Chapter 19
Warning: This is the chapter that contains sexual violence. At the bottom, if you do not want to read it, I will place the chapter's summary and explanation.
Only today left until a war, and instead of preparing, or even making up with the people I'm on poor terms with, I'm choosing to sit on a log, glaring down Gregory and his friends in between the tents.
"Did you hear about the heart?" Elizabeth asks, and her voice shakes as she sits down next to me.
I nod, wiping my hand across my chin. "Yeah, what about it?"
She seems taken aback. "Isn't that freaky?"
"Sure, I guess," I shrug. Am I supposed to be freaked out by that? It's still pretty much an empty handed threat.
She glances at me out of the corner of my eye, before lifting the sleeve up of her pink sweater, and the white bandage beneath it.
It takes me a second to realise she hasn't been self-harming, and that it's actually a word spelt out on the inside of her wrist. RUN.
"It happened to me last night." Her voice warbles, and I can see how wet her eyes are. Shaking fingers put the bandage back, and pull her sleeve down. "I didn't want to freak the other girls out, so I just-"
"Jared's going to think you stole those supplies." I tell her, looking at the bandage.
It's well covered, but it's not the way Jared would've done it. He prefers to wrap things over and over again so if one layer tears the others remain. It's awfully annoying, but it works. Elizabeth seems to prefer the non-invasive, practical bandaging. She's not one for war, but one for treatment in a hospital.
She bites her lip. "I didn't want to upset him."
"Aren't you a noble one?" I chuckle.
There is a war coming up, and sooner or later people are going to have to get used to that. She can't keep secrets from her superiors, especially not Jared. Those two have to work together for everyone else's safety.
I look her up and down. "Pan told you you're going to need a new look of the war, right?"
She nods. "I've been putting it off. I like my hair."
Her fingers brush through the giant curly strands. It takes up so much space, but it is lovely. Shame it'll all have to be cut off.
"Pan can make it grow back as soon as the war is over." I tell her. "He did that to my hair while I was asleep. I was shocked when I woke up."
"You had short hair?" She asks.
I nod. "When I was pretending to be a boy."
"Isn't that rude he made it grow back without your permission?" Elizabeth asks. "I mean, you cut it off, and it was easier for you to walk around with, right? I see you fiddle with it and tie it up all the time, like it's quite the hassle. Shouldn't he ask for your permission when changing your body?"
I never thought about it that way.
There's a screech across camp, and I leap to my feet. That is the screech of a girl, one who is helpless.
Shit.
I jog forward, and Elizabeth follows after me at a safe distance. My feet approach the woods, my ears trying to search for the source of the sound. Green bushes shuffle together as someone moves through them. Within seconds I push through them, diving through on to the other side.
There's a hand over Blaize's mouth, and her eyes are crinkled, angry tears silently spilling out her eyes. They throw daggers at the boy who has her pinned against the tree, and is leaning against her. Her matches are sprawled out along the forest floor, and her can of hairspray sits on the ground, dented in.
The boy has his hand on her shirt, struggling to undo the buttons with only one hand. She is shoving against him, but his weight against her holds himself upright.
What was this kid's name again? Oliver?
I grab him by the back of his neck, ripping him off of Blaize.
He thrash against me, but I watch as Frank places a finger on a spot behind his jaw, causing the boy to seize up.
Felix is standing not far off from her, I imagine they came here together.
He looks at her, cocking an eyebrow, before she throws a glance over at him.
"Pressure point."
I don't know how she did it, and I don't honestly care all that much. I grab one of Oliver's hands, and Blaize grabs the other.
Looking behind me, I notice that both the matches at the canister are off the ground. She must've picked them up.
Red eyes flash at me, before she blinks away. She knees Oliver in his kidney's as he continues to struggle.
"Thanks," she mutters.
"Let me go," Oliver grunts, trying to escape her grip.
I almost laugh, does he think he is getting away with this?
"Are you alright?" Elizabeth asks Blaize.
She nods, as she helps me move the boy back to camp. "More mad than anything."
That's understandable. I honestly can't believe that just happened. I saw it coming from Gregory, but not the inconspicuous stupid kid. He'll learn his lesson, they all will.
It's only seconds before we hit the camp, and I strut through until we are by the fire pit. Oliver continues to whine and howl the whole way, making me more fed up then anything. At least he is attracting a crowd, because I want a crowd. This is how this ends.
"This will teach you to make threats." I grunt, trying to hold him still.
He scoffs. "You're a dumb bitch."
I laugh, under my breath. "And who is the one being dragged through the tents?"
When he doesn't answer, I pull him tighter against me.
Devin is out, as well as Gregory, who are both glaring me down.
I whip my knife out, placing it up against Oliver's neck. Gregory doesn't even flinch, just glares me down. I watch as Spencer peers out from beside the tents to look at me, another face of anger.
"Charlie what the hell?" Elizabeth shouts out.
"What?" I laugh, pressing the dagger into his neck, so that blood trickles out. My eyes leave hers to find Gregory's as I stare him down. "This is a message."
"Charlie," Blaize's voice is one of caution.
"You don't get to mess with me." I glare Gregory down. "Keep a handle on your boys; their wandering eyes shouldn't go near my girls."
Gregory doesn't answer, but his eyes almost dare me to do it, as if whatever he's going to do to me after this stunt will be worse than this.
Devin doesn't say anything either, just watching.
"Put him down," Spencer shouts, stepping closer.
I drag the knife down, and watch as the dark colour spills out of Oliver's neck. I can't decide if I like the bright red blood, or the near dark colour that I see in this lighting. I should just keep cutting people in both lightings so that I can actually decide.
"You don't tell me what to do." I bare my teeth.
Oliver struggles, coughing as the knife slides deeper. If he would keep still, the knife wouldn't cut so deep into his flesh, and the cut would just be superficial. This is his fault.
"Charlie, Jesus, you can't-"
"Elizabeth shut up," I groan, casting a glance at her over my shoulder.
She seems to be crying, genuinely distraught, which is ridiculous, since I'm only doing this to help her. If she can't watch she should turn away. This is business.
"Let go of me." Oliver chortles.
I shake my head, turning to address both him and everyone around us. "Nobody messes with me and my things. Alright?"
My hand sharply pulls the knife into Oliver's neck, and I pull against the pressure of the muscle. It takes more force to cut through then I remember Samuel's stomach, but then I had adrenaline pumping through me and a fire on my side.
I pull the dagger out of Oliver's neck one I feel the blade hit bone. He stumbles forward, coughing and gurgling on the blood that pours into his mouth and spurts out of his neck. As his knees hit the ground, I hear the sound echo through my ears. I can see Spencer calling out for him, dashing forward, but hear nothing. Elizabeth is already at his side, trying to stop the blood with her small hands. Her clothing is soaked in blood.
I look up to make eye contact with Gregory. His face is red, and his eyebrows are pressed together in some sort of rage I don't think I've ever seen in a human.
I see him lurch forward to grab me, but instead of letting that happen, I sprint through the trees. Not daring to waste any time, I disappear into the woods. I leap through small gaps and openings I know Gregory won't be able to get around. He'll kill me if he sees me. I don't normally turn down a challenge, but a six foot tall rage machine is not a challenge. It's a death wish.
My body hits another, and I scramble backwards, shakily holding the knife towards them. It's Harry. His ears perk up as he looks behind me and I can only assume Gregory is still following me. My ears are ringing and my vision darkening by the second.
Harry grabs a hold of me, propping me up into the tree. I don't argue, or even say anything since if I don't I will die.
Once I'm inside, he looks up at me with panic on his face, before turning around and dashing off.
It's a few seconds, I don't know how many since time is passing in ways I don't understand, before Gregory appears. He's a glimpse of wind under my tree, before he is gone deeper into the woods, chasing after only what I can assume is Harry.
I don't move, instead favouring to sit still. Soon my throat becomes dry, and my stomach yearns for food, but I can't move. I can't even look up or down.
I should've killed Oliver in the forest, where Gregory wouldn't see and attack me. He needed the message though, one that Oliver so gracefully delivered. Besides, I was already on Gregory's bad side so it can't get any worse than it already is. There is no way it can get any worse.
Oliver needed to die though. Sure, maybe not in front of his friends, but he still needed to die. I can't believe that a few years ago I couldn't do a simple frog's dissection without throwing up into the sink. Sure, I hated science class, and all the blood was green because of whatever preservative filled the small animal, but I found it disgusting. The worst part was hearing the cracking of bones that were cut open, and slicing through the flesh, and the sight of the blood.
Somehow though, this didn't bother me like that. There was real blood, and living bone, and tearing skin, and I didn't care. I don't seem to care about anything.
Someone's hand is on my foot, and I remember that I'm in a tree. I look down to spot Gregory's sadistic grin. I scramble back.
"Charlie," Gregory's face has been replaced by Harry's. I don't think Gregory was ever there.
"Sorry," I muster, inching forward.
Harry raises an eyebrow. "Are you alright?"
I bite my lip, moving to the very edge of the branches. I let the weight of my shoulders push against it, as my hands find their way around it. I nod.
"Yeah, I just thought-"
"He was going to kill you?" Harry asks. "So did I."
He offers me a hand, which I take as he helps lower me to the ground.
"I led him off of you." Harry tells me. "But you should keep your head low today. Once the war starts, he won't be able to touch you without ruining the plan."
"He isn't able to touch me now." I argue.
Harry shrugs, but doesn't argue. His arms wrap around me, pulling me in tightly against him. "Sorry about that."
I know he's talking about his resentment for me after the battles with the Natives. It wasn't my fault Alex left, and he knows it.
I nod to him. "Don't worry about it."
It's easier to forgive and forget, than to resent and move on. Especially since I'm not mad about it. Harry is a different person now from when I first met him. He's still caring and risk-taking, but now he knows how to fight a war emotionally. He's ready for what is to come, and so am I.
"We should get you back to camp." He tells me. "Jared is looking for you."
~~~
Summary: Charlie learns that someone carved the word RUN on Elizabeth's wrist. Elizabeth hasn't told Jared, and didn't want anyone to know. They hear a scream, and run to find Oliver attacking Blaize. Blaize is alright, but angry. Charlotte drags Oliver back to camp, attempting to teach Gregory a lesson, and kills Oliver in front of everyone. Elizabeth tries to save Oliver, but he dies. Gregory chases Charlie into the woods, where she hides in a tree with Harry's help. Harry offers to bring Charlie back to Jared.
Explanation: I chose to include sexual assault here, because I was assaulted only a few months before writing this, and was still coping with many feelings of anger, loss, and regret. Specifically, its purpose in this scene is to demonstrate where Charlie is heading. Because yes, Oliver hurt Blaize, but Charlie's actions in this scene go against what Blaize wanted.
Blaize and Elizabeth both wanted the violence to end, but Charlie forcing her own will on them proves her no better than her enemies. She is pushing her own agenda, and unable to listen to others. This chapter focuses much more on Charlie's choices than on Oliver's actions. Also, Blaize is able to push through this quite easily, whereas another character later on isn't, showing the diversity in survivors of sexual assault.
~~~~~~~~~~
Ooh, well that was fun. Charlie just murdered a dude, which isn't abnormal, but I think this one is different from the others. Sure, it was in her idea of self-defence, but what do you think? The finale is two episodes away, how do you think this is going to affect the end of this book?
For now, stay safe, and I'll see you Sunday.