Sakura Eyes

Chapter 20

"Hey you two!"

My eyes flashed open, and for a second, I had to remember why I was facing up to the sky with Justin's face right above me.  I turned my head towards the source of the voice and saw  Catherine and Julia walking towards us.

"Put me down," I muttered, tapping Justin's chest.

"You're already awake?" Justin frowned as he gently placed me down. "You slept for like a minute only."

"Are you alright?" Catherine and Julia reached us. Catherine leaned in and narrowed her eyes at me. "Sakura, where did you get those scratches from? On your face."

"Ah these?" I coughed. "I fell down and scratched myself."

Catherine sighed, obviously not believing my story and turned towards Justin. "You caught something?"

Justin nodded. Catherine grinned in approval before eyeing me warily. Turning towards Justin, she said, "Go back to the house and get some medicine to treat her face. They should all be on the table in the main room. Julia and I will go back on the hill to help Tristan and the others. Oh and Justin, be careful."

Justin nodded. I tilted my head to a side and looked up confusingly to Justin, but he had already started off. Suddenly, Justin stopped; I peeped around Justin's shoulders. My eyes widened.

The villagers had come out; they all looked thin and weak. A strange, tense silence filled the air as they turned to stare at us. Justin snatched my wrist and dragged me towards Ethan's house before I could ask questions.

He opened the door and led me towards the main room, pushing me down on a chair before grabbing a cotton ball from a table and dabbing it in some antibiotic liquid. The smell distracted my thoughts away from the villagers and towards Mom. The house had always smelled like medicine because she was always treating patients. Although she always locked us upstairs—

"Ouch!" I flinched.

The stinging of the ointment to my skin snapped me out of my daydream. Justin looked at me with raised eyebrows.

"Stay still," he commanded.

"Isn't that an easy thing to do," I muttered quietly.

Justin purposely pressed harder to my scratches when he heard me, and I jumped again. He looked down at me with an amused expression. Irritated, I snatched the cotton ball away from him before shutting my eyes and randomly dabbing it across my face, biting my lip when I touched a scratch.

"Pfft. Why not dump the whole thing on your face?" he laughed.

"Die," I shot back.

I opened my eyes slowly and blinked. Putting down the cotton ball, I was about to get up when Justin grabbed my cloak and pulled me back down.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"Out?" I said, tilting my head.

"Not until you fix that," he pointed.

My eyes followed his finger to my right arm. I realized that I'd forgotten that my bandage was already coming off and it hanging to the last strand right now. Obediently, I shifted my legs and stuck out my hand for Justin to fix.

"What am I? Your maid?" he muttered.

"Hey Justin," I said. "What's with all the villagers? Why do they look so scared at us?"

"Why do you think?" Justin said, taking my arm and unwrapping my bandage. "They've been terrorized for years. Of course it would be weird to suddenly have a group of strangers help your village."