Heartless

Flower Trail

"It's just behind the forest, follow the trail and you'll find it."

I pulled a face, a frown prominent as the older kid barked orders at me. I glanced behind him, only to see the other kids crossing their arms, trying to appear dangerous.

His big hand came down on my head, holding the crown of my skull he turned my eyes back to look at him.

His sunken face peered down at my short stature, eyes flickered with a tinge of anger as I crossed my arms and huffed.

"No, I don't wanna."

Though he was scrawny, he was a bigger kid than me. Those extra inches he had correlated to his strength somehow, and I found myself being dragged by my hair.

A loud yelp left my mouth as I was pulled away from the forest entrance to be berated by him.

"Listen up, Charis." He spat, speckles of his saliva hitting my face and I flinched back as the droplets hit. "We all want good food, and that campsite is the fastest way to get some." His grip on my sandy brown locks tightened as he wrapped it around his pale hands.

I twisted in his hold, placing my hands on his chest and shoving his back but to no avail as the kids behind him helped him hold his ground.

"Cyrus, stop!" I cried, yelling at the top of my lungs. "You're hurtin' me, you're holdin' on too tight!"

I felt us move back before he chucked me forward, his grip loosened and I found myself back at the forest entrance.

The small pebbles and twigs scratched at the palms of my hands, some drawing blood while others just irritated my skin.

Cyrus cupped his hands, for no apparent reason seeing as I was still well within earshot of his nasally voice. "We'll be waiting here, only for an hour." He informed me, "If you don't come back by then with the food, we'll tell the heads you were eaten by wild coyotes."

I scowled at him, picking myself up after picking up the threat laced in his parting words as he turned around. A smile on his face as his friends clapped his back and applauded how cool he looked back there.

His back grew smaller as he went over the hill and began its descent towards the orphanage.

Rubbing the dirt off my hands, I lifted my head up to the sky... the tall trees seemed as if they were scratching the sky.

Puffing my chest up, I willed my tears to stay in my eyes as I began the walk. It has been this way since I could remember being dropped off at the orphanage that housed me and all those little demons. It would make it eight years by the end of this month.

I kicked a small rock, it hit the bark of a pale tree with dark dots.

And in those eight years, I had found myself doing the biddings of the older kids. For reasons I didn't understand either, I didn't understand why I didn't hold my ground firmer, I didn't understand why they treated me like so when we were all in the same boat.

Unwanted kids left behind, trying to make the most out of a life none of us truly cared much about.

I turned on my heel, twigs snapping behind me.

My steps carried me through the forest, stepping over branches, rocks and plants. Trying to look for the trail Cyrus spoke about earlier.

Cyrus was the devil incarnate, a sour taste comes onto my tongue whenever I even think about him.

He held an air of superiority among us other kids, probably because unlike the rest of the twelve of us he was the only one who wasn't abandoned by his parents.