The Potentials

Taken

Chapter 13

I wake up in the morning in Ben's arms and I feel so warm. As I wake he begins to stir as well.

"Good morning." He tells me as he brushes my hair behind my ear. I smile at him as I get up and go towards the fire. Autumn is always the first one up and she starts breakfast as soon as she wakes up. She was able to catch a wild pig and clean it so, the cave is filled with the smell of fresh cooking bacon and the grease is dripping of sizzling in the fire. She is also creating potato cakes and hash browns. My FAVORITE. She is a very skilled cook.

"Hey Autumn." I say as I walk up.

"Hey. Smell good?"

"OH MY GOD YES!" I say enthusiastically. This is going to be like something I would eat at home. At that thought tears come to my eyes but I quickly wipe them away. I need to forget about them. My poor sister will probably grow up not knowing why I left. At least I said bye. At least I told her I love her. My parents surely hate me. If they make Melody hate me I will not forgive them. She can believe what she wants. Breakfast is almost done cooking. We all sit on the rocks around the "table" rock and Autumn puts some bark out to use as plates.

I eat fast, then go to the corner of the cave to get dressed. I put on a forest green shirt with black pants. The pants are stretchy leggings that are soft and very comfortable. Today is a relax day. I have been looking forward to it because my body is exhausted and I am tired even though I slept very well. I walk outside and go on top of the cave. The flowers glow and the wind blows my hair up into the air. The flowers look like they are dancing in the breeze as they sway. Today looks like a bright day. There are clouds in the distance, but they won't arrive for a while. I climb down off of the cave roof, and I decide to take a walk by myself. I haven't had alone time in a while. I walk through the trees, careful that I don't get caught in the low branches. I duck and swing by. The blue sky is so bright. Not a cloud to be seen.

I see a large sycamore tree in the distance. It seems to be asking me to take on the challenge. I run over to it, my feet squishing in the muddy earth. I reach up to the nearest branch and pull myself up. Branch after branch. I climb quickly, weaving around branches. The leaves grow immensely and are very large. The bark is tinted white and is beautiful. The sun reflects off the leaves giving it a glowing appearance. Shadows swirl around the branches caused by the leaves swaying in the breeze. I smell the hint of flowers and some leaves drift to the ground. They are firey red. The tree looks on fire as the leaves move. I bring my head up above the leaves to see the land. It is full of all the colors of the rainbow.

All the sudden I see trees toppling over all at once, and smoke. Black smoke filling the air. Someone has lit the forest on fire. I need to warn the others. I climb down as fast as I can and jump off the lower branches twisting my ankle. I run as fast as I can. I am cringing as pain goes up my leg. My clothes rip and tear as they are caught on branches that are nearby. Tears fill my eyes as firey pain begins to grow. I am almost back to the cave. I start blacking out as I reach the cave.

"Fire." I yell before I totally black out and collapse on the ground. I wake up about a half an hour later with Ben starring at me. My head is in his lap and I have a wet cloth on my forehead. My body tenses as I remember.

"There is a fire. It was started over near where I was. Someone is trying to light the forest on fire."

"That's not good at all. At all. We must go to the fire and try putting it out." Autumn says calmly. So we all take a weapon and head out. I grab a dagger because I doubt I will use it. It's just a fire, right? We run, everyone is following me closely. That then I see the sycamore. It is burned, all the leaves dead. It no longer twinkles in the sun light. A part of me feels awful about it. It was so beautiful. And now it is dead.

"Corinthea, you need to try and put it out. Ben needs to take the air away from the fire, and Donavon smother it. I can't do much. Fire only causes destruction. At least in this case. So hurry!"

Autumn shouts. I am still in pain, but while I was out someone bandaged my leg up and put a splint on it. So it doesn't hurt as bad. I try to put the pain aside so I can focus on the task at hand. I put up my arms and concentrate on the water droplets in the air. The fire begins to sizzle, and then out of no where I hear

"Aaaaaahhhgghhh." Autumn is on the ground. I stop immediately and rush to her. There is an arrow logged in her leg. It went very deep as seems to have made contact with the bone. I kneel next to her body. Her face is contorted with pain. Her leg is bleeding heavily and she is screaming through clenched teeth.

"Corinthea please help me. You can heal. Please. Please." She is crying. She is in so much pain.

"I don't know how." I am so stressed out. What if she dies from blood loss because I couldn't save her? I can't lose her. She is my best friend. The clouds are over us now. It is dark. I look to her for guidance.

"Autumn how can I help you?" I ask urgently.

"Cover your. Your hands with water." She says through pained gasps. I do as told and cover them with water. The water floats around my hands.

"Now pull the arrow out and immediately put your hands on my leg." Her tear stained cheeks are filling me with pain. I grab the arrow and pull it out as fast as I can. She screams in agony

"Uaaahaaauuuuaggh." Then I place my hands on her leg. The wound seems to be healing. That is a good sign. When it is almost healed I hear something.

"Corinthea!" It's Ben. Someone is shooting at him. Right then he is shot in the side. He wails. And falls to the ground. From about 30 feet off the ground. He doesn't move after that. Unable to move I watch in pain as Ben's limp body is picked up and thrown in a cage. Like an animal. He is then shackled and put in a truck.

"Noooooo" I scream tears running down my face. Autumn has a pained expression on her face as she sees him taken. Her leg is almost healed.

"Go after him. I will be fine." Autumn tells me. Donavon is at her side now. He had been shot at too, but he took out the man shooting at him. She is safe. So I run. I run faster than I have ever run before. I need to find Ben. I can't lose him, not today, not ever. He is my other half. I run frantically to catch up to the truck. It is no use. My body starts to get tired to the point where I can no longer breath. I collapse in defeat. I cry harder than I ever have and rain starts to pour down on me from the sky. The truck disappears in the distance. Ben is gone.