longer two sisters, but three,” adds Hope and lovingly strokes Nea’s tears from her cheek. This is clearly too much for Nea and she frees herself from the awkward hug.

  “Stop,�
� she pushes out, whereupon the girls stare at her in horror.

  “What’s going on? Have we done something wrong?” Faith asks anxiously.

  Nea shakes her head and hides her face behind her hands. “I cannot do this anymore,” she sobs loudly.

  The twins do not dare touch her, but remain silent and wait for her to continue.

  Nea lifts her head, when Faith and Hope look her in the eyes, she can collapse the lies she has told them. “I am a liar; I am not a member of Carris... All of this time I have been with you because I want to travel safely through Dementia on my way to Promise. I only pretended to be one of you. Just before we reach Fortania, my plan was to bolt. I’m sorry.”

  For a moment, the two just stared at Nea stunned. She expects the twins to either hurl insults at her or cry in frustration. But neither happens, instead they look to Nea and both smile.

  “Nea, we knew you weren’t a member of Carris,” Faith said dismissively. “We first questioned it when we saw you staring at the light bulb in the barn, but we certainly knew it when you were defending the little boy. Most Carris members are too cowardly to stand up to an overseer like that.”

  “And now what are you going to do with me?”

  “We’ll get you as close to Promise as we can. Then we’ll go back and tell Urelitas that Ereb kept you in the south. He will never know we did not take you to Fortania. Although he acts like he’s a big shot, he really isn’t, why do you think he is so far away from Ereb? Because he is so incredibly important and significant? Certainly not, he is just a very small light in the greater priesthood.”

  “You are not angry with me?”

  “How could we be? You saved my life. We are serious, now that you are one of us, it does not matter if you are not with Carris.”

  Warmly, the two hug Nea again in their arms. She would never have expected such a response to her treason, but maybe she’s not as good of an actress as she thought.

  “Will you remain with Carris? You are not like them and it does not fit you. Go with me to Promise.”