The Unseen World

Chapter 5: Bella

    I woke up when Jackie began to snore. Jared turned his head over to Jackie and then moved his head back so it was facing the stars. I looked up at the stars too.

    "Bella?" Jared looked at me, startled that I was awake. I looked at him and blinked in response. "Can't sleep?"

    "Oh, no, it's notthat. It's just that I'm used to people... talking... while I'm asleep," I said slowly.

    "Why?"

    "My parents would... They fought a lot. They often yelled. At first it kept me up at night, but after a while, I got used to it. Now I guess it's hard to sleep without it," I turned my head back up to look at the stars smiled sadly up at them. "How were your parents?"

    "My mom was never around. To be honest, it's probably a good thing. My dad took me out for chores every day and taught me how to fight with a sword. Apparently I'd shown interest since a baby. Instead of playing in the mud or with blocks like a normal kid, I went over to my dad's wooden practice sword rack and knocked them all over," He smiled. "So when I turned ten he started playing knight with me. He would be a dark knight and I would be a light knight. Sometimes we would just wrestle. It was fun."

    "Where was your mom?" I asked curiously.

    "She was a servant in the Kings palace," He said, blinking up at the stars. "She never got to come home, but we were able to go to the Palace for theKing's birthday, and for other occasions like my parents' birthdays and my birthday. At age 7, the King called for me to join his Order of the Knights as a Squire. Of course, I was ecstatic. I got to be with my mother, and since his wife and son lived in the palace, my father also got to come.

    I served as a squire until a year ago: when I was 15. That's when the King told me that I was the boy of legend. As a boy, my father told me of all the legends and stories. One of them told of a young squire being sent on a journey to find the Kings lost daughter. Well, I was the young squire."

    "If you were told that you were the chosen squire when you were 15," I asked slowly, looking at him curiously. "Why didn't you get to Jackie sooner?"

    "Because... I went onto the path. Except unlike Jackie, I didn't have anybody holding me back when the Dark One's son tried to get me off the path... So, he succeeded in getting me to stray."

    "Oh... You know, you don't have to tell me all this." He turned and met my eyes.

    "You think I don't know that?" He smiled.

    "Well obviously you do now," I teased while holding back a yawn. He grinned and told me to get some sleep. The moon was making a peak in the sky, so I guessed it was around midnight: my usual time to go to sleep. I closed my eyes and let Jackie and Jared's deep breathing pull me into the dark depths of sleep.

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    When I woke up the next morning, Jared was standing over by the magic rock chest stretching with his left arm pointed toward the sky and his right arm going behind his head so his hand could grab his elbow. His black hair was perfectly messy as usual, and he wore the same as yesterday: a black t-shirt and jeans. Jackie sat next to him with her long brown hair slightly tangled. She smiled up at him and they laughed about something. How can they be so happy this early? I grumbled in my mind.

    "Bella! Get up!" Jackie's cheery voice carried up the hill with ease.

    "Make me!" I shouted grumpily. I did NOT want to get up. I buried my face in my blanket and pillow, only to hear footsteps stomping up the hill toward me. I curled up in a ball, defiantly protecting my warm blanket. Suddenly my pillow jerked out from under me. No! Not the pillow! Oh, well. At least I still have my warmth, I smiled to myself. Then my blanket was ripped out of my grip, so I jumped up to defend it.