Chapter Forty Five
1156 Words
NINA
“Where are we going Nina?”
“Somewhere far far away…”
“Where is far far away? China? Spanish?”
“What you want to say is Spain…”
“So we are going to Spain?”
“No…”
“Is daddy coming?”
I paused. My eyes swiftly fleeted over the strewn clothes on the floor and the small rucksack. There was just no way of fitting our clothes in that miniature bag. Was this a bad omen? Did we really have a chance of escaping? If we made it out and he caught up with us…
“Is he? Is daddy coming with us on our road trip?”
My eyes averted to the little boy in front of me. He had pursed his lips in anticipation, his nostrils were flaring, the tips had already adopted a hue of crimson. My eyes moved to inspect the large purple bruise on his cheek. It was still fresh, painful. He was having trouble talking and even more trouble blinking. His little jaw was clenched to reduce the pain. My fists folded with their own accord, who does this to a child?
Your father Nina, have you forgotten your childhood?
I yanked the little boy towards me and held him. I breathed in the pine scent of his ginger hair, I fanned my warm breath in his neck. Then I let him cry on my shoulders. He didn’t wail or screech. He didn’t sob or sniffle. The little boy simply let his warm tears fall softly on my shoulder. He had been taught to cry quietly, fussing during the act prompted beatings. Instead of learning how to ride a bike or how to swim, this little boy was learning how to cry without making a sound.
“Daddy is not coming okay? Daddy will never hurt you again you hear me? We will go far far away, just you and me…you and me Seth, just the two of us…”
* * *
“Seth! Seth! Please please don’t hurt him!”
Guzman woke up with a start. They had decided to rest before continuing with their mission. If it was up to him, they would have soldiered on but Rupert had yet to regain his memory and was becoming a nuisance, more of a nuisance than usual. Guzman had clubbed him at the back of his head with the hope of reinstating Rupert’s normalcy. Guzman could not deny that he had enjoyed executing this particular idea. The downside of his plan was that he had to carry Rupert which he realized he was not in the best shape to do. As for the human, she had been too tired to continue with their trekking. She had literally fallen on the ground claiming her feet were on “strike”. Guzman had rolled his eyes, shoved Rupert on the hard ground and began making a shelter for the three of them.
He had no idea when his own feet went on a “strike”.
“Human! Quiet human! You will attract unwanted company-“
“Please father…please don’t hurt him…”
Guzman angled his head to view the human. Her eyes were wide open and glazed in an unnerving manner. Her lips were trembling and her face, her face was etched with an unfathomable expression.
“Father! No father! Please!”
Guzman pounced on the human and planted his palm on her mouth His eyes darted around their surroundings. Guzman was not ready for another confrontation with magical creatures.
“Nggggghgghgh…”
Satisfied that they were still alone, Guzman shifted his attention to the human. Her whole body was trembling and tears were now freely falling from her eyes. Guzman cautiously retrieved his large palm from the human’s mouth.
“He is just a child father…just a little boy, please…”
Suddenly Guzman wished Rupert was awake. He would have known what to say, he would have helped the human.
“No! No! Please!”
She was screaming again and lashing out. Guzman yelped when the human dug her jagged nails into his skin. Who knew someone so little could actually leave a scar? Well, apart from dwarves.
“Wake up human!”
Nina took in a huge gasp of air and proceeded to blink rapidly. She heaved as her eyes scouted her surroundings. When she finally took in Guzman’s beastly facial features, she sighed in relief and embraced him. Guzman froze. Apart from Tamara, no one had ever really hugged him.
“I have to go home Guzman…I have to go back and save Seth…My father, my father is a cruel man who has no boundaries…Seth is in danger…”
Slowly, reluctantly, Guzman stroked the human’s tangled hair hoping it would soothe her. He always did the same for Tamara whenever she was upset. The human relaxed in his broad shoulders. She was no longer hyperventilating, her hysterics had reduced to mere snivels.
“When we complete this mission, I will do everything in my power to help you return home to your Seth…”
Nina lifted her head slowly, her eyes searching within the beast’s. For some reason she trusted his words even though she barely knew him.
“And if we do not complete the mission, if we fail to save Barry’s life?”
Guzman pulled away from the embrace and focused his gaze on the ground. He had refused to believe that he could fail. That somehow he could let Tamara down. But had it not been a full day since they left the magical realm? What had they accomplished so far? Rupert was not himself and the human had almost died. Perhaps this was a feat that he simply could not achieve. Guzman shuddered. If he failed, then the prince dies and his death would surely prompt a war. Guzman did not see how he could survive another one.
“Let us focus on the task at hand. There is no use predicting what is not there…”
Nina bobbed her head reluctantly. She had seen the beast’s expressions. She had seen his fear. Nina couldn’t help but think that her possibility of returning home were slim to none.
If she wanted to save Seth, she had to figure out a way to return home by herself.
“So what do we do now?”
“Now? We wait for this nincompoop to regain his sentience…then we seek out the healers…”
“I hope they are friendlier than dwarves…”
Guzman chuckled humorlessly.
“There is nothing wrong with having hope…”
- Writer
