Brain and Heart

IX: Runaway

From the looks of it, they were murdered. Probably by the men who came in. Once again I lost my mother. And then the man that I had met a few hours before.

I was just starting to feel complete again. Thanks again, universe.

And I guess it left me one more gift as well. I laughed.

What did I say to Santa again?

I want a friend.

Reylann's POV:
I looked at what could've been my future parents. I got closer and gave them a hug. I cried a bit more and left them.

I went back to the boy I had left by the door. I helped him get up and tried to get him to walk on his own.

He shook his head. "I'm too weak," He said quietly.

"Wait here while I go find something for you to eat." I said, knowing that he couldn't hear me. I didn't know how to communicate with him.

"You're leaving me again?" He asked while I was making my way towards the kitchen.

I stopped for a second. Then I went back on my way. I looked in our pantry and got a granola bar and took some of the applesauce from the fridge (I like my applesauce cold).

I took a large spoonful and tried to put it in his mouth, but he wouldn't open his mouth.

After a few minutes, I decided to take matters into my own hands and shove the applesauce down there instead.

After he finished eating it all, he started asking me a bunch of questions.
First of all, he had hearing loss, and I hated questions.

"What's your name?" He asked me.

I didn't say anything.

"I know what you're thinking. Why is he asking me so many questions? It's because I like to pretend to be able to hear you." He laughed softly, coughing after.

I sighed and picked up his hand. I drew an R on his palm, but in reverse.

"R..." he responded.

Then I drew an E the same way.

"RE? REE?"

No. I thought. The "Re" in my name made the same sound as "Do, Re, Mi," not whatever he thought.

I made an erasing motion on his palm. And wrote an A instead.

"RA? RAE?" he said slowly.

Then I wrote a Y, then an L. Then I decided that an I would fit better instead of an A.

Raylin," he said happily. I put his hand down and almost pulled my brain out for how much work it took to spell my name in a way he'd be able to pronounce it properly.

"I'm Sasha." He told me.

I sat for a second and thought about our broken "conversation". I haven't talked to another kid in forever. I was rarely able to feel comfortable with the other kids around.

"We should leave. It really isn't safe here." I told him.

He didn't respond.

I got up and ran upstairs. I got a bag from my room and went straight to Vanessa's room. She wouldn't mind if I took anything, right? I mean, she's dead.

I looked in her vanity drawers and found neatly organized dollars sitting in the corner. So I took all of them.
I took a pack of bandages, toothpaste, and toothbrushes. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to take. So I mostly just took what I could carry.
I went over to the side of her bed and noticed the turtle I made her for Christmas. I had just given it to her.
What a terrible Christmas it was!

I went into my room and felt guilty after taking the stuff Vanessa worked hard for. I looked at all the clothes I had—all stuff that she had bought for me.

I went back downstairs and helped Sasha go up the stairs. Before we left, I couldn't let him wear the same clothes that he could've been wearing for who knows how long.

Trying to shower with him was incredibly stressful. I'm sure he almost drowned twice. But then I remembered that he couldn't possibly drown; he had been sitting in liquid for as long as I'd known him.

...

I let him wear my clothes and decided that Vanessa would be happy that I was trying to keep myself safe. I looked at all the things I took from her again.

No. I couldn't let guilt consume me. I had to get out before John came back.

I had somewhat of a plan.

I would go into town and hide out there Until I knew for sure that John wasn't around.

I knew the way already after going with Vanessa multiple times.

And then I could report him to the Ceridwynn Corps for "Mad Sciencing" and possibly murder. And since Henry was a soldier, I'm sure they'd listen to his son. Adopted or not.

I had to do something first. I left Sasha alone in my room and went outside. I had to go see what was inside the treehouse now. It was already getting dark, and I was a little frightened. But now I was on my own.

I climbed up the steps to the tree and opened the door. It was dark, and I looked around to see if maybe there was a light switch. There was.

I turned on the light and looked around. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen! I walked around and explored a bit until I found a huge chest sitting in the corner. It was locked.

Now I see what the key was for, I thought to myself as I unlocked it with the same key that freed Sasha.
There were flashlights, tools, a first aid kit, a pocketknife, and a journal.

I opened the journal and found a map and something written on the first page.

"I can't read," I said aloud. After staring at the letters for the longest time. I did recognize Vanessa's name a couple times though.

I put all the stuff in my bag and noticed the big red X on the map. It was located pretty close to here. A bit behind the trading Center.

And I decided that's exactly where I wanted to be. Exactly where Henry wanted me to go

I went inside quickly after that and brought Sasha with me. "We're going to be walking all night," I told him.

I waited for a response and then remembered that he couldn't hear me. I'd probably just said more words to a deaf child than I had to anyone else in the world.

I held Sasha's hand in one hand, and in the other, I held the map to make sure I was going in the correct direction. Since the town was the first place John would look for me, it may have been the safest place to go.

There were lots of people to catch him in the act of something evil.

We walked and walked, for maybe around two hours. Maybe three. My feet hurt, but I didn't say anything. The backpack was starting to feel heavy, as were my eyelids.

"Are we almost there?" Sasha asked me.

"Barely," I replied. Gripping his hand tighter.

I stopped to take a look at the map. Then I took out the flashlight to see our surroundings. According to the map and my observation skills, we were 6 miles away from the trading center.

That's like a 2-hour walk if we were walking at 3 miles per hour. Then it's another 30 minutes to walk to the treasure spot.
That's an entire 5-hour journey. Which would have been better if I wasn't so tired.

We then started walking again. At some point, there were rocks in my shoes, and half the time, I was walking half asleep.

Then eventually, we made it. It was a pretty small house. With one story, but it looked very nice.

Sasha and I walked up to the door, and I knocked gently. Truthfully, it wasn't that late, and I hoped that whoever was home wasn't asleep.