The Abandoned

Chapter 11

     It had been two weeks since Giltha and Amarvin had ran off and no one had any idea where they were. Simlyn was unaware of the creeping shadow that had been following her around for the past couple of weeks. The creeping shadow was observing her, studying her every move. It never got any closer or made any move of attack.

      Simlyn was kneeling beside a small creek, washing the laundry. A twig snapped behind her and she spun around, body tensing immediately. Eilzair stepped away from the shadows and Simlyn studied him carefully. She noted his worried expression and the fidgeting fingers that held a badly beaten twig. She knew why he had come and didn't need to ask.

     "They'll be fine, Eilzair. You need to stop worrying so much. I have faith that they'll come back." Simlyn told the boy with a sigh, not even allowing him to ask the question that was eating away at his mind.

     "How do you keep so collected?" He questioned her.

     "I distract myself with working on things that need to get done." She responded, turning back to her task at hand.

    "Can you teach me how to make clothes?" Eilzair asked. Simlyn knew that if she turned around he would resemble a dog whose ears have perked up. She smiled slightly at the thought.

     "Of course. After I finish the laundry though." She replied.

      "Can I help?" He inquired.

      "Yes, I wouldn't mind a helping hand." She chuckled.

       Eilzair rushed over and knelt down. He copied what Simlyn was doing. She couldn't help but note how quickly he picked it up. She realised how similar the two were. Amarvin and Eilzair were very similar. Although the appearances were different they were very close, personality wise. He was just hardened by the world around him, it had forced him to grow up too quickly. When he let the guard down he was her clone and Simlyn was appreciative of that. She felt as if she still had a piece of Amarvin with her. It was the thing that also helped.

     She wouldn't let anyone see how worried she really was, she couldn't. She needed to act like a leader. She couldn't act irrationally due to the emotions. She had to be an example. Although, every night when she went out for food, she'd spend a couple hours looking for them. She felt it was the right thing to do. It had gotten a lot tougher since the fall out between Daeis and her, and the guards weren't giving them any food either. It was strange to go back to old ways when they were just getting used to having the help there.

     The rest of the day past in a blur. Soon it was nightfall, time for another night raid. Simlyn glanced around at the sleeping orphans. Four beds were empty. Giltha's, Amarvin's, Simlyn's and Eilzair's. Simlyn tensed, where was Eilzair. She watched him crawl into bed. She never saw him leave, nor did she know how long he'd been gone for. Something wasn't right. She shook her head. She'd keep an eye out for him while she was out.

****

      Simlyn felt horrible for the poor shop owners who would wake to find missing items. She ducked into the cave. She placed the bag on the ground of the cavern and stretched. She didn't find any of the missing orphans. She wasn't sure how she'd tell them about Eilzair. She glanced over to his bed to find that it was no longer empty. She tiptoed over to the bed and looked down to see a sleeping Eilzair curled on his side. Simlyn sighed, assuming he had just gone out for a small walk.

      She was about to start walking back to the bag to get ready when she heard someone whisper her name. She turned around to see Eilzair staring up at her. Although he seemed a bit different and Simlyn couldn't place her finger on what was wrong, besides her brain had turned to mush due to lack of sleep.

    "Get some sleep, Simmie," ignoring her tensing body, "you need it. I'll deal with the food and wake you at mid-day. You've got dark circles under your eyes and seem to stumble a bit when you walk. Go to bed." Simlyn was much too tired to notice how different he sounded.

    "Alright." Simlyn sighed, turning back around as Eilzair got up. She turned around too quickly and lost her balance. Arms grabbed her, keeping her from falling to the ground. Simlyn didn't even notice the slight muscle pressing against her shoulder blades, nor the fact that Eilzair would have been too weak to keep her from falling.

    "Told you." Eilzair chuckled, helping her to her bed. He shook his head at her as her eyes immediately closed. "Goodnight, Simmie." Simlyn hummed and didn't even clue into the fact that Eilzair never calls her 'Simmie'.

     The last thing she heard before falling asleep was a voice saying something that would have confused her had she not been running on little sleep. "Do you think she noticed the difference, D-?"

    "Don't she's not fully asleep yet. No, I don't think she did. She might have noticed that something was off but I doubt she would have figured it out, like you told me: 'she hasn't slept very much these past couple of weeks'." That voice came from beside her bed and the other sounded like Eilzair. Who was the boy who had pretended to be Eilzair? That was her last thoughts before falling into a deep sleep.

Hey and what is up my friends! There you have it! The eleventh chapter of The Abandoned! I'm really proud with this one as it really progresses the story and gives it another push towards the final chapter.

Question time! One: where do you think Eilzair went? Two: where do you think Giltha and Amarvin are? Three: who do you think was the false Eilzair?

Don't forget to follow my account so you'll be told when I upload the next chapter (or post an activity thing-a-ma-jig). I've decided to upload a chapter every Sunday (mainly because I'm planning to complete the book soon-I'm leading it, by the hand, down to the finish line and I want to spread it out a bit more)and that starts this week. Also next chapter I'm going to swap over to Giltha's point of view, as Simlyn isn't going to be doing much and I want to take you to where the action is (also writing her day-to-day routine is going to get repetitive and I don't want to skip to the ending because events are going to happen that lead up to the finale, but they aren't going to be surrounding Simlyn at all).

That's all for now! I'll talk to you later internet friends!