The Angels are Weeping

"Raoul.." Linda reached her arm to the boy, who gently set it down.

"I know, we're going to leave soon," Raoul said to her in a comforting voice.

She shook her head, pointing to their other friend, sleeping peacefully, resting her head on Oliver's lap, who was fighting off sleep.

"She's trying to rest," Linda said, worry evident in her voice. "Shouldn't we wait?"

Raoul hesitated a moment to respond. "..No, we have to leave now. Or else we might never get this chance again."

Oliver yawned, nodding. "I'll wake her up," he said and began to run his fingers through Victoria's hair.

The younger girl mumbled something before looking up at Oliver. "What's wrong..?"

"We're leaving," he answered.

"Now," Linda interrupted. "Get your stuff together because we have to go."

"Oh.." Victoria slowly sat up, taking a bag sitting beside her. "Sorry about that, I forgot it was today.."

"No worries. As long as you're up and ready to go, we're safe."

Raoul took one last look around the room he had shared with the other three for what seemed like forever. It was the four of them, only the four of them, and nobody else to help. They didn't want that. In this way of life, you couldn't trust anyone. There were times that Raoul suspected one of his friends to be untrustworthy, but he didn't believe it. There was no way his friends would turn against him, and he'd never turn against them.

With each of them carrying a small bag of supplies, Raoul quietly opened the door of their small home. The sky was dark, depressing, cold air surrounded them, not much different from a normal afternoon in the empire. The sun, the gardens, all of nature's beauty seemed like a distant memory to them. One they would never see again. The entire land was lifeless, drab, plain, nothing like the characteristics it used to exhibit. Nobody wanted to be there. However, the emperor refused to let anybody escape. Only very few people have made it, while others were imprisoned for eternity or executed. This journey wasn't going to be easy.

As anxious as Raoul was, he didn't want to suffer anymore. Nobody deserved to be kept like this. The king ignored all complaints and didn't allow any form of protest. All participants would have been executed immediately.

"How is it?" Linda asked in a quiet voice.

"Fine.." Raoul examined the empty landscape, "We're good. We can go now."