Off Planet (Asterism Chronicles Volume One)

Chapter 12

"How could you!" I screamed at my dad.

"I thought you would be happy." He said monotonous, no facial expression.

"How could I be?" I screamed as he walked away into the darkness, waving as he left. "Why?!"

"Rae! Wake up, Rae!" Someone shouted as I was shaken.

I sat up quickly hitting my head on something hard. I grabbed my head as the thing I hit my head on jumped back.

"Oww!" Jack said grabbing his head as well.

"Sorry." I jumped up, regretted it as my side throbbed.

"You were crying. I thought it was your side."

"It was just a dream."

Jack rubbed his head and helped me walk into the kitchen. I grabbed the jacket he gave me and placed it over my shoulders. It was getting cold again.

"I think it will rain today." Jack said pulling another jacket out of the cabinet. Still rubbing his head.

"Last time you told me that, it didn't." I said mockingly, as I sat on a stool near Jack.

"Oh ha ha." He said sarcastically. "Lift up your shirt. I need to replace the gauze."

I lifted my shirt and helped him peel off the tape to remove the cloth. The hole was no longer bleeding but was still sore to the touch. Jack placed the new gauze back onto my wound and taped it again as I sat there. It was cloudy outside, and windy.

"Jun isn't coming for another week, but we can't leave Eskran again. You're too injured and we can't risk the cops finding us."

"I'm not too injured." I said as I jokingly pushed him. "But I agree, they may try to find us now."

"Well we can explore here. But the people don't really like that. Or we can also go to Martha's. I have a lot of paper, we can also draw, since we have a lot of time to kill."

"If Alex is awake, let's play with him." I said already walking out the house.

"Sounds good."

We went to Martha's only to be rejected. "Sorry, he's asleep. He stayed up all night telling me all about how his new friends will be like."

We left her front step to go back to ours.

"Looks like we could draw." I said as Jack pulled out a box of blank paper and pencils.

"I would spend most of my time drawing when I was alone. I got pretty good at it."

"It's amazing." I told him as he tried to hide his prideful smile.

"What about you, Rae? Can you draw?"

"Some, it takes me a while but I can draw cartoons."

We sat there drawing for a while, not talking to each other when I noticed he kept looking up at me. I pretended not to notice, but couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Why do you keep looking at me?" I smiled as he lifted up the paper.

"I was drawing you."

My eyes widened at how realistic it looked. My face was skinnier than it had been when my dad left and my cheekbones were more prominent. My neck looked small, as did my shoulders in this jacket that was too big.

"This is amazing." I told him as I looked at it more.

"Thank you. You've lost a lot of weight since I first saw you. But you still look as beautiful." He said looking down , embarrassed to have told me it.

"Thank you." I told him, slightly embarrassed to hear it, "all I ate in the jail was fruit, and since we got out I've pretty much drank broth."

"We need to get you something to eat." Jack stood up and grabbed a couple credits. "There is a stand down the street that has some good food, considering where it is."

"I thought you said we can't leave Eskran?"

"We aren't. People here start up their own businesses sometimes. They usually last a couple weeks though. This place has been here for a while."

"Okay." I said wondering what they will have.

We walked to the opposite end of the small city on the outskirts to see a small cart selling meat. After we had walked the hour to get here my stomach was growling again, as it had for a lot of the days I've been here. Jack handed the guy the credits and was handed two sticks with meat stuck on it. We said thanks and started eating. It was tender and melted in my mouth. Jack laughed a me as I closed my eyes because of the taste.

"What?" I said my mouth full of food, "It's good."

As we made our way back it started to rain. We had only walked about a third of the way before it started to pour.

We got back to the house drenched, and picked up the papers so they wouldn't get wet. The hole in the roof let water inside, causing the couch to become soaked.

"Go get changed." Jack said as he placed the box in a cabinet so the papers wouldn't get wet.

I nodded and made my way to the bedroom. I pulled out a pair of clothing that seemed warm and put them on. I grabbed the wet clothes and brought them back out with me.

"Bring the wet ones here." Jack said as I opened the door.

On the broken stove Jack had set up a fire again. Same as when he cooked the eggs. He grabbed the wet clothes and hung them up around the fire to dry.

"Stay in the kitchen, it will warm up. You can't get sick." He told me as he pulled off his wet jacket and hung it up.

As he got changed I sat down on the floor wondering what the next day would bring. As I did so I fell asleep.