Nyxie Pyro

Chapter 8

After Tammy, Ricky, and Luna left for some Cheetos, I shut the door behind me and laid back on the dusty bed. I took a deep breathe and my stomach rumbled painfully. I think Ricky and Tammy's appetites were rubbing off on me. I hopped off of the bed and grabbed my back pack out of the corner. I slipped my dirty shoes off and threw them into my pile. I melted into the carpet beneath my toes, and I pulled some snacks out of the bag, threw the bag back, and sprang back onto the bed. I started eating on a protein bar, but I was still very bored. I looked around the room for something to do, but found nothing. I didn't want to take a shower yet, there was no tv or books anywhere in the room, and I hadn't really packed any hobby type stuff. I took another bite of my protein bar. I guess I never really had enough time for a hobby. Besides reading. I had learned to read and write before I got pulled out of school. I liked to read all sorts of books. If I ever did have time to spend back in Lynn, i was in the resale shop, reading the books on the shelf. But I never had money to buy any.
At that thought I jumped off of the bed, finished my protein bar, threw away the wrapper, and slipped my shoes on and walked out of the door. I was gonna hunt for a library or a book store. I walked down the old wood floor hall and turned the corner to find a little girl, probably about nine, with dark brown skin and beautiful black hair, and flowers sprinkled through her hair,  frozen in the middle of the room, like a deer caught in headlights.
"Who are you?" I asked, calmly as to not scare her, but my words apparently had the opposite affect.
The girl spun around on her heel and darted out of the door. "Wait!" I yelled.
I took off after her and down the street, trying to catch up. At one point I was getting annoyed and sped up, but so did the small girl. Eventually I started walking and realized I had reached the trees on the other side of the small town.
I put my hands on my knees and bent over, trying to catch my breathe. After a minute or two of resting, when my breathing was back to normal, I started walking in the direction the girl had ran. As I walked slowly over the dead leaves, they crunched in the near silence and I heard an odd noise, like metal in metal. I turned and walked toward where the strange sound had come from and came out into a clearing in the woods. The sky was blue and the sun was almost setting. It was about dinner time. Laid out in front of me, in the dirt, was a massive Ferris wheel. The ride looked old and rusty, but had a nice charm. Each of the carts were bright yellow, contrasting against the green trees. After I took in everything, I saw a small figure huddled in a cart, a couple yards off of the ground. I walked forward and started climbing. Slowly and surely I pulled myself up into a cart, diagonal of the girl. Her breathing was rapid, huddled in the corner of her cart, her eyes wide.
"It's alright." I said
"I'm not going to hurt you."
I tried to calm her by talking, but she seemed unfazed by my attempts.
"You seem a little scared. How about you ask me a question about me, and I ask one about you?"
She still looked scared, but she seemed to consider my offer. After a couple minutes of silence, she finally spoke.
"How old are you?" She asked in a whisper.
I smiled, happy for her cooperation.
"I'm fourteen. Almost fifteen."
Now that I thought about it, my birthday had to be in a couple of weeks.
She smiled weakly at me.
"I'm twelve." She whispered again.
Her voice was very childish, though she looked scared now, she did look brave, at least brave enough to talk to the strange girl who chased her into the woods. That was probably not the best idea.
"I'm sorry I chased y-"
"Questions for now, only."
"Alright." I agreed, after all, I had to listen to my own terms.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Azalea" (az-ail-ē-uh)
"Does it mean something?"
"It's not your turn."
I laughed at her response.
"Ok, fine. You ask me a question Azalea."
She looked taken aback by my use of her name. As if she had never heard it upon another lips. I wondered where her parents were, if she had parents.
"What's your name?"
"Nyxie Pyro."
She nodded her head, as if in approval.
"Is your name special or is it just a name?"
"It's a flower actually. That's what is in my hair."
She tucked her hair behind her ear and pulled a flower from her hair.
She stood up in her cart, and bravely swung her way towards me and the cart stayed perfectly still. I knew kids had always been fond of me but I didn't know what had made the girl so quickly fond of me. She tucked the flower into my hair and walked to the other side of the cart, still weary but kind.
"Thank you." This time she didn't correct my words into our game.
"Is your name special or is it just a name?" She asked. I laughed and shrugged my shoulders at the question, and the cart rocked.
"I don't actually know, all my foster parents told me was that my mother picked a meaningless name for a meaningless girl."
She girls face soured.
"Can I ask another question?"
"Sure."
"Are your foster parents here? How did you get here? Do you know the other people who live here?"
"That's actually three questions, but I'll answer them anyway. No my foster parents aren't here, me and my friends ran away from our old town, which also answers the second question. And I don't know them well. I've only seen them a couple of times."
She nodded her head as if agreeing with me.
After realising that she was done I decided on another question.
"Where are your parents?"
She girl looked at her feet, tucked under her on the metal bench.
"You don't have to answer." I said, trying to not break the tiny bond we had made.
"No. It's fine.... My parents died when I was 8. We used to live here together, before everyone left."
With her last words a dozen more questions popped into my brain, eager to voice themselves.
"I'm sorry."
She shrugged.
"I had to move on. When everyone left, I refused to leave. I just felt like I would be leaving my parents if I left. So I've been here for a while. About 4 years alone. It's been ok though, I've made friends with the animals in the woods."
I raised my eyebrows, now wondering how sane she was after talking to animals for four years.
"No!" She said laughing at my expression.
"I know animals don't talk or anything, I just feed the birds and play with the strays."
Her face grew grim, her eyes zoned out as if she was far away.
"I used to have a dog, I would play with her everyday, but then someone took her away into the Outlands."
It grew silent and I noticed the setting sun, it was time to head back.
"Where do you live?"
"In town, I live in one of the shops, in an office.
I made it into a room with a bed and everything."
Her sad expression from her dog disappeared and we started climbing down the ride. This was the first time I was able to ride a Ferris wheel. I smiled and planted my foot onto the ground and hopped down. The girl walked away into the woods, and I followed, absolutely lost. The girl spun around confused.
"Where are you going?"
"Back to the hotel."
She started laughing. I didn't get what was funny.
The pointed into the opposite direction.
"That's where the hotel is."
I sighed and laughed. I waved goodbye and walked back to the hotel.
I wondered where Azalea was going as I walked back in the sunset sun.