Keep Me

Chapter Two

August 23rd

12 years ago

You remember alot when you're six. What's amazing is that, when you're that young, things that you want to forget you remember in full Technicolor and I was no exception. I remember all to well the day my mother left as if it had happened only yesterday.

I remember sitting on the floor of my room, playing with dolls and idly listening to the sound of my parents arguing. They'd argued like this for what seemed like the entire summer, and often I would listen. Mostly, I ignored  them screaming at each other, but this time was different. This time, they had yelled longer and had gotten much louder than normal.

Their voices slid their way under my door, making it hard not to pay much attention to them.

" How could you do this to us? " Even at that age, I could hear the pain in my father's voice. I could hear how badly she was tearing him apart, and all I wanted was for her to just apologize. But I knew it wouldn't happen that way.

" I said I was sorry," my mother shouted, " but Jonathan and I are in love. Okay? I can't be here anymore." She sounded exasperated with the conversation. I remember wondering how she could feel that way when she was leaving us behind, didn't she care for us at all?

" But, I love you. Corbin and I both love you, and we need you. We're your family, Julie. Doesn't that mean anything to you ?" I could tell my father was crying now. I wanted to cry too, just because I knew I should.

" Look Chason, I'll always love you two but I need to move on. I can't let you hold me back." Now, I couldn't stand to listen to this anymore. I dropped my dolls as if they had burned me and pulled myself up off the ground.

Instinctively, I turned and walked over to my window. I unlocked it, pushed open and, quietly, slipped out of it. I lowered myself, soundlessly, to the ground below. I'd done this many times, especially since my parents had began arguing. Some nights I would slip out just because it felt like the trees sang to me so softly, and the grass whispered my name so sweetly that there was no way I could resist.

Effortlessly, I removed my shoes and left them against the wall, below the window. I stood there for a minute letting the sensation of crying overwhelm me until tears began to streak down my cheeks.  I remember thinking to myself, We are her family! How could she just leave us? I stood there crying about it for a while before I realized that maybe I would never understand my mother, and after a moment or two more I decided that it didn't even matter. Nodding my head in conformation, I took a hiccuping breath and wiped my tears away.Once I was done hiccuping, I took another slow, steady breath and began my walk around the house towards the woods.

The woods were always a source of enjoyment. If it wasn't pretending to be an adventurer that I loved the most, then it was discovering all the new paths and seeing the woodland creatures scuttle around.

I decided that today, I would be a blossoming ( Whatever that meant ) young woman travelling through the woods looking for her younger brother, Peter. I would be British, noble, and fifteen. Oh yeah, I was going to be Amelia Rose,  daughter of Joshua Lotte, the landlord of the village of Loft. The village was being attacked by....by...WEREWOLVES, and in the middle of the attack, my brother Peter ran into the woods and I just had to go after him out of fear of losing him.Yeah I was going to be Amelia Rose, who's mother loved her and wasn't running away with her Uncle Jonathan.

Checking my story for any flaws, I transitioned into character and began running through the woods. " Peter," I called into the trees as I pretended to trip over my imaginary skirts ( To make my story more dramatic ). As I ran, I imagined that it was pitch-black and the only light came from the moon alone.  In my mind, snow blanketed the ground for it was winter. The season's chill clang to me and sang its icy song deep into my skin, making me shiver beneath my fluffy, non-existent, red cloak.  My breath was ragged as it made its self visible in the air around me, fogging my vision.

Irritated, I swatted my breath away and called for my brother again. " Peter!" I continued running aimlessly until, in the distance, I could see something bulging out of the snow. My heart raced and I felt myself picking up speed. This could be him, this could be Peter!  As I got closer,  I began to make out wet, dark, hair sticking up from the blankets of white. " Peter, oh please be alright," I cried as I dropped down into the snow and began digging it out from around him.

" Peter, my goodness, I found you brother." I placed my hands on either side of his frozen face and shook him until his eyes fluttered open, his lashes scattering snow across his face. As soon as I met his eyes, I knew there was a problem. The eyes that I looked down into were not familiar at all, these were the dark eyes of a stranger.

" I'm not peter," the stranger said. His voice pulled me back to the shell of my true-self. I was not Amelia Rose, and I was not fifteen. I was six-years-old, motherless, Corbin Anders and I was in the woods in the middle of summer. Another thing, the ground was covered in moss, not snow.

" Who are you," he asked me. I took in his full appearance before I even opened my mouth. His dark-hair was curly and wet, his eyes were black with the most wonderful purple flecks hidden in them. He was, also, stark naked. Taking this in, I blushed and scooted away from him. Didn't his mama know he was out here? If so, did she know he was out here naked?

" My name is Corbin," I muttered quite shyly. " What's yours? " He looked at me for a moment, as if taking me in too.

" Leon Coldmen," he said after a moment's hesitation. Nervously, I laughed.

" I'll say. I'd be cold too if I were naked."  He just blinked sluggishly at me, obviously not getting the joke ( Even that young my jokes were awful) . I went back to wondering why he was out in the woods naked, and alone. I didn't think he was out here trying to be Amelia Rose too ( Right?) . " Why are you not at home, where are your clothes?" Slowly, his dark eyes locked on my face.

" I don't have clothes." I noticed he didn't answer my first question, but I decided not to bother him about it. I watched him closely, waiting to see if he was pulling my leg. When he didn't laugh, I realized that he was being serious.

One thing that my father had taught me was to help others, and in that moment I wanted nothing more than to help Leon. I found myself helping him up and brushing the moss off his cheeks. " I don't have much of a home anymore, that's why I'm out here." I confessed. He looked at me with a dazed expression, but I could tell that he had understood me.

" Sorry," he mumbled. I shrugged and took his hand. The movement made him flinch and his eyes widened immediately. I didn't want to scare him so I stood still until he calmed down. When he did, I tried my best to ignore his nude-ness and began to lead him back towards my house.

" Where are we going, " He muttered after a while. I looked at him kindly, wanting him to feel comfortable with me.

" To get you some clothes." He nodded his head once and kept walking with me. As we traveled back, I looked down at his hand. It hadn't occurred to me how dirty he really was until just now. His skin was nearly black from dried mud, and dirt lay under his nails. He didn't give off much of a stench, he just smelled like...earth.

I knew I would have to get him cleaned up and that probably wouldn't be easy to get pass my father.We walked calmly for a while until we made it to the edge of the woods, and then his hand snapped away from mine.

" I can't go that far," he gasped. I couldn't help but notice how scared he sounded and I was generally confused when he took a step away from me, further back into the woods.

" What are you so afraid of?" I asked him this with no hesitation. In turn, his dark eyes caught and held mine for a while.Maybe I acted this way because I wasn't used to being afraid, or maybe it was because I wanted Leon to feel this way too. " Nothing is gonna get you, okay? " Uncertainly, his eyes searched mine for any hint of a lie.

I wanted Leon to trust me, more importantly I wanted him to feel safe. So, with an honest smile, I held out my hand to him in an act of friendship. After staring at me a while longer, Leon's frantic eyes softened and he took a step towards me to grab my hand. Offering a laugh to the open sky, I pulled him with me completely out of the tree line. 

I had a friend.