Eyes Of the Lost

6- Journey Home

I blink. "What do you mean? How much do you know?"
Ethan laughs unexpectedly. "Probably more than you do."
I scowl. "How? What do you need me for anyways?"
Ethan frowns for a moment, thinking. "I can't tell you. Not now."
I'm fuming now, staring into his deep and colorful eyes.
"How did you know about my powers? How did I not know about them myself until now?" I ask aloud, without really meaning to.
Ethan shakes his head and sighs. "Kid, you've got a lot to learn."
I want to stand up, pull him by the collar and force him to the truck bed. I want to tell and scream at him, force out all of the things he knows about me. Stop it. You need to calm down.
"What do you mean kid? We're the same age, you can't ju-"
"Wrong." He stops me as he reaches over to a corner of the truck, grabing a weird glass contraption. "Your 16. I'm 19. Big difference." Ethan mutters as he lights something on fire inside of the glass. Suddenly there is light, bright and soothing from the container.
"What is that?" I can't help but ask as I look up at Ethan. I can see his face a lot clearer now. He has a bit of stubble above his top lip, his light skin complementing his brown hair. I hadn't realised it before in all the chaos, but he has fading freckles sprinkled sparingly along his cheeks, much like I do. They don't seem to be as fierce and noticeable as Jack's, and I can barely notice them in the flame. His eyelashes are dark and thick for a boy, and his eyes are the most deep shade of purple I've ever seen. More beautiful and striking than any grape or flower.
"Oh, this?" He asks, pointing to the glass box that is now in the center of the truck floor. He doesn't wait for my response. "Its a lantern, I doubt you've seen one before."
I shake my head. He's right. Why is he always right about me?
"But that isn't important right now." Ethan says, sighing.
"What is important is getting you home and settled in."
"What about Samantha?" I burst suddenly. "We cant just leave her out there, she's going to bleed out. I heard her screams, she has to be out there!"
Ethan shakes his head to himself and stares at the flame in the lantern. Its dancing around, so breathtaking yet so dangerous. It taunts us as it twirls around in the wind.
"Listen."
I look up from my thoughts, staring at the boy until I blush.
"I saw all that blood. I heard those screams... I just..." He pauses and sighs. I can almost swear I can see his bottom lip quiver in the dim light.
"A rescue team is setting out in the morning, okay? They are going to search for her."
I can tell he's upset. I choose my words very carefully.
"Did you know... That there were Howlights out in those woods?"
He looks up, his face stone, expresionless.
"No. No, I didn't. None of us did."
There's a quiet pause. No noise but the sound of tire wheels over sticks and branches, stones and mud.
"You see, we had it all planned out. We knew exactly where to go, what to do, how to do it. We've been planning this for years, and yet we still find some way to screw it all up. The Howlights live in a section of these woods, but they are miles away where bigger game is, and where more dangerous things are. None of us know or understand why they would of came here... We've been scavenging these areas for longer than I can remember."
Ethan shakes his head for a moment and stands up with ease. For a minute I think he's about to jump out of the truck, but he steadies himself. He goes over to the front and reaches in a window. Out he pulls a couple blankets and a medkit.
"We'll be home by sunrise, but we still need sleep," Ethan says as he sits back down, supplies in tow.
"Unfortunately its a full truck up there, so we both have to sleep out here."
Ethan lays out a small blanket and a bedroll for me, and puts his things to the opposite end. He also sets down the first-aid kit as he begins to open it up.
"Come lie down over here, I need to change your bandages. It looks like you've opened them up again," he sighs.
I look down at my bandaged body and realize he's right. I almost forgot I was injured, but now that I remember my body aches all over again with a nauseating pain.
I doubt myself in my ability to stand, so I simply crawl over and lie on top of the bedroll. Ethan begins lifting my shirt to examine the wounds, and I jolt up in surprise at how tender my wounds are.
He unwraps the old and bloody bandages and I nearly pass out again at the sight of bright and new blood falling down my skin like a waterfall.
Ethan pulls out towels and a water bottle and begins cleaning off my scars, the cool water making me light headed. As he finishes up I spot Ethan pull another bottle out of the medkit, but I can't tell what it is.
"Now, I'm going to give you a brief warning. And don't worry, it's okay to scream," Ethan says as he pours the liquid onto a cloth,"but this is going to hurt like a bitch."
I screech out in unbelievable pain as he pushes the disinfectant into my wounds. It burns like a thousand fires running through my body and down my throat and through my eyes. I curse out louder than a howling savage dog.
Finally, the pain dims as he puts the cloth down and pulls out fresh bandages. I feel like I can barely talk, my breath gone for an eternity as he wraps me in the salve.
"See?" Ethan laughs, "That wasn't that bad!"
I shake my head as he finishes and puts my shirt back down. I feel a headache push its way into the back of my mind as Ethan sits back on his own bedroll.
I stare up at the tree tops, the bright colored leaves dancing as the truck rushes by. I can see a bit of the sky peeking out of the leaves, purple and black and white. The breathtaking stars stare down at me. The stars we abandoned long ago. The stars we gave up on. The stars that lull me off into sleep.