The Stolen Truth

The Dry Ice

  "But I've already got a knife," Seliva said. It was early morning, two days later. The sky was still very dark, almost cobalt blue to the north where the snow must be falling. The bracelet  did not activate or anything like that. They were in front of the camp, their gear and provisions already packed into the two backpacks they brought.
  Seliva looked down at the top of Ires' head as he fiddled with her boot. "I'll never remember it."
  "The beauty of a boot knife is that no one thinks to look for it unless you make it obvious." Ires gave the right leg of her hiking pants a stiff tug. "How's it feel?"
  "Like I've got something stuck onto my boot. Ires, I've got the bow and you have the gun found." Ires found a gun in the woods one day while they were practicing the bow, the gun was carefully hidden inside of a carved spot in the ground
  "You did very well, by the way, with the bow." Ires said.
Ires nodded at Seliva who in turn nodded back. "Okay Seliva, you ready for this." Ires asked.
  "As ready as I'll ever be!"

  "Great." Seliva rolled her eyes. "Ires, I don't know how to fight with a knife."
  "And with any luck, you won't have to. In fact, you'll probably just end up getting yourself killed, so I wouldn't recommend it."
  "So what good is it?"
  "Ask the bad guy you stab when he least expects it."
  "You just said I'll get myself killed."
  "Not if the first stab's so good that you don't have to do it again." Ires stood and turned around to face her. "Come on, relax. I was only joking. This is just in case," said Ires
"You're started saying that a lot," Seliva said.
"Because I mean it." Seliva struggled to keep a smile in after that.

Ires and Seliva were walking down the battered trail, the dry dirt crunching beneath them.
  Ires paused at the edge of the woods. "Not too late to change our minds."
  "No let's go." Seliva twisted to peer behind them.
  "Alright then, let's do this." Ires said and started walking again. "Say good-bye, camp."
  "Good-bye, camp," Seliva said. She waited a beat, then added, "Soooo . . . are we there yet?"
  Ires and Seliva both looked at each other, and then after a moment's silence, they burst into laughter

That was the last good time.
 

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  They stepped along the gravel fire road or what was left of it. It was riddled with nuts, and they had to keep on walking despite the land being uncoopertive.
  Their speed was pitiful, and after an hour, they only covered ten miles. Three miles farther on, they hit the cobblestone path they were oh so familiar with. The castle no longer gleamed with the power it once had and the homes that populated the castle were no longer the huge buildings that never seemed to wnd, just peices of stone and fewer pieces of furiture. Ires looked around and shuddered at what happened to a entire castle in just a week. Just a measly week, what do they want, that would make this come into reality.  Ires let out a deep breath and shook his head, not wanting to ponder the thought much further.
   Ires regrouped with Seliva in a home that wasn't too badly destroyed. "Found anything yet?"
Seliva just shook her head and stared into the sunset " I really miss my parents, Ires". Ires nodded and spoke " And I miss mine too, it's going to be alright just you wait!". A loud crash made them turn and back out the door quietly and softly as they possibly could.

   A rotting leg stuck out of the corner of the wall and Ires dry-heaved and doubled back. " What the..... shit!" beside him Seliva wasn't taking it too well either.

   Well, nothing is going to happen if I just stand here doing nothing. Here goes nothing. Ires took a step forward and another with his heart beating like there was no tomorrow. Ires turned back to Seliva and whispered " remember the knife if I don't handle this carefully"
   Seliva just stood there with a disbelieving face. "Handle this carefully, then". Ires nodded and turned back, he took the last step and peeked around the corner. And he almost fainted.

  The dread crept into his head and he was no longer in the castle but in a garden, Ires gasped what he saw or felt he couldn't tell. The house... HIS house was right there, he could just forget the whole thing right now and then, but he couldn't move. Not a single inch. The back door opened and there stepped out the people he thought he would never ever see again.
   His parents stepped out the door, bruised and battered as Ires struggled to break free the invisible rope that was holding him hostage. Another person dressed in a suit came out of the door and ran towards Ires' parents and shoved them into the ground with so much force that they slid back 5 feet, the man spoke in a rough scratchy voice, " We give you the best and what do you do? You betray us. US! We were the only reason that you two were alive but things have changed, haven't they!" The man now had a sly smile on his face.
   Ires opened his mouth and found out that no sound was coming out of his mouth. Panic drove it's knife straight into his heart and twisted. Ires squirmed and tossed around and started crying. A voice, made him stop and look over to who spoke. His mother was now on her knees and begging " Please, we just wanted to know where our son was, PLEASE!".

  The man now pulled something out his pocket and Ires' eyes widened.  A silver gun gleamed in the sun. This time the man spoke " Tough luck then, because he's lost, gone!" Ires' mother jumped in rage and raced toward the man. The sound of a gun clicking, the blast and his mother's head exploding into soil would stay burned into his head forever until he died. His father never stood a chance, he barely had time to open his mouth and he joined his wife. His brain remains spilled into the already damp earth.    
   Ires was then released into the earth and splashed into pool of blood and brains.
  
   Ires layed there for what seemed like forever and then he made a noise, not like anything else, it was a noise of pure terror and untouched disbelief. The man looked straight at him and gasped.....

                And then he was gone.