Divagate

Chapter 2

                                         Darwin
                                            •••••
    As we trek through the woods, I still keep my grip on Lia's wrist. She doesn't say anything about it, though. In fact, she doesn't say anything at all. The only sounds she makes are quiet, yet annoying, sniffles. It's nearing dawn and we need to find a place to hide out for a while. 

    "Hey Darwin," Siggy calls, pointing up at something. My gaze follows to what he's pointing at: an old treehouse camouflaged in the trees. It looks like it hasn't been used in years. If he wouldn't have told me it was there, I wouldn't have seen it. Siggy's got the best eyesight out of all of us, so I'm not surprised that he spotted it.

   I nod my head for him and Lincoln to start climbing the rickety, wooden ladder. Once Lincoln's up, he motions for me to send up Lia. She freezes as soon as I let go of her wrist.

    "We don't have all day," I say with an exasperated sigh. Finally, Lia slowly scales the ladder. I climb up after her. Siggy helps me lay the ladder across a few nearby tree branches to keep it hidden from anyone passing by.

   Lia sits in the far right corner of the treehouse, hugging her knees to her chest as she stares out the window on the left wall. Now that we're out of the red lights and it's a bit brighter, I can finally get a good look at her.

   She has slightly wavy chestnut-colored hair that comes to about the bottom of her shoulder blades. Her big, blue-gray eyes are accented by long, dark eyelashes. Freckles scatter across her face, clustering on her nose and cheeks. She has a somewhat sharp jawline and what appears to be a slight chin dimple.

    Feeling uncomfortable with how long I've been staring at her, I glance through the window Lia's looking out of. All that's there is an empty field. I take a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. Marie's gone, and a girl I know nothing about has taken her place.

   Lia suddenly breaks the silence with a choked sob. Siggy groans and flashes me an annoyed look. Lincoln tentatively places his hand on Lia's back. She flinches, but doesn't move away from him.

    "Are you ok?" He asks in a hushed voice. Lia sniffs and wipes her eye with the backs of her hands,

    "Sh-she saved me from that guard, but she..." Lia says, her voice shaking. "I'm so sorry, it's all my fault." She mumbles into her hands. Nobody says anything for a minute. Personally, I agree with Lia. Marie should be here. She wanted to be free so bad, and I feel awful that she never got that chance.

"Lia, it's not your fault. Marie always put others first, especially those she was close to. She was doing what she knew was right." Lincoln speaks up, keeping his voice low.

"What was Marie? She had fangs. I'm pretty sure that's not normal." Lia says with a nervous laugh. No one else laughs. I play with a loose thread on my shirt, Lincoln stares at the floor, and Siggy runs a hand through his hair.

    "I'll say it the best that I can," Siggy says bluntly. "We're experiments made by the government to work as blood-thirsty, killing machines." Lia starts breathing heavily and moves away from Lincoln as fast as she can. Terror spreads across her tear-streaked face.

"Now why'd you have to put it like that?" I groan. It's almost as if Siggy wanted her to panic and get us caught.

    "No, no, no. It's ok," Lincoln whispers as he slowly scoots back towards her. In response, Lia shakes her head and presses her thin, pink lips together in a tight line.

    "Lincoln, stop. You're scaring her even more." I sigh. Lincoln ignores me,

    "We only kill people when we absolutely need to. Besides, you're one, too. We don't hurt others like us. We protect one another. I'll protect you." Lincoln wraps his arm around Lia and she gives in, leaning against his shoulder. Her tears soak his t-shirt.