Rust

Chapter 1

A.N.
I had to write for this for an English assignment so if it seems a little bit sparing, it's because I only had twelve pages to write on. Thx for reading boo <3

I sat next to my father's bed, on a wooden stool with one broken leg. Every time I leaned, the chair would creak, so I sat dead still, just as still as my bed-ridden father. His chest fell up and down in a normal pattern. It was so silent that I could hear his heart weakly thumping in his chest.
I couldn't hear mine though. I could hear my blood pump, my breath whistle, and my bones pop, but my chest was still. I was used to this though, because I don't have a heart.
It was 4 years ago to the day when my heart was taken from me. I was only 13 years old, and after a long day of school, I was walking home. It happened in a flash, literally. A blinding white light covered my senses, and then I woke up on the ground, my chest open, my organs exposed. I have no idea how the doctors managed it, but I lived for a long time after that. In my chest, in the place of my real heart, sat a heart constructed of iron and brass, and miraculously, it worked. Although, I could feel the piercing silence from my chest whenever everything else was quiet.
I was pulled out of my thoughts by my father groaning. He turned his head towards me and slowly opened his eyes. They were pure white, and had been like that for a while. "Ris," he groaned and moved his head around the room, searching for me even though he was blind. "Is that you?"
"It is, dad." I reassuringly patted his arthritic, gnarled claw of a hand. "What is it?"
"I can hear it..." My dad moved his head back and forth, as if something was tormenting him. "I... I can hear your heart."
"Of course, dad," I responded. He had been like this for a while; seeing monsters, hearing demons, overall delusions.
"No, boy!" He shouted, louder than he had spoken in years. "I can hear it pounding!" He reached over and grabbed the collar of my shirt. "You have to find it... Before you become... Like me! Go to the forest to the North, find your sister," he breathed in deeply, as if someone had punched him in the gut. "I don't want you to become bed ridden and decrepit like me. Your heart will rust, and you will die!" He stared right at me, as if could actually see. "I want you to live. For me..." He let go of my collar and fell back against his pillow, snoring softly.
I couldn't process what had just happened. It felt as if my brain had gotten turned to soup. "Dad," I shook his shoulder. He didn't stir. "Dad!" I shouted. I stood up in shock, knocking over the stool behind me. A nurse pushed me aside and started pressing on his chest.
"Code blue!" She shouted. She looked at me. "I would advise that you leave, sir." I obeyed, and walked into the hallway. Nurses rushed past me.
I exited the building and walked out to the fountain in front of it. I sat on the edge and put my face in my hands. Everything my dad had told me just registered. I could feel my throat tighten and my stomach drop. If what he said was really true, then I would die if I didn't get a real heart.
"How am I supposed to get back my heart?" I smacked my fist on the edge of the fountain. "I haven't ever left this town, and all of a sudden I'm supposed to leave with no idea where I'm going?"
"What's wrong with you?" Someone said. I looked up and saw terrifying, deep red eyes staring back at me. I shouted and fell backwards into the fountain. The cold water doused my entire body before
someone reached into the water and pulled me out by shirt. It was the person with the red eyes. They stared at me in confusion. "Did I scare you or something?" It was a girl. She gripped my shirt with an arm made completely of metal, with wires and joints and gears. I shouted and she let me go again in shock, then picked me back up and sat me down on the edge of the fountain.
"Stop falling!" She put her human arm on my head to stabilize me. "Is it really that hard to just sit?"
"You scared me." I grumbled. "You don't just pop up in people's faces like that!"
"You were talking to yourself, so I thought you should get someone to talk to." She stood back and crossed her arms. "What were you talking about?"
"It's a long story." I brushed my wet hair off of my forehead with my hand. "You should just go."
The girl plopped down next to me. "I want to hear it."
"No."
"Yes."
"Okay, fine." I sighed. "Umm... If I don't..." I thought for a second. "If I can't find my sister, I'll die. But she's somewhere to the North, and I can't go."
"Why not?" She asked. "If you're going to die, then you should at least try to save yourself."
"I can't go alone, though." I protested.
"I'll go with you!" The girl smiled. "I've always wanted to see the outside world!"
"I'm still not going to go. I mean, I don't even know your name!" I shook my head. "This is dumb. I can't."
The girl stuck out her metal hand. "Hi, my name is Laurel. I'm going to be your traveling buddy. And you are?"
I sighed and shook her hand, awkwardly trying to not cut myself on the sharp edges of her palm. "Polaris Wraith." I stood up. "Bye."
"You're leaving?" She asked.
"I'm going home." I began walking away, but Laurel put her hand on my shoulder to stop me.
"Go grab your things, and we're taking the next air ship out of here." Laurel smiled and clapped her hands. She ran off and left me in front of the fountain. I couldn't move for a few seconds. What did I just agree to?
...
"Are you ready?" Laurel asked me when I approached her.
"Ready as I'll ever be.
"Whatever." She looked off into the distance. The air ship stop was on a cliff, which was the safest place for it. It wasn't that far from our town, so we had walked. The sky was gold, and the clouds drifted by slowly. "How long is this going to take?"
"I wouldn't know." I saw something approaching in the distance. It was the ship. It was tall, and looked like it should've been in the sea, except for the spinning gears and cogs underneath it. In the front, the captain was steering it towards us. After a minute, it rolled up and a man put a board across the ship to the cliff. Carefully, I walked across the board, with my arms out to keep my balance. Laurel followed me.
"Where are ya headed?" One of the shipmates asked.
"North." I answered, looking behind me at the town I was leaving behind.
"How far?"
"I'll say when." I looked forward to the north again. The shipmate picked up the board and the ship started off again, pulling me away from my old life and hurling me into the new one.