Lost Memories

Chapter Eleven

I take his Mason's hand and hoist him to his feet. He yells in pain, and I wonder how he must feel. He leans on me bit so that he doesn't have to use his back as much to walk. He looks pale, so I hold him tighter. He puts his arm around my shoulder for support. I walk with him to little village reduced to rubble. I take out my sword, but Mason holds his hand over it.

"N-No." He manages. "It will draw attention-to us. K-keep down."

"Okay." I put my sword away.

I walk him to a little hut still barely standing. It looks as if it's going to collapse any minute, but it seems like the sturdiest place I can see to take a break and get him fixed up.

I open the scratched and burned door to find several pieces of furniture still intact, but turned over or on their sides. I flip a chair and a table right side up and push Mason, who is about to fall over in the doorway, on it. It creaks loudly, but holds together.

"My...pack." He puffs. "Vitamin...K..."

"I gotcha." I knew exactly what to do. I need to clean his wound and give him something for the bleeding, then I need to cool the burn down and sooth it.

I slide his pack from his back gently, and pull out the first aid pouch. I take a bottle of Vitamin K2+ and make him swallow one pill without water. Then I take some hydrogen peroxide and alcohol and hold his arm down as I pour it on his back. He curls up into a ball and screams as the clear liquid entered his wound. I hold him down and cover his mouth so that the nearby monsters won't notice us.

"Shh." I whisper. "You have to be quiet. The monsters will hear us."

"You could take them." He groans. "I'm sure."

I laugh. "I would rather not."

Mason groans and tries to spread out so that the Vitamin K will heal him more. He puffs and grunts as he tries to take his shirt off.

"Hold on, let me see if there are some scissors in here. I'll cut it off." I searched his first aid kit, but I sadly couldn't find anything sharp enough to slice the shirt. I went straight for my pack and looked past the food bin and the first aid kit. The first thing I saw in my kit was the scissors. I took them and cut around the burned parts of his back. Now that most of his shirt is off, I have to get the part that is melted into his skin off of him before it cools and sticks. I know this is going to hurt him, so I tell him to brace himself. His muscles tense as I place my cold hands on the burned part of his shoulders. He tries to stifle a moan. I slide the scorched part off of his back and it takes some of his skin with it. He grinds his teeth and tries to stifle a scream. His back is even worse than I thought. Without his shirt on I see every inch of burn there is and most of it is pus and blood.

"Mason?" I ask. "This doesn't look good. Are you feeling okay?"

"That's a stupid question." He manages to laugh through puffs of air. "I've been better."

I chuckles a little bit and rummaged through the first aid kits to try and find some burn cream, but I had no such luck.

"Is there any ice or anything?" He asks through gritted teeth.

"There's some water that I can put on a towel and keep it cool."

"That would be great."

I do just that. The towel isn't going to be that cold, I know, but it's better than nothing.

"Do you have any food in that pack?"

"Probably. Wanna check? I'm starving." Mason manages through labored breaths.

"Sure. gimme a sec."

I look in his pack and find a little tin box. I open it to find several food items. Three dried protein bars, two scorched sandwiches, and a bottle of water. I hold the bottle of water to Mason's lips, and watch as he greedily gulps it down. I hand him one of the sandwiches, and he practically inhales that as well.

Right as I am about to eat my sandwich I heard a small thump. I looked where the noise had come from, and drew my dagger. Mason lay on the floor, watching my every move.

I saw a shadow behind a broken and overturned table, and I walked up to it slowly. I counted in my head. One...two...Three! I flipped the table to the side and pointed my dagger at the shadow.

Mason's eyes widened as I hold my dagger to a little girl.

* * *

The little girl cowered before me as I held my dagger to her. I sheathed my weapon and stared at her. She was a small little thing. Probably no more than four years old. Sky blue eyes, her long black hair strewn across her tan face. I wonder how she is so tan when the sun is covered. Was she born naturally tan?

I hold out my hand to her and she scrunches away from it, cowering behind her little stuffed animal who appears to be missing an eye. I hold out my sandwich to her, and she peeks from behind the mass of fur which she holds in her arms. She looks at me, wondering if she should take the food. Reluctantly, she does. She snatches it from my hand and devours it faster than Mason ate his.

"Mason. Do you see this?" I ask him.

"She must be lost." Mason agrees.

"What should we do?"

"What we can. We have to try to get her back to the Romanda, alive."

I know we have to try, but how am I supposed to pick a helpless stranger over an injured friend.

"I don't know if I can take care of both of you." I say, shocked at my own words.

"You have to try. If nothing else, leave me and save her."

I try not to think about the time where I might have to choose between Mason and a little helpless girl. The time where Mason will selflessly shove us away and most likely be killed by or turned into a shadow man. I let the fact that i'm trying not to think about it overtake my thoughts and ironically it turns into the opposite of what I want. I imagine Mason and I running and him falling down. I can't leave the girl alone, but the shadow men are screaming and chasing us faster than I can run, and I don't have time to get Mason. He screams at us to run and is enveloped in shadow before I have time to look back again.

I snap out of my deathly thoughts and look at Mason. "Try and get some sleep Mason." I command. "I'll need you in better shape soon."

"Yes ma'am." He manages playfully.

The little girl watches as Mason arranges himself so that he can sleep comfortably, as I start polishing my sword. After a while she stands up, and walks over to Mason, who opens his eyes into little slits to see her. She sits next to him, and lays her head on his shoulder while snuggling her face into his bare chest. She curls into a ball, and Mason puts his arm around her to keep her warm. This touches me, and I wish I could lay with them and stay warm myself, but I know I have to stay awake and watch for danger.

He's impressive. I think to myself. There aren't many guys I know of that would take a stranger into their arms without hesitation. Especially such a small one.

It's hard not to focus on how good of a father he would be. He is kind to the girl the entire time I sit there. She uncurls completely after a few hours because of his warmth. She has a smile on her face in her sleep, and I can tell she dreams sweetly for the first time in a long while.

I look at the stuffed bear in my hands and wonder about everything it's been through. I wonder if it has seen more monsters in one day than I will see in my entire life.

I study the creature as I wait for the darkness, knowing that I will have to save one of them, and facing it is inevitable.