Together Forever

Chapter 6

I ran outside with Anya in my arms. We were blinded by the afternoon sun, but I kept on running. Knowing now that I could probably make it safely home with her gave me an extra burst of energy. Anya cringed, and I tried to not jostle her as much as I was. I had been so scared of losing her, I had also been so full of anger when I watched Peter hurt her like that. I honestly don't know what I would have done if I had lost her again.

You're going to be okay Anya. You're going to be okay. I thought soothingly to her, trying to comfort her because I knew that she must be in a lot of pain.

Are we going home now?

Yep. We're going home. I held her tighter to my chest as I started to run faster. I saw lots of kids around our age that just watched as I ran by. Seeing a girl that looked familiar I stopped.

"Can you help me?" She looked at Anya and her eyes widened as she seemed to recognize her. "Please, she's hurt, and we need to get home and away from here as soon as possible."

"Follow me," she said after looking at Anya and me one last time. She bolted like a deer in the headlights and I followed, trying to keep up.

She led us down the tree, jumping from limb to limb. I tried my best to keep from hurting Anya. Sadly, it was a lost cause since every single time I jumped and landed on the next branch she fell back into me, hard.

I'm sorry Anya. We're almost there. She groaned in response. I knew that we didn't have much time before Peter and Felix caught up with us. We soon reached the base of the tree and the girl ran around the trunk until she found what she was looking for. There was a big opening in the base that looked like the mouth of a cave.

"Go through there," she said gesturing towards the tree. "You will find platforms that will take you back. I don't know how well she'll survive the trip home but for your sake I hope she will be okay."

"Thank you so much. How can I repay you?"

"Just take her away from here and keep her safe. I will tell you this though, you should worry more about Felix than Peter. He is the one that is behind all of this." Before I could say anything else she took off, back into the tree.

Once she was out of sight I ran into the cavern and went for the platforms. The cave was dark and cold. I could see the glow from where the platforms were up ahead, and I ran faster than I ever had.

Once I had reached the platforms I took a moment to catch my breath. Anya's breathing was not as hard as it had been, but I could still tell that she was in a lot of pain. I looked down at her to see if she was conscience. Her eyes were wide with concern and she would not stop staring at me.

Almost there Anya. Just hang on.

I'm trying Jack. I really am. I kissed her forehead and stepped onto the platform.

"Stop right there!" a voice yelled from behind. I turned and saw Felix glaring at us. "You're not going anywhere Jackson!"

"That's where you're wrong Felix," I said calmly and then I said one word, "Home." and we were heading home but I did not expect Felix to lunge at us.

As Felix tried to attack me, I kept a strong hold of Anya not wanting to lose her. We were soon back at the mansion and both Felix, Anya and I were sprawled out on the front lawn.

Anya? I thought to Anya. Are you okay? She had to be okay, she had to be.

Jack. I can't get up. Where are you? I rushed over to Anya then and gently moved her onto her back.

"I'm right here Anya." I smiled down at her and she smiled up at me. Her eyes widened though, and I knew that Felix was coming.

"Jackson!" he yelled as he was crossing the lawn towards us. "Give me the girl and we will let you live."

I made eye contact with Anya and she nodded knowing what I was going to do.

"Go home Felix. You don't belong here."

"I'm not leaving without her Jackson. If you give her to me now you will not be harmed."

"What do you even want with her?" I asked knowing I needed to distract him long enough.

"I thought that Peter had explained it to you already? Oh well. It makes no difference even if I don't tell you, you'll find out soon enough. Give her to me now Jackson before we both do something we'll regret."

"Never," I said. Well so much for distracting him. I then saw something run past me towards Anya, but it wasn't Felix.

"Anya?" I heard a soothing, familiar voice say.

"Mom?" I asked.

"Hi honey. Do you want me to take it from here, so you can take care of Anya?"

"Yes please." I rushed over to Anya and picked her up. My mom looked at me, nodded and then I ran towards the house.

Jack? Who was that? Anya asked.

My mother. I responded. Anya didn't say anything else.

I then burst into the house and ran for my mother's room. She always kept weapons in her room and it was the safest room in the house. Once in the room, I placed Anya on the bed then locked the door and started to search. Almost as soon as I started searching, I started to find knives, swords, and several other weapons.

"Jack?" I turned around and saw Anya sitting up on the bed staring at me, wide eyed.

"It's alright Anya. I'm staying here," I said, trying to comfort her as I went over to the bed and held her.

"Jack, we need to help your mother," she said quietly. "We can't leave her out there to face Felix by herself. We have to help her." I looked at her and saw her looking up at me. I knew she was right that we couldn't leave my mother.

Getting up, I rushed over to where I had the weapons and started sorting through them till I found the ones I wanted. Anya slowly came over and looked over my shoulder to see what I was doing. She leaned down and picked up a sword that seemed to be balanced well for her.

"You sure you want to do this?" I asked her as I found myself putting another knife in my belt.

"I've never been more sure of anything," she said as she grabbed a bow and a quiver that was full of arrows. Once she was ready and starting to walk towards the door, I gently grabbed her arm to stop her from leaving.

"Please be careful. If anything were to happen to you...I'd never forgive myself. If you don't feel safe, please run okay?" I said with too much emotion in my voice.

"I promise," she whispered. "I promise to be careful, if you promise as well. I can't lose you either Jack. I love you."

"I love you too, Anya. I'm going to protect you." I leaned down to her level and kissed her firmly as if this would be my last time kissing her.