Secrets

Chapter 10

Running. Through the dark and dreary forest. We must get somewhere safe. I can't let anything happen to Kai. We soon come to a clearing in the brush of trees.
"Let's set up camp here."
"Okay."
"Look around for firewood."
"Okay."
We search around the area for small twigs and sticks. In around five minutes time we gather back together and put our finding in a pile. I take some matches from my pocket and set the sticks ablaze.
We sit by the fire in silence. Neither of us knowing what to say. Across the fire sits Kai, his chiseled features illuminated by the light. There are so many things I want to say to him. None of them dare to leave my mind. His deep velvet voice breaks me from my thoughts.
"What-what happened back there?"
"It's a long and complicated story."
"Well it seems we've got time."
"Trust me. It's more than you can handle."
"Try me."
I looked into his eyes and there was something about them that just pulled me in and calmed me. They were eyes I could trust. I turned my head to my hands in an attempt to build courage.
"When I was seven, my mother was murdered by a terrible man. The night she died she told me to leave, that I needed to run as fast as I could. I-I tried to run, I tried to escape, but he found me and forced me to be his prisoner. I tried to escape but he always found me. Soon he started to train me, to be like him. I didn't want to but, if I didn't there would be consequences."
I tried to keep my feelings inside for so long. I tried to be strong, for my mother. But here, in this moment, everything came at once. Tears welled up in my eyes and rolled down and off my face. It was like an endless stream. Before I could tell what was happening, I felt two strong arms around me, holding me close. I was stunned, I hadn't felt affection since my mother. His voice came in a low whisper, close to my ear.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."
"It's alright. I had to tell you at some point."
"What-what did he do to you?
"What?"
"What were the...consequences?"
"Usually beatings. Sometimes he would be harsher depending on what I had done."
"No one should have to live like that."
"I'm used to it by now."
"Used to it. You shouldn't have to be used to it."
"Look it's in the past now."
"So he doesn't beat you anymore?"
My silence answers his question. And his arms wrap tighter around me.
"So what did he make you do?"
This is the question I feared. He won't trust me if I tell him. He'll be scared to be near me. He'll never view me the same. But I can't lie. Not anymore.
"Kill. He made me kill."