Tuesday, January Fifteenth, 11:19 A.M….

I am dead.

No, wait, I’m not.

Death is not warm.

Death is not lit up.

Death is not this nice. Death is cruel. Death is cold. Death is eternal and dark.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Chris sitting on the couch opposite me. I took one look into his eyes, his glaring smile.

And I passed out again.

When I came to, the front of the bus was empty. I propped myself up slowly, shaking like a dog. Vacated seats begged to be occupied. A newspaper flipped around forlornly, the page shuddering as the fan whirled and twirled.

I saw the door, I saw my exit. I stood up shakily, heading towards my only escape. I hissed silently as I put weight on my sprained ankle. All this ‘being taken business’ must be pretty bad on my body. I went over towards the door before someone’s arms wrapped around my waist, dragging me backwards.

I yelled curses at them, although I didn’t register what I was doing. I was acting without process. I cursed them and all they stood for. I cursed what they did to me, and I made it known that I was seriously pissed. I brought my good arm back, throwing my right elbow into the person’s chest. The man grunted but kept a hold on me.

I started sobbing and kept on attacking the person holding me. I made sure they would be in pain tomorrow. Tears trickled down my face. Nothing was right. Ricky wasn’t here, I knew that much. If he was, no one would be holding me down. I slid down on the floor, throwing all my weight to the carpet so that they were either forced to drag or drop me.

Whoever it was just let me slide to the ground, their hands supporting me as I descended. Once I was completely down, I curled up into a ball, hiding my face and making it hard to pick me up. I clutched at my hair, like I was a wild beast.

“Vinny, leave her.” A gentle voice commanded. I sobbed into my shirt. No one touched me. They left me alone, how I wanted it to be.


Chris’s POV

Damn. That girl can throw a punch, even when injured. Vinny and I had walked out of our bunks to find Rory trying to stand up, trying to run away. Vinny had caught her before she could slip down the stairs, gently dragging her back.

Well, Rory didn’t like that.

She threw elbows, making it hard for Vinny to keep a hold on her, but the kid managed to keep a grip on the enraged eighteen year old. I had my folder clutched in my hands. Vin and I had been reviewing it, looking at what the Guides had put down for her. I recognized Ricky’s scrawled handwriting. He added under medical conditions that her left ankle and wrist were sprained. I was very surprised she had made it this far before passing out in the blazing sun.

“Help!” Vin cried as an elbow went into his shoulder. He hissed from the pain as Rory insulted him. She had quite a…colorful…vocabulary. Eventually, Orion dropped to the floor and Vinny let her sink down. He growled as he bent over to pick her back up.

“Vinny, leave her.” I said gently. He nodded and backed away, limping slightly. He came back to my side. Ghost and Ryan came out from the back lounge to witness the commotion. They came too late. Rory just lay there, shivering and quivering on the floor, expecting us to hurt her. I can’t believe we were the ones to make her like this. It hurt my heart to have my eyes opened to my own cruelty.

“I called Ricky. He’s coming tomorrow.” Ghost whispered quietly to me. We were all squished in the corner, giving the girl plenty of room.

“The door’s locked.” Ryan murmured into my ear. My eyes flickered to the front escape. I nodded.

“What do we do?” Vinny asked, looking up to me. I stared at the woman on the floor. Quiet sniffles escaped her. She looked like a wild horse, caught, broken, and beaten to submission.

“Ghost, she trusts you. Please, keep an eye on her. If we’re going to get her to trust us, we have to start somewhere.” I patted the bassist’s shoulder. He nodded, going to stoop next to Orion, whispering to her quietly.

Ricky needs to get here.


Rory’s POV

“Hey, Rory. It’s me, Ghost.” A voice whispered from above me. I kept to my quietness, my darkness, waiting for him to leave. His hands gently rubbed my shoulder, barely touching my skin, like I was paper he was afraid to rip. I stopped shaking under his gentle touch. It was reassuring, not commanding.

“I’m not going to hurt you Rory, none of us are…we only want to help you get better.” Ghost soothed. I looked up to him, tears rimming my eyes like shattered glass.

“How can the ones who broke me be the ones who save me?”

He was silent after that.

A few hours later I was up on the couch. I had fallen asleep, or maybe blacked out. Either way, someone moved me to the couch and put a blanket around my shoulders. The lights were dimmed on the bus, barely shining. It must’ve been pretty late at night. I was probably out for a good six hours. I don’t know if was the tiredness or the pain that kept me out, but either way, the dreams were my escape, if only a brief moment of eternity.

Chris came in as I yawned, ducking my head into my chest as I opened my mouth and exhaled. He eyed me with a sly smile. I averted my eyes, keeping still. What had Ghost said? They all wanted to help me, but if he thought I would trust Chris or Ryan, I just couldn’t. I heard Balz pecking away on a keyboard in the background.

“Can’t sleep?” He asked me. I shook my head, silent and watching him. He had on a loose fitting shirt and sweatpants. He looked dead tired. I watched as he turned his back to me and filled up a bottle of water, drinking after it was done filling up. He took another glass silently beneath a cabinet. I was so dehydrated and the water was tempting, but I didn’t speak. I couldn’t speak. There was cactus in my mouth, the dryness was that bad. I couldn’t even form spit to wet my lips.

I closed my eyes, blocking out the image of water. I heard Chris shuffle over, bare feet skidding over the carpet. He gracefully sat down next to me. I made no move to look up at him. I was too weak to even sit up. I hadn’t eaten, hadn’t had a drink in three days. My head hurt. My ankle was melting from the inside. In general, I was a wreck.

His hand touched my back, gently pushing me up to a sitting position. I blinked open, shivering at his hand that forced me up. I blinked open to the dim bus, eyes finding Chris’s cocoa ones. I swore I could see the fear reflected off of his eyes. He held out the glass of water, gently pushing it into my hands. I shook as I took it, looking back at him. The screamer nodded.

I let the cool glass touch my lips, the water sliding into my mouth. I feel him watch me as the icy liquid disappeared within half a second. I felt the water cool my aching throat. Everything seemed to be clearer. Chris took the glass from my hands, getting up to get me more. He sat down a moment later, handing it to me once again. I took it, barely murmuring a thanks, and guzzled it down as well.

After I was done drinking, I felt bloated and good. I wasn’t as dizzy and the pain wasn’t as bad. Chris chuckled as I looked to him for me. We repeated the process and the third glass of water was gone, although it took more time now that I was full. He tucked his legs up on the seat and looked at me as I held out the glass, silently asking for more. He plucked it out of my hands and set it on the table next to him. I whined softly and pouted. He picked up a book and started reading, ignoring me for now. I pursed my lips. I didn’t think Chris would just do that. Hmm…perhaps he has changed?

Perhaps not.

I reached over trying to paw around for the glass and get water myself. He swatted my hand away, gently pushing me back down to sitting next to him, my legs crossed. He made a sneaky little chuckle, turning the page in his book.

“You’re going to make yourself sick by drinking anymore water, Orion.” He smirked. I raised an eyebrow, challenging him. He just touched the tip of his book, The Maze Runner, to my forehead, laughing at the little gesture. I sat back, away from the book.

“Later.” He promised. I sighed, making a frustrated face before lying back down. I curled up and pushed my head against his leg, making a little grumble to let him know that I was going to make sure he held up to his promise of more water. Chris hummed with a light laugh, his hand reaching down and stroking my hair. I shivered from the touch before finally submitting to it.

Later.

Notes