"Odessa, you have company!" Leila's sing-song voice rang out through the medical center. Odessa popped her head out of her room and took in the two boys standing next to the healer.
"Ah, I'll be right there! Leila, is it really ok if I wear your old clothes?"
Leila laughed. "It's not like I wear them anymore. Hurry up." She turned to the boys. "She's a lot better now, so I think she's ready to eat at the food hall. Would you two be willing to escort her to breakfast? She doesn't know where it is and I'm still a little nervous that she might get disoriented in such an unfamiliar place."
"No problem. We were heading there anyway," Tai nodded as Odessa walked out of her room. She still had bandages on her nose and neck and some cuts and bruises remained, but the facial swelling had receded. She was dressed in normal clothes rather than the healer uniform she had been wearing the previous three days. The clothes were obviously not hers; they were large enough to hang off of her and would have looked comical if it hadn't emphasized how sickly thin she was.
She bowed to the boys. "Thank you for coming to see me. Thank you also for saving my life. I was told that you carried me out of the woods, James, and that you, Tai, gave me blood. I'm very grateful." Her speech was practiced but sincere. Tai shook his head and told her not to worry about it, James looked away, scowling.
"Yeah, you'd better be thankful, you're kind of heavy."
"I'm very sorry you were inconvenienced. Apparently those muscles are just for show?" Odessa deadpanned.
James turned toward her while Tai snickered. "Well I couldn't exactly leave someone to die alone in the woods, could I?"
She raised her eyebrows in a look of mock surprise. "And here I'd heard that gingers didn't have souls."
Leila interrupted before James could reply. "Ok you three, go eat! I have a meeting with the council. Oh, do either of you have plans today?" She asked as they walked toward the door.
Tai answered first. "I have to be at the Woodshop from 11:00 until 5:00."
"I have training at 4:00 this afternoon," James added.
"Then would you mind showing Odessa around the compound before work? She should start learning her way around." The boys nodded and after Odessa bundled up in a thick coat, all three went out into the cold April morning and made their way to the food hall.
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What do you think so far? I look forward to reading your comments. Let me know how I'm doing and vote if you like where this is going!
-Evie
YOU ARE READING
Dark as the Night
Mystery / ThrillerShe doesn't know why she was in the woods, broken and dying. She doesn't remember her past or what happened to her. But because of two boys and a camp full of refugees, she's learning about who she is - possibly for the first time. There could...
