In Search of Peace

Chapter 2: The Lost

The inside is worse than the outside. Blood is splattered all over everything. The furniture seemed to have exploded into tiny splinters and shredded fabric. Deep gashes cover every flat surface. I cover my nose from the stench. A mixture of blood, animal and urine. Looking around I call out, "Hello!" The voice quiets but I can hear it trying to hide choked sobs. Following the sound I make my way to a back bedroom. Which wasn't easy debris and furniture is strewn all throughout the hall. I had to push and kick things aside just to create some sort of path way. As I enter the bedroom I am greeted with the body of a huge wolf. At first I thought it was a bear but the long tail and slim limbs made it obvious it wasn't. Its fur is saturated in blood and the throat completely torn out. I press my back against the wall edging around the animal keeping my eyes on it as if it could jump up and attack at any moment. I make it to the closet and turn around to peer inside. I see him curled up tight in one corner as if he were trying to be invisible. Knees to his chest, head down on his crossed arms, and body shaking from his sobs.

His hair is a mop of blond tangles and dirt. As he looks up his brown eyes look even bigger from crying. His pale skin is streaked with dirt and blood. I reach out to him "It's okay baby, I won't hurt you. Come here honey." His sobs gets louder and morph into whimpers. Whimpers that to sound less and less human. They sound animal like a dog. The whimpering unsettles me. The need to throw up starts to build again but I continue to move closer to him. He growls and I stop. Is he really growling at me? It sounds so inhuman. It sounds wrong like it doesn't belong coming out of him. I hesitate a moment but continue to reach out. That's when he snaps at me. I feel teeth puncture my hand. "Owe! Shit!" I yell as I yank my hand away. He begins to cry again sounding more hurt than I was. The bite scared me but hearing him and looking in his eyes I can tell he's more terrified of me. This poor kid. This is like the real life version of little red riding hood. For all I know the wolf might have actually eaten his parents and he's here doing all he knows to scare a wolf away. Maybe that's why he's making all those sounds and acting so weird, he's traumatised.

I get up and make my way through the house. I find the bathroom and it's surprisingly the only room left untouched. I clean up my hand and wrap it in a wash cloth. Making my way to the kitchen with a few washcloths and towels in tow I find a metal mixing bowl and fill it with water. Heading back into the bedroom I set the bowl in the closet. Getting down on the floor so I'm not looming over him I introduce myself. "I'm Alexis Malone. You can call me Alex. " I smile toward him but his face still looks scared. "I'm your neighbor I live just east of here on the lake or I think it's east. I got a little turned around on my way here." I give an awkward chuckle not knowing why I felt the need to laugh. He looks up at me at bit less apprehensively. "I brought this bowl so you can clean up a bit you're covered in dirt and... well, do you need me to help you?" He shakes his head vigorously so I stand up and say "I'll look for something for you to wear while you wash up."

Earlier I found his room a couple doors down from this one. Digging through the rubble I find a pair of pajama bottoms. I try to find shoes but came up with nothing. Going back to the other room I place the pants next to him and give him privacy as he changed. I go back to his room finding a knapsack and shoved in any clothing items I could find. At least what was still in one piece. I find a couple of action figures and cars to toss in as well. Finally I go back to find him mostly clean wearing the fresh pj pants."Do you want to shower? Where are your shoes?" I ask. He simply shakes his head at the first question and shrugs his shoulders at the second. Great, I have to carry him out of here and I don't even know where I'm going. "Alright then I'm going to have to carry you to my house. You can't stay here and we'll try to call for help once we get there. Okay?" He just looks at me and shrugs his shoulders. Well he's not crying at least and I guess that's better than nothing. I pull out a pair of mismatched socks and a shirt for him to wear as well. I hand him the knapsack to put on then I get on my knees with my back facing him. "Get on my back and we'll get out of here" I sense him hesitating then when I'm about to turn around I feel his little body climb on to me.

Getting up we made it out without me dropping him or tripping on anything. The woods were another story. I nearly fell on my face a few times. The boy sensed my lack of agility and kept himself latched onto me like a cowboy on a bull. The strange part was when I couldn't figure out what direction to take he would sniff at me then the air. Once he came to a decision he would point with full confidence on where we should go. If I tried to veer off his directions he'd whimper loudly and nudge his heels into my sides like a horse. Which was annoying if not a little offensive to say the least. After a couple of hours we made it home in one piece.

It's one in the afternoon and I'm starving. I make us a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches each and we chow down like it's the last time we'll see food. The boy keeps pointing to the pan then his plate indicating he wants more. To my surprise he packs in eight whole sandwiches and two bowls of tomato soup. "So how old are you?" He looks up from his meal and holds up five fingers. "Oh so you're a big boy then? huh?" He smiles at that and bows his head to hide it. "What's your name?" He just shrugs and looks away from me. "Oh so it's like that? How bout for now I just give you a nickname till you feel more comfortable to talk. Or you can tell me your real name now?" He just gives me a dismissive look before turning away. Looking down at his pajama pants I say "Okay, how bout I just call you PJ for now?" PJ was as creative as she could get with nicknames today. The boy looks up with an expression of serious thought and nods his Head yes. I guess he likes PJ.