Finding ( Safe and Sound Trilogy: Book 2 )

Chapter 2: Violet - A Cave, Sheila, and a Fire

If I could have ran until the end of time, I would have, but I guess even people like me - Soul Energy and all - have to stop and catch their breath at some point. I was still scared the Bounty Collectors were chasing me, so I just walked as quickly as I could until I found this cave. I check to make sure nothing was in it before I laid down, any thought of returning to my group quickly escaping my mind. Was that it? I got chased off by a couple strangers and what if never see my brother again? Not only is he my brother, but we have to work together to save the universe. At least, that's what the prophecy said.

I couldn't stop thinking about what happened with those people. I thought I fought them all off? It was like something out of a movie. I had a vision, and then it wasn't real, but while I was having the vision, I might have been fighting like that in the real world, which caused the Bounty Collectors to resort to self-defense. Then, just when I thought things couldn't get any worse.

"Who are you?" An unfamiliar male voice shouts from behind me, sounding cautious.

I almost jumped out of my skin, I swear. I got up, turned around, and there he was. He was tall, with dark brown hair and stunning chocolate brown eyes. He had a grey colored beanie that was ripped a bit at the bottom by his head, and he held a black guitar over his shoulder. "Stay back!" He shouted.

"Hey, would you keep your voice down?" I whispered back. "If you really don't want to be killed, don't worry about me and shut your trap!"

He was glaring at me and breathing heavily, scared. "I don't want to hurt her, don't make me!" He whispered back.

"Her?" I asked, confused by his comment.

"Sheila." He replied.

"Who's that?" I questioned, even more confused than before. Did he have a mental disorder or something? Maybe like Schizophrenia, so he sees someone who's not there or something? Not to be rude...

"My guitar, of course!" He said. "What other girl is in here?"

"Me!" No, no mental disorder. Just bad manners.

"Other than you, idiot." He said, his grip on Sheila getting even tighter. I know I'm supposed to be the mature one, but God that sounds wrong. "Who are you?"

I paused. Should I really tell this stranger my name? Even my first name could give it away... My looks, he might know, if he's working with The Masked Lord. So, what should I do?

"Ahem?" He cleared his throat. "Don't you know your own name?"

I gulped. "Hailey." I said. "My name is Hailey."

"Hailey who?"

"Why is that necessary?" 

"Look, kid, if you want to be friends, you've got to trust me."

"I most certainly am not a kid!" I denied, hand on my hip.

"You're pretty short." He shrugged.

"Maybe you're just tall. I'm five foot six inches."

He stared at me. "You're short."

"Ugh!" I turned around and leaned on the side of the cave where the hole to enter was, frustrated by this stranger. I heard him shift around behind me, and he walked over to me. I looked at him when he stood next to me. He had his guitar by his side, apparently trusting me enough not to hit me with it.

He looked at me. "Your eyes." Was all he said.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "My eyes?"

He nodded. "Your eyes. They're stunning."

I blushed and quickly looked away. Most people commented on my hair, not my eyes. So whenever someone said something on me was pretty or cute, I always blushed. Cute boy or ugly girl. Or pretty girl and ugly boy. "Thanks." I stood up straight.

I could see out of the corner of my eye that he was staring at me. It was awkward. Then he said, "You don't get complimented often, do you?"

I shook my head. "Never really did. Never really do."

"I could tell just by the way you reacted." He said, his voice gentle and friendly. "I apologize if I made you feel a bit awkward. I tend to have that affect on people. I say what I think, and I thought your eyes were pretty."

I sat down on the cave floor. It was cold, and hard, and rocky, and uncomfortable. He sat down across from me, and stared at me more. "I think I know who you are."

"I'm Hailey." I quickly replied, looking straight at him.

He shook his head. "It's not good to start a friendship with a lie." He just kept looking at me. Then he smiled and continued, "Well, if that's what you say. Hailey."

I nodded.

"What, you don't know who I am?" He asked. "I'm Garret Rider, the most famous guitar playing child in the planet!"

I stared at him, clueless.

"I'm just kidding." He said. "I'm Hayden."

"I like that name." I said.

"Do you smile a lot?" He randomly asked.

I raised an eyebrow. "Not much to smile about."

"What do you mean? You're alive. Living, breathing. Your heart is pumping and your diaphram is moving, how can you not be happy?" He asked. "You get to see the trees, feel the leaves, hear the wind, taste the fruits that grow on them, and smell the roses."

I stared at him. Not a mean stare, not a blank stare, but an interested stare. I never thought about it that way. Being in this prophecy and all, I've always thought that I was just a prisoner. A prisoner locked in a cell about two inches tall and two inches wide, can hardly do anything but walk on a mini treadmill and sometimes have a chance to eat. Never see anything new because on the treadmill you stay in the same place. And every day I would wait to get out but be terrified to see how everything works out again.

"I guess you have a point." I said.

"Of course I do. Some people don't even live when they're born. Don't even get to see color yet."

"I don't live." I said. He looked at me, his turn to be confused.  "I just survive." 

He shook his head. "Seriously. Who are you?"

I looked at him. "I can't tell you yet."

"Yet?"

"Maybe."

He stood up, and extended one pale hand. I took it. It was warm, unlike mine, which were ice cold. He picked up Sheila and he let go of my hand. "Go to the back of the cave. There's nothing there, I promise. I'll go get wood and we can start a fire."

"Wait," I said as he began to walk away. He stopped and turned around. "I get to stay here with you?"

"I wouldn't act like it's a privilege." He told me, smiling. "It get's pretty cold in there."

"So that's a yes?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Why not, Hailey?"

I smiled.

"There it is." He said. I was thankful for the darkness of the cave, so he couldn't see me blush, but he stood under the moonlight. "I'll be right back."

He walked away, his feet crunching the grass and the twigs and assumingly bugs. The three things I thought of before I almost died, and here was this random boy, first about to kill me, now about to protect me. And man, was it weird to be called Hailey after almost fourteen years of being called by the name Violet.