The Trace of Stars

Episode 3: Witness

The storm felt as if it lasted for ages.

    When it finally ended, the clouds still blurred the sky. It drizzled, nature's way of making sure we were wet. My eyelids felt like weights threatening to close hard and never open. The wall wasn't in sight; or any form of land, for that matter.

    Eden had fallen asleep when the storm passed. His ragged breathing accompanied the sound of the swaying sea.

    While our backs were to Eden, I leaned into Seth, watching the bright spot on the horizon grow. Water dripped off of his blond hair and ran down his jacket. Conflicted, his eyes darted to me. In response, I tried my best to smile, despite the circumstances. He grinned half-heartedly.

    "Are you worried about something?" I asked genuinely.

    He hesitated before answering.

    "It's been too long since we've seen each other," he said. "There's so much I need to tell you."

    "I have time," I replied, shifting my weight so I could look at him better.

    He took my hand and closed his eyes, then sighed as if that helped him.

    "When I got here, I was being chased almost immediately. I figured out how to hide from them quickly, but it was hard by myself. All I really knew was having you, but you weren't with me," he started.

    He let his eyes search mine, wincing in pain from the memory. Before continuing his story, he pulled me into his chest.

    "Eventually this guy, Jonathan, invited me to stay with him. Guess what?" He was abruptly excited as the sudden question hung in the air.

    "What?" I grinned at his enthusiasm.

    "It was your brother. I told you I'd find your family and I did. Soon, he managed to find Adria too, and she lived with us. Then they discovered us."

    His conflicting expression returned, which resulted in my heart sinking. I had thought about what happened to Jonathan while him and Adria were separated -- none of the scenarios were good.

    "I don't know how. We were really careful not to expose the fact that I was there. They came and dragged us out of the building. Thankfully Adria was okay, but Jonathan and I..."

    His voice trailed off. After a moment, he seemed to remember that he was talking, and resumed his story.

    "They separated us. For some reason, they took interest in me and made me a soldier. I stayed at the prison, but I didn't have too much authority. I was always under supervision. I didn't know where Jonathan was for a long time. When I finally saw him, it was because they wanted to show me how the Antipode worked; that's the torturing device. So they... They did. They tortured him in front of me.

    "I wanted to protect him, Rowin, I really did. I tried to make them stop, but they literally held me back and forced me to witness a stupid little black ring nearly kill him. He looked terrified as soon as I walked into the room to watch him. We looked at each other through the glass and they shoved the thing on his thumb-- he began screaming. It was hours upon hours of him sounding like he was dying.

    "Do you know the worst part?" he asked, his voice now a pained whisper.

    I shook my head slightly, my wide eyes mirroring his.

    "I was begging them to just kill him, if that was their plan."

    He said the words so quietly I could hardly hear them. His voice broke, but he kept going, holding my fingers tighter. My head pounded.

    "We were friends. I didn't want him to die. I didn't, I promise. But they were torturing him. It was worse than watching someone just die instantly. They never took it to the point of killing him. They did this for seven days, and after each time they let me see him. He just kept getting worse until he couldn't even speak to me.

    "On the last day, they finally left us by ourselves. I thought he was dead when I walked in, but thankfully he wasn't. I'm sure God saved him from dying. I prayed for him, for them to stop and for him to be out of the prison. The next day, he was gone. I was alone, and, honestly, angry.

    "One girl, Missy, hated me. She was one of the people who made me watch him and was constantly onto me about everything. She was the one that told us to get in the boat, so I was skeptical. For some reason, she told me to do something really strange yesterday, which I think contributed to blowing up the prison. I have no idea who she is, only that I had to do what she said or I'd get punished."

    "What about Eden?"

    "He came in about a day before the catastrophe happened. He seemed to know me, so I tried to make sure he was safe. Obviously I... I didn't." He swallowed hard, glancing at me momentarily. "I don't think they hurt him as badly as Jonathan...Maybe he's okay."

    We sat in silence as I took in his words. He still looked upset, but I didn't know what to do. I refused to think of the image of Seth being forced to watch Jonathan losing his mind.

    "You're still a good person, Seth," I said. He put his arm around me, holding me close to him once again.

    "The only reason I'm alive right now is because God kept me safe," he sighed. "He's protecting you, too."

    I grinned a little. Him and Lincoln's belief still confused me. After all that had happened, how could they not blame God? They were still positive that God was working for their benefit. I admired them for that, even if I doubted.

    "I'm going to teach you about what I know of God sometime," he stated thoughtfully.

    "I'd like that," I replied. At that point, my heart was in so many different places, I was willing to try anything.

    A loud thump came from the bottom of the boat. We both jumped and looked down simultaneously. Seth instinctively grabbed Eden and myself. He looked into my eyes, panicked, right before the boat was jerked out from beneath us and the three of us were pulled into the ocean.

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(a/n)

OKAY BUT SETH 😭😍

Anyway, hope you enjoyed that little backstory. (: Most of that was what happened during the 4 months Rowin and Seth were separated, btw.

God is good. (:

-Abigail

{March 26, 2017}

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