My Light in the Darkness

Treatment

I sat Reese down on the small counter and began rumaging through the cupboards. I was about to look in the ones behind me when I heard someone clear their throat behind me.

I came face to face with Zach as I turned. I stood my ground even though he was a couple inches taller then me and had a look that could kill. "You can go," I dismissed him with a wave of my hand. He stood dumbfounded as I walked around him.

"What do you think you're doing?" He hissed, coming up behind me. I felt him press against my back, his breath fanning agianst me like it did back in the Walmart. His hands landed gently on my sides, holding me in place.

"Cleaning your little sister's wounds." I turned my head to look at him. He was close, to close for comfort. I pushed him away as I grabbed peroxide, cotton balls, and bandages. I walked away from him. I could feel his eyes burning holes in the back of my head as I worked, but I kept my focus on Reese. I poured some peroxide on a cotton ball and looked to her, "this is going to sting, okay?" She gave me a little nod before sqeezing her eyes shut.

"Hold my hand?" she asked quickly, her eyes shooting open before I could press the swab to her skin.

I felt a wave of protectivness over her, this fragile little soul in a world to good for her. It barely came out a whisper, but it did. "Okay." I held out my hand and her little one held onto it for dear life. She closed her eyes when she felt content too, and sucked in a sharp breath. I knew Zach was watching with curious eyes as I worked, lightly dabbing the swab against her skin. First, I cleaned the dried blood away from the cut, then moved on to the cut itself. When I pressed down on it, she squeezed my hand a little tighter. I held the swab there until she nodded her head for my to continue.

When the scrapes on her knee and elbow were finally cleaned, I wrapped them up in the bandage. I gave her a little kiss on her forehead and she finally opened her eyes.

They drooped with sleep, so I lifted her off the table. Her arms fell loosly over my shoudlers, and I carried her off. Zach followed closely as I brought her back up to the front.

"Take her to bed," I demanded of Zach. He nodded his head and took her out of my arms. She clung to Zach a little tighter and if I didn't hate his guts righ now, I would have watched in awe. He had a gentleness when he held her, like he was scared she would crumble right in his arms. It made me wonder what happened to his parents.

I sat on a stump just outside the tent and waited for my kidnapper to make himself present again. I watched the people in the camp. They all moved in sync, and despite what was happening out in the real world, they seemed content with what they had right here. Most of the kids had gone to bed, except for a little boy who hid behind a tree, a few feet away from me.

"Hello," I called out to him, a little wave of my hand must have been inviting to him, because he conveyed closer to me. "What's your name?" I asked quietly. The boy didn't answer, just kept moving closer little by little. "You don't talk much do you?" He shook his head no.

I held my hand out to him, offering for him to take it. Hesitantly, he grabbed hold of my hand so gently he might have been scared to break it. I slowly guided him towards me. I didn't want to scare him off.

The kids in the camp had a weird attraction to me, but I didn't mind. I brought the little boy onto my lap and began telling him a story. It was one of dragons and a princess locked in a tower. The boy looked like he was in a trance, imagining what that world would have been like, if it was better then our own. I wondered that too.

As I finished, Zach came out of his tent. "Oh," he stopped in his tracks, "Ben. What are you doing here little guy?" Ben. So that was his name.

He shrugged his shoulders and jumped off my lap. He waved goodbye to me before stalking off down the path.

"Y'know. You've managed to gain the trust of two of the most timid, scared children in the camp. You've been here all of an hour." Zach huffed, sitting on the stump next to mine.

I didn't say anything. I kept my expression hard as a stone and kept my eyes on the ground. I clasped my hands together as a restrain to me hitting him.

"Look, I'm sorry, I really am."

"Don't lie," the words shot out of my mouth before I could rethink them. "This is what you do. I know your little game, Zach. You make people think you're a scared naive teenager before you take them by the throat and make them your bitch."

"Is that what you think? That I enjoy hurting people? It's either kill or be killed out here. I run this camp. I take care of these people and I couldn't risk us being compromised." His words were like spitting venom.

"You think I don't know that? You should be grateful we let Corbyn go. If it wasn't for me, you would have been dragging his body all the way back here." I guess it was a poor choice of words because of the way he looked at me. There was so much rage and anger just in one look that I could have died. He didn't say anything again, just stood from his spot and point to the tent beside his own.

"You'll stay there with Corbyn."

Before I could reply, he sulked back into his own tent, leaving me in the night alone with my thoughts.