Elementals

Chapter 6 - Peter

   "We're screwed,"  Amy says as they all stare at me.

   "Kaylee, anyone who recognizes will turn you in,"  Blake states, worry clear on his face.  

   "Logan!  Won't your pilot turn me in!"  I exclaim.  The fear must be clear on my face, because Logan puts his hand on my shoulder.

   "Don't worry.  Everyone who works for me does not speak when they shouldn't.  They know when they need to keep their mouths closed.  Anyways, I have full trust in Mr. Brate."  Logan assures,  He pulls his hand away, get up from the couch, and runs his hand through his golden hair.

   "What do we do?  From one look at her, you can recognize her."  Amy points out the problem.

   This is when I get scared.  Logan grins.  "Oh, trust me, she'll be fine.  Girls like makeovers, right?"  He says, then walks to the pilot's room.

   "What is up with him?"  Blake ponders out loud.  

   He turns the TV back on and we just sit there watching Spongebob Squarepants, when Logan strolls back to us.  

   "We are here,"  Logan says, genuine excitement in his voice. 

   We all exit the jet to be welcomed with a huge, three-story house.  It has large windows on the bottom, revealing a living room.  There is a beautiful terrace on the two top stories.  The house is a lovely red-orange, and the door itself is impressive, with its beautiful carvings.  The house is placed in a closed off area with only a few other equally large houses.  The neighborhood is placed on a large hill, and you can see a lot of the city off to the distance.  I can see how this would be an ideal place to live.  When we begin to walk to the house, when a teenage boy runs out the door.  

   "Logan!  I thought you would never come back!"  He runs up to us, only seeming to notice Logan.  He has short, brown hair, is at least six foot three, and he is lean.  He takes a look at us and then looks back at Logan.  "Who are they?"  He asks.

   "They're the ones!  The ones I told you about!"  Logan exclaims, as happy as the boy is.

   "No way!"  He exclaims.  Logan nods, and the boy looks like he is going to fall over.  He walks to Blake and grabs his sun glasses off, revealing his blazing red eyes.  "Wicked!"  He sees Amy's eyes and gives her a nod of approval, earning a scoff from her.  Then he notices me.  "I thought she was..."  He doesn't finish his sentence as he sees all the others grimace.  He walks over to me, and my heart starts to race.  I have no idea why it is reacting like that.  The boy takes the my sun glasses and gasps.  "It is her!"  He yells.  "Wait, what the hell?  You're the runaway chick!"  He exclaims.

   "I'll explain everything, but we should go inside.  It's getting dark."  Logan states.  We all go inside the house, and the living room is beautiful.  There is a big black couch, a glass coffee table, and a huge flat screen TV.

   We all take a seat on the giant couch, and Logan explains everything from when we met to our arrival here.  The boy is surprisingly silent during the whole explanation.  After Logan finishes, the boy looks over to Blake, Amy, and me.

   "By the way, I'm Peter."  He says.

   We all introduce ourselves, and Peter smiles.  "It is so great to finally meet you.  I know you guys must be wondering who the heck I am, so let me explain.  When I was little, my parents and I lived in a cabin surrounded by a forest.  It was a wonderful life, being alone with ourselves.  I was home-schooled, and trust me, my mom was an excellent teacher.  It was great living there with them, I loved them so much."  He smiled and looked past us, as if remembering a great memory.  "Sometimes they would make pancakes, my favorite, and they would let me design them with several different toppings."  Then Peter's face turned darker, sadness coming up.  "On my ninth birthday, I walked out of my room to discover that there wasn't the amazing smell of pancakes.  There wasn't any happy voices of my mother and father.  I knew there was something wrong.  I felt it in my heart."  He says, then takes a deep breath and lets it out.

   I look down and see his hand tightly curled on his knee.  "I walked into the living room and saw two filthy men holding guns to my parents, who were down on their knees.  A third man who came up from behind grabbed my shoulders and shoved me down.  He smiled a terrible smile and said 'Happy birthday, Peter!  We came to give you the best present of your life.  I hope you enjoy it.'  My parents were crying, helpless.  The men made me watch.  I tried to look away, but the man forced me.  They shot my father first.  My mom started bawling, and I did too.  I was screaming for them to stop, but that just made them enjoy it more.  Then it was my mother's turn.  The man asked her if she had any last words, and she looked at me, tears streaming down her face.  She looked at me and said 'Peter, I love you so much.  I am so sorry.  I love you, baby.  I love you so much.'  Then they shot her.  They didn't wait, didn't let me say anything.  Didn't let her continue.  They shot her, enjoying it."  Peter yells.  "Well, I was only nine, and trust me, I was pretty short, and I was scrawny.  They underestimated me.  They got careless.  After they finished the shooting, the man dropped me, and they went around and scavenged the house.  I don't know what they thought.  Maybe they figured I would just lie there crying.  But I didn't.  I went over to my father first, tears streaming down my face, and I grabbed his watch, which now had a crack in it from the men.  Then I walked to my mother.  I grabbed what I knew meant the most to her.  It was a simple necklace that I made her, it had a black string with a wooden heart that I whittled.  Then I booked it.  I am almost sure that if I hadn't, they would have murdered me.  At the time, all I cared about was running away from the men.  I don't know how far I ran, but I ended up at a stream, and I say a boy on the edge.  It looked like he had been washed up from the river.  I walked to him and I shook him until he woke up.  When I did, we went to an empty cabin that we found when we walked for a few hours, and we we inseparable.  We told each other everything, and I mean everything.  We were like brothers.  And we have been ever since."  When Peter finishes, I realize I had been crying, and I wipe the remaining tears off, not looking at anyone.

   I don't know who it surprised most out of us five, but Amy walks up to Peter and hugs him.

   For the rest of the night, we just watch TV, and then decide to go to bed.  

   I wake up in the middle of the night.  I try to go to sleep, but I just can't.  I realize it is because of Peter.  I just have to explain to him how sorry I am for him.  

   I crawl of the huge, soft bed and slip on the white bunny slippers Logan gave to me.

  I walk down the hall in my white nightgown, also a gift from Logan, to Peter's room, which is on the top floor, one floor above mine.  After what feels like a century, I get to Peter's room.  I lightly knock on the closed door, and I hear footsteps leading to the door, and it opens to Peter, wearing a green shirt with black pajama pants.  

   "Kaylee?"  He says in a voice that suggests that he hadn't just woken up.  Before he can say anymore, I run up to him and hug him, hot tears streaming down my face.

   "I am so sorry."  I whisper.  I just stay there, crying for him, when I feel his arms go around me.  He understands, and I hope he realizes that I am here for him.  

   "Thank you,"  I hear him whisper, and I realize he is truly thankful.