Past the Edge (An Item for Greed Book 1)

chapter 17- secrets

Chapter 17- secrets

Sam searched Castor’s face for any sign of what could be bothering him so much. For the past three hours Castor had been looking both worried, and exhausted. Tentatively, Sam asked, “What happened to your mom Castor?” wincing at what the reply might be.

“She died, when I was four, I don't remember her much,” he replied solemnly. “I remember walking down a street in Thnro, skipping and singing. As we passed a long dark ally, I heard a dim clicking noise. From the ally came an explosion- no, a terrorist attack. It was a bomb. It shattered all of the windows in the surrounding shops, and flames engulfed everything in their path, including my mother. The had reached out, and brushed my arm, burning me, but it didn’t encompass me,” Castor continued.

“Then what did you do?” Sam asked. “If you don’t mind me asking,” he added

“I did what any four year old would do. I curled up on the ground and cried, starring into the charred remains of my mom. Eventually one of the shop keepers came and found me. They found my father and sent me home, where I cried again, day and night on a continuous cycle,” as Castor finished his storey, a silent, pale tear leaked from the corner of his eye, and ran down his cheek before landing in his lap. Noticing this, Sam quickly dropped the subject. Seeing this as an opportunity, Castor asked, “What about you? Where’s your family?”

“Oh, they’re all still in Calou. When I saw you trying to leave, I was also planning on doing the same thing. They have no idea of whether or not I’m safe, or where I am,” Sam stated simply.

Intrigued, Castor asked, “Do you have any siblings?”

“Ya actually I do. I have three brothers, aged thirteen, nine, and five. I also have one sister who is only three years old,” Sam told Castor while smiling, and counting them off on his fingers. Having set a happy tone in the atmosphere, Castor and Sam rode for another few hours in comfortable silence.

*

Having been up wards of seven hours since they first set out from the Red Cap Mountains, Castor and Sam stopped to have a break, and let their horses rest for the night. When they had unsaddled their horses, they lay on the ground, with their heads resting on the seat of the saddle, and fell into a restless, but exhausted sleep.

The nightmares were back, or should they be called night terrors. Castor had the same two dreams over and over. In vivid detail his memory recalled the sight of his father leaving him, and his mother dieing. He watched this pair of memories over, and over again, all night long. Not before long, Castor managed to scare himself back into conciseness. He awoke with the thick sheet of a cold sweat draped over him as he was curled up on the frozen ground, his teeth chattering. Drawing his cloak closer around him, Castor managed to fall back into a dream filled sleep.