The Untouchables

Chapter Thirteen: Luke

 The boy's screams and shouts put me on edge for the entire night. His shrill voice would pierce my ears, and would echo through my brain. Nothing ever bothered me that much, but something about his screams didn't settle with me. I tossed and turned for hours and hours on end. The Echoes in the bushes seemed to imitate his voice, but it was just the wind, whistling and weaving through the trees.

After lying there for hours, I finally figured out why his screams bothered me so much.

When I was little, I'd cry out to my parents because of the atrocities I would see, (and do), because of my job, but more often than not, they wouldn't be at home, leaving me by myself.

Alone.

No one was there for me in my darkest times, even when I felt I needed it most. I felt abandoned. Lost.

He reminded me of myself.

That's what bothered me so much.

He reminded me of my darkest times in my life, when I was little and alone, with what seemed like the weight of the entire world was on my shoulders.

Most days, I was the one taking care of my cousins. Feeding them, sheltering them, protecting them. I didn't think they knew what I had to do to keep them safe and out of danger. But of course, that effort no longer matters now. Now that they're gone.

I could hear Lynn tossing and turning as well not too far from me, no doubt thinking about the boy like I was. That boy will forever haunt our memories.

Suddenly, I heard Lynn stand up, crawl out of the roots, and start walking around on the damp, wet, dirt. Her steps were slow and unsure, as if she didn't know where to step on the ground. So, I decided to join her. I emerged from the tangled tree roots and paced next to her.

She still flinches slightly whenever I get near her. I don't think she completely trusts me yet. I don't blame her either though. You can't trust anybody anymore.

"Sorry." I said when I saw her flinch again.

"For what?" She asked with her head turned towards the sky.

"For making you nervous." I said coolly.

She scoffed. "You don't make me nervous."

"Yes I do. You flinch whenever I come near you."

"No I don't." She denied.

"Your wings give you away." I pointed out. "They twitch when I get close."

But Lynn just sighed, and dug the toe of her boot into the mud, making little holes and indents in the dirt.

"What am I going to do?" Her whisper was barely audible, over the breeze whisking through the forest.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean-" She paused and took a deep breath. "I had no idea what to do today, with the boy I mean. If that Ranger had decided to come after me, or that boy, I had zero means of defending myself."

She took another deep breath and continued.

"And I have no idea if the boy is even safe or not. Whether he made it to wherever he was going, or if the Rangers caught up to him and took him away as well." She let out a small yell out of frustration, picked up a rock from off of the ground, and threw it into a nearby tree, making a loud crack sound, and shattered the rock. Pieces of the stone flew in every direction, and sunk into the soft mud.

I had no idea what to say. On one hand I wanted to go back into

town and find that boy, but on the other hand, Lynn's right, everytime we go into that town, we're unprotected.