Instinct [OLD VERSION WHICH ISNT CONTINUEING SORRY!!! :( ]

Chapter Six (Adam)

Chapter Six: (Adam)

            “Will she be alright?” Phillip asks me for the umpteenth time. I look down at Roxy, her head propped up one of the backpacks I was able to grab from the house. Her face is pale, and she’s been unconscious for a while now. I don’t know if she’s alright, but I know that worrying won’t help.

            “She’ll live…” I say. He nods, obviously not totally convinced. He got pretty beat up in the fight, his lip is cracked and swollen, and numerous scrapes and bruises cover is arms, legs, and face. He’s probably exhausted and emotionally drained from losing his little sister to the men. I turn back to the fire, pretending not to notice him take Roxy’s hand. We sit in silence for a few moments, both of us too tired to talk. “Maybe you should get some rest, I’ll keep watch for those guys..." He nods and silently curls up next to Roxy. Not having anything else to occupy myself, I stare absently at the flames, watching their power as they curl around the log, burning it to a crisp. Something about the power of the flames is hypnotizing, even beautiful, but dangerous. I look up from the flames into the shadows of the woods, noticing every movement, keeping my guard up no matter what. Even though night hasn’t fallen yet, I don’t want to miss a single movement…just in case. I’m so caught up in studying my surroundings that when I hear leaves crunching behind me I instantly wheel around, ready to fight despite my exhausted muscles.

            Roxy is sitting up, her eyes wide open and frightened. She looks around frantically, and when her eyes pass my direction she jumps up, all of her muscles tense. Phillip raises his head groggily and looks between me and her in confusion.

            “Roxy…what’s the matter?” He asks, speaking slowly, her head darts down to him, then back to me, a strange, almost feral look in her eyes. I start to stand up slowly, watching her carefully as she flinches at my every movement, getting ready to take off running at any second. Phillip also starts to rise slowly, but she doesn’t seem to notice him.

            “Whiskers, it’s us. It’s Phillip and Adam, calm down okay…” He timidly puts his hand on her shoulder. She still looks at me, but all of a sudden, her glazed eyes focus, her brow furrows in confusion.

            “Whaa—what happened?” She asks as Phillip eases her back into a sitting position, his arm around her shoulder.

            “You woke up and—and you didn’t seem to recognize us…you looked scared of Adam” he says and he sits down next to her, taking his arm from her shoulder. She looks confused and slightly guilty, as if she feels bad for being scared of me.

            “What about before that? What happened in the fight?” She asks, shaking her head as if trying to concentrate.

            “You don’t remember?” I reply quietly. This doesn’t make any sense…

            “Last thing I remember, we were running away through that crowd of thugs…and then I blacked out…” She says, trying to grasp the memory. I don’t get surprised very often or very easily, but this is just plain weird.

            “You didn’t black out…you saved us.” I say slowly. Confusion filling her eyes, she tries to make sense of her jumbled memories. “We were holding our own…but we were losing, and then…”

            “And then you went crazy on them! All scratching them and punching, you scared them away from us so we could escape!” Phillip abruptly cuts in, miming out punching and scratching as he talks. She looks from me to him, clearly confused.

            “Then we broke into one of the houses in the outskirts of town to grab some supplies and you randomly passed out… We went into the forest because we figured they wouldn’t try and follow us…” She stands up and starts pacing back and forth, her brow crinkled

            “I don’t remember any of that! Saving you…I don’t know what happened, but that wasn’t me.” Roxy says loudly, seeming to get more and more confused with every word. Phillip and I look around unconsciously, keeping a lookout for the brutish men. She sits back down and rests her head in her hands.

            “What happened to me…” She whispers, barely audible anymore, her shoulders start to shake. I don’t know what’s bothering her so much, she probably just had an adrenaline rush and can’t remember much of the fight.

            “Who were those guys?” Roxy asks, after a few minutes of silence. She shivers slightly as the lights from the fire dance across her face, making her look strangely ethereal. I have inkling as to who the attackers might be, but I don’t want to say it out loud, as if that alone would validate my beliefs to be true.

            “Let’s just get some sleep…we’ll figure that part out in the morning…” I say, wanting to end the conversation before it can go on any longer. Exhausted, Phillip nods and curls up right there on the ground, using his arms as a pillow. Roxy looks at me reluctantly for a moment, but her weariness causes her to give in, and she too curls up in a fetal position on the ground, leaving me to again stare out into the darkness, my racing thoughts fighting back the comforting arms of sleep.