The Elmen

Part 1 Nothing Ever Changes- Chapter 9 We are Being Followed

I had never felt better than I did that next morning. I woke up with Sam's arms around me and my head on his chest. I could feel him breathing and I could hear the steady beating of his heart. I looked up at his face. He looked so calm and peaceful as he slept. His eyes started to open. "Good morning," he said huskily as soon as he saw my face.

"Morning, how did you sleep?" I asked as I looked into his eyes.

"Much better than normal, probably because I was with you," he said groggily.

"Same here, we should probably go outside and start packing up," I groaned as my green eyes moved towards the door making sure that Will was not coming in to check on me.

"I know, but I don't want to get up."

"I know, but we have too," I said as I stood up to go outside. I started to get dressed, but Sam made no move to get up.

I was still trying to get Sam up when we heard a noise from outside. We immediately ran out there to see what was going on. When we got out there we saw some guys holding Will and Tom back against a tree while they were questioning them.

"Will!!!" I cried as I ran towards my big brother.

"Lu, No!!" he responded.

It was too late, the guys had already seen Sam and I and were tying us up before we knew it.

"Who are you?" asked a young man who had his sword pointed at us.

"I was about to ask you the same question," I responded. I knew what game he was playing, so I started it to.

"Tell me your name or else," he demanded not letting up his stare.

"Or else what?" I asked almost daringly.

"I will kill your friends one by one, starting with him," he said as he pointed to Will. I guess he could tell Will was important to me or he would not have threatened him.

"Fine, my name is Lucinda Ann, his name is Samuel, his name is William and his name is Thomas," I said as I nodded to each one.

"Where are you from and why are you out in the woods with all sorts of weapons and an elfish map?" he asked.

"We are from The School, we are out here because we are running from the evil Mr. Jones, who runs The School. We have weapons because we were trained to use them and need protection. As for the map we found it in a book that Sam's dad sent him for his 16th birthday and we are using it to get away from Mr. Jones," I said answering all of his questions at once glaring at him. I knew I should have made up a lie, but I didn't recognize them so I hoped they didn't work for Mr. Jones.

"Now it's your turn to answer a few questions," said Tom who finally had worked up the courage to say something.

"Yeah, like who are you, how did you find us, and do you know where this map leads too?" asked Will.

"My name is Andrew and my companions and I are part of the court of King Jordan. We have been following you since you came out of the tunnel, and yes I know where it leads. It leads to the land if the elves," said Andrew who was showing no emotion what so ever.

"Now I have a few more questions for you, like how long you have been at the school are any of you siblings and do you know what you are?" he asked.

"Tom, Will, and Lucy have been there for 11 years. I have been there for about 2 weeks. Yes, Lucy and Will are brother and sister, Will is older, and no," said Sam answering all of Andrew's questions. As soon as he had said all that Andrew's green eyes got very big, but he would not tell us what was wrong. He then offered us a safe passage to King Jordan's courts. We of course accepted the offered help.

As we rode on Andrew began to notice the tension between Sam, Will and Tom. He also noticed that I was torn between them. I could not decide whom to ride next to, my boyfriend or my brother. When we stopped for lunch he confronted me about our problem.

"Hey Lucy, I've noticed there is some tension among your group," said Andrew. I knew he wanted to help but I did not want to bore him with my relationship problems.

"It's nothing," I lied. He must have been able to tell I was lying by the look on my face.

"It has to be something; I can see it in your face."

"I'll tell you, but you can't tell them how you found out, maybe you can help us figure out our problems."

"I can try," he said. "I've had a few relationship problems my self." I then told him the whole story of how we meet and found the map. That lead in to my relationship with Sam and what Will and Tom thought of it. I then told him about our journey so far. The last thing I told him was about my worries of me having to choose between them. He sat there for a minute thinking. As he was thinking I looked closely at him, I had the strangest feeling that I knew him, but I did not know from were though.

"Your problem is not uncommon, it happens to many girls your age. I know you know this, but I am going to tell you anyways. We are stronger together than apart and if you really want to make a better life for your friends then you need to work together, for victory cannot be achieved till you stop fighting among your selves." He then left me sitting there by self to think about what he said.

I continued to think about what Andrew had said until we stopped for the night. That is when I confronted the guys.

"Hey guys," I said, but they were too busy arguing to pay any attention to me. I tried to get their attention a few more times, but nothing worked so I went to see if Andrew could help.

"Hey Andrew, I am trying to tell the guys what you said but I can't get them to stop arguing long enough to talk to them, can you help?" I asked. I had no idea why I was going to a stranger for help, but I felt like I had known him my entire life.

"Sure, I would be happy to help," he said like we had known each other for years. This re-enforced my idea. Little did I know he was thinking the exact same thing, except he had an idea who I was.

"Hey guys, what's going on here?" he asked them as we walked up to fighting boys.

"I am trying to convince them that I love Lucy and would never hurt her," said Sam who had a true look of caring.

"I am trying to get it through his thick head that there is no way he is dating my little sister so he needs to keep his dirty hands off her!" shouted Will who too recognized Andrew from somewhere.

"I agree with Will," stated Tom.

"Oh, don't even get me started, you are just agreeing because you want her for yourself," Sam pointed out.

"Guys cut it out!" exclaimed Andrew who had heard quit enough. He then proceeded to tell them what he told me. While he was telling them I realized why I recognized him, he looked like Will.

"That is why you need to get along, right Lucy?" he asked.

"Yeah, right," I said breaking my train of thought.

"Your right, we need to just get over it. I am sorry Lucy, I should have not been so over protective," said Will.

"Really, you listen to him, but not your own sister?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, I guess non of us wanted to hear what you had to say Lu," Will brethed.

"Yeah, Sorry," muttered Tom, who still had a displeased look on his face. I chose to ignore it though, and with that we proceeded to go get settled for the night.