Forget Me Not

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

“Robonna, what do you mean? What is it? Where is everyone? Why were they holding guns? Why won’t you tell me!?” I exclaimed in horror, my eyes checking the sky every few seconds to see if the bursts were there any longer or if more were coming. No clues welcomed me, which was quite frustrating.

“I know this must be confusing, but I can’t tell you yet. We don’t have enough time to have this conversation even. What we need to do is go back to your home, which will take a bit of time due to our traveling methods.” She responded as her hand suddenly clutched my own in a painfully secure manner. I didn’t cry out, although I wanted to, rather I ran behind her as she trudged through the mucky land. The grass and soil was still soggy from the previous rain storm.

“Robonna, why are we in so much grass? Shouldn’t we have hit a road by now?”

“I told you, it would take a long time to get back. The troops set out already and are making their way through towns to search.”

“Search what?” I narrowed my eyes, trying desperately to see Robonna’s features. I couldn’t tell if she were angry or just calm. Her voice didn’t clarify which one.

“Search the houses for men.”

“Men? Robonna, this isn’t making any sense. You aren’t making any sense, just tell me what’s going on!”

“You know how we had Nuada in a secret room? The same thing happened in many houses all around. We are trying to get the ones who are in the general area to help with the mission. Don’t ask me about that now, you should have already read the paper. No more questions until this is all over, okay?” She wasn’t much asking, it was more of a demand. Her fingers tightened further and her stride lengthened. I could barely keep up as is and now I was just being dragged along like a piece of trash.

She didn’t stop to see if I was okay, or okay with what was to happen in the time that spanned from now, until this was ‘all over’. I barely comprehended what it meant, but somewhere deep inside I knew exactly what we were running to do.

Eventually enough light filtered into my eyes for me to see the land around us. Robonna didn’t look like typical Robonna. Her face was etched with such a deep emotion of hatred that it scared me. The world around me was a shifting with each step we took. Instead of the muddy grass squishing around my feet it turned into open subdivisions that made my shoes squeak and both of our patience decrease.

“Robonna, are we nearly there? You may be able to keep up with the running, but my body can’t. I’m a mere human, please.” I begged, feeling the organs in my body fight against every miserable step I took.

“Yes, we’re almost there.” She said in return, sounding rather dull and unamused.

I sighed and continued to run with one arm out in front of my like a rope strung between the two of us. My legs felt like mush, but I pushed through. The numbness was a nice plus that made the whole thing scarcely bearable.

Finally, after much too long a time, we ended up stopping in front of my once home. The area didn’t look like a warzone, but I could hear the loud march of men and robot in the back of my mind.

“What-“

“Go inside. Follow the plan. #2.” Then she opened the door and pushed me inside, slamming it shut behind me.

I stumbled over the welcome rug and wobbly stood upon my weak feet. I heard Robonna’s feet slip off the front steps in a quick fleeing manner. I gulped in a large breath, looking around the silent house. I couldn’t hear Kieran and doubted greatly that she hadn’t heard me.

“Kieran?” I called out softly, trying not to sound scared or weak, but I didn’t think I did very well.  I gulped in a large breath, looking around the silent house. I couldn’t hear Kieran and doubted greatly that she hadn’t heard me.

“Kieran?” I called out softly, trying not to sound scared or weak, but I didn’t think I did very well. There was no response at all. The house stayed enveloped in the eerie silence. It was resistant to leave, but I was determined to break it.

“Kieran!” I called out once more, projecting my voice further more. If I didn’t get my courage up now how would I help Runda and Nuada and all of them? They would die without me and they would die because of me as well.

“Oh, hello, sweetheart. How are you? Have you heard?” She said as she haughtily clomped down the stairs. Her hands slid down the banister slowly and I finally saw her for her true nature.

“I’m fine and what are you talking about? It’s just a normal day, correct?” I doubted I looked intimidating, but I tried my very best to play along with her taunting games.

“A normal day? Oh, sweetie, what a naïve way to look at things.” She chuckled, getting down to level ground so that she was only a few inches taller than me rather than a few feet. I would have preferred the feet though, it was better than looking at her face to face.

As she neared I held my ground, which surprised the both of us. She stopped to stand behind the couch, her hands resting on the back end. By chance, or maybe just her cruel nature, it had been the exact place where I sat the night before. Her nails, which I could tell were painted with a deep and dark hue, swept across the material slowly, as if she were testing out the cloth. Then she just looked to me simply.

My hands were balled to tight fists, eyes staring directly into hers. I wasn’t going to let up and neither was she.

“What’s so wrong? I see nothing of concern.” I said naturally. I was getting better at this acting stuff, too bad no one uses it for anything of use, just to trick loved ones and strangers.

“Well, I’m surprised. You’ve been out for so long. I would have guessed you had a front row seat.”

There was no doubting she knew now, it was just the guessing of how much she knew.

“Oh, that? Do you want me to show you my seat, mother? I think you’ll like it.” I used the term loosely in an attempt to persuade her to follow me. My plan was to lock her in the basement, since I guessed Runda and Nuada were far gone by now.

She looked to me for a long time. Her eyes had swept from my head to my toes in concern and curiosity. After a while she finally spoke, and the words she said were exactly what I wanted to hear. “Alright, lead me.”

I smiled slightly and did as so, heading towards the basement door. Her clicking heels followed close behind me as if they were my own two feet, falling into the same step as my uncoordinated pit-patters. I tried to keep my back straight so that there was nothing for her to comment on. When I was smaller she would always critique me on everything. Every day it was something new that she disliked or hated about how I held myself, how I walked, how I talked. It had been exhausting to say the least.

Once to do the door I opened it up and turned to her, waiting for her to enter first. She gave me another quizzical glance before stepping carefully from step to step. Her head never looked down, just looked up to the wall that was slowly welcoming her. The wall that would rise and trap her in her own demise.

“You do realize that this basement has no view of anything, right?” She said before turning towards me. I had just landed upon the basement floor and was now holding onto the banister for some substantial feeling of strength.

“This exact space has no value, I will say that, but what’s behind is so much more important.” I smiled faintly, passing Kieran to get to the far corner of the room. Once there I found the hidden switch and let it rise to expose the long path hidden behind. When I turned, Kieran looked past me in shock, her eyes flicking from the rising wall to the dark hall to me.

It was quite comical and I wished I could watch her fluster for longer, but I knew that I had to get all of this done.

“Come on. The view is waiting.”

She quickly ran into the dark and squishy path, slipping a few times from her speed and the unknown filth that hid underneath. I watched carefully, wondering if I should follow just in case, but decided against it. She had decided to follow the path I gave to her, so why hold her hand on the way?