Hollow Veins

Chapter Thirty; The Eavesdropper

"Psst, Ari, can we talk?" Aaron whispered. She shrugged and followed him and Alice away from the others. Jasper and Ren were asleep. Prince and Jaden were arguing, the latter writing in the dirt. Ari turned to them, "What?" Alice looked a little uncomfortable. Aaron glanced at her before speaking, "We wanted to ask about the testing." Ari shrugged, "I told you all I know." Aaron looked around, "Would people be allowed to get inside one of the cities if... if they brought 'volunteer' subjects?" Ari thought for a second, "You think that's why Jasper's taking us, don't you. And yes, they probably would be able to get in that way." Alice sighed, "We suspect it." Ari glanced between them, "Well it's possible..." Aaron looked intently at her, "Before when you talked about the testing, and before that, when you talked about payment, he acted funny." Ari nodded, "I noticed that. At the moment there isn't much to do about it. If he gives further reason to suspect him, I'll probably leave." She turned, but Aaron grabbed her arm, "Wait. Don't tell..." He glanced at the grimacing Alice, "Prince..." Ari narrowed her eyes slightly, "Why?" Aaron exhaled loudly, "We... I think he may be... involved." Ari continued to look at him. "Just small things like him blocking the door. Also, if Jasper is up to something, he'd probably need help. And they, a lot of the time, are talking and whispering things and I don't know. It's... odd." Ari looked him over coolly, "They're just friends." "Exactly. If you needed help with something like this, wouldn't you ask a friend?" She shrugged indifferently, "Don't get me wrong, I don't like Prince much, but he doesn't seem the type." Aaron shrugged, "Well maybe, maybe not." Ari turned, "Whatever, I think on it." She took a couple steps, grabbed a tree branch and swung up. Alice watched her climb higher and higher as she walked back to the campsite.

Jasper was up now, leaning against a rotting log by the creek, "Where's Ari?" Alice gestured behind her, "In a tree." Prince laughed and shook his head. Jaden started then rolled over on his blanket, half asleep. A raspy noises came from him, then he sighed, annoyed. He had tried to talk. That only happened when he was very confused or tired. They all looked at Jaden. He gave an impatient wave, without looking at them. Jasper looked back at them, "She say she's coming back?" Alice shook her head and sat down. Jasper was acting weirdly cold. Jasper sighed, "Alright, I'll start the first watch." He fidgeted slightly, as they slept. He'd waken and and started to panic at the others absence. He'd only had to walk a little before hearing their voices. Well he'd known they didn't trust him. If they left... He glanced at Prince's sleeping form. Maybe he shouldn't talk to him as much if they suspected Prince. Alice and Aaron were lying back to back. Alice's quick breathing told him she was awake. He couldn't help wondering if she believed it.

Ari shuddered and shifted her position in the tree. She glanced over at the dim light emanating from the blue coals, where the others slept. Ari felt tired. She needed sleep, it would be her watch soon. She sighed. Prince didn't seem like he'd do that but who knew. She had noticed Jasper acting strange before but not Prince. That was before Aaron had pointed it out. Prince and Jasper had acted odd. Something kept bugging her, a thought she wanted away with. After that morning Prince had gone back to old normal self, like he didn't care. Had Jasper put him up to that, after she'd gotten suspicious on they'd get passage into the City. Prince certainly hated Ari as much as she disliked him. All he'd ever done was try to annoy her. Except that morning. It made sense. They would have wanted to make sure she stayed with them. Ari's eyes burned. She took a shuddering breath. What would it have gained him otherwise. Thankfully she hadn't fallen for it. Too many people had taught her that kindness was only used to gain something. Nobody was shown kindness, especially her, without some sort of reason. Her parents, her classmates, her neighbor, they'd all been nice to her once or twice to gain something. Her stupid neighbor. After her parents left her, Tony Addams, a neighbor boy around her age, had knocked on her door begging for a place to stay. In spite of herself and his usual manipulative nature, she'd kinda liked him. So Ari had let her feelings get in the way of her instincts. After eating a good amount of her food, he'd found one of her weapons and forced her out. Ari had almost died of starvation. She wiped her eyes. She was starting to cry. Stop it, stop it. It was upsetting remembering that month of hopelessness. That was when Ari had full-on realized that everyone was right. That she didn't deserve to be cared for. Anyone who seemed to was using her. Jaden didn't think so. Some of the others were kind to each other, but they weren't her. Either they had hidden motives, or they did deserve it. She exhaled slowly. Prince was trying to use her. And she. Would. Not. Let. Him.

Prince didn't have much trouble hiding his nightmares. He'd always been good at staying cheerful. At hiding the panic every night. At the prospect of the coming dreams. He felt the cold muzzle once again that night. Fear filled him. He couldn't stop it. He kicked out, struggled, and pushed. He sat up and looked around. It was still dark. He wasn't on that rooftop. His vision cleared, and he saw Ari standing a few feet away. He yawned and stretched, hoping she hadn't noticed anything off. She watched him a second, "Your watch." "Huh? Oh... yeah." He pulled himself up on one elbow as she curled up on the ground. Ari's eyes were slightly red, her nose too. "You ok?" "Yeah, fine," She spoke coldly. He opened his mouth, then stopped. Last time they'd talked one on one she'd gotten angry. He looked away. Prince was tired of it all. Tired of the nightmares, tired of hiding things, tired of fear. He looked at Jasper. He'd promised not to talk about it. Not to mention what he'd done. He didn't want them to know. If they were his friends... he didn't want them to know how he and Jasper had met.