Broken Apart

Chapter 11

I grasped the cold silver harder in my hand, my knuckles turning white. I could barely look at the creature. He confused me, and God knows if he was lying to get me on his side. What exactly was he and why was he saying this? He was a fake and I can say that right off the bat.

"They're alive?" I whispered, not daring to meet his eyes. My hand, still grasped around the whip, was shaking violently.

"Generally speaking, yes." I could hear his claws clicking on something. Lifting my gaze, I looked to the thing. In his one hand, he held the hilt of a sword; with his other hand, he tapped the metal with his hand.

"How...?" I let my voice trail off as I began to coil the whip back up.

"Your parents are safe with us. Come to the Outward Lands, we can give you materials to fight and possibly," he paused to cast his maniacal gaze on me. "win this war."

"We?" I asked. This creature was confusing. Whatever he was, there was more of him. Were they all this vicious?

"We're the Forgotten, Robin. We live out there." he swung his sword around and pointed it to the horizon. The sun was slowly rising, crawling its way up top the piles of rubble. I caught my breath in my throat. There were people out there? Of course, they weren't really people, they were monsters.

"How did you get like that?" my voice shook as I grasped the curled up whip in my palms. The creatures sighed, shifting his hands so the sword blade was pointed down. He pulled his hands into the cloak and sheathed the sword. With one last swift movement, he pushed the hood down from his head, the whole cloak falling with it.

With a gasp, the breath left my lungs voluntarily. This wasn't a man, but it certainly couldn't be a monster either. Along with his soft artic skin and claws, he had horns and war paint adorning his face. The horns were small and ivory, protruding from his temples. Under his eyes were three lines of white chalky paint. His black hair was pulled back into a bun and away from his crimson eyes. He was wearing a extremely dirty tan tank top and baggy olive green pants that didn't quite reach his ankles.

"Don't be scared." He smirked.

"I'm... not. I am just trying to figure out where you came from." I swallowed nervously, taking a step forward. "Do you have a name?" I met his gaze.

"Seke." He stated confidently.

"Does that mean something?" I asked slowly. I didn't want to offend him, I was simply curious.

"It means black." He pulled his sword from the sheath with a sickening squeal. I looked at him quizzically, then cast my gaze toward the motionless bodies of Myra and Astrid. "I'll help you take them back to your camp." That was a bad idea. Taking him back to camp with the unconscious Myra and Astrid, wasn't a smart plan. Seke would just scare all of the bravery out of Ash, Finnick, and Corinna. I couldn't that.

"I don't think that's a good idea." I chuckled, spinning on my heel past Seke and to Myra and Astrid. "Myra?" I shook her body, my hands skimming over her chocolate brown skin. We couldn't afford to loose two of our valuable members and friends.

"She's dead." Croaked Astrid.

"Astrid?" I rose my gaze to her, jerking my quivering hands toward her arm. "She's what?" I asked, feeling a pang in my chest. It felt as if my chest was a door, and someone was knocking viciously on it.

"I'm sorry." Seke appeared, crouched at my side.

"That's what all murders say." My voice cracked as I tried to push back a tear.

"I didn't mean to kill her!" Seke protested, sounding suddenly angry. I heard him get to his feet, but I wouldn't look to see if he did. This man really was a monster.

"Then why in hell did you attack her?" I spat, standing to face him.

"Because I knew I couldn't just stroll into your camp and give the package to you! I wouldn't have come back out of there!" he shouted. I stood there with my mouth open and with tears slowly rolling down my face. I didn't know what to say. What he said was true, we are on high alert with James being kidnapped by Adira and all. I swallowed and nodded, crouching back beside Myra's body.

"Till we reach the end, I will see you again." I whispered, reaching out and sliding my fingers over her eye lids. Her face was free of cinder and ashes, making her look as if she was asleep. But I knew she wasn't.

"Let me." Seke slid his arm underneath Myra's and swung her up into his arms. I stumbled over to Astrid and put my arm on her shoulders, the other grasping her hand.

"Are you okay?" I asked, my eyes scanning her body. Besides her arm, she seemed pretty unscathed. She only nodded, pushing herself up with a groan. Together, we got her to her feet. Seke was standing a few feet away, staring down sadly at Myra's face. I nodded to him slowly, shifting Astrid toward the descend of the steel to the concrete ground.

"Robin!" someone screeched from below.

"Corinna?" I looked at her from under my lashes.

"Oh, god, let me help." She began stumbling up the pile, pulling desperately to reach us. Now that it was bright, we could see where we were stepping. We began our slow decent when Corinna froze in horror.

"That's Seke. I'll explain later." I reached out my arm and spun her back around, giving her a gentle nudge toward the ground. Astrid and I staggered the rest of the way down with Seke on our heels. Finnick sat on a mattress with his head in his hands, Ash was facing outside the hut and Corinna was running toward them frantically. Finnick shot his head up, focusing his eyes on me, then on Seke.

"Get away from her!" Finnick rose angrily, an delapidated axe in his hand.

"It's okay!" I shouted back in a trembling voice. "He's okay."

"Myra?" Ash darted past me and Astrid and to Seke. Corinna came up to me and helped Astrid to a mattress.

"Who is this?" Finnick stormed over to me. "And what's wrong with Myra?" I tried to avoid his questions by crouching and tying my shoes, but he stared at me.

"Seke. Myra is," I froze my hands, not looking at his face but his shoes. "Dead."

"What happened?" he said, his voice dry.

"Seke attacked her." I was cautious with what I was saying now.

"You brought a murderer into our camp?" Finnick hollered.

"He had an idea, and I believe its all the hope we have left."