Words Unsaid

Three

“Well you and Caleb, he made sure you got out of there alive. And I know I said that I wanted to meet Caleb but you didn’t have to make our first introduction so dramatic.” Jennifer said with a slight smile on her face. The smile left with her next words. “I understand you don’t trust him, Sara, but you will need to. He is the only one that will keep you alive so even though he stabbed you. I am asking you to trust him. Caleb is going to take you somewhere safe and help train you to use your skills.” Her mom’s steel eyes glisten as she continues. “I cannot come with you in person because of my arthritis; I would only slow you down. But I will always be in your heart just like your father is.” Sara finally sits up as Jennifer gives her an old, leather-bound book with little metal studs to keep the cover on. Her mom answers the question in Sara’s mind before she even asks it.

“That is your father’s journal, he wanted you to have it when you were 25 but we don’t have that time to wait anymore.”

Jennifer gives her daughter a hug.

I love you, Sara. Please always remember that.”

Sara hugs her back regardless of the pain and feeling as though this would be the last time she would ever see her mother.

                “I love you too, Mom,” Sara whispered as the tears filled her eyes.

Her mom released her from the hug and wiped away Sara’s tears.

                “You need to go now; I can’t risk you getting caught,” Jennifer said.

She helped her daughter out of her nightgown and into some clothes she had also brought up. There was a tight brown long-sleeved shirt that was covered with a black sleeveless tunic. Sara then put on some thick brown leggings and her black combat boots and her mom tied a knife belt around her waist that held at least ten different knives. 

                “Don’t touch these knives unless you are in trouble.” Her mom warned her.

                “Why?” Sara asked confused. “What is happening?”

Her mom sighed, looked her daughter in the eyes and said, “Your father and I were mind readers, and as our daughter, you are one too. If you touch these knives, they will recognize that you are of the same line as the owner before and will give you a surge of energy and ability. Basically, each knife is an epi shot. They are only to be used in emergencies. Now go, Caleb will take good care of you. Please trust him.”

And as if he had been summoned, Caleb stepped into the room with Sara’s hiking backpack slung over one shoulder. He was just as handsome as before but also looked dangerous because of the multitude of weapons strapped onto his body, from daggers to a quiver of darts to weapons Sara didn’t recognize. She took a step back in surprise and fear. He stabbed me less than a day ago and now I’m supposed to trust him?  Caleb smiled at her, not the crazed smile before or the smile that had made the room light up. No this was a grim smile more of a slight twist of the lips than anything else.

                “We can both read your thoughts, so might as well just say that you don’t trust me.” He said in his baritone voice. “I don’t expect you to after me having to stab you this morning. But we need to leave now before the LE is on us. So as long as you promise to not run away we should be fine.”

                Sara nodded her head in agreement and with that, Caleb and her left Sara’s home, mother and normal life behind. They walked as fast as Sara could manage into the woods. We are heading to safety. . . . Wherever that may be.

Caleb groaned internally.  We have been walking for at least five hours and aren’t even close to our stopping point for the night.  Since Sara was wounded the trek had been painfully slow even though she was quite adept in the outdoors, she was not used to pushing through pain. Maybe I should have found another way to get her out of there, I was an i***t to hesitate I should have acted as soon as it happened but because I did, I had to hurt her. He shivered slightly remembering her screams of agony and watching her go limp. Why do I care about her? Yes, she is a very important person but she is unskilled. I cannot let my emotions get in the way of what must happen. And yet even though he thought these things, he knew that he could never watch Sara get hurt again whether by his hand or someone else’s. Caleb knew that he must always protect her.

Sara stopped to rest for a second; wincing as she felt the place she had been stabbed 8 hours before. Something is wrong; it isn’t healing as it should. Sara looked up when she heard Caleb coming back to where she had stopped.

                “What’s wrong?” He asked in a soft but firm voice.

Sara shook her head. “Just a little tired, it has been a while since I’ve hiked this far.” She said with a weary smile.

Disbelief shone in Caleb’s eyes as well as something else but both were gone before the second had passed. He assessed her for a long moment and then looked at the forest before them. After a while, he nodded.

                “We are going to walk for another hour and a half and then make camp for the night.” He looked back at Sara and said, “Try to keep up.”

And with that, he started forward. Sara looked after him for a second and started to try to catch up with him. This is going to be a very long hour and a half. She pushed forward not heeding the pain in her side, Sara started almost running and was only a few feet behind Caleb when he stopped. Sara tried to stop but her momentum and injury proved to be her undoing, she tripped on a root and fell on her injured side into some mud covered by the slowly changing fall leaves. Sara struggled to get up but was pushed down by Caleb.

                “We are not alone.” He whispered into her ear as he unsheathed one of his very deadly looking knives that looked like a twin of the one he had used earlier.