Hollow Veins

Chapter Twenty Seven; Regrets

Ari saw her parents laughing faces. A surge of anger filled her. "Ari." They reached out their arms, unusually wide smiles cut into their faces. "Come here." Ari tried to yell, or run, or attack. But she couldn't. Their faces blurred, and she felt herself walking towards them. No, she didn't want to go. "Ari." Their mouths were gaping holes with jaged teeth. She pushed, kicked, and screamed. "Ari." They were grabbing her arm. She swung her other fist. Smack. Prince fell back in the grass. "Oh my goodness!" Ari put her hands to her mouth. Prince groaned. "I'm so sorry. Are you ok?" He sat up, hand on his bright red cheek, "Uhh... yeah." Ari looked around, "It's early morning. Why are you up?" He grunted, "You woke me up." Ari frowned, "I did?" "You were... sort of whimpering and kept saying no. So I wanted to check on you," He winced. He must have grabbed her arm.

Ari's cheeks burned. She reached for a bag and found water. Ari poured a bit onto a ragged piece of cloth. "Here," She carefully pressed it to his cheek. "It's the coldest thing we've got." He gently held it, and she pulled her hand away. Ari turned her gaze to the sunrise. Orange streaked the sky. Pink and blue marbled with the swirling clouds. She smiled a little, "You sure you're ok?" He smiled, "Yep. Don't worry, you hit like a girl." Ari nudged him, "So I hit harder than you?" "Hey, I've never hit you. How would you know?" Ari yawned, "Well you look pretty weak, so..." Prince laughed. He didn't look weak in the slightest, if not a little underfed. She looked back at the sky, "It's pretty, isn't it." She glanced over at him. He was staring at her with a smile on his face. Ari caught his gaze and couldn't help a smile back. Prince always seemed to be laughing, but there was a sadness in his eyes she hadn't noticed before. For a long minute, they looked at each other. Slowly, Prince rested a hand on hers, and her stomach churned. He leaned towards her slightly. Ari quickly pulled her hand away and stood up, "We should wake the others." Prince looked hurt as she turned. Ari didn't look back as she went over to Jasper's sleeping form. Ari knew she had hurt him by more than a punch. She felt a terrible sadness, and she had to keep reminding herself of her promise. Ari had almost broken it. She repeated over and over. You don't deserve to be cared about. Remember, mom and dad. They told you almost every day. You'll only hurt him and yourself. You don't deserve it. You'll only hurt him. You'll hurt Prince.

As they started walking once more, Jaden felt the soreness of yesterday's walk. For once, Prince was quiet. Ren and Alice talked quietly. Ari walked over to them and not looking at any of them, handed Jaden some pills, and quickly turned away. Last night, she'd changed his bandage, and now his wound hurt a little less. Alice slowed a little to talk to them, but Jaden was unable to answer, and Prince mainly answered with shrugs, so she drifted away. The sun beat down on them unbearably. Finally, Jasper took his turn. He kept up a general chatter. The day was a blur of short conversations, heat, and pain. After a while, they finally took a break. Jaden exhaled as he lay back. Alice fell back next to him, "Long time no see." He moaned in reply. Ari called, "Careful!" Though Alice could tell it had hurt him to lay back like that, he lifted his hand and mimicked her mouth moving. "Fine, but when you bleed out, don't blame me." He continued the hand gestures. An impatien huff emanated from Ari. Alice closed her eyes, "I am never moving again."