The Hidden Orphan (The Chronicles of Mistar - Book 2)

Eleven · · · Dusk

Infirmary, Blood Valley, Opa

DUSK WOKE TO THE SOUND OF SQUEALING WHEELS and tapping on his knee. It felt like a pattern in music. A song.

Opening his eyes, he saw that he had somehow kicked off his blankets though when he shifted a searing pain almost made him want to roar in response. Whoever was tapping his knee must not have cared that he had moved since he probably moved a lot in his sleep. They tapped, not bothering to look up at his face.

Dusk squinted his eyes through the light of the room, noticing that the person tapping his leg was Ashen. She looked just like she did the night he got shot, except her clothes were now white, probably given to her by the nurse's that crowded the infirmary. It only made Dusk wonder if she had ever gone home and how long he must have been asleep. When he looked to her face, her lips looked as if she was whistling though no sound came out of her mouth. He then realized that she was pretending to whistle the tune that she was tapping on his knee.

"What song is that?" Dusk asked, startling Ash. She pulled her hand back as if his skin burned her fingers tips. When she realized that Dusk was now awake, she set her hand on her lap and smiled.

She gulped before saying, "What?"

Dusk chuckled though it hurt. "What song is that? The one you were tapping on my knee and the one you were pretending to whistle."

Ash pulled a strip of long black hair behind her ear as she bit her lip. Dusk watched her shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know," she finally replied. "It's one of those songs you kinda just... know. Like a song you've heard since you can remember but you don't remember where from. It's most likely from a story my mother or father told me a long time ago."

"Can you sing it to me?"

Ash looked up at Dusk, surprised. "Me? No, no. I can't sing. If I could, I wouldn't know the words."

Dusk only doubted the first words that had come out of her mouth. "Can you hum it to me then? You have me interested and I would like to hear this song of yours. It sounds... beautiful."

"You haven't even heard it yet!" Ash laughed.

Dusk looked into her red-orange eyes, flickering like a flame. "Please," he asked fiercely.

Taking a breath, Ash finally said, "Fine." And then she started to hum. It was beautiful, just as Dusk predicted. From the way she hummed, Dusk knew she had been lying. Ash could definitely sing. Ash was right about one thing though. It was a song Dusk knew, but he couldn't lay a finger on what it was. Dusk even found himself humming along with her, following every note exactly, though his humming and singing skills weren't very good.

When the song ended, Ashen looked up at him, licking her lips. They sat there for a few minutes, awkward silence filling the air.

Clearing his throat, Dusk looked around the room. "Where's Cadi?"

"In the room over," Ash replied as she leaned on the chair that she had pulled up to his bedside. "Butch is over there," Ash added. "If you listen, you might be able to hear Butch and Crys's sobs."

Now it was Dusk's turn to gulp. He didn't want to hear their sobs and he didn't want another reminder of what had happened. A harmless game of hide-and-seek turned ruthless. Dusk couldn't believe Pike was dead, and there was no way he would. As soon as wounds were healed, he would probably go around town asking where Pike was.

Next to Dusk, Ash growled, "Where did they even come from?"

Dusk didn't want to know that either, but the more he thought about it, the more he did want to know. What were those Pent soldiers doing on their planet? Opa. His home. At first, he didn't want to know but now, he definitely did. There was no way he couldn't know. He had to figure out why those Pents had come all the way from Pezda to kill his friend, almost kill himself, and threaten his sister's life among others. Dusk knew he would even go to the council if he had too.