Leaving the Horse

Chapter 20

I got up and raced over to Jay's motionless body, stumbling on the way. I tried to grasp the bed the girl was on but slipped, landing next to Jauda.

Pressing my hand against her chest, I listened desperately for breath.

Nothing.

I couldn't believe it.

"No!" I cried out without thinking. I pumped her chest like I saw a doctor do for a person who had a heart attack once in the village.

Nothing.

"It worked on him!" I cried out, tears welling in my eyes. "Work! Jauda! Wake up!"

My muscles gave way, still weak from the pain. I collapsed backwards, tipping my head back in defeat.

"This isn't happening," I muttered, closing my eyes and trying to breathe. "She is alive. It's just some magic trick of hers. She is alive!" I found myself yelling with grief. "No..." Burying my head in my knees, I rocked back and forth with disbelief. "No, no, no, no..." I couldn't believe it.

But when I opened my eyes, she still laid there with her thin lips closed and her eyes shut. Her chest didn't rise a bit.

"You said you would stay with me until I got better!" I accused her motionless body pitifully. "You said you would! Well, I'm not better!"

I heard a distant bang on the barricaded door. I didn't care.

"Open up now! You are surrounded," someone shouted breathlessly, "there is no escape!"

I ignored them, closing my eyes. It didn't matter anymore. Jauda was dead. She was dead...

"Are you okay?" A small voice behind me said softly.

I whirled around, stumbling to my feet, fists ready to protect Jauda's body with all my might. I looked down at shock to see the girl who had once been on her death bed. Her healthy gleaming cyan colored eyes gazed at mine as she ducked her chin in fear. Her small cropped face looked stunning.

"Who are you?" I asked through disbelief.

"Milestiba," she said, tentatively.

"What kind of name is that?" I growled.

"Probably a better name then yours," she grimaced, raising a single thin eyebrow.

I glared at her. "How do you know I'm not going to kill you?"

"You don't seem the killing type." Her eyes drifted toward Jauda's body. I stepped in front of Jauda.

"Who is she?" She asked, looking down at her thing hands and wiggling her finger as though she'd never used them before.

"She's dead," I stated plainly. I felt my anger blaze threateningly, "and you killed her!"

Milestiba recoiled, stumbling back on two skinny legs. She managed to regain her balance before whispering, "She saved me, didn't she?"

Her voice sounded so strained that I almost wanted to deny her from being the cause of Jauda's death. But I couldn't even accept that yet. "That's right. She was killed because of it."

Milestiba suddenly stepped quickly forward, trying to snake around me. "Let me see her," she said quickly.

I grasped her across her neck, pushing her back mercilessly and watched her fall with a gasp. "No!" I shouted. She's dead. She is dead and she isn't coming back... I couldn't keep the painful thought out of my head.

Another banging on the door reminded me that the people were still there. And they knew we were in here. "Open up now or we will bust our way in and it won't be pretty!"