Hiraeth: Blackout (I)

Chapter Twenty Two

That Night, it was so cold that it seeped into the little mountainside house Jade and I decided to take shelter in. (We figured that his family wouldn't mind if I stayed there.) It didn't bother me, of course, but Jade was really having a hard time.

"I-I-I c-can't do it," Jade chattered angrily while he attempted to light the fireplace.

I took the matches from him and tried it myself. Since my hands weren't trembling from the cold, I managed. Soon a pretty decent blaze was going.

Jade went into the kitchen and returned with some beef jerky and sunflower seeds, the only things that weren't spoiled. I was thrilled to finally have something to eat. He got some water, too, which I was even more thrilled about.

I sat in front of the fire with Jade until the light started to hurt, then I retreated to the worn little couch and laid down.

I was so inexplicably tired, and not just physically. I hadn't slept in nearly two Days, I hadn't eaten anything until then, and I'd cried for most of that time. My mind was a hurricane of questions and uncertainties and fear and hurt and longing, and as I watched Jade warm himself by the fireplace, a far-off look in his emerald eyes; I knew that he felt the same way.

I had been asleep on and off for some time when my ears picked up faint noises outside. At first I thought it was just the wind, but they slowly got louder.

They were voices.

Voices that I knew all too well.

I shot up and threw the remaining water in my glass onto the fire. I had to use Jade's glass, too, to put it out completely.

"Hey!" my friend protested before I shoved my hands over his mouth.

He squirmed at first, then noticed the voices, too, which were now loud enough for him to hear. He nodded and I took my hand away.

I identified a few, including Bexley's spine-chilling words, "There was light up here, I saw it just a minute ago."

My eyes darted to the windows, which had no curtains. I grabbed Jade and we scurried through the hall and to the bedroom farthest from the door.

"They saw the fire," I whispered. "They know we're here."

"Are they coming inside?" he whispered back shakily.

I heard the doorknob turn, but no door opened. "I don't think they can."

"It's the jade in the doorknob. It knows they don't belong here."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "That gives us more time, then. Quick, get in the closet."

We crammed ourselves behind a pile of pillows, making sure to close the sliding door all the way, and went completely silent.

Listening.

Waiting.

Dreading.

I winced at the sound of the door busting open.

Something heavy came stomping in. I heard it tear through the kitchen, knock over chairs, and soon rustle through the bedroom next door.

"This fireplace is wet, your majesty," July's voice said bluntly.

"He's still here. Search everything!" Bexley screamed.

Whatever was in the other bedroom was making its way through the hall.

I took a deep breath and slowly pulled away from Jade.

"Stay here," I whispered, my voice pained. "They're after me, not you."