Together as One: The Story of the Teams

Chapter Sixteen ~ The Canadian Fighter Pt. 2

I sit in the waiting room of a hospital with Connor, wringing my hands. This hospital is the closest one I could find outside our village. Mom's condition was too grave for me to treat her.

A doctor approaches me and I stand up. The expression on his face is unreadable.

"Her injuries were very serious. We tried to treat her, but there's nothing we can do. You... you should probably go say your goodbyes."

Connor looks up at me with tears in his eyes, and I feel like my entire world is coming crumbling down.

"Come on," I whisper to him.

We walk down the hallway to Mom's room. She's lying in a bed, her face scarred so badly you can barely recognize her. Her heart monitor beeps irregularly.

"Mitch, Connor," she croaks as we walk in. We sit down beside her and I take her hand.

"Yeah Mom?" I ask, tears flowing down my cheeks.

"I love you. Be strong, okay?"

"Love you too, Mom," Connor cries, hugging her as best he can.

"Love you," I whisper.

She manages a very weak smile and closes her eyes. Seconds pass, and her hand goes limp in mine and her heart monitor flat lines.

"Mom?" Connor stares at her, his eyes bloodshot. "Mom?!"

"She's gone," I mumble. With that, I start crying uncontrollably. For Dad, for Kayleigh, for Mom.

The doctor walks in and marks something down on his chart. Nurses race in after him, talking about time of death and all that crap. They take Mom's body away on the bed, leaving Connor and I alone.

"Children, please, come with me," the doctor says. Silently, we stand up and follow him.

We reach the hospital lobby, where a man in a suit is waiting. His dark hair is slicked back, and his brown eyes watch us like a hawk.

"This is Mr. Davies. He runs the local orphanage. He'll be taking you to live there," the doctor says simply, reminding me of the devastating fact that Connor and I are orphans.

"Indeed," Mr. Davies confirms, his voice as oily as his hair.

The carriage ride to the orphanage is awkward at best. Mr. Davies explains that he will only be called the Master and that we must be in bed by a certain point. He went on and on, giving us every single rule of the entire orphanage. I didn't say anything and neither did Connor.

When we arrive at the building, we are led inside and given a small tour. Once that was over, we went to the living room and sat down, finding a book to read.

Our quiet reading is soon interrupted by the Master yelling at a girl.

"You useless child, always causing trouble! Go up to your room!"

"I hate you!" she screams in response. The girl appears and storms up the stairs, tears wetting her face.

The Master goes to the bottom of the steps, rage evident on his face. "Libby! Don't make me come up there!"

We turn back to our book, trying to ignore what had just happened. I mean, I figured out that the Master was cruel, but he seems to be especially mean to that girl, Libby.

"Time to eat!" one of the other kids yells. Everyone gathers around the table, but Connor and I stay where we are. We don't want to join them.

Libby comes downstairs, avoiding eye contact with everyone. She adjusts her blue headphones and sits down, glancing over at us. I watch her, feeling so much pity for her.

How long has she been here? I wonder. How old is she?

Everyone gets a plate of good food in front of them except her. She gets what looks like the scraps.

"Is this all?" she asks quietly.

"There wasn't enough," the cook grumbles. I can tell by the look in his eyes that he's lying.

"Do you want less? Eat what you have or you'll go to bed hungry!" the Master bellows. Libby looks over at me for a moment, confusion written in her eyes. She then turns back to her meal.

After a while, chair legs squeak across the floor. I look over to Libby, who's standing up.

"I'm finished. I won't eat anymore," she mutters.

"Go to bed hungry, then," the Master retorts.

"Bye."

Kids giggle and mock her as she goes up the stairs to her room.

I turn to Connor. "We need to get out of here."

"We can't. We don't have anywhere else to go," he whispers back.

"Maybe we can run. Or how about I'll help that girl up there and you wait here. As soon as I've found a safe place, I'll come back for you," I explain.

We're interrupted by Libby singing and stomping around, making as much noise as she can. I sigh as the Master stands up and goes to her room.

"Come on, let's get an early night's sleep," I say. Connor agrees and we go to our room, crawling into our shared bed.

"Goodnight Mitch," Connor whispers.

"Goodnight Connor," I reply.

~~~~

Crashing and banging wakes me from my sleep. I get up and change before grabbing all of my weapons.

"Mitch? Where are you going?" Connor asks sleepily.

"I'm leaving. I'll come back for you." I hug him quickly before pulling my shoes on. "I promise."

As I step into the hallway, I see a sorcerer carrying Libby down the hallway using magic. He's followed by two assassins, a bacca, and a Pikachu girl.

At least she's being saved, I think.

I start to follow them through the house, but some of the other kids get in my way, all of them panicking.

"They're going to kill us!" one shrieks.

"Save us! Save us, Master!" another yells.

By the time I get away from them, I've lost sight of those kids and Libby. I slip out into the street and head into the forest, running as fast as I can to see if they went this way.

By the time the sun has completely risen, I give up on trying to find those kids. The outskirts of a forest lie ahead of me, dense and dangerous. Looking around, I realize that I have absolutely no clue where I am.

Suddenly, someone smacks into me and sends me sprawling to the ground. My bow flies out of my hand and clatters to the ground.

The thing that ran into me moans and shakes his furry head.

"Hello?" I ask, going to grab my sword. Much to my surprise, it's a bacca with a suit pattern on its fur.

"Sorry about that. Who are you?" he asks.

"Mitch," I reply. "Who are you and where did you come from?"

"I'm Jerome. My village was destroyed a long time ago... probably a month... I don't know, I've lost count of how many days I've been alone." He bends down and picks up a diamond axe, strapping it to his back.

"Um, I'm kind of lost. Do you want to stick together for a bit?" I ask. "I was following a group of kids, but I lost them and now I don't know where I am. I left an orphanage and my brother, and I need to find them."

"Sure, I'll help you." Jerome shrugs. "I could use the company."

With that, we head off to find Connor.