The Refugees

Chapter 15: Ash

Edited

The sun rises and my eyes fling open. It's a reflex I'd like to break. Savannah's head is still on my lap and I turn to look at her; even as she sleeps she has that innocence attached to her like superglue. It's slightly irritating. She hasn't seen or done the things I have, and for that, she's lucky, almost precious like glass and she could break at any moment. I feel myself start to grow dark as I can't ignore the pure look on her face. I want to destroy it all, like life has destroyed.

Stop.

I try to escape the lingering thoughts entering my head and clear them out immediately. It's dangerous. I'm dangerous. The thought of possibly resembling my father in any shape or form frightens me more than anything.

Stay good, just like Mom wanted it.

I gently pat Savannah's back, hoping to wake her up. No reaction. I pat her again gently shaking her too this time. Her eyes slowly open and she grunts.

"We have to go." I say bluntly.

"Just 5 more minutes." She grumbles incoherently, grabbing hold of my shirt.

Something about her is... Cute?

I shake the thought away. How could act so carelessly? Hookups and that is it; that's the only thing I swear to. Anything more is off-limits for numerous reasons plus the dominant one being i can't commit to anyone.

Her breaths are slow and long. She yawns and bobs her head up in confusion. She rubs her eyes then gets up slowly, her hair falling over her shoulders. Then her amber-brown eyes look up at me, tired.

"Come on, let's go." I urge, losing patience. I've never been patient and i doubt I'll ever be. My life has always been fast paced, I can't live any other way.

She gets up then turns to look at the glaring morning sun. She gives another one of those innocent, truthful smiles. It's unfair that she is born so completely innocent and I am not. She didn't have to grow up the way I did. In a way I want to conserve that part of her, but I also want to completely obliterate it.

"I love wolves." She says looking out into the forest where it left last night.

I get a light pinch at my heart from the memories of Callie uttering those same words before, but I push it away, thinking nothing of it for my sake and sanity.

"I don't think all wolves are as tolerating as that one. Most of them would have attacked you." I reply, my voice low and bored, giving away nothing. Last night I was careless and weak, that cannot happen again.

"There goes your cynical self. It's the way you approach them that makes all the difference. If you approach them with hostility, they'll immediately want to defend themselves with their fangs. If you trust them, they'll eventually come trust you." She criticizes me.

Whatever.

This girl is gullible. No, maybe the word is optimistic. She still strives to see the good in all the bad. And the stupid statements.

"Why did you come with me when I told you to, back at the Shelter, instead of stay with the others or find your dad?" I ask her quite randomly.

Her eyes search for mine. She hadn't seen that question coming. She looks down to concentrate about my question.

"You looked assertive and knowing that I would die if I didn't leave gave me the smart intuition to follow you. My dad trusted you and now I know I made the right decision by trusting you. I also trusted by gut feeling which is meant to never be wrong." She replies looking into the distance.

And that's how people get hurt. By trusting and caring too easily. Something I always avoid so that I would never have to be hurt.

"Your gut feeling?" It's illogical. "What if it were someone different, would you still agree to come with me? What if I turned out to be a bad person and ended up taking advantage of you?"

"But you wouldn't and you didn't."

Why does she sound so assertive?! So confident that she's right? I am a guy after all. She should be wary of all guys, regardless of her gut feeling. I take a few rapid steps towards her. She never once flinches to my surprise. Her gaze fixed on me, her eyebrows slightly joined in a challenging frown as I make my way towards her. She's pissing me off.

It's only when I'm only a few centimeters away from her that she shies down, her cheeks tinted pink. I hold her wrists and get closer, inches from her face, pushing her slowly against the wall. As I stare into her eyes, she shows this strength I didn't expect from her but as I find myself awfully close, closer than I anticipated I had to be, she suddenly flinches.

I let her go, slowly loosening my grip on her wrists and she lets her arms fall to her sides, her face turned away from mine.

"Guys can be strong and scary so it would be easy to take advantage of you, especially with your small, fragile figure." I say quickly before slightly turning my face away.

"I'm not that small or fragile and either way, you didn't scare me." She replies in an annoyed tone, still avoiding my eyes, rather looking over her shoulder away from me.

"Yea right. I saw you flinch." I reply, her body still not too far from mine.

She opens her mouth as if to say a witty remark before closing it again, thinking against it.

"I wasn't scared..." She mumbles defiantly.

"Then why -"

"Another reason." She interrupts, pushing past me and out of the cave.

Another reason? What reason? I stare blankly at her retreating figure, still waiting for an answer but I know at this point she won't give me one.

Something about her is captivating, intriguing. Something about her is different to other girls I've met and I'm not used to it.

As she walks ahead, looking around, I see her cheeks are red. She's blushing? I find my own grow slightly warm at the idea before I shake it off. She's ridiculous. She's not even my type.

But back there, she was cute.

What am I thinking about? After all, I'm just as bad as a assassin. I kill people because of orders and feel nothing as they die before me; I'm a devil, a monster. It feels out of place for me to think this innocent girl is cute. Normally I'd think a girl has nice facial features or a nice body or she's hot but never anything about cuteness. What is cuteness really? And does Savannah really fit that category? Why did I just think she was cute?

Her hair is long and sways as she walks out with an angry pace. She doesn't dare look back at me until she suddenly starts running. She won't run for long and even if she did, it wouldn't be hard to catch up. I continue looking forward undisturbed by it all.

I switch my focus towards where the next town is on the map Robert provided me with. Based on what he said, we only have a few more kilometers left. Once we're there, we're gonna have to hope Mrs. Nightingale is as hospitable as Robert claims she is.

I turn to look down as a slightly darker thought enters my mind and I suddenly feel guilty.

It's not your fault.

I push the thought away and continue brainstorming. We're both going to be in need of real food soon. I can go on longer but I can tell Savannah's strength is giving in because of her lack of energy and strength. I guess she can be silent at times.

I slightly wince remembering the wound Declan inflicted on me yesterday. Great. I quickly rip off a piece of my shirt and tie it to the wound to prevent further blood loss. Wouldn't want to feel weak before getting to the next town.

~~~

Hey guys! Bigger chapter in Ash's pov and hopefully you guys liked it! Don't forget to vote and comment!

Song: Majik - Save me