SCARRED; The Dark Tower

Chapter Three: Far From Home

Jerrick's head hurt. His whole body ached. His left leg throbbed with a searing sting. He struggled to open his eyes against the bright light shining on his face. He found himself staring up at a window where sunlight was filtering through down on his face. It was then he realized that he was lying in a bed.

He bolted up to the protest of every bone in his body.

"Don't do that," said the stern voice of a girl. Jerrick found the owner of the voice sitting on a stool beside his bed with a tray on her lap. Her hair was a big, dark bush behind her head, and her skin was a caramel color. She had large, blue eyes, a small nose, and thick, brown lips. She smiled at Jerrick as she stirred a cup of what he guessed was supposed to be tea.

"You could hurt yourself more than you already are from sitting up that way," she said sternly, still smiling.

"Who are you?" Jerrick asked.

"My name is Lekira," the young woman replied, holding out the cup of tea. "Drink this; it will help your aches."

Jerrick accepted the tea but did not drink it.

"How... what... how did I get here?"

Lekira's smile disappeared, transformed into a pained sorrow.

"You don't remember?"

Jerrick closed his eyes, struggling to remember. In a rush memory he recalled the two cloaked men he had seen fighting. But past that, he could remember nothing. Where were his parents?

"Where am I?" He asked, looking out the window. It didn't look like Largone.

"Derelda," replied Lekira. "It's... It's a long way from your hometown."

Jerrick felt too exhausted to be confused or to even care why he was in a town he had never even heard of before. He lifted the teacup to his lips and slowly sipped the scorching hot tea. The flavor that met his tongue surprised him; it was sweet and creamy, not anything like the bitter tea his mother made.

He gulped down the rest of the tea and handed it back to Lekira. When he felt strength flood through his bones, he realized that the tea was a medicine.

"Where are my parents?" he asked when he gathered up enough strength to speak.

Silence. Jerrick looked up at lekira, but she was staring at the floor, tears blurring her eyes.

No.

"What happened?" Jerrick whispered. Then in a louder voice, he said, "Why am I here? What happened my parents?"

Lekira looked up at him sadly.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice shaky. "Your entire hometown was burned to the ground. No one survived."

Jerrick immediately refused to accept it.

"No," he whispered.

"I'm so sorry," Lekira repeated.

"No! It can't be true... My mom - she was at our house, at the top of the hill. Perhaps she made it!"

Lekira shook her head regretfully. "No one escaped from those monsters."

Jerrick fell back against his pillow, the strength seeping from his body again. Memory flooded back into his mind, causing his head to pound. He remembered everything; the figures making their way toward their town, fire bursting up all around him, his father's limp body on the stable floor...

Anguish, pain, denial. Then rage, burning rage. He hated the world. He hated the creatures that had come into his hometown and taken away his parents without permission, he hated the woman sitting beside his bed who thought she could take him far from home without permission - he hated everyone and everything that had anything to do with his parents' death. His parents did not deserve this.

Lekira looked anxious and appeared to want to comfort him. He was glad that she didn't, for he was sure that if she had, he would have shoved her away. He wanted to ask her why they had brought him here, but his anger was so strong he could not speak.

Lekira was sat silently for a moment before getting up slowly.

"Are you hungry?" She asked.

Jerrick shook his head, staring up at the ceiling.

The door clicked behind Lekira as she left the room. The minute he was alone, Jerrick allowed his feelings to pour out in tears. He buried his face in the pillows, wishing more than anything that his mother would come in any moment to check on him or that his father would come in with another errand for him to run.

But they did not come.

Jerrick painfully accepted that he would never see the lovely face of his mother or the rugged face of his father again. They were gone.

The pain in his heart slowly decreased, and Jerrick felt suddenly exhausted.

Before he could even have any say in it, he drifted into a deep but fitful sleep.