Marked By Shadows

Chapter 16

The league awoke to screams, blood-curdling screams. The screams were followed by gunshots.
PHASE was attacking again. They'd been doing that for a while, nothing big or very concerning, just enough for the League to get nervous.
David rushed around wildly and clutched his bow as he firing his arrows.  It was chaos: bullets flying, the sound of windows being broken, blood covering his vision.
He screamed in pain reacting to a bullet as it exploded through his leg. He fell back and clutched at the wound as blood squirted out, which made him feel queasy but he struggled to stand and kept fighting, squinting into the dark.  The invaders fled like bats in the sunlight when the League fired tear gas.
Georgia hurried over and put her hand on David's shoulder,
"I am alright." He smiled weakly. She looked at him, worried.
"Go. Help the girl" he said and he pointed to a small girl laying in the dirt covered in blood and scars.
Georgia raced over, ignoring the gasps for help from fellow soldiers nearby.
"Please stop!" The child screamed when the woman tried to check her for any fatal wounds.
"Shhh, I am taking you for medical care, hey it's ok."
She carried the girl to Jack, hoping he could save this small girl who couldn't be more than nine with her matted red hair and pools of freckles on her cheeks with a bridge of dots across her nose. Her feet bare and she was gasping for air as if this was the first time she'd been able to catch her breath.
                                        ...
David cursed under his breath as pain shot up his leg. The wound was bandaged but he still felt the sting. Georgia entered the room and smiled gently at David.
"The little girl is in the hospital wing. We can't find much about her since she doesn't have a file. She doesn't seem to even know she is a person. Poor thing" she sighed as she sat next to him.
David stuffed the feelings of agony inside himself, he was a master at dealing with pain. Georgia put a hand on David's shoulder in a motherly fashion.
"David? You're distracted, " she said gently, "are you in pain?"
"Hmm?"
"I heard you ran into a table on your way out of the mess hall and ran into a lady. That's not like you David." Georgia smiled, leaning back.
"And you and Mr. Haze?" David asked desperately trying to change the subject.
"Friends"
"Mrs. Western," he smiled with a resolute tone bouncing in his words, "You can keep telling yourself that but it's never going to be true."
Georgia sat on the edge of the table as David sat in the chair. A sigh passed through her lungs.
"What is love? Is it going crazy with annoyance? Is it worrying about them to the point where you hate yourself for worrying? Is it hoping and telling yourself it's not for you..... well that was overdramatic" she muttered with a shrug.
"My teacher is as clueless as a student." David thought. This woman taught him almost everything he knew. She taught him fighting and defending for the past year and now it seemed like she needed a teacher. The irony was cold but still funny.
"I don't know what love is, but I am pretty sure you have been through enough pain to know what it's not." David mused quietly.
"I have buried Roger, that's the past but Owen is my future and I can't imagine Jack in that." Georgia swallowed.
"Do you like him?"
"David!"
"It's a valid question," David shrugged. There was a quilt of quiet covering the conversation as Georgia shredded it finally.
"Yes."
...
A  baseball launched through the glass of the back door of the League. A soldier snatched Charlie, raging at him. Jade ran out, hearing the commotion clutching her book like a shield. "Stop! Let him go. He is my friend, " Jade said.
"We are friends?" Charlie asked.
"Yes," She said, looking straight at Charlie.
"Why should I listen to you?" The guard asked.
"Ask Lieutenant Western," Jade said, and the soldier shrugged and returned to his post.
Jade scanned Charlie with her emerald eyes
" I hope you're not here to tie me to another tree," she smiled, "The first time left me with a lasting impression that you don't do well with people."
Charlie didn't say anything.
Jade sighed " What are you doing here? Oh, let me guess: running from the law?" Clearly not doing anything to hide her annoyance.
He could practically hear her eye roll.
"Am I allowed in?" Charlie asked.
"I doubt I could stop you." She replied, knowing she could call guards if things got out of hand but chose not to.
Charlie slipped inside without a word, she followed him reluctantly and watched him walk in. He was cute, she concluded after careful evaluation. He had dark hair almost the color of ebony. It was flattened but she could tell it was curly. He had strong arms and jaws and dimples embedded in his face. He had deep coffee eyes that seemed like a monsoon. He had fuzzy eyebrows and filthy sneakers.
"Hey, you! You can't just!" Jade yelled after him.
"Listen braids, want me out, drag me out." He snarled.
"How did you even know where we are?"
" I stalked you because you seemed weird." He shrugged, slipping into the hospital wing.
"How am I supposed to be ok with that?!" Jade asked, shocked.
"You aren't," Charlie shrugged, "oh, lollypop." He grabbed one from a doctor's bowl.
"That's for sick people! Put it back." Jade said, clenching her teeth.
Charlie laughed "you must have been the worst first grader"
"Jokes on you, I skipped first grade" she shot back but before he could respond she shushed him when she saw the injured girl had woken up and was screaming and shaking. Her gray eyes were wide with fear. Jade stared at the girl's arms which were twisted and dented and mangled tree branches.
Charlie flinched
"Holy cow," he whispered.  Neither of them had seen arms like this girl's, so twisted and mangled it looked almost like a balloon animal.  But not at all broken, how could that be possible?
Owen walked into the room, he was in search of the candy but stopped and sat on the edge of the bed.
" Hi. I'm Owen" he said with a smile
"What's your name?" The girl looked confused. He waved shyly
" I-I-I don't h-have a name," she whispered finally.
Owen looked at her
"I can give you a name if you want," Owen smiled and the girl weakly grinned
" I-I'd like that" she whispered. Owen nodded and thought for a minute
"Lucy" he sang.
The girl looked at him
" Lucy" she whispered
" I-I-I  like it" she smiled
"Thank you."
Owen nodded, " you're welcome!" He hugged her.
"Owen come here buddy, let her rest," Charlie said slowly.
Owen ran over and hugged Charlie and reached for a lollipop as Lucy lay back to rest uneasily. 
"Lucy" she murmured as she looked at the ugly numbers branded into her ankle. She breathed and repeated her new name over and over again. She vowed to never become a number again.
...
Aspen wrestled a dummy in the training room. She took training seriously, in her family it was a rite of survival and she wanted to be strong. She never wanted to face being tied up and experimented on again. She sat on the floor and ran her hand through her tangled hair.
Her jean jacket rested in a heap by her side. She traced the soft fabric with her small, rough fingers. A faded, hazy memory of her brothers wearing this jacket in bar fights and training in it filled her mind.
Her brothers had done practically everything in the jacket, so now she thought of it as her protective armor. It was her shield against the harsh winds and powerful rains. She was comforted by the jacket more now than ever and was far from her home with a confusing mess swirling around her. She did not miss home- her aunt, she had been kept from her parents and brothers for two years now. She knew it was for the best, some of her brothers were abusive and all were emotionally distant but in their way, she loved them. As a child, she idolized Mike's strength, Andy's humor, Luke's street smarts, Tim's solemnity  and Jake's smile. That was the past though she had moved past seeing them as heroes now they were just men in armor drowning in their weakness.  She sighed and bit her lip. 
"Miss Jones, you alright?" David asked, walking in.
"Yeah, fine injured boy." She shrugged, standing up and clutching her knife and jacket.
"Do you have an issue with me?" David asked, heading for the weights.
"Yes. You're annoying"
David burst out laughing, it was a volcano laughing deep, rumbling, and warm his eyes bathed in the amusement of this. "Miss Jones, I feel annoyed at you as well, so we're even on that front"
"David, you don't know everything." She said as she reached for another knife to throw.
"I know the reason you won't go home: you're desperate to get your mind back and you're hoping that you can find answers here. I know that you have very mixed feelings about Mr. Pullman since he's been your friend since childhood and want to keep it that way even though people push romance on the two of you" he said calmly as he lifted the weights.
"What are you, a mind reader?" She asked, eyes wide.
"No. Just an observer"
...
Lucy slowly made her way through the league, jumping into the shadows like a cat whenever she saw anyone. Her hands quaked as she glided through the eternal maze of hallways. Since most of the League was underground there was no light, only the ugly artificial white light glitching from the light fixtures, with the lame white walls and checkered tile.
  She appreciated the woman they called Georgia for caring for her, it was hard not to feel loved by the Irish woman. She loved the boy called Owen who gave her the name she now wore proudly.
" Lucy" she murmured for the thousandth time as if she was trying to walk around in her new identity. She was confused by this place, they treated her with kindness, something alien to her but craved so deeply.
She was distracted by her thoughts so she didn't see David limp through the halls. She smashed into him and was sent toppling to the ground. He frantically extended his hand helping her up
"I am so sorry! Are you alright? Did I hurt you?" he asked.
"I-it's ok," she said softly, not meeting his eyes which she already knew were blue and beautiful. She looked at the bandages on his leg; her eyes widened "Oh my goodness! Are you ok?" she looked at the wound and she pressed her fingertips to her cheeks "Oh my goodness! Y-y-you need to rest!" She grabbed his hand and tried to pull him to the living room to rest. He slipped his hand out of hers and smiled "No, Miss Lucy. I can't sleep. I have things to do. I'm glad you're ok, though" He smiled and scampered off.
...
Charlie didn't know what to do. He'd come to the league because he wanted to get away from his grandmother and other family issues. At least, that's what he thought the reason was. Every time he saw the girl with the thick black braid and a book in her arms, something always pounded in his chest. He figured it was his heart. Yet he knew she was just a bonus; he was drawn to the League somehow. Plus it turns out his neighbor was a renegade rebellion spy. He was curious.  
He could still feel the sensation of his hand brushing hers as he tied the knot to trap her to the tree. He hadn't meant to tie Jade to the tree, R had made him. R was short for Robert Ross and he was his one friend, Robert had a group he traveled with but R was the one Charlie clung to. R he knew might not be the best influence ever but it was better than being alone and neglected.
R was the one who started calling Charlie the shortened version of his name before he went by Charles because he liked the way it sounded, it sounded important. R taught him how to blow smoke rings and flirt with girls and use some muscle to get what he needed. He made him feel part of a family, something he desperately craved. His mom had left them, he still did not know why and he doubted he ever would. His dad was a narcissistic, abusive workaholic who wanted nothing to do with him. He had lived the last five years with his grandma who was not much different than her son, except she never hit Charlie. She only spoke. He hated talking about it though, there was a lot of shame that went with it and other emotions he never wanted to understand. R never made him talk about it.
"You're still here?" Jade asked, waltzing up behind him.
"Obviously" He shrugged, walking on.
"Why are you still here?" Jade asked, skeptical
"Listen, I am not here to make friends, ok? Is that clear enough for you or do i need to use big words?" He shot, whirling on her so fast that she had to step back to avoid getting hit by his hands that flew around as he talked,
"what's your deal with me anyway, braids?" He asked, walking to secluded door. He tried to open the door but it was locked.
"That's illegal, you know, breaking and entering" Jade scolded.
"God, she's annoying, what does she think I am flipping in first grade? Can't she tell me I don't want to talk?" Charlie thought.
"You know stalking, which you are doing is also illegal?" Charlie shot back.
"I am not stalking you. Show me that law, and tying people to a tree is close to illegal." Jade smiled.
Charlie rolled his eyes "it's not illegal. Sure it's like kidnapping but it's not-" he stopped when he saw her raise an eyebrow and he liked that, the quiet smart confidence. He looked at her and snatched the book from her arms and read the title.
"What is this?" he asked.
"Its a book. You should read one sometime instead of commuting teenage crimes"
He smiled slowly. There was something about her, her words were like a zap of electricity that could restart a stopped heart. Her eyes had this flash like they would attack you with everything in her head. "She has a nice mouth, kinda small and delicate. What the heck was that?"  Charlie thought and stepped back. She tilted her head slightly like she was reading him word for word, and she pushed her long midnight hair back as she studied him.
"Why are you following me? Honestly." Charlie asked.
"Because you don't seem like a guy that normally likes tying girls to trees or enjoys hurting people. I want to keep you out of trouble" Jade replied slowly.
"And you know all this because?"
"I asked Georgia about you and she said that you would help her with Owen and help her with things, I think there's still some promise in you Charlie May."
He looked at her confused but intrigued by this enigma.
"Cool," he shrugged and started back to escape the hallway with the locked door and the smart girl.