When the Sun Cries

Chapter Seven

The sun had started to set when the town could hardly be seen in the horizon. Shadows slowly stretched over the dirt path that they had been subjected to and draped themselves over the trees, giving the forest a dark sense of unease.

The sky was a beautiful mixture of blues, yellows and oranges, colours that Grace had never seen before. Those colours kept her from complete boredom and distracted her from the burning in her legs as they continued to walk.

Katherine insisted they stay hidden in the forest with the dense shield of trees that sheltered them and make a large horse shoe shape around the house, circling to town, where Emili and Alsiah would be.

Grace had reluctantly put Jace down beside her within the first few hours due to her muscles that had started to throb as a sticky sweat ran down her neck and forced the short, curly hairs stick to her skin. Even with the strong odor wafting into their nostrils, Jace was persistant about holding her hand, his finger nails digging into her palm painfully and nearly breaking the first layer of skin. Birds chirped happily in the trees and squirrels hungrily gnawed on acorns, but the blissful sounds of the nature surrounding them hadn't been heard until the final hours of their walk, when Jace's painful sobs finally dulled down to the occasional whimper or sniffle. "Are we almost there?" Jace's small voice peirced through the silence and Grace immediately noticed his exhaustion by his hunched shoulders, drooped facial features and the frequency in which he tripped over every rock and root that appeared on their path.
       "Almost. Another mile or two and then we can rest," Katherine smiled reassuringly at them both, although Grace couldn't find the strength to return it.

Just after they had left, Grace's childhood home had been engulfed in flames and burned wood had littered the ground, mixing in with the newly black stained grass and leaves. The smell of thick smoke and debrise was overwhelming and made Grace's eyes water, although she doubted the tears had only been caused by the large cloud of smoke. She could see the light that the large flames projected through the thick line of trees and Katherine had noticed it shortly after as well, both of them staring with expressionless faces.

The books that she had collected and hoarded over the years, gone. The television, bed sheets, Alsiah's stool, all victims to the fire that the special department had caused.

Both women had failed to inform Jace that after his brother died, he had been taken back out of the car and thrown in with the lighter. They didn't procrastinate long enough to smell Connor's body burn as the light covered him, the flames filling his ears and nostrils.
      "We're here," Katherine put a hand out to the side, stopping Grace from walking out of the forest and into the open, where the flies and mosquitoes would be unable follow her. "Don't go out yet. How about we wait until the moon comes up, okay? It'll help us stay concealed in the shadows and the guards won't see us as clearly."

Grace bit her lip before nodding. Katherine was right, but she couldn't shake the feeling that they had to keep moving. It was making her palms sweat and her eyes nervously dart across the area around her, taking in the light shiver of smaller branches and leaves as the cold air of dusk created a subtle shiver down her spine.
     "Come on, Jace. You look like you're about to tumble back down the path and we don't want that," Grace laughed softly before scooping his small body in her arms and carrying him over to the closest tree trunk.

His eyes were heavy and glazed over slightly. With every passing second, it became harder for him to resist the unconsciousness that was attempting to pull him under. Rain drops started to patter against the roof of leaves directly above them. It started as a small drizzle, but turned into a heavy downpour just as suddenly as it had started.
       "You and Jace need this more than I do," Katherine struggled to pull off her jacket and she immediately handed it to Grace. "I can take first watch. The rain is going to get through the branches and leaves at some point, so just try to stay dry."

Grace layed down and put Jace in between her arm and side. He leaned in towards her, his thumb wedged between his lips and front teeth. Trying not to disturb him, she put the jacket over his shivering body as if it were a blanket and then shoved her freezing hands inside of one of the sleeves that had fallen off him.

Katherine perched herself on top of a large boulder that had been broken in half, the fraction that had broken off had been turned to small rocks that were covered in moss and dirt. Through the branches, she could see the town which was only another few hundred metres away. Street lights had turned on and illuminated the streets as men and women scurried into their homes and away from the cold.

Grace rested her chin on Jace's small head and closed her eyes, finally realizing how tired she was. Jace had already started snoring slowly as his chest began to rise and fall rhythmically.

.

She was yanked out of her deep sleep by a gentle shaking of her shoulder. The moon was high in the sky and the blue light leaked through the transparent leaves and onto the forest floor, creating oddly distorted shadows.

Katherine looked exhausted. Dark circles were underneath her eyes and her hair had come out of the bun she had fallen asleep with the previous night. Although it seemed as if her small home in the middle of nowhere had never existed. It had only been one night, and so much had already changed in her life.
       Katherine stopped shaking Grace when her eyes peeled open slightly, "Good, you're awake." She knotted her fingers together in front of her stomach and sighed. "It's time."