Blood and Thunder

Chapter 13 - Bait

"She's been spotted! She's been spotted!"

A boy, no older than ten, sprinted across the dirt waving his arms around.

"She's been spotted!" He repeated, just incase the group hadn't heard him the first couple of times.

Alexander jumped up from his seat and stared at the boy, waiting to hear more. But before he could ask for details, Theo came out of his tent, looked at Alexander and called the boy in. Alexander couldn't just wait for them to discuss what the boy had seen without him, this was his sister after all. Without breaking eye contact with Theo he jogged towards the large tent. If the boy had something to say, he was going to hear it then and there.

Theo waited at the entrance to the tent and before Alexander could enter he stuck his arm out to stop him.

"Huh, I deserve to hear -"

"I know and you will... but don't get your hopes up. Alexander, a sighting is good news but-"

He stopped abruptly. He didn't need to finish the sentence, Alexander already knew what he was going to say. Theo waited a few moments before dropping his arm and allowing Alexander to enter the tent. The boys walked quietly into the tent, to hear what had become of Alexander's sister.

Covered in mud, the boy stood in the middle of the tent. Everything was so dirty, his shoes and ankles, as well as his hands and forearms. Bits of mud had dried on the ends of his hair. Alexander studied the boy for a moment, trying to work out what he was going to say, trying to work out if the news was good or bad, but his body language was different to others he had met. It gave nothing away.

The atmosphere was heavy, everyone was tense, unsure of where to start or what to say. They all stood facing one another, not wanting to be the first one to speak. Alexander looked at everyone, studying how they stood. The twins showed no sign of being on edge, apart from they were both flicking their fingers simultaneously. Alexander stood there in silence, as much as he wanted to question the boy, to find out where his sister was, he couldn't. His muscles had frozen, his heart was pounding against his ribcage. He just stared, waiting to hear of Rosia's fate.

"What have you found out?" Questioned Jathan, breaking the silence.

"She's alive."

Alexander turned around to see who had spoken, because the voice he heard was not that of the boy. Walking smoothly towards the boys was a girl in a green dress that flowed beautifully as she walked. She walked past Theo and Alexander and stood next to the boy. With her lips slightly parted, she looked empathically into Alexander's eyes, he couldn't help but look back into hers, trying to read her gentle brown eyes for any sign of hope. The girl smiled softly at Alexander.

"She's alive, I've seen her a moment ago but -" Alexander breathed in, sensing this wasn't going to be the news he was hoping for. But is never a good sign. "- she is being held by Sykes."

Alexander looked at the boy, then the girl and then to Theo, hoping one of them was going to say something helpful.

"Ah." Jathan said, he was the only one who responded.

"What do you mean when you say that you saw her?"

"I have visions, like you. Except mine are more scattered. I spend time trying to filter through what is relevant. A lot of them don't make sense. But I saw a girl that follows your description."

"Thank you, Lilith." said Theo. "We know she is alive and seemingly safe." Theo looked at the boy and spoke calmly. "What did you see,Wolfie?"

"Well I was in the city with some of the others, looking for food. We accidentally took a wrong turn because some carts were in the way and it was much busier than normal, I dunno what was going on, but it caused us a bit of a bother. We ended up near the North side of the city."

"Did you get spotted again?"

"No, no one saw us. But we did end up near the station. That's where we saw her. She was with Sykes, he was walking her in."

"Was she hurt? How did she look? Is she okay? I'm going after her."

The words escaped Alexander's mouth before he even had time to think. His muscles had unfroze and he was restless. His body started moving, but not really together. Part of him wanted to stay and listen, but most of him wanted to run out and head towards the north side of the city.

"Are you crazy!?"

Alexander frowned at the boy. What did he know? That was his little sister out there, his sister was alone, without friends. Probably losing hope, of course he was going out there.

Stay.

"You can't just get up and leave. What do you think you're going to do? Just walk in there, get her and walk straight back out again. I thought you were meant to be smart, but you're acting like a dumbass."

"You don't even know me... okay smartass, what would you do if it was your sister? Leave her in there to rot?"

"You know what, fuc-"

"-OKAY! Enough you two."

Alexander jumped as Theo yelled next to him. He felt his face go red, he didn't know whether it was from anger or embarrassment from being yelled at like he was a naughty child. Theo shot both of them a look of warning.

"Okay, look, I'm sorry. But I can't just leave her there."

Theo replied before Wolfie had a chance to open his mouth again,

"We weren't suggesting that, Wolfie is right. You can't just walk in there. That's what they want. They aren't going to do anything with her, not yet anyways. For now she serves them a purpose. She's bait for you. That's the only explanation for her to be walked into the station so openingly. They have other ways in and out of that place."

The words hit Alexander like a tonne of bricks. Bait? For him? But what do they want with him, he is nothing special. He is just another kid.

But you're not. You know that, you're the one who got away. You are like the others now. You are not a normal kid. You've become the hunted.

He knew it was right. Sykes had wanted him to go with him, back at the house, and he got away. They could have let him go, he wouldn't survive very long with Rosia in the woods. They could have let mother nature claim the children as her own, it would have saved them the trouble. But no, they chased him, chased him until Rosia hid him. No, until Rosia saved him. They took her instead, but they wanted them both, and if Rosia hadn't done what she did, he would be there too. But why did they need them both? Why?

Yes Alexander, why? Why did they go through all that trouble to find you? Why did they have so many people in the house just to catch you and your sister? We know why, to minimise the possibility of you escaping. But why did they not want you to run away? They aren't going to give up.

Alexander shook his head, trying to regain his focus on Theo and what he was saying.

"It's a trap, there is no other reason they would walk her through the streets, there are underground tunnels that they use to take people there. They wanted you to see her, they probably think you'd go back to the city to find her. Alexander, they expect you to." Theo walked up and down the tent as he spoke. He repeated what he had said previously, either for his benefit or theirs. At this point, Alexander wasn't sure who he was talking to.

A sly smile slowly grew across Theo's face. He turned to face the group. He bought his hands up slightly and shrugged his shoulders.

"So let's not disappoint them. Let's bite on the bait."