Ashes

CHAPTER 2

Chapter 2

It took him a while to fully process. Sausers replaced his matching coloured eyes. Hyperventilation started. "Oh. My. God. You're real!" He exclaimed, the steel in his eyes melted. "Of course I'm real. Did that rock feel fake to you?" My eyebrow raised in disbelief. "No, yes? That's not what I meant," He stuttered, obviously off kilter, "What I meant was that I've heard so many stories about devil and half devil oppression. For all I knew, there were no more left."
"Well that's no surprise."

"What's surprising is that I got a chance to meet one!" He glanced over at me, "This is the only time, isn't it?"
" Ya, this is your one and only time. Best never to mention this to anyone. They'll all gather in the streets and chase you with pitchforks and shovels." The last part was riddled sarcasm, accompanied by an exaggerated eye roll.
"That's not fair to them, they're good people. They gave me free weapon classes and let me help out with their children or work."
"To you. They'd do anything to please their guardian angel. They wouldn't even let me explain if I came and asked for help."
"Of course they'd help you! They're all so nice."
"To you. You've probably never heard a rude word spoken to you. They treat you like a prince!" The accusation took him aback. "They don't," he said in a defensive tone. "Really? Give me one example of when someone scolded you."
"Well, ugh..." He trailed off.
"My point."
"Fine, you win. I've never been scolded in my life."

Thud, Thud, Thud came from far away. No drought they're looking for their precious prince. I turned, "Well, I gotta run." "Wait." He said. I glanced over my shoulder. "If I don't tell anyone about you, I can see you again." I turned around and looked at him right back. Those eyes gave no hint of lying. No chance of him standing down. He knew my hands were tied as much as I knew.

I sighed, "Fine, but I choose when and where."
He gave me a sceptical look. I rolled my eyes, "Don't give me that look. I'll make it soon."

I was not going to take my chances. If I didn't do my side of the bargain, he wouldn't do his. Word would spread faster than wildfire.
"How will you find me?" He asked.
"All I need is a name." I responded. His eyebrow raised, "And how would that help?" A smirk crossed my lips, "You'll see." A long sigh came from his mouth. "Callum. Callum O'Dressel. And yours?"
My smirk grew. My name could be saved for another time. "Well Callum, I'll see you soon."With that I scampered up the alley wall and ran.

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The alleys that led to the walls, were filled with emptiness or passed out drunks. They reeked of alcohol. I couldn't get that smell out of my nose for the next twenty minutes. I managed to scramble over the city wall without toppling over.
It would definitely not be the last time I came home in the middle of the day.

"Hey, I'm back!" I called up as a rope ladder fell down from the porch of my home.

My home was a two story, modest house. Three stories, if you included the half submerged level in the ground. It was made out of a mix of spruce and oak, as well as cobble for the half submerged section. The windows were cracked, although not broken. Some of the wood looked burned and a hole, the size of a person. It looked as if someone had ripped the wood out of its place and burned it at the edges. That hole was where a door used to be, that led out onto a porch.
"Over here," said a voice. I looked up to see Flint, sitting on a crate, eating what looked like a carrot. "You're late, again," he stated, his mouth stuffed with carrot, "Why cant you ever be here in the morning?" Inside, I stiffened, "You have your secrets, I have mine." He visually stiffened. A look came over his face. The same look of a frightened dog. The same look that came over his face when secrets were mentioned.

My voice softened, "I won't push you. It's not my place to force you to tell me." He hadn't opened up about these 'secrets' that scared him. For the first few weeks that I knew him, he couldn't be in the same room with me. He shrunk away at a creak. Slowly, he came too. He never told me what made him curl up into himself and stay silent.