The Blood We Shed

Chapter 4 - Dan

"Wow, Daniel! You got so big! I can't believe you're only twelve and so fit! Great work!"

I grinned with pride, showing off my missing front teeth. "Thanks, mom! What about Harry?"

My mom's smile almost completely vanished.

"Oh, Harold? He didn't get any stronger. He's always so weak, unlike you. Don't mind your brother. He's hopeless!"

I pretended to be extra proud, but what she just said made me feel horrible for Harry. He didn't do anything! He was just born the way he was. At least I thought so.

He had always been underweight and skinny. I had always been average weight with a fit body. It wasn't me that did this. It was natural.

I didn't work out or do any sports. But Harry did. He was forced to, so he could be like me. Harry played football and worked out every morning. But he just couldn't be like me. It wasn't even his fault.

I went upstairs to our bedroom, where Harry was working on his homework from school. I loved hanging out with him, so I quickened my pace.

He called me over with a smile. "Hey, Dan. Did you do the homework?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I completed it this morning. Do you need help?"

Harry frowned and shook his head. "Uhm, you aren't allowed to help me. Dad said that you can't."

I wanted to throw something at the wall and break it. "It's okay. I don't care about Dad's stupid rules. Let me help you."

Harry reluctantly obeyed. I helped him with the rest of his homework and then we went downstairs for dinner. It was Sushi Saturday, so we got a variety of vegetable sushi. Our family is vegetarian, so we don't get to eat a lot of the food that others get to eat.

Oh, how much I wanted to try fried chicken. KFC would be nice. We lived in Eastern Texas, so we weren't able to travel much. I always wanted to go up north, where it would be cooler and would snow.

I always wanted to see snow. I have never seen real snow in my life. Ever. I've seen snow globes before, and they were beautiful.

I have a mini one in my room, and I shake it every night, watching the snowfall to the bottom of the globe. I kept it on my bedside table, where my lamp, flashlight, and book were. Every night after my parents tucked me in, I got my flashlight and book and read under the covers. I liked reading about the world around me. Especially more about myself.

Me and Harry bore the mark, meaning we had secret superpowers. I thought it was cool, but society didn't. They think it's dangerous to have powers, so they kill whoever has it. Well, not immediately, but slowly and painfully.

It makes no sense. Why kill us when they could just wait to see if we use them for good instead of bad? What if we never discover them? What if we die before we could even do anything with them?

It's illegal anyway! I wanted to scream at the people who made these stupid rules and strangle them with my bare hands. That's what they deserve. None of those little girls and boys deserved to get killed for something they didn't even do!

But recently, a girl named Maya escaped from an orphanage for kids with the mark in Illinois, and she's only five. One day, I want to meet her in person...wait, that was possible! I could just run away.

I could—no, will—take Harry with me. That's it! I could go and search for her with Harry! I had to leave as soon as possible. Like tonight. After our parents tuck us in.

I had to tell Harry my plan. I walked to Harry's room, which was connected to mine with a bathroom. I knocked on the door after realizing it was locked, which was normal.

Harry liked locking the door to play with Legos by himself. It didn't anger me or anything. It was just a way of saying "do not enter" without permission.

Harry responded to my knock by asking, "Who is it?"

I replied, "It's Dan! Can I come in?"

Harry opened the door and beckoned me to come in.

I sat next to him. "Harry, I have a question."

Harry made eye contact with me. "Yes?"

I smirked. "How would you feel if we ran away? Forever?"

Harry's eyes widened. "W-What? Well..."

I interrupted him. "Just admit it, Harry! You hate it here. You want to leave. And here's the catch: a seven-year-old recently escaped from an orphanage in Illinois that accepts kids with the mark."

I took a breath and continued.

"Her name is Maya, and I want to find her. We can go and look for her instead of living like homeless people on the streets."

Harry took a deep breath. "Dan, that girl could be dead. Even if she was alive, we have NO idea where she could be. Nobody could find her so far."

I tried to protest. "But–"

"If we find her, we could get ourselves in so much trouble. What if they discover that we have the mark, too? At least our parents want us alive and breathing!"

I shook my head, desperate. "They don't care about you, Harry! They want me alive and breathing. Not you. If I take you with me, then you won't have to worry about them anymore."

I paused for a moment to think about my plan.

"And to find Maya, we need to find hints about where she could be. I researched about her. We have to go to Chicago and search for her there. We have to find our mode of transportation there."

Harry finally gave in. "Fine. But I'm blaming you if we die."

I laughed. "Well, I'll already be dead, so I'm not gonna acknowledge that!"

Hi everyone! I'm adding Harry's POV next, and I know that five POVs can be overwhelming, but I feel like these are necessary for the book to make sense. In my very first (and horrible) rough draft, I had seven, and it overwhelmed me and I reckoned it would be the same with the readers, so I removed two of them. Here are the POV characters: Daisy, Kevin, Nick, Dan, and Harry. And Daisy is the main character, but she hates being the center of attention like it was mentioned in the prologue. I also rated this book as mature because this can be triggering and sensitive to some readers because of violence (iykyk), psychopathic stuff (first chapter), cussing throughout the book (I think but idk yet), miscarriage (third chapter and mentioned in most of Nick's chapters), PTSD (EVERYONE), childhood trauma (once again EVERYONE), etc. I hope this book is good so far! Love y'all!❤️❤️❤️

- Sally Delaney, author of this book