Blood Warrior (22 page)

She shrugged. “You trust Kayden.” She said this as a statement, not a question, and I found my curiosity growing.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“I’m Soraya,” she answered simply.

I blew out a frustrated breath and she laughed. She had a rich laugh and the sound of it reminded me so much of…
Oh, no
.

I was seriously afraid to ask, but I had to. “You’re… you’re his daughter, aren’t you?”

She was quiet a moment as she studied me, and I felt my heart beating like a drum in my chest. At last, she broke out into laughter. “No,” she said, between laughs. “I’m not his daughter. But you should have seen your face just now.” I released a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. “Oh.”

“I’m his niece.”

I whipped my head toward her and looked into her golden eyes, Kayden’s golden eyes. Then, I thought of something that made me a little angry.

“What are you doing out here all alone? Where are your parents?” She smiled. “I live out here, with my Mommy. Our village is just on the other side of the lake. You want to see? I’ll show you.”

She hopped off the log and held her hand out to me. I took it and she led me around to where a rickety bridge hung over the lake. We crossed it and it rocked as we moved along.

“Is this safe?” I asked when we were about halfway across.

She giggled. “Of course, Uncle Kayden built it so that it would be easier for him to come visit me.” She looked up at me, her voice taking on a serious tone. “But don’t tell anyone, okay? He’ll get in trouble if they find out.”

I furrowed my brow, but nodded. “I promise.”

This was getting stranger by the second.

Once we were across the bridge, she led me down a dirt path that wound through the trees, and after about a mile, we stopped, standing on top of a large hill.

“That’s my village. You can see my house over there. See?” she asked.

I nodded slowly, not believing what I was seeing.

The hill looked down on what was quite literally a village, and the house she had pointed out was little more than a hut. People in ragged clothing mulled around carrying buckets and baskets. The ground was just a dusty brown, hard-packed earth. All of the houses were huts and there seemed to be hundreds of them. They appeared to be made of mud and had hand-made blankets covering the holes that I supposed served as windows. Some of the people were leading around goats and donkeys and I could smell the feces of the animals even from on top of the hill. It looked like something you would see on the National Geographic channel, in some third-world country. It was a sharp contrast to the luxury of the city that I had just run from. It must have still been within the walls, though, because I would have noticed if we would have had to climb over it.

Soraya sat down on the ground and pulled my hand for me to join her. I plopped down beside her, not taking my eyes off of the scene in front of me. I hadn’t known places like this even existed in America.

The more I studied the place in front of me, the more my disbelief grew. None of the people had shoes on, and from what I could see, most of them had some sort of disability.

But some of them seemed perfectly normal, albeit the fact that they were hideously ugly and maybe a little malnourished. These were outcasts, I realized, and the thoughts that entered my head were so horrible, I found myself trembling.

Something warm and rough touched my hand, and I looked down to see that Soraya had placed her hand over mine, which was still shaking.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” she said in a small voice. It was a complete opposite to the tone she’d used earlier in the forest.

I just shook my head, and was surprised when I felt warm tears spill down my cheeks. “Who knows about this place?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never been outside of the village. Except for when I wander in the forest, but Mommy says I shouldn’t do that, so most of the time I don’t.” Anger flared in me as I realized something. “But Kayden does,” I said. “You said he visits you.”

Her face lit up at the mention of her Uncle. “Yeah, he brings me stuff, food and clothes and toys.” Her face fell a little. “But, he can’t come very often. He says it’s dangerous.” I was going to have to have a word with Kayden when I got back.

“What else does he say?” I asked.

“He told me about you. He worries about you a lot.”

I wanted to say he should be worried about
her
, but I kept my thoughts to myself.

Instead, I said, “How did all these people get here?”

“Some of us, like me, were born here. But others, like Mommy got sent here.”

“Sent here by whom?”

She shrugged again. “I don’t know. I call them the Evil Ones, but Mommy won’t speak of them. She says I’m too young right now to worry about it.” I looked back down at all the people in the village, and compared them to those at Two Rivers. Now that I thought about it, no one there was really old or deformed or even over-weight. I was beginning to think my outcast theory was dead-on.

“Why are people sent here?”

“Mommy says it’s because they’ve outgrown their use or that they don’t fit the mold, whatever that means.”

I wrapped my arms around her and she snuggled into my embrace. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for this girl; she was so sweet and perfect and I just wanted to protect her.

Thinking about the luxurious lifestyle back at Two Rivers made me sick. This wasn’t right. It wasn’t right at all.

“Do you want to stay here, Soraya? You could… you could come back with me.” She shook her head. “No, I can’t. They wouldn’t allow it.” She pointed to her lip and I felt fresh tears brim my eyes. “They wouldn’t have me… I’m damaged.” I took her shoulders and forced her to look at me. “No. You are not. You’re perfect. One of the most perfect girls I’ve ever met in my life.” My voice was fierce and full of passion.

She gave a small smile. “He was right. You are amazing.”

“Kayden said I’m amazing?” I shook my head. “That’s not important. Look, I need to get back before someone notices I’m missing, but I promise you, I’m going to fix this.” She gave another sad smile. “You truly are a Warrior, Alexa. Will you come back to see me?”

I looked straight into her beautiful eyes. “I promise. I’ll be back. And I meant what I said, I am going to make things right.” I just had no idea
how
I was going to, but she didn’t need to know that.

She gave me a look that said she didn’t think that was possible.

I drew her into my arms once again. “Do you trust me?”

She pulled back and looked up at me. “Yes, I do.”

“Then trust me when I say I will take care of this. I’ll straighten it out. I promise.” She gripped my hands, concern covering her little face. “You can’t tell anyone you were here, Alexa. I mean it. I don’t want them to hurt you.

“No one is going to hurt me. Don’t worry, I won’t say anything. Can you show me the way back?”

She nodded. “You won’t forget about me, will you?”

I cupped her face in my hands. “Of course not. How could I? You’re far too important to be forgotten.”

She smiled and my heart felt like it was breaking into a million pieces. I had to do something about this, I just had to.

“I think it’s the food,” she said, as she led me back to the other side of the lake.

“What?”

“Uncle says everyone there must know something is off about that place. But he says that they just go about their days like nothing is wrong, he says their happy. So, I think they must be putting something in the food to make people more… you know, easy-going, so that they’ll turn their heads to certain things.”

I smiled at her. “You’re smart and beautiful, you know that?” She grinned and squeezed my hand. “So are you, I just hope it’s enough.” I furrowed my brow at that, but she pointed into the trees. “Go straight from here, just keep going straight until you reach your city. You should be okay, but hurry, you don’t want to be lost in the trees come nightfall.” She reached into her shirt and held something out for me. “Take this, as long as you keep heading north, you’ll be fine.” I looked down and saw that she had handed me a compass. I thanked her and scooped her up into another hug. “I will be back, Soraya. I promise you, I’ll be back.” She kissed my cheek. “I know. I know you will.”

I set her down and she headed back toward her village, giving me a small wave. I waved back and then headed toward my own destination. I had a feeling that when I got back, the city was going to take on a very ugly new light.

Chapter 45

As I stepped out of the trees at last, the sun seemed to shine brighter in my face than it had all day. It glared down on me in a way that made me feel as though the sweat running down my back might turn into steam. I stopped and stared at the glorious structures all around me, and for the first time, the sight of them disgusted me.

The cherry blossom trees that stood in the medians of the streets no longer smelled of sweet floral; their scent had taken on the odor of an obnoxious perfume. The fancy green street lights that lined the sidewalks appeared to be thrusting their noses into the air out of spite. The mosaic-like buildings no longer resembled pieces of art; they sparkled like blood diamonds. The city I had once stared at in wonder, now had me glaring in distaste.

I could see the school up ahead and students were filing out of the buildings. It must be the end of the school day, meaning that I had spent almost four hours out in the woods. I had no doubt that Nelly would come looking for me soon, so I stuck to the outskirts and made my way back to my dorm room.

When I got there, I was feeling mildly disoriented. I couldn’t take my mind off of the village and the people who called it home. Soraya’s little face was stuck in my memory like a fly in a spider web. The shoeless people, whose faces had held no hope, haunted my mind in an almost agonizing way. I couldn’t help but feel responsible for them. I wanted so badly to do something to help them. I wanted so badly to help her. To hold her tiny body in my arms and tell her over and over how wonderful she was. Her words replayed in my head a thousand times:
I’m damaged.
They made me want to lash out and hit someone, to hurt anyone who dare tell her that she was anything less than perfect. I wanted blood.

I wanted to march up the steps of the Council building and demand an explanation from the Queen herself. I wanted to slap the owners of the fancy cars that cruised up the streets and scream at the people living in the mansions that seemed to be on every corner of this city.

However, the longer I sat on my bed and thought about the village, the less I could seem to recall. It was like trying to hold water in my hands, only to have it slip through my fingers at the last moment. I felt confused and my mind muddled, like I couldn’t think straight. I felt like I should just go to sleep, and I would wake up and find that I had imagined it all.

Instead, I pulled the small compass out of my pocket and stared down it. I took in its circular shape and studied the letters that marked the directions. Soraya had given me this, and it was no dream. I wouldn’t let myself forget her, I refused to. I would write everything I had seen down in a journal right now if that’s what it took to-The journal.

I still hadn’t looked at the journal that the librarian had given me. I glanced over at the clock on my nightstand. It was just after four pm, if I read quickly enough, I could still return it to the library before they closed for the night.

I stood up and went to go retrieve it from the bathroom, and a knock sounded at my door. I had a good idea of who it might be.

I opened the door. “Hey, Nell.”

She studied me for a moment. “What’s wrong?”

I ushered her in and closed the door. “Nothing that you’re not already aware of.” I hated lying to her, but thought it was best to keep Soraya and the village to myself for now, at least until I could gather more information.

She looked at me like she couldn’t decide if she believed me. “Yeah,” she said slowly, “I can’t believe Victoria had the nerve to do that. Are you okay? Where did you go?” I sat down on my bed. “I’m fine. I just went for a run to burn off some energy.” Nelly sat down next to me. “I hope it helped. I was a little worried back there. I thought you might lose control. Your soul was burning brighter than I’d ever seen it before. It was scary… I think Victoria learned her lesson though.”

“You Searched me again?” My tone was a little more accusing than I had intended.

She cringed a little. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. Really, I didn’t even try to, it just happened. The rage was so intense that it sent me a, like, a shock wave. It even hurt a little bit. I was afraid you were going to… I was afraid you might kill her.” Her hazel eyes were filled with worry and what I thought was fear. I hoped it wasn’t fear of me. I took a deep breath to calm myself. Nelly wasn’t the one I was mad at. I didn’t really know
who
I was mad at.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound harsh. I’ve just had a long day. I don’t really care if you Search me.” I thought about Soraya and the village and corrected myself. “Just try not to, okay? Or at least tell me when you’re going to do it.” She nodded. “Okay.”

I glanced uneasily at the clock. “Would you mind letting me rest for a little bit? I just feel like I need to sleep it off.” I hoped that sounded believable.

“Of course.” She kissed my forehead and moved toward the door, but she stopped and turned back to me. “You sure there’s nothing else you want to talk about?” I just shook my head.

She opened the door. “Okay, I’ll see you later then.”

Alone at last, I retrieved the book from the bathroom and sat back on my bed.

Opening it up, I found that it was indeed a hand-written journal.

The first entry was dated over three-hundred years ago:

This dream I’ve been having has haunted me in the worst of ways. I’m beginning
this journal so that I may remember that which haunts me. The dream shows me things that I
fear have yet to come. Why I have been plagued with this knowledge is a mystery to me as of
yet. That which has been revealed is so horrible that I pray I am wrong, and these things will not
come to pass.