Find Me--Chapter 7 ~Olivia~

Working in the fields that day helped me keep my mind off of the bullet holes in the wall. I tried to focus on what a nice day it was instead; the sun warming my back, the gentle wind picking up and setting down my hair. This was always my favorite time of year. Early spring, when the flowers were blooming and the weather got warmer.

As I make my way down the next row of apple trees, I hear something. I set down the heavy basket of apples I’d been lugging around all day and walk slowly toward the sound. As I get closer, I see a girl with brown hair. Then I realize that the girl is Lyra and the sound I’m hearing is her singing. In my attempt to get closer, my foot finds a twig and she turns around with a start.

“Sorry,” I apologize. “I didn’t mean to sneak up on you like this.”

“That’s okay. You can come join me if you want,” she said. At least I’m pretty sure what she said. This was the first time I’d ever heard her speak and naturally she had a quiet voice. Though she didn’t object when I carried my basket over, set it down next to hers, and sat down with her on the grass. She was shy, and didn’t make eye contact.

“You have a beautiful singing voice,” I tell her. She smiles and blushes.

“Thanks,” she answers. “It means a lot.”

“Is there a reason that you never speak?” I ask her. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, I was just wondering,” I add. Her smile fades and she looks in the opposite direction. I think I see a tear slide down her cheek.

“I’m sor—,” I start, but am interrupted.

“My parents hated me,” she says, so softly even after moving closer, I could barely hear her. “They said everything that came out of my mouth was garbage and that they wouldn’t hear it. When I told them I wanted to be a singer, they told me that no one would listen to such horrible noise. When I was nine or ten, I started believing them. I stopped talking because I feared that everything I said was garbage. They still hated me though. They beat me and cursed at me. Then, just two years ago, they emancipated me and I was brought here.” More tears left her eyes. I hug her shaking body.

“I know no amount of apologies will make it up to you, but I’m really sorry,” I whisper. “I can’t believe they had the nerve to treat you like that.”

“No,” she says, voice shaking, “you’ve already made it up to me. You listened to me.” I pull her closer to me and find a tear running down my face.

“Thanks,” she says as I wipe the tears off her cheeks. Then, not worrying about the consequences, we each pluck an apple off of a tree and bite into them. The simple things, like feeling the sweet juice of an apple fill my mouth and dribble down my chin, are the things that make me smile these days.

“So you haven’t talked to anyone?” I ask, hoping the subject wasn’t too delicate.

“Well, there was one other person before you…” she starts. I felt like I had a pretty good idea on who that was, then, as if proving my hunch correct, Caleb appears.

“Hey Ly—,” he starts, then finds my face and pauses. “Oh, hi Olivia,” he says slightly nervously. He flashes a questioning look at Lyra and she nods in response. I took that at as him asking her if I knew everything, but I can’t be sure.

Caleb sat down next to her. I wasn’t sure if they had any feelings for each other, but they would probably rather be left alone anyway. It seemed like Caleb and Lyra met to talk almost every day out in the fields.

“Well,” I say, picking up my basket of apples, “I guess I’ll see you guys at dinner.”

“No, it’s okay,” Lyra says. “You can stay if you want.” Caleb doesn’t seem totally thrilled, but doesn’t say anything. I hoped I wasn’t intruding, even if Lyra did offer, but I didn’t want to keep picking apples, so I set my basket down again.

“How old were you?” Lyra asks me after a short pause. “You know…when your parents passed.” I flashback to the day six years ago.

“I was ten,” I answer. “It was scary. Just hearing all the gun shots and explosions. Seeing the flames out your window. Then waking up the next morning to find your parents missing. And then hearing that they had been killed. Before I knew it, I was being hauled off to an unknown place with people who the only thing I knew about them was that they were in the same situation I was in.” I remember sobbing that morning. I even remember Marcus crying, no matter how hard he tried not to.

“I’m so sorry,” Lyra says sympathetically. Caleb nods in agreement.

“Do you think you’ll ever be safe?” Caleb asks. I bite my lip and squeeze my eyes shut.

“I hope so,” I whisper.

We decide to start working again after half an hour or so; sauntering up and down rows upon rows of apple trees. When our baskets fill up with bright red, gold, and green apples, we walk back toward the building to get another basket to fill. We had been talking about life before here and I got to know them pretty well.

Shrieks and shouts fill the air in the distance. We exchange looks of confusion and panic and sprint as quickly as we can with the baskets of apples in our hands. As the building comes into view, I see bright orange flames consuming the entire east side and spreading fast. I stand there frozen, then think about everyone still inside. Everyone working the fields and even some people who were inside and lucky enough to escape were running away, I look over at Caleb who had grabbed Lyra’s hand.

“C’mon Olivia!” he shouts over the chaos. “We have to get away!”

“You two go!” I respond. They’re hesitant to leave me behind. I dash toward the building in hopes of getting inside and finding the others.

“Olivia!” I hear Caleb shout behind me, but ignore him and keep running. I’m engulfed in smoke as I near the building and immediately start coughing. A tall concrete structure with flames spilling out from the inside looms above me. I feel the fire’s scorching heat surrounding me. There are a series of screams. Then a deafening explosion.

The blow threw me back and I landed hard on the ground in a twisted heap. I open my eyes a bit, only to see smoke and flames everywhere. I felt my skin being burned. My whole body was sore especially my head. I couldn’t find the strength to get up. To run away.

It was getting harder and harder to breathe. Between gasps for air, I felt myself start to fade. My vision was getting blurry. The noise got quieter.

Then everything; the pain, the heat, the shouts, disappeared.

(By the way, I realize that it should've been Marcus's chapter, but I've had this thing with Lyra planned for a while and couldn't think of anything interesting from Marcus's point of view. ♥Skittlez)

Find Me--Chapter 4 ~Olivia~

I run my fingers through my damp hair and sit next to Marcus on the couch. It’s evening. Dinner has ended and it’s still raining. After dinner, we have two hours of free time, either spent in one of the four common rooms or our dorms. At nine though, we have to be in our rooms and have to be showered by ten.

I can’t stop myself from shivering. Working for six hours in the rain has left over half the people here soaked. Lyra and a boy I met outside, Caleb, are sitting next to each other by the fireplace. He told me that Lyra was mute for reasons unknown.

Meanwhile, Rae was sitting with her other brothers, Violet was sitting with Scarlet who was also shivering, and Dillon was talking with Skye. I hug my arms closer to my body, hoping for more warmth, and sigh.

“Cold?” I turn to see Chase standing with a blanket. I stand up and let him drape it around me. His hands linger on my shoulders longer than they need to, but when I look down at them, he pulls away.

“Thanks,” I tell him. I sit down on the hardwood floor and lean against the couch. Chase sits down next to me, his shoulder pressed against mine.

“How did you get here?” he asks me. That question brings me back six years ago; the night my parents were killed. Then to when they attacked our village. The memories are too overwhelming. I turn away from Chase as tears begin to run down my cheeks.

“Oh, I’m sorry Olivia,” he says gently. “I didn’t mean to…” He trails off as I face him again. He leans close to me and when he speaks his voice is low. “When I was four, my parents divorced. My mother moved to another country and I never saw her. I lived with my father until he died two years ago from cancer.” His hazel eyes are fighting to stop tears. I can’t imagine how horrible that must feel; to have a mother that is alive, but isn’t there to care for her son.

“You didn’t have to tell me that,” I whisper.

“Maybe I didn’t. And you don’t have to tell me your story if you don’t want to. I know it’s hard to face the past sometimes, but some things are almost worth it.” He give me a faint smile then wraps me in his arms. I break away skeptically and even more so say,

“My parents were killed six years ago. Marcus’s and mine, Skye’s, and Dillon’s.” I spoke louder than I had intended to. And the moment the words escaped my mouth, it was as if a spell silencing everyone was cast on the room. The other few people who were in her too left. Everyone else stared at me. Chase had a mix of horror and compassion in his expression. Dillon, Skye, and Marcus have remorse in theirs. The others were surprised, then once they realized they had heard correctly, they realized how unbelievable it still was.

“What?” Scarlet asks. She and everyone else gravitate closer together.

“It’s true,” Skye whispers, biting her lip. “We lived in an orphanage until about a month and a half ago. Then we were allowed to go home. But…then…” she buries her face in her hands and Marcus and Dillon turn toward her. Marcus has told me how he feels about Skye when we were awake keeping watch in the woods and he surely loves her.

“Then,” Dillon starts, voice solemn, “the people who killed our parents attacked our village…bombed our houses…and…” he trails off.

“They are still after us,” Marcus continues. “That night we fled to the woods, and traveled farther away from the village over the course of about a week. We fought them…but…” I know what’s coming next.

“We lost Rose,” Skye whispers, barely audible. I’m surprised she said anything at all. Dillon hugs her and holds her in his arms. I miss Rose a lot, but I can’t imagine how Skye feels.

No one speaks. Everyone has a look of grief, now that they know what we’ve been though. Chase hugs me again.

“You didn’t have to tell me that,” he whispers.

“Maybe I didn’t. But neither did you,” I point out. He gives a stifled laugh.

Several more minutes are spent silent, then Scarlet speaks.

“Our mom died when we were both really young.”

“Then because our dad was so depressed, he became an alcoholic and a drug addict and started acting illegally,” Violet continues. “Once it came to peoples’ attention, some officials brought us here.” How awful that must be; having a father who sank so deep into depression that he couldn’t even care for his daughters.

“Both our mother and our father died in a car accident four years ago,” Isaac says. Rae sinks into Seth’s arms and buries her face in his shoulder while Isaac puts his arm around Caleb. Lyra remains silent, staring at the floor. I look around the room at everyone grieving.

“I’m sorry I brought this up,” I say sympathetically.

“Don’t worry about it,” Isaac assures me. Everyone nods.

At nine o’ clock, we all return to our rooms. Everyone hugged and said goodnight and I realize how much I wish I could stay with Marcus. I don’t know how Rae handles being apart from her brothers. Skye and I share a room with Scarlet and Violet, and I’m grateful that they’re people we know.

Before bed, we all got a chance to shower. It felt good to wash the lank, disgusting feel out of my hair and the dirt from under my nails. When I lay down on my bed in a plain, white nightgown, I ask Scarlet a question I was almost afraid to ask.

“How long do people stay here?”

“Until you turn twenty-one and are legally allowed to live on your own,” she says regretfully. I am not staying her for five years.

“Well why can’t you just run away?”

“In retrospect, you could. But it’d be a challenge to do so without getting caught and punished.” I’m in no mood to ask what the punishment.

That night, I lay wide awake. I stare out the window, wondering how far away home is. Soon, I can’t handle it anymore. I leave the room, tiptoe down the halls and up the stairs until I reach room three-sixteen. Quietly, I slide the door open and make my way to Marcus’s sleeping figure. As I crouch down by the side of his bed, his eyes flicker open.

“Olivia,” he whispers. I give a weak smile as a tear slides down my cheek. He props himself up on his elbow. “Olivia, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t feel safe. I don’t feel like we’re safe; you, Skye, Dillon, all of us. I don’t want them to find us again.” He slides to the far end of the bed. “I probably shouldn’t be here,” I warn. But I climb in anyway.

“Everything will be fine,” he tells me. “As long as we stick together.” Our parents’ words.

Then, I fall asleep wrapped safely in my brother’s arms.