Creatures of Habit - First Blood [ON HOLD]

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I looked up expecting to see his golden eyes staring at me, but instead they were red... blood red... his tanned skin was a sickeningly pale shade, his hair was even more of a mess than the last time I had seen him and he looked as if he hadn't slept in weeks. What had happened since yesterday when I met him... It was only yesterday... wasn't it? How long had I been out?

"Shawn...?" I say through the gag, but I imagine it probably came out as more of an undecipherable mumble.

He looked at me with those menacing red eyes, but there was something in them that didn't seem to belong... a sort of sad and guilty look. He reached up and untied the gag. He put a finger to his lips motioning for me to stay quiet and then he moved his other hand to my cheek. I just stared at him in shock. What was he doing here? What did these people do to him? A small sad smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He dropped his gaze and placed his hands on his knees. "I'm sorry Jessica..." he whispers to me under his breath

"For what Shawn? What did they do to you?" I say quietly, trying to meet his gaze. I had only spoken to him that one time, but he treated me like I was a person instead of a freak. That was the nicest anyone had ever been to me since Lexy turned everyone against me.

"I... I'm sorry I couldn't meet you after school that day. They... they took me... I wanted to warn you what would happen before you were brought here, but... I'm so sorry Jessica..."
How did he know this would happen? "Shawn, it's ...ok... really..."

"No... no it's not. They did this to me. I won't let them do it to you too... I'm going to get you out of here Jessica," he said meeting my eyes.

"Why? You hardly know me..."

"I know everything about you Jess. You'll just never remember me that's all..." he said looking away again, his words seemed full of regret and sorrow. I have no idea what he's talking about, but I don't have time to worry about that right now. We need to find Drake and get out of here. These people killed what I had of a family and I don't know what they'll do to me and Drake.

"Alright... well, let's get out of here I guess..."

He nods and gets to work on untying me. After a couple minutes I'm free and he helps me into a standing position. My arm still hurts like hell, but it doesn't feel dislocated anymore. Perhaps they reset it while I was unconscious? He peers out of the tent and gives the all clear. Outside there are tents all around, I can't see anything past them, but above I can see the sun just beginning to set, casting a red-orange glow onto the surrounding treetops. We try and stick to the shadows, staying as quiet as possible, out of site of the other people, but we end up coming across a large clearing surrounded by more tents, I'm guessing it's the middle of the camp because there's a huge bonfire right in the centre and there just so happens to be about 40 people in it!

"I suppose we can't just walk through there..." I whisper

"Nope, but you're friend is on that side of the camp," he points across the clearing, "so if you're gonna leave with him we're gonna have to go through here."

"Couldn't we go around?"

"We could, but it's getting late and it would take far too long. I have to get you guys out of here before they start to wonder where we are and send out scouts."

I try stretch so I can peer over the tents and see how big the camp really is, but they're too tall. "How big is this place?" I whisper

"I don't know, maybe 100 tents but it's growing by the day... I don't even know where they found all these people or the resources to keep them alive, I've only been here two days, but I think they're gathering troops, preparing for a fight." Two days? Alright so I was unconscious for a day. And a fight? I don't wanna be around when that happens, these people seem pretty dangerous, who knows what they're capable of...

"Alright, ...well what's the plan?"

He pulls out a piece of rope and takes my hands. His touch makes me feel a tugging sensation in the back of my mind like I should be remembering something, but I just can't... He ties my hands behind me, grabs my shoulders from behind and puts his face close to my ear. "Stay quiet and keep your head down, don't let them see your face, they hate your type..." Shawn whispers to me so quietly that even I struggle to hear it with my overly sensitive ears and all. My type? What's he talking about? I nod and he shoves me forward while pretending to restrain me by holding my shoulder with his one hand and my tied hands with the other. I try and keep my head down with my long hair covering most of my face while I take short glances at the people around me.

They all appear to be teenagers and there are a lot more than I thought. They all looked the same as Shawn, red eyes, skin practically transparent, starved and filthy, but they were different from Shawn... the look in their eyes... they looked insane with anger or pure hate, like madmen out for revenge. They all just walked around with seemingly no purpose. None of them even noticing, or caring, that me and Shawn were passing through, they were most likely to busy thinking up plans to hurt the people who had made them so angry, make them pay for whatever they had put them through. Or at least that's what I thought from the expressions on their faces. Some with teeth clenched, others with evil smiles or snarls. But what scared me the most about them were that they looked ...half animal. Many had limbs covered in coarse fur, or teeth that look uncomfortably large for their jaws, some even had hands and feet tipped with razor sharp claws. They looked like frankenstein experiments gone wrong...

We made it to the other side of the clearing and Shawn untied me once we were out of site.

"They should be keeping him somewhere in that second row of tents."

I just nod, the images of the mangled half animal, half human, creatures still swirling through my mind.

"Let's keep moving," He whispers placing a hand on my back, guiding me further into the camp.