Remembering Rose

Chapter Three- Wake Up Sleeping Beauty

Peony's POV:

She looked so fragile, like the dolls my mother used to collect and always scolded me for touching. She was curled up in a bed of fading quilts, her mane of wild gold curls surrounding her like shimmering halo. Her porcelain skin was darkened by several yellowing bruises. With a careful touch I prodded her black and blue ribs. She let out a pained gasp, but her eyes never opened.
Someone knocked on the open door, and I turned to find my best friend, Lilith, leaning on the faded wood. "The boys are in the living room, Love," she sighed. Her bright hazel eyes glanced at the girl, the two of us had been the poor thing's nurse for the last week, and we had already developed a sort of affection for her. Which was terribly dangerous considering her inability to wake.
With a sigh I pulled the blanket up to Her face and followed Lilith through the door, not even bothering to shut it behind me like I had been for the last week.
"Peony, do you think she's going to be okay and wake up," Lilith asked me as we walked down the hall to greet the boys.
I couldn't help but heave a heavy sigh, "She may wake up, Lil, but that doesn't mean she'll be okay. You've seen her body, something terrible happened. I know what that's like--to open you're eyes and wish they had never opened," Lilith grabbed my hand and gave me a comforting squeeze. She didn't like it when I brought up the past, no one did, they all felt the guilt anew. I smiled at her in attempt to assure I wasn't affected anymore and continued, "I felt like everything had changed, but it was just me. This girl will probably feel the same, except of course for the fact that everything has changed for her."
Lilith and I stepped into the living room to find the boys talking in hushed tones. At our approach they quieted and looked up expectantly. I shook my head, and watched as they all let out sounds of exasperation.
"Is Sleeping Beauty ever going to wake up," groaned Farley as he threw his legs over the couch. Lilith rolled her eyes playfully, before shoving his legs back over with enough force to flip him of the couch.
"Feet off the furniture, baby," she laughed. Causing the dour mood of the room to lighten.
"But Lil," Farley whined adjusting his crooked glasses, "Walker has his feet on the table!"
I turned to see Walker, a chip stopped just before his full lips, sitting in MY red recliner with his feet propped up on MY coffee table...dirty converses and all. I narrowed my eyes and motioned for Walker to remove his nasty feet from my polished furniture. He replied with a smirk, which unfortunately caused the riot of nauseating butterflies to erupt in my stomach.
"Walker isn't my ass to deal with," Lilith replied as she hopped over my couch and took the seat Farley had just vacated, "He's Peony's!"
I let out a shocked yelp and heard Walker choking on his chip. Our reactions to Lilith's suggestion must been quite entertaining if Galen and Knox's brays of deep laughter were any indication. With flaming cheeks I whacked Lilith's shoulder, but she simply pulled me down on the couch beside her and began chattering happily.
As she talked and laughed I absentmindedly began to braid her long, jet black hair. I weaved the pieces into a complex plait, reveling in the repetition, it wasn't until I reached the end that I noticed everyone was silent. I looked up to find everyone's head turned toward the kitchen, their eyes narrowed and the hands creeping to the belt lines.
CRASH
I stood up from the couch and without a second thought ran to investigate. I have always been impulsive, a trait that has always got me into trouble, which was exactly why I didn't even pause to get a weapon before I turned down the hall and walked through the kitchen's open arch. Knox was behind me in an instant, but the sight that greeted us was one that took both of us by surprise.
She was awake...
...and wearing nothing but one of the boy's loose, old shirts. I watched in stunned silence as she pulled the half-eaten green apple from her mouth and gave Knox and me a stunning smile. Then, as if she wasn't a strange girl who had been picked up off the streets, she grabbed a water bottle from the counter and slipped past Knox and me (who were still quite stunned) into the living room. As she brushed past me I woke from my momentary stupor and let sputtering collisions of words, "she...but, I just...Knox!...Girl, is...Oh my god, she's awake!"
Knox and I have each other wild looks before we turned and bolted after her.

********2 hours later********

"Okay, Girl let's try this again," Galen sighed rubbing his face.
The girl (who we had finally managed to convince to wear pants) copied his movement and let out a string of incoherent sounds, "Ka, llls rysss gan." Galen narrowed his eyes at her and I felt a bubble of laughter threatening to take over. For the last hour or so the boys had been attempting to interrogate the her, but her responses had slowly driven them each to the end of their limited supply of patience.
Farley was the first to give up. The girl had been too fixated on his glasses to answer any of his questions. She would reach out in the middle of his sentence and attempt to pull the black frames from his face, only to have her hand smacked away. Finally, Farley had just given her the glasses and she had squealed with glee as she began to play with them. After that Farley threw his hands into the air and stomped off (stumbling over the coffee table in the process and causing the girl to let out a childish peak of laughter).
Knox had followed shortly after, unable to contain his laughter as she patted his walnut brown curls and pinched his cheeks like Lilith had done to her earlier. At the sound of his laughter she let out her first string of sounds, which sounded much to my surprise like bells. No joke.
Walker fell third. The girl had simply got up and walked away in the middle of his interrogation, leaving the six of us to rifle through the kitchen cabinets for more food.
Minutes ticked by and finally Walker stomped after her, grumbling about stupid strays. However, when the pair returned Walker carried an armful of food and the girl came skipping in eating a broken candy bar.
That's when Galen had decided to take thing into his own hands. He had shoved away from his spot on the wall and plopped down beside her. His scarred hands had ensnared her slender hands in a tight grip and stilled them. Instantly her big ice-blue eyes had turned their sole attention to him and she stared up at him. I watched in amazement as her wildness tamed. Galen had coaxed the girl into responding to his questions, however she only answered him with her odd garble.
"Alright," he sighed breaking me from my thoughts. A circular globe was held between him and the girl, "I want you to point to the place your from. Understand?"
The girl nodded and took the globe. For a moment she simply stared at the map, completely quiet. I held my breath. Then with a triumphant exclamation she jabbed her finger to a place between the expanses of dark blue.
Walker, Knox, Farley, Lilith, and I rushed to see, finding the girl indicating to a boat looking state in the U.S. Farley leaned closer and was about to read the map when the the girl suddenly drug her finger up, stopping in a state that looked like a Mitten then crossing the States border into Canada. "Wait, are you from Canada or the US?" Farley asked, scrunching up his eyes in attempt to see the blurred words.
The girl answered by moving her finger across the ocean to Africa...then Madagascar...then Russia...then to Ireland. The boys all groaned in frustration.
"I don't think she actually knows," Walker sighed finally.
"Do you think she hit her head," Knox asked in response, his bright green eyes flickered over to girl worriedly.
Galen grunted and began to pace. "Well, whatever happened she's our responsibility now. The rest of the Gang will need to be informed, but I think she should remain hidden until we hear something about her on the streets. We can't take her out risk running into anyone from her life before. I also don't want her exposed to any of the Reds, they'll kill her for before she can even blink." I turned from Galen at the mention I the Reds and bit my lip. Unwanted memories flashed through my mind and a single hitched breath escaped me. The girl looked over to me and grinned happily. Her crooked smile made my heart pang and my only thought was--Innocence.
In that moment, as the boys began discussing Her future, I decided I was going to protect that innocence. A hand landed on my shoulder and I looked up to see Walker standing beside me. His eyes watched as the girl tackled Lilith playfully, but his low voice was directed to only me, "Peony, you want her safe don't you?"
I nodded.
"Then I'll make sure no one hurts her."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey y'all!! So you met the girl (she does have a name, but that's for the boys to tell.) From now on I promise there will be a lot more of the boys, Peony, Lilith and the girl. I want to build their relationships and to do it right it has to be gradual, I hope you understand.
Thank you so much for reading, love y'all ❤️❤️
-girlmadeofstars