This Small Act

Two🧡

"Right, I'm going to go talk to Damian." Knox says "Feel free to wander around or have a snack." He begins to walk away but yells, "don't touch the eggs!" over his shoulder.

The group splits up. The boys are headed to find the stream Knox was talking about. Surprisingly Molly stays with me. "Do you want me to clean out your cuts?" She questions grabbing her pack.
"I'll be fine" I say in return; I've always been fine.
"Are you sure, it'll only take a minute."
I look at her and really notice how mesmerising her eyes are. They're like stormy skies, blue with flecks of grey threaded in. Beautiful. I can feel myself being pulled in.

"Sam!" The black haired boy-Hayden-yells at the brown haired one. "We aren't supposed to touch th-."
He is cut off by a sudden explosion as Sam places his hand on an egg. The smoke clears and I can see that another scorch mark stains the stone floor. I look further back only to see that Sam and Drew have been thrown against the wall. I can’t see Hayden at first, but soon notice that he curled himself around Drew, protecting him from behind. Everyone runs over to help, the boys seem okay but, Hayden’s not moving and Sam seems disoriented.

Hayden must’ve hit his head on a rock. When Drew turns him over we can see blood flowing out of a cut on the top of his neck. It appears that whilst both teams have a first-aid kit neither have a doctor and nobody knows what to do. I’ve had enough experience with cuts to know that pressure helps stop the bleeding. So while people panic around me I pull my coat over my head and press it to the cut. Moly spies me helping and comes over to me with our first-aid kit. I’ve never had access to over half of these things but I give my best guess and select the thing labeled ‘wound pad’ and a roll of fabric to hold it in place. I remove my jacket, the blood isn’t flowing as quickly as it was before. I replace the jacket with the wound pad and wrap around his head with the fabric. Molly helps me to tie the fabric off.

Our fingers brush together sending tingles running up my arms. When I look at her I giggle. Her tongue has worked its way out of her mouth and her eyebrows are furrowed together as she concentrates on getting the knot right. Before I know it she’s looking at me, I think she’s speaking but I can't hear anything. She snaps her fingers in front of my face. “Earth to Cait.” She says, “come in Cait.”

I startle and suddenly I’m back in the real world. I blush slightly, embarrassed having been caught staring. “Sorry.” I mutter. What on earth has gotten into me lately?
She laughs “It’s fine, I know I’m gorgeous.” She seems to brush it off but I can see emotion in her eyes that wasn’t there before. It’s strange, the way she looks at me. It’s a feeling I can’t describe or explain. I must be imagining things, nobody in their right mind would look at me  like that.

Drew is suddenly hugging us both. Bringing my attention back to the rest of the world. People seem to be panicking still. They still haven’t clicked that everything’s fine. Drew releases us with a thank you and a smile. Knox notices us celebrating and spreads the word. Soon everyone calms down, excluding those that don't like blood.

After we move Hayden onto his bed and make up our own. Knox and Damian-the other leader-call a meeting of the two groups.

"As you all should know by now, these eggs are highly dangerous." Knox states, "because of this risk we, as the leaders of these groups feel that you're safety is our responsibility."

"We have made the decision that none of the eggs will be tampered with and that we will not be taking any back with us." Damian finishes.

A cry of outrage can be heard all around me as I sink to my knees. No. This can't be happening. That dragon egg was my ticket out. I suddenly feel like throwing up. I'm breathing hard and my ears are ringing. My life is gone. I remember Her words. "Come home with a dragon egg or don't come home at all!"

I don't realise it but I'm crying; sobbing on the floor in despair.

A cold hand on my arm stills me. A calming numbness spreads over my body. I can feel myself being pulled to my feet. I'm viewing it from the wrong angle. I watch as Molly half carries me to my bed. I watch as I cling to her and pull her down next to me. She tries to pull away but I seem to have developed gorilla like muscles. Eventually she seems to give and lays down next to me.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Some hours later I wake again. The first thing that hits me is the warmth. Molly stayed with me. The next thing I notice is the time, it's far too early for me to be getting up. With that thought I snuggle deeper into Mollys embrace, shaking off the bad feeling I have.

I jolt back awake when I hear some shuffling in the dark. My eyes strain to make something out but I can't. My thoughts turn back to what happened yesterday. I won't try and smuggle a dragon egg. That would be wrong and I don't want to put others in danger. I guess I'll have to get used to sleeping in the streets. I won't go back to that house empty handed. My thoughts begin to turn darker, what if I just die I wouldn't have to worry about anything anymore. It's not like anyone would miss me. Molly shifts and pulls me closer to her reminding me that maybe I do have something to live for. Or someone.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The next morning I wake facing Molly. I'm not sure when I turned around but I could get used to this. No. I remind myself. You can't get attached.

Molly must’ve woken whilst I was thinking because she’s scrutinising my face. Which is when I realise that her hands found their way underneath my shirt and are clasped around my lower back. “Cait.” She begins, “what happened?” It takes me a second to notice that her hands have moved up to the burn scars on my back. I look down and take a deep breath. “When I was little… I tripped and fell, I uh.. reached out and grabbed um.. a pot full of boiling water.”

“Cait. Don’t lie to me, please.”

“I didn’t do what I was told and this was my punishment.” I say quietly, “I was four.”

“Cait,” she begins but, I interrupt her.

“I would rather not talk about it. It’s in the past.”

“But Cait. That's awful. They shouldn’t be able to hurt you like that.”

“I said it’s fine.” I snapped, “I don’t want to talk about Them.” There is so much venom in my words that she flinches. I apologize quietly and slide out from her grasp. I knew it was too good to be true. I walk over to the stream and splash my face. I want to hurt but I know if I do Molly might find out. Someone might see.

It doesn’t matter, I tell myself a few minutes later when I pull up my sleeve, they don't care anyway. I’m hiding in one of the tunnels that branch off from the main cabin. Nobody to see me, and nobody to interrupt. Blood flows freely under my fingers. Cutting away my worries and giving myself something else to focus on.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Another day passes. I haven’t talked to anyone for more than two seconds. My bed feels empty and cold without Molly and I feel more depressed than usual. Hayden finally woke up this morning and we are going to walk back tomorrow. Knox seems worried about something and I haven't seen Damian since yesterday. The day passes quickly in silence and glances. I miss people but I shouldn’t. I can’t get attached. They’ll just leave me.