Inhuman

Chapter 14

I stand there just staring at the T.V. My arms are crossed over my chest and I’m in shock. She can’t do that, but she did. Why would Yana no Itzayana, our royal majesty do something like that? Now this battle needs to start, not just because the Oxitec killed many people because he thought they were rebels, but to free the people that are forced to fight. Arya stands by me, the same level of shock on her freckled face, “Well what if she’s bluffing” Arya says still hopeful, I shake my head words unable to escape my mouth. “Maybe she won’t go through with this, I mean if she wants a kingdom why is she making everyone hate her?” She asks and I still shake my head, no that’s just what she wants. She wants her kingdom to fear her and she’s made it completely impossible for anyone to speak up about it. The battle is today and I’m not sure if it should be, the guards will be fishing out the rebels left and right like hounds. It’s all a trap and that’s what Itzayana wanted, she wants it to be a trap. “Axel?” Arya questions. 
I finally speak after staying in silent shock, “We need to tell Catayla and Sallow” I say and I make my way to the door, Arya not far behind, she is tall but still is slightly short next to me we walk into the Captain corners where Catayla and Sallow were already there. Sallow was pinching the bridge of his nose and I can tell he was woken up by Catayla. He has a cup of strong black coffee next to him, the steam rising into the air. “We can’t have the battle today” I say and both of them look at me, “It’s a trap” I say Catayla tries to say something , but I interrupt her. “It will be next to impossible to get into Oxitec” Kya rushes  through the door causing the door to slam on the wall. Sallow grabs his head quickly he must have a headache, it’s one of the side effects of transforming. 
Catayla holds up her hand to get us to stop talking or rather to not continue talking after we finish. “Before the three of you say anything” She says and lays a picture on the table, it was of Keanu with a broken arm and burn marks all up his broken arm. “This is why we need to go to this battle now” Catayla says, Sallow takes a sip of his coffee and he stands up. “He is the reason we need to fight” Catayla says pointing to the picture of her nearly dead brother. I can hear her voice getting shaky but she pushes that to the side. Kya looks at the picture and covers her mouth only she doesn’t cry, I look at the picture and I know that Keanu is fighting for what he believes in. For what we all believe in. I nod my head agreeing with Catayla. “I know it’s a trap, but Keanu knew what he said would hurt him” She says. 
Sallow looks at Catayla and he knows that the pictures are hurting, that’s what they are meant to do. That is why she sent the picture. Sallow puts his hand on Catayla’s shoulder, “If anyone of us was in the same spot he would save us in a heartbeat” I stand with my arms crossed at the picture sitting on the metal table. I storm out of the room someone follows me, I think it’s Arya but it’s Sallow. “If I don’t make it out there” He says,I shake my head at him and open my mouth to speak, but he doesn’t let me. “If I don’t make it out of there, which we both know there’s a good chance I won’t, take care of her please” We walk around. 
I give a light smile, “I think Catayla can take care of herself Sallow” I say and Sallow shakes his head, “You mean Arya don’t you” I say my smile goes away. 
He looks at me with a smile on his face, “Don’t let her forget how to smile okay” He says and I nod my head, but why is he telling me this? I know he will make it out alive. He is much stronger than me. Unless he’s not talking about death. I understand what he is talking about and I don’t say anything. 
I just look at him, “Don’t worry I won’t” I say and he smiles at me and pats my back, I walk around the place. I look at a clock. It’s only three o’clock in the morning. All of us still have a lot of time and yet all I want to be is alone. I walk around and I walk all the way to the cafeteria and to the pool, then I walk inside the bomb shelter. I kick a rock in the shelter and sit on the bed, this is the one place I can be alone and no one can find me. I don’t want to go into the battle, because some part of me still loves Yana and I don’t want to kill her. Maybe in some way I can convince her to be good, I hear someone scream and I run out of the shelter, they are invading us before we can invade them. I think to myself, but when I look around I only see Nova and someone laying on the ground, Juniper runs out of her room wearing her pajamas which is just a simple shirt and a pair of pants. She looks at Nova then her eyes find the person on the ground and she looks in shock but stays strong for Nova, I get closer and see Nash laying on the floor I am right next to a hysterically crying Nova and Juniper who is doing her best to comfort her his eyes are wide open, but no soul is behind them. His mouth is open just a little and I realize that we are in the cafeteria, Sallow comes out of his room as well and looks at Nash. Sallow looks around his eyes looking to see if anyone else is around, and I know what he is doing. He is making sure that no one else is around.
Juniper looks at Nova cuping Nova’s face in her dark hands. “We need to get her out of here, I know he is your brother but it’s time for him to go now” Juniper was talking to Nova like she was a child, but it was comforting to Nova she nodded her head. Juniper looks up at Sallow and I, and we both know what she is asking of us. She grabs a blanket from her room and lays it on the ground. We pick up Nash from the ground and it is obvious that his neck is completely broken, Juniper comes with us and Nova stays in one spot grabbing Nash’s hand one last time. “Nash was Nova’s twin brother” She says and I can tell this whole thing makes Sallow very uncomfortable. Will this be motivation enough for you to stay alive. I want to say, but I don't. This is not the time for that. “Nova also had another brother” Juniper’s voice grows sad at the mention of the other brother and I realized that was who Juniper loved, not Nova. “He volunteered for the war, and I got a letter about two years later saying he didn’t make it” Why is Juniper telling us all of this, “We had a family you know” Sallow looks at Juniper pity in his eyes. “When” She takes a deep breath and I realize she probably has never said this to anyone. “He died, I gave our baby to an orphanage, she was two years old” She scratched her arm, “Nova and everyone else welcomed me into their home.” Sallow and I set Nash down in a patch of grass that covers his whole body. “Nash and I got into a fight, the day before this” I know where this is going. “The death of his brother was worse for him than it was for anyone else, Nash told me I shouldn’t have done what I did” As we walked back Sallow walked slower than the two of us still listening to everything. “I told Nash that she reminded me too much of him” I was listening to every word and for some reason I feel like this conversation is more meant for Sallow than me. “And at the mention of his brother he became sader, he was already upset about Itzayana and I just added to it” she says her voice is getting choked up. “Nova can’t know about this” She says her eyes dart to both Sallow and I, Sallow nods his head and I do the same.
Then Sallow speaks up,”Juniper” He says and his voice is shaky so he clears his throat. “Juniper you know none of this is your fault” He says and he takes Juniper’s hand, Sallow is way better at talking to people then I will ever be. “And don’t think for a minute that it is, sometimes when people have their minds set on something they are going to do it” He says and now Juniper was listening to him. “Your husband” He says and Juniper nods her head, “He died a hero and you saw that” He says and Juniper smiles at him. “Okay, besides I don’t think you husband would want you to be sad about him anymore” Sallow says and Juniper nods her head. 
Juniper looks at the both of us, “Nova was thirt-teen when- he died and Nova became my little sister” She says and we both look at her and give a sad smile. “I practically raised her, you know?” She says, sniffing her nose. We walk back into the building and Nova hugs Juniper not letting go, Sallow and I walk back and see Catayla looking at them crying. 
Catayla tilts her head, “What happened to them” She says with a sad voice and Sallow pushes her into their room and I follow. 
I shut the door behind me. “Nash killed himself” Sallow says and Catayla looks at me and I nod my head then we explain everything to her and she listens intently to every word. Catalya seems to understand almost the same as Sallow does, to me it’s just another story of a different person’s life that will be in my mind forever. I walk out of the room somehow feeling more depressed than I was before.
Arya walks up to me a painting in her hand and a smile on her face, even though today is the day we go into the battle she still manages to smile. “Look what I finished,” She says, holding up the picture of me that she drew only a few hours ago. I smile at her and give her a hug, she hugs me back, “You know I drew you with a smile” She says and I laugh at this. “Not with tears” She says and I unwrap my arms from her waist a little tear goes down her face and I wipe it away with my thumb, she gives me a sad smile. “I can’t lose him Axel he is my brother” She says her voice is shaky and she is no longer smiling. 
I shake my head at her, “you won’t lose him I promise” I say to her and she still isn’t smiling, “Hey you know something Arya” I say smiling at her, “I like you a lot” I say and she looks at me and smiles.”There’s that smile, never forget it okay” I say to her and her tears are blinded by a little laugh. “And that laugh never forget that either” I say to her and she laughs again, “You also have paint right here” I say putting my thumb at the top of my forehead pointing to the green colored paint. She wipes the paint off of her forehead and before I have time to back away she wipes the paint on my nose. 
She laughs at me, “And now you have paint on your nose” She says I wipe the paint off of my nose, but the paint just gets all over my hand. “It’s oil paint so it is a million times harder to get off of skin” She says laughing, “Lucky for you I know that soap and water does help” She says grabbing my hand and pulling me into her living corners she sits me down on a chair that also has paint on it thankfully that was dry paint. She takes a washcloth with warm water and soap and hands it to me and I get the paint off of my nose, “Do you still think about her?” Arya asks and the smile she has goes away. 
I hand her the washcloth and look in her eyes. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think about the person that betrayed me and sometimes yes I do wish that she wasn’t who she was” I say and she looks away from my and closes her eyes, I move her head so I can look her in the eyes. “But then if she was the person I thought she was, I never would have met the happy lady that makes my whole life happier” I say to her and she wraps her arms around my neck and hugs me, she looks at me and kisses me. I smile at her and she smiles back.
Just then Sallow walks in, “Hey Arya can we talk?” Then his eyes fall on me, “Hi Axel, who are you?” I rub the back of my neck and a light blush falls on my cheeks. 
Arya looks at Sallow then back at me, “Yeah we can talk” she says and I go to walk out of the room but Sallow keeps me in the room. Great,this will be fun, I think to myself. 
Sallow looks at Arya then at me, “So the two of you my sister and one of my friends.” He says then his eyes fall on just me, but he asks Arya a question. “You know he just got out of a relationship with someone else right?” Sallow says and Arya nods her head. 
I raise my finger,”Technically it wasn’t a” but Sallow puts my finger down and I sit in silence. 
Sallow sits down in a chair, Arya goes to say something but Sallow doesn’t let her. “And you do know that he was a doctor at Oxitec” again Arya nods her head, I’ve already told her all of this. “Did you know”. Sallow says, but this time Arya interrupts him. 
Arya looks at him and Sallow looks at her. “I know everything I need to know about him” She says and then a slight smile creeps on her face, “Also I was in the middle of painting a sunset on the chair you just sat in” Sallow stands up and orange paint was all over his jumper. We laugh at him as he walks out of the room, I sit down next to Arya and she takes my hand. “I will do anything to protect him Axel” She says looking at my hand, “And to protect you”. she adds.
I smile at her, “How about I don’t give you a reason to protect me,” I say and she looks at me, but she wasn’t smiling. She was taking everything seriously. “And to protect Sallow, I’ll protect him for you” I tell her, “Because I lost a lot Arya and I’m not losing you” I say now looking at her, “and I especially won’t lose you because of me.” I say to her and wipe a tear from her eye, she looks at me and smiles. 
Then she exhales “You can’t guarantee anything Axel this is a war” I understand what she is saying but I just wish I was able to take the war away and get rid of it forever. “The only thing that you can guarantee is that you can’t guarantee anything” She says and even though that sentence was confusing I understood it. 
I looked at the clock next to her bed, it was four o’clock and yet I wasn’t tired. I was wide awake, “Are you tired?” I ask Arya and she shakes her head, “Well the one thing that I haven’t told you is I um, I like baking” I say and Ayra’s whole face lights up with joy, “and I was think maybe we could make some cookies or something” I say and at that Arya grabs my hand again and we go down to the kitchen. 
Arya gets bowls out of the cupboard and sets them on the counter, “I’ve never actually baked before and when I have i’m really bad at it” She says and I smile at her, “So maybe I’ll just watch”. 
She goes to walk away but I grab her hand, “I’ll teach you” I say and I put all the ingredients out on the counter. It was very limited however, “So what you want to do first is sort the dry ingredients, from the wet ingredients” I say and I messer out a cup of flour which we do have to make bread with but we don’t have sugar. “You know what, let's make some cinnamon swirl bread” I say and Arya was already putting her messy red hair up in a ponytail. She puts the flour in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients, “See you’re not that bad” I say and she throws a thing of flour right in my face. She starts laughing any evil sort of happy laugh. “Really Ayra I grab some flour and throw the flour in her face and it turns her hair completely white covered in flour, then I have to run I grab a bowl of the flour and Arya grabs a bag and I hide behind a table I hear a ball of flour hit the table, she made the flour like snowballs and she was throwing them and all I had was a bowl of dry flour. “You missed me” I say but not for long she throws another ball of the flour and hits me in the chest. Water that’s what it is, I make a run for the water and fill the bowl then I mix it and another ball of flour hits my back, I throw the flour at Ayra, but she ducks and who does it hit, Catayal the flour hits her right in in the face, Sallow was right next to her and was laughing. 
Catayla holds out a hand “Give me some flour” Catayla says and Sallow runs to where I am, but Catayla had hit Sallow in the back with the flour. Arya laughs at this and Sallow throws the flour at Arya hitting her in the arm, “Real mature you guys” Catyala says and Sallow runs up to her and pours not flour on the top of her head, but water. Catayla lets a gasp as the cold water hits her back. Sallow falls to the floor laughing and we all start throwing flour at him. He continues laughing even though flour was being poured on him then the cooks show up. We run away still with the bowls and bags of flour in our hands, the cooks look around and throw up their hands. Each of us are trying to stifle our laughs. 
We walk back to our rooms and Sallow elbows me in the arm, “Thank you for not letting her forget her smile” He says and he goes into his room along with Catayla, every time I see Catayla and Sallow together I’m reminded of two dancers, dancing elegantly on a stage one always one step ahead of the other but never leaving each others side. I smile at the two of them, it makes me happy to see that even though a war is going on people are still happy. I kiss Ayra goodnight and go back to my living corders. I take a quick shower then goto my bed, I still am unable to sleep however. I look at the clock, it reads five o’clock. In a few hours we will be fighting other people and killing them. It makes me scared to think. I need to protect Ayra. It’s funny the person I used to need to protect is the same person we are trying to kill. I turned on the news and there was nothing so I played nature sounds in the hope that it would make me fall asleep or that it would remind me of home, but it doesn’t. I never had a home anyway. I was an orphan. I probably have the same story as Juniper's daughter; my father probably died in war or maybe both of my parents died and I was brought to the orphanage by some strangers who didn’t know me or my parents. Either way I don’t have a home, a real home anyway. The natural sounds became too unsettling so I just shut off the sound and sit in silence. 
I hear a knock on my door and I answer it, Catayla is standing by the door. “Axel, can we talk?” She says and I nod my head as she walks into my room. I don’t know why she asked to talk, we talk all the time and she comes in my room whenever she wants. “Axel if I’m in the battlefield and I am going to die, don’t save me” I go to say something but I don’t, “Axel if it comes down to saving Sallow or me you save Sallow okay” I nod my head even though if it came down to saving either one of them I will save Catayla no matter what. “Good, just please do that” She says and walks back out of the room. I sit on my bed not moving, one more hour till we attack, and one of my friends will die or I will. I have nothing anyway so really what’s the point in trying to stay alive in the battle if I can save one of my friends. I can hear my heartbeat in my ears. There’s no telling what there will be out there, the people like Sallow will no doubt be there, Crimson Heads definitely, but people Itzayana made a new army of kids, of eight-teen year olds. How am I going to kill them. They aren’t even fighting for what they believe in, they are fighting because they were told if they didn’t, them and their families would die. I don’t think I can kill people like that. I don’t even think I kill someone to begin with, I’m not a killer. No, I joined the rebellion to fight so that is what I am going to do.I am going to fight.