Chapter 6- The Free People

We rode for two days with no sign of the Watchers. Vellum led us deeper into the woods each day, only stopping to rest the horses. We slept in shifts at night and ate only what we packed for rations. Our packs held enough to feed each of us for five days. If we stayed out here any longer than that, we'd need to hunt.

We hardly spoke to one another. Save for Grisham and Shelby who shared their experiences as Facets, among other things. There was also the occasional gripe from Burke about my smoking, which I ignored with increasing expertise each time.

The embarrassment of what I said to Vellum kept me from even looking at him. I must've been a fool to let those words fall from my mouth. Speaking them made them real. They no longer existed only in my mind. To make matters worse, they existed in Vellum's mind too. I could only hope he'd forgotten our exchange and failed to put it in his notebook.

On the third night, we set up camp as usual. Shelby found a stone outcropping and Grisham built us a fire. Burke curled up alongside it in his sleeping sack and promptly fell asleep. The rest of us sat awake for some time after eating our dried meat, dried apples, and bread. Grisham kicked around the idea of snaring a squirrel or rabbit, but we wouldn't be staying long enough. As soon as dawn broke, we'd be on the move again. Still searching.

I thought of the cache of Indigo. I'd brought a few empty saddle bags to haul it back to Divern. I sometimes felt guilty about withholding the cache at home from the afflicted. But the afflicted couldn't be trusted with that information. They'd just as soon burn my house down to get to it instead of relying on me as their supplier. I was careful with what I pulled from my stash. Careful not to draw too much attention, and careful to make sure there was enough for me should the other sources fail.

“Get some sleep, Rue.” Grisham said. “Vellum is taking first watch.”

Vellum's attention was solely on his notebook as I shook out my sleeping sack. Unbraiding my hair, I brushed it loose to relieve the taut pull of it against my skull. Combing my fingers through it, I closed my eyes closed. I rubbed my scalp, a light massage on the roots of my hair. I sighed and took off my jacket, wearing only my t-shirt that was about two sizes too big, and my pants. Before I set my jacket down, I rifled through it to find my pipe. Sleep would only come easy after I burned a few shards.

“Don't.” His voice cut through the silence around us.

I looked up to those crystal blue eyes reflecting the fire light. The charcoal pencil still in his hand as he looked up at me.

“What?” I asked, sure he wasn't talking to me.

“Don't pick it up.” He replied.

“Why not?” I asked.

“I just have this feeling that you shouldn't.”

“A feeling, huh?” A breath escaped my lips. “Well I have a feeling that this is the only way I can get to sleep.”

“There are other ways to get to sleep.”

“Not for me.” I looked away and grabbed my pipe. As interested as I was to hear Vellum's reasoning, I was more interested in alleviating the scratching feeling that crawled across my body. I ignored him and lit my pipe.

I don't know how long I slept before Grisham woke me, but it couldn't have been too long. The flames of our fire still burned bright. I sat up and quickly noticed Vellum was gone. Burke’s sleeping sack was empty and he was nowhere to be seen. Shelby stood before us, an arrow nocked in his bow as he looked into the woods.

“Where are Vellum and Burke?” I coughed.

“We gotta move, Rue. Get up now.” Grisham grabbed my arm and began to pull me from my sleep sack.

I pulled on my boots and threw on my jacket, leaving everything else behind. I trusted Grisham with everything I was. A part of me was Grisham. He told me to move, so I did. We walked carefully into the woods, one behind the other.

“The horses?” I whispered.

“Gone.” Grisham replied.

“Shit.” I muttered. My blade was fastened to Copper's saddle.

Shelby held up a fist and we stopped at his back. I looked around the woods for any sign of movement, but there was nothing. The trees were completely still around us. My eyes traveled along the forest floor around us, not even a footstep disturbed the ground as we stood in silence. The steady rhythm of my heart lulled me into a state of readiness. My feet dug into the earth and my breath was shallow.

Facet training was dormant within me, but not lost. As I waited for the incoming attack, my years as a Facet reminded me what I was supposed to do. My lieutenant had told us that training would tune our nervous systems to feed off of danger. We'd learn to hone our fear to heighten our senses. Decrease our response time, strike first as a reflex.

A twig snapped underfoot and I turned before I could hesitate. I crouched and extended my bottom leg in a swift movement that knocked them to their back.

“They're here!” I yelled. Grisham and Burke now engaged in fights of their own. The translucent skin of the Watchers sparkled in the moonlight. Four of them at my count.

One grabbed me from behind, wrapping his long scaly arms around my body. His grasp pinned my arms to my sides. Without thinking, I forced my head back into his and listened for the crack of his nose. When it came, he released me and grabbed his face. I struck him with a kick to his chest and he collapsed back into a tree.

The first one I struck was now back to his feet, “The Alpha has been waiting for you, Rue.” He spoke with a slither of his tongue. His voice was akin to his snake-like appearance.

“I'll kill him. He'll never get his hands on me again!” I shouted.

I balled my hands into fists and charged at him. I swung a fist towards his face, but he moved just in time. As he avoided my strike, he handed a blow to my stomach. The power of his strike knocked the air from my lungs. I fought to avoid doubling over. My untethered hair made an easy grip for him. He wrapped his fingers through my hair and yanked me in close.

He pulled me towards his face and smiled. His sharp teeth were a sinister reminder of his strength. I struggled to untangle his hand from my hair, but it was a mere distraction. With his free hand, he struck my ribs. Piercing pain shot through my lung. He struck again, this time landing a blow on my cheek. Stars filled my vision and I knew the next one would knock me out.

I kicked his ribcage with every ounce of strength I could muster. Lightning shot through my leg as if every bone in it had broken. The Watcher dropped me and stumbled. In his moment of weakness, I jumped onto his back and wrapped my arms around his neck. I held it until I felt the crack of his neck and he fell to the ground beneath me.

I saw flashes of the wall in my vision. Flashes of light and the Alpha glaring at me, getting closer each time I blinked my eyes. When he was close enough to grab me, the vision of him disappeared and I saw Grisham held down. His axe knocked to the side and a Watcher straddling him, choking him.

What happened next was instinct alone. I didn't think when I lifted Graham's axe from the ground and struck until the Watcher fell still on top of him. The next moment, I heard the final Watcher run. Leaving Burke to chase him. I lifted the axe with both hands and it hung long behind my back. I screamed, forcing my last bit of stamina into the handle of that axe as I threw it.

I could've sworn that I heard Grisham yell, “Stop!”

But it was too late, the axe embedded itself into the Watcher’s back and he collapsed to the ground. His face landing in the dirt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I blinked my eyes open and nearly fell from Copper's back.

“Wha- what's going on here?” I stuttered, gripping onto the reins as the world spun around me. “Where- where are we?”

I yanked the reins, bringing Copper to a stop. I called for Grisham who galloped up to me, “Rue, you're okay, I'm here.”

“There were-there were-” I started digging through my jacket. Where the hell was my pipe?

“Just breathe, Rue. Come on, let's get you down.” Grisham helped me from my saddle and walked me to a large stone where I sat. The others stood around us, on horseback.

“My pipe. My pipe.” I repeated.

“She's fucking mad.” Burke called out. “We oughta bring her back. She's a liability.”

“Follow orders, kid.” Shelby replied, seemingly undeterred.

“Grish, my pipe, where is it?” I gripped Grisham's jacket pleadingly. Had it been broken in the struggle? Did we leave it behind?

“Vellum took it, Rue.” Grisham replied at last.

“No, no, no.” I fought back a sob. I knew Grisham would never take my pipe after seeing me at my lowest point . I knew it had to be someone else.

“When we got you back to camp. He took it.” Grisham wouldn't make eye contact with me as the words left his mouth.

“Why would you-why did you let him? I need it, Grish. You know I need it or I can't-”

“Rue,” he put his hand on my cheek, “Tell me the last thing you remember.”

“I was- We were- attacked. Watchers. Four of them. But I killed them. I saved you.”

“Just tell her, man. She needs to know!” Burke shouted from horseback.

“Know what?” I asked between sobs.

“Rue,” Grisham spoke to me so gently. The way he did only when he was trying to spare me some inevitable pain. “I'm going to fix your memories from last night, but it's going to hurt this time around. I wish it wouldn't, but I'm afraid it's unavoidable.”

“No-not my- my memories?”

“Yes, Rue.”

“Like the incursion?” Tears fell from my eyes. Not again.

“Can I help you remember?” He asked.

I nodded and looked into his eyes. More gold than green today. He placed his hands on my temples and looked into my eyes. I sat still and counted backwards from one hundred. I knew the drill.

I felt cold water flush out the hot parts of my brain. I only just realized the feeling; as though it were going to boil from inside my skull. Ice water rushed through the folds of my brain and down my spine. The pleasant feeling steadily subsided to an unwelcomed pounding behind my eyes. Painful jabs shot through my head and I whimpered. When he released me, I buried my face in my hands and cried.

“Tell me what you saw, Rue.” Grisham asked gently.

“I followed you and Shelby to a camp of people. I heard them talking. Some of them found us and then I -” My chest heaved.

“You killed them, you psycho!” Burke yelled. “Not Watchers, people! And you weren't going to stop. We all tried to stop you, but you knocked me out and nearly broke Shelby’s nose! If it wasn't for Vellum, you'd have slaughtered the entire camp!”

“Grisham, I -” I couldn't speak anymore. The tears fell heavily from my eyes.

“I know Rue, it's okay.” Grisham held my hand.

“It's not okay, are you both insane? She'll kill us all or get us killed. We need to bring her back!” Burke yelled.

“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened. I didn't remember any of it.”

“Not good enough!” Burke called out again. But no one argued with him. He was right. It wasn't good enough.