The rustle of tents being opened awoke Mel from her slumber. It was dark inside the tent where she, Austin and Gabs were staying, but she could hear the muffled sounds of footsteps outside. Mel crawled on her hands and knees over to the opening and poked her head outside.
It was in the middle of the night, but a small distance away from her, a light shone in the darkness. Lenera walked toward the east, out of the village. Next to her, holding her hand, was Mira. She was looking up at Lenera as they walked, and Mel got an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She wanted to crawl out of her tent and follow them, just to see where they went. She didn’t understand why they were leaving.
But she didn’t want to leave Gabriella and Austin here. She couldn’t bear leaving another one of her friends alone to fend for themselves, not like she’d done to Marcus. She snuck back inside the tent and struggled to wake her friends. Austin woke first, with a startled look in his eyes.
“What’s wrong? Are they here?” he asked.
Mel shook her head. “No, it’s just…the village. They’re leaving.”
Austin rubbed at his eyes, trying to force them awake. Gabs sat up next to Mel with a tired look on her face. Neither she nor Austin seemed to move toward the opening.
“Shouldn’t we follow them?” Mel asked. “I know this isn’t the first time. I’ve heard them before but never been able to catch them. If we go now, we could follow Lenera and see where she’s taking Mira.”
Gabs shook her head. “Why can’t we ask them tomorrow about it when they get back?”
Mel’s gaze flickered between Austin and Gabriella, wanting someone to take her side. To tell her, ‘Yes, let’s go’. But they didn’t. They seemed to think this wasn’t as important as Mel thought.
“I think it’s strange that they’re leaving in the middle of the night,” Austin said. “But I don’t know if we should follow them right now. I’d like to get some more information first on what we’re getting ourselves into. The people of the wastes have been kind to us. They let us in to their village when we had nowhere to go. Maybe we should give them the benefit of the doubt before we go chasing them down in the night?”
Mel leaned back on her feet, letting her body slump back against the supporting beam of the tent. She nodded solemnly toward her friends and tried to quiet the struggling feelings in her stomach. She couldn’t just go running off on her own, expecting them to follow her. They were a group now and decisions needed to be made unanimously. Mel had to respect that.
#
In the morning, there was an eerie silence covering the village. Mel listened to the sound of her breath as she waited for Lenera and Mira to return. Next to her, Gabs and Austin slept peacefully, not worried about what was happening outside their bubble of safety. But Mel couldn’t relax. She couldn’t get that gnawing feeling of wrongness out of her limbs.
At last, she heard the muffled steps of people returning from the east. She listened to them approaching her tent, and she lay perfectly still as they walked away toward their own homes. Mel’s breath caught in her lungs, her heart beating rapidly. She waited like that until the morning's first rays finally grew bright enough to pierce the smoky air and warm her surroundings.
Then she stirred Austin and Gabriella awake once more and, with a resolute expression on her face, she motioned for them to follow her outside. She’d done what they’d asked of her, waited until morning, but now, when it was here, they owed her action. She was going to find out the truth about where the village was going at night.
“So, how do we do this?” Austin asked, dragging a hand over his face. “I don’t want to start an inquisition.”
Mel chewed on her bottom lip, her skin still heating in the warm rays from the sun. “I think we should try asking Luthel and Hanon first. Last time I approached them, I only had a hunch. I’d heard sounds in the night, but seen nothing concrete. But last night, I saw Lenera and Mira walking out of the village. Now we can corner them, force them to speak.”
Gabs and Austin shared a concerned look, and Mel felt annoyance course through her veins. They were acting like she was unreasonable, like she was making things up. She didn’t like this. A voice in her head kept insisting that she look further into this. That she went to the bottom of who the people of the waste truly were. She couldn’t just ignore her instincts any longer.
“Fine, we’ll ask Luthel and Hanon, but I don’t want to corner them unless it’s absolutely necessary. Okay?” Austin said.
Mel nodded reluctantly and then turned on her heels, walking over to the tent two homes over from theirs. It was quiet when Mel approached, but she felt Austin and Gabs right behind her, and it gave her the confidence she needed to pay them a visit.
She cleared her throat in a loud stage-manner, but nothing sounded from inside the tent. After a second, she peeled the tent flap open, revealing two tired looking men sitting on the floor. Luthel’s face was warped in concern and he was staring unblinkingly at Hanon. Mel cleared her throat again, but they made no attempt to look at her.
Hanon’s eyes were downcast, and he was fiddling with his hands in his laps, just like Mira had done last night. The uneasy feeling hit Mel like a club in the chest, and she took a step back.
“Can we have a word with you?” she asked with more hesitation in her voice than she’d meant.
Finally, Luthel looked at her and gave her a curt nod. He crawled out of the small space and Hanon followed, still not meeting Mel’s gaze. Luthel had dark circles underneath his eyes, but she got the impression it wasn’t only lack of sleep that was making his face twisted.
“Where did you go last night?” Mel asked.
“We were here,” Luthel said.
A frown descended over Mel’s forehead, and she wrinkled her nose. She didn’t like being lied to. But what bothered her even more was that he sounded so off-handed about it. Like it really didn’t matter to him. If she didn’t know, if she hadn’t seen Lenera and Mira last night, she might have believed him.
“We know you weren’t here the entire night,” Austin said, walking closer to Luthel. “Melissa woke us up in the middle of the night because she heard you.”
“It must have been a beast walking around the village at night,” Luthel said. “They sometimes like to sneak around, watching for people who don’t follow the rules.”
“Come on,” Gabs said. “Don’t give us that crap. Mel saw you last night, walking out of the village.”
Mel glanced over at Gabs for a moment, feeling content that she was finally seeing the lies for herself. Her eyes flew back to Luthel, but his face was like granite. Hanon looked at Mel and then his eyes landed on his father. He tugged at the hem of his shirt, drawing Luthel’s attention to him.
“We should tell them about Mira,” he said. “They’ll notice, eventually.”
Panic flashed in front of Luthel’s eyes for a second and then they returned to their stony stare. He turned his attention back on Mel and set his jaw. “Mira has disappeared. She’s gone.”
Mel took a step back, feeling her stomach clench. “What?”
“She disappeared last night,” Luthel said. “She won’t be coming back.”
“What do you mean, she won’t be coming back? We should go out and look for her.”
Luthel let out a long sigh. “No, Mira is gone. There is no use in looking for her.”
Mel turned to Austin and Gabriella, wanting to see if her reaction was strange. But they looked similarly shocked and angry at this.
“We’re not going to just leave Mira out there,” Gabs said. “What if the beasts take her or the shadows?”
“My father is right,” Hanon said. “Mira is gone. There is nothing we can do about it. Such is life in the village. Things happen. We will grieve for her, but she cannot be brought back.”
Mel took another step back from Luthel and Hanon, feeling as though these two men who’d saved her once now were their enemies. How could they just leave Mira like this?
“I’m not just going to let the shadows have her,” Mel said. “We should go looking for her. Did she disappear into the east?”
Luthel shook his head. “Don’t go looking for her. It will only bring you suffering.”
Mel shook her head back. “I won’t just leave her.”
She turned to Gabs and Austin, a quiet conversation playing between them. It was written all over their faces, their need to find Mira too. Mel was thankful at that moment for having friends who understood why she couldn’t just leave Mira out there alone. She needed to find her. For Mel, it felt like searching for a part of herself that she’d lost on her own sixteenth birthday.
In the distance, Mel now heard a man crying inside one of the tents. She hadn’t noticed it before. But when her anger and worry dissipated, she heard the wails of a grown man. Her eyes were drawn to the tent furthest to the west, a tent she’d seen Mira exit many times.
Mel couldn’t understand the people of the village. How could they mourn her so deeply when they wouldn’t lift a finger to help Mira?
They walked back toward their tent with firm steps and as they approached the opening, a new day had started. There was a newly lit fire among a couple of logs in the campfire. A pot with soup was being prepared to the side and in the distance she saw people who’d gone to fetch water, walking further away to the south.
Mel stopped outside her own tent, looking out over the seemingly normal morning, wondering how this could be. How could the world continue spinning when one of their own was missing?
Her eyes caught with Lenera’s and the older woman gave her a steely expression. Mel felt it deep inside her bones, a warning of some sorts. To not go looking for trouble, to stay out of the village’s business.
Mel’s intuition spoke to her in a clear tone. “You need to find her. You need to leave. These people are evil.”
She returned Lenera’s look with one of contempt and anger. She would come back after she found Mira and kill her. She would leave her out in the wastes all alone to fend for herself, just like she’d left Mira somewhere out there to the east. Lenera would be eaten alive by the beasts and the shadows, and Mel would laugh.
A smile spread over her lips, and for a moment she was truly happy, content even. Then a whispering of something else slithered inside her veins and Mel staggered back, almost crashing into the tent next to her.
What had she been thinking, and why had it made her so happy?
A shiver ran down her spine, and Mel was afraid of her own thoughts, of her intuition. It was like the smokey air had entered her and colored her heart with darkness. She felt a disconnect from her own feelings and a growing sensation of not trusting her own mind.
The rustle of tents being opened awoke Mel from her slumber. It was dark inside the tent where she, Austin and Gabs were staying, but she could hear the muffled sounds of footsteps outside. Mel crawled on her hands and knees over to the opening and poked her head outside.
It was in the middle of the night, but a small distance away from her, a light shone in the darkness. Lenera walked toward the east, out of the village. Next to her, holding her hand, was Mira. She was looking up at Lenera as they walked, and Mel got an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She wanted to crawl out of her tent and follow them, just to see where they went. She didn’t understand why they were leaving.
But she didn’t want to leave Gabriella and Austin here. She couldn’t bear leaving another one of her friends alone to fend for themselves, not like she’d done to Marcus. She snuck back inside the tent and struggled to wake her friends. Austin woke first, with a startled look in his eyes.
“What’s wrong? Are they here?” he asked.
Mel shook her head. “No, it’s just…the village. They’re leaving.”
Austin rubbed at his eyes, trying to force them awake. Gabs sat up next to Mel with a tired look on her face. Neither she nor Austin seemed to move toward the opening.
“Shouldn’t we follow them?” Mel asked. “I know this isn’t the first time. I’ve heard them before but never been able to catch them. If we go now, we could follow Lenera and see where she’s taking Mira.”
Gabs shook her head. “Why can’t we ask them tomorrow about it when they get back?”
Mel’s gaze flickered between Austin and Gabriella, wanting someone to take her side. To tell her, ‘Yes, let’s go’. But they didn’t. They seemed to think this wasn’t as important as Mel thought.
“I think it’s strange that they’re leaving in the middle of the night,” Austin said. “But I don’t know if we should follow them right now. I’d like to get some more information first on what we’re getting ourselves into. The people of the wastes have been kind to us. They let us in to their village when we had nowhere to go. Maybe we should give them the benefit of the doubt before we go chasing them down in the night?”
Mel leaned back on her feet, letting her body slump back against the supporting beam of the tent. She nodded solemnly toward her friends and tried to quiet the struggling feelings in her stomach. She couldn’t just go running off on her own, expecting them to follow her. They were a group now and decisions needed to be made unanimously. Mel had to respect that.
#
In the morning, there was an eerie silence covering the village. Mel listened to the sound of her breath as she waited for Lenera and Mira to return. Next to her, Gabs and Austin slept peacefully, not worried about what was happening outside their bubble of safety. But Mel couldn’t relax. She couldn’t get that gnawing feeling of wrongness out of her limbs.
At last, she heard the muffled steps of people returning from the east. She listened to them approaching her tent, and she lay perfectly still as they walked away toward their own homes. Mel’s breath caught in her lungs, her heart beating rapidly. She waited like that until the morning's first rays finally grew bright enough to pierce the smoky air and warm her surroundings.
Then she stirred Austin and Gabriella awake once more and, with a resolute expression on her face, she motioned for them to follow her outside. She’d done what they’d asked of her, waited until morning, but now, when it was here, they owed her action. She was going to find out the truth about where the village was going at night.
“So, how do we do this?” Austin asked, dragging a hand over his face. “I don’t want to start an inquisition.”
Mel chewed on her bottom lip, her skin still heating in the warm rays from the sun. “I think we should try asking Luthel and Hanon first. Last time I approached them, I only had a hunch. I’d heard sounds in the night, but seen nothing concrete. But last night, I saw Lenera and Mira walking out of the village. Now we can corner them, force them to speak.”
Gabs and Austin shared a concerned look, and Mel felt annoyance course through her veins. They were acting like she was unreasonable, like she was making things up. She didn’t like this. A voice in her head kept insisting that she look further into this. That she went to the bottom of who the people of the waste truly were. She couldn’t just ignore her instincts any longer.
“Fine, we’ll ask Luthel and Hanon, but I don’t want to corner them unless it’s absolutely necessary. Okay?” Austin said.
Mel nodded reluctantly and then turned on her heels, walking over to the tent two homes over from theirs. It was quiet when Mel approached, but she felt Austin and Gabs right behind her, and it gave her the confidence she needed to pay them a visit.
She cleared her throat in a loud stage-manner, but nothing sounded from inside the tent. After a second, she peeled the tent flap open, revealing two tired looking men sitting on the floor. Luthel’s face was warped in concern and he was staring unblinkingly at Hanon. Mel cleared her throat again, but they made no attempt to look at her.
Hanon’s eyes were downcast, and he was fiddling with his hands in his laps, just like Mira had done last night. The uneasy feeling hit Mel like a club in the chest, and she took a step back.
“Can we have a word with you?” she asked with more hesitation in her voice than she’d meant.
Finally, Luthel looked at her and gave her a curt nod. He crawled out of the small space and Hanon followed, still not meeting Mel’s gaze. Luthel had dark circles underneath his eyes, but she got the impression it wasn’t only lack of sleep that was making his face twisted.
“Where did you go last night?” Mel asked.
“We were here,” Luthel said.
A frown descended over Mel’s forehead, and she wrinkled her nose. She didn’t like being lied to. But what bothered her even more was that he sounded so off-handed about it. Like it really didn’t matter to him. If she didn’t know, if she hadn’t seen Lenera and Mira last night, she might have believed him.
“We know you weren’t here the entire night,” Austin said, walking closer to Luthel. “Melissa woke us up in the middle of the night because she heard you.”
“It must have been a beast walking around the village at night,” Luthel said. “They sometimes like to sneak around, watching for people who don’t follow the rules.”
“Come on,” Gabs said. “Don’t give us that crap. Mel saw you last night, walking out of the village.”
Mel glanced over at Gabs for a moment, feeling content that she was finally seeing the lies for herself. Her eyes flew back to Luthel, but his face was like granite. Hanon looked at Mel and then his eyes landed on his father. He tugged at the hem of his shirt, drawing Luthel’s attention to him.
“We should tell them about Mira,” he said. “They’ll notice, eventually.”
Panic flashed in front of Luthel’s eyes for a second and then they returned to their stony stare. He turned his attention back on Mel and set his jaw. “Mira has disappeared. She’s gone.”
Mel took a step back, feeling her stomach clench. “What?”
“She disappeared last night,” Luthel said. “She won’t be coming back.”
“What do you mean, she won’t be coming back? We should go out and look for her.”
Luthel let out a long sigh. “No, Mira is gone. There is no use in looking for her.”
Mel turned to Austin and Gabriella, wanting to see if her reaction was strange. But they looked similarly shocked and angry at this.
“We’re not going to just leave Mira out there,” Gabs said. “What if the beasts take her or the shadows?”
“My father is right,” Hanon said. “Mira is gone. There is nothing we can do about it. Such is life in the village. Things happen. We will grieve for her, but she cannot be brought back.”
Mel took another step back from Luthel and Hanon, feeling as though these two men who’d saved her once now were their enemies. How could they just leave Mira like this?
“I’m not just going to let the shadows have her,” Mel said. “We should go looking for her. Did she disappear into the east?”
Luthel shook his head. “Don’t go looking for her. It will only bring you suffering.”
Mel shook her head back. “I won’t just leave her.”
She turned to Gabs and Austin, a quiet conversation playing between them. It was written all over their faces, their need to find Mira too. Mel was thankful at that moment for having friends who understood why she couldn’t just leave Mira out there alone. She needed to find her. For Mel, it felt like searching for a part of herself that she’d lost on her own sixteenth birthday.
In the distance, Mel now heard a man crying inside one of the tents. She hadn’t noticed it before. But when her anger and worry dissipated, she heard the wails of a grown man. Her eyes were drawn to the tent furthest to the west, a tent she’d seen Mira exit many times.
Mel couldn’t understand the people of the village. How could they mourn her so deeply when they wouldn’t lift a finger to help Mira?
They walked back toward their tent with firm steps and as they approached the opening, a new day had started. There was a newly lit fire among a couple of logs in the campfire. A pot with soup was being prepared to the side and in the distance she saw people who’d gone to fetch water, walking further away to the south.
Mel stopped outside her own tent, looking out over the seemingly normal morning, wondering how this could be. How could the world continue spinning when one of their own was missing?
Her eyes caught with Lenera’s and the older woman gave her a steely expression. Mel felt it deep inside her bones, a warning of some sorts. To not go looking for trouble, to stay out of the village’s business.
Mel’s intuition spoke to her in a clear tone. “You need to find her. You need to leave. These people are evil.”
She returned Lenera’s look with one of contempt and anger. She would come back after she found Mira and kill her. She would leave her out in the wastes all alone to fend for herself, just like she’d left Mira somewhere out there to the east. Lenera would be eaten alive by the beasts and the shadows, and Mel would laugh.
A smile spread over her lips, and for a moment she was truly happy, content even. Then a whispering of something else slithered inside her veins and Mel staggered back, almost crashing into the tent next to her.
What had she been thinking, and why had it made her so happy?
A shiver ran down her spine, and Mel was afraid of her own thoughts, of her intuition. It was like the smokey air had entered her and colored her heart with darkness. She felt a disconnect from her own feelings and a growing sensation of not trusting her own mind.
