Set Me Free

It was a dark cloudy day. It had been very foggy in the morning. And so was the mood in the living room of the Bellaire"s residence. Dark and angry with two little confused children, the younger one trying hard not to burst into tears, as their parents screamed at each other. "Hannah, please, be sensible, you"ll be safe with them! I cant let you... Please TRY AND UNDERSTAND, for Daniel... for little Nicole, please!" A dark haired man, their father, ruffling the little girl"s hair. "NO, NO, NO GODDAMN IT! You could stay as well, Richard!" Said Hannah, their mother, tears streaming down her face. "They are smart kids, they can survive... I cant let you go too Richard... I wouldn"t be happy..." "Mommy, don"t cry.... You can keep Baloo, he will protect you." said the little girl, handing her stuffed bear to her mother. The scene shifted. "Just go, Run! And don"t look back no matter what! Take this." said a blonde haired woman and tossed them two big backpacks, and ushering the two kids out the back door into the dark woods. "B-but Aunt Charlotte, we just f-found you. We have no one... You can come too!" Said the boy, pleading with tears in his eyes, holding his sister"s hand. "Just RUN!" The woman, Aunt Charlotte screamed, the boy flinched, and started to run, with him, his sister. But she heard a gun shot and looked back, and saw blood seeping through her Aunt"s hands which were cupped on her abdomen. She screamed. The boy followed her gaze, then grabbed her hand and ran. She struggled, but the boy was stronger. "Please don"t make me do this." he said. She punched him hard. He looked at her with sadness and muttered something,"oh no you dont" and hit her with the metal bottle from the backpack. Then everything went black. I woke up screaming. Turned out I was fighting the bedsheets. Daniel rushed into my room with sleepy eyes. "The dream again, Nicole?" he asked. I nodded. He sighed. "It will get better" he said, mostly to himself. "You"ve been saying that for a year now." I said, rubbing my forehead. "Well, the War hasn"t left anyone the same." he replied with a sad smile. The War was terrible. It lasted for most part of mine and Daniel"s life. More than 80% of the human race was wiped out. The others, survivors of the War, were damaged physically and mentally. Few like Daniel and I, are not. Emotionally every one us is damaged mostly beyond repair. Half the world was destroyed. More than half. Actually, i don"t wanna know. All i know is that we are not safe here either. Daniel says this this is the safest place but it is hard for me to believe him. Or anyone. Our Uncle,who is the President, tries hard to make us feel safe. "Nil? Asleep already?" Daniel asks me, snapping his fingers. "No, Danny." I said sticking out my tongue. I studied his tired-looking face. He looks so much like our Dad. Actually both of us look like our Dad. Dark brown hair, blue eyes. But Daniel has my Mom"s qualities. Caring, Optimistic, Amazing chef, and he never got angry. Thank god for Daniel, i can always see my Mom in him. He and my Uncle are the only family i have left. And i love them to death. Me? I was the girl version of my dad. Intelligent, Funny, Sarcastic and calm. I got up from bed and looked around my huge room. What a mess. We lived with our Uncle in a mansion. But since we have our own duties, we had to keep it clean by ourselves, which was quite a tough job, since this place was huge. "Soon we wont be needing an alarm clock if you keep waking me up like this." Daniel said. "We gotta go Nil, or we"re gonna be late." I groaned. I hated doing the "debris removal" duty. But somehow, I got up and showered, brushed my teeth, and wore the uniform for work. A grey shirt with "Debris Removal" written on both sides of it, and black pants. Yes, the War was that bad, we had to ask all citizens (those who were left, anyway) of the country, aged 16-18 to do the removal duty. In half an hour, we were out and about doing our duties. My best friend, Ilsa, and I were trying to remove a particularly large chunk of cement stuck between the door of an old house. Suddenly, I heard a noise. I looked around. "Hey, Ilsa, did you hear that?" "Um. What?" "help." It came from inside, echoing a bit. "That." I said, pointing towards the house. "Yeah...Could someone be in there? If so, how"d they survive for what, almost a year? It could be dangerous Nil." Ilsa said, her face quite pale. "We have a hammer, and a mini axe." "But still..." I put all my strength on my hands and pushed. The big chunk of cement landed on the other side of the door with a thud. "Who"s there?" I barked out. I wanted to sound strong, and fearless. "Help me, please." it came from under another big chunk of cement. "Hey Ilsa, care to help?" I shouted.She came in, looking cautious. We put our hands on the side the cement block, and pulled, and threw it to the side. A metal door, probably leading to a basement. I pulled the door upwards, and saw a scared looking, pale guy staring up at me. I shrieked, and Ilsa gave a small scream. "Hi." he said, his voice cracking. "I"m Felix." I held out a hand, he grabbed it, and I pulled him up. "I"m gonna go look what"s down there." Ilsa said. "Ok, see you at the Middle." The Middle was a place where they took injured people. I started walking, and Felix followed me. We didn"t talk during the way. I could feel him staring at my back, but I didn"t look. After we reached, a helper came, and I waited outside. After an hour, Ilsa came. "He had food supply, a heater, and mini lamps. There was a well in the basement, probably where he got water from." He was running low on food, I think, only few energy bars and some other stuff." she told me. "I"ll take him to our place, since he doesn"t have a family yet. We"ve got three extra bedrooms." I had offered Ilsa to move in with us, but she always refused, don"t know why though. "Be careful" Ilsa said. "Nope, i"ll let him murder me and my family, and eat us up for a midnight snack." I said, sarcastically. Ilsa let out a small laugh. Just then, Felix came out, looking much cleaner, and a little colour had returned to his super-pale face. He looked quite.... attractive. I asked him to wait in the Middle for a while, as I still had to finish my duty. And he waited. A little after sunset, I went back for him, and he looked well-rested. I took him home, my brother hadn"t returned from his duty yet, but my uncle gladly agreed to Felix staying until he had a duty, and a home. "How old are you?" I asked Felix as I handed him a towel, a toothbrush and a few of Daniel"s old clothes. "Seventeen." he replied. A year older than me. "Debris removal. You have your duties according to age." I said, and explained the new system to him. The whole time, he stared, his dark blue eyes never leaving my face. After I was done, he nodded. "Thank you for saving me." he said. "No problem." I replied a bit unsure. "You look sleepy." he said, studying my face. "Yeah, ill go now... Sleep well." I said. And patted his back, still unsure of what do or say. He chucked. I got up and turned the door handle, he said "You too." I smiled, and left. After brushing my teeth, I changed and got into my comfy bed. Just before I slept, Felix"s face came into my mind. He looked so familiar, I felt like I knew him for a long time. I remembered him, a brown-haired boy laughing with me, his blue eyes sparkling with joy. A different time, it had been, a happy time. I wanted to get up and ask him about it, but sleep overtook me. It was a dark cloudy day. It had been very foggy in the morning. And so was the mood in the living room of the Bellaire"s residence. Dark and angry with two little confused children, the younger one trying hard not to burst into tears, as their parents screamed at each other. "Hannah, please, be sensible, you"ll be safe with them! I cant let you... Please TRY AND UNDERSTAND, for Daniel... for little Nicole, please!" A dark haired man, their father, ruffling the little girl"s hair. "NO, NO, NO GODDAMN IT! You could stay as well, Richard!" Said Hannah, their mother, tears streaming down her face. "They are smart kids, they can survive... I cant let you go too Richard... I wouldn"t be happy..." "Mommy, don"t cry.... You can keep Baloo, he will protect you." said the little girl, handing her stuffed bear to her mother. The scene shifted. "Just go, Run! And don"t look back no matter what! Take this." said a blonde haired woman and tossed them two big backpacks, and ushering the two kids out the back door into the dark woods. "B-but Aunt Charlotte, we just f-found you. We have no one... You can come too!" Said the boy, pleading with tears in his eyes, holding his sister"s hand. "Just RUN!" The woman, Aunt Charlotte screamed, the boy flinched, and started to run, with him, his sister. But she heard a gun shot and looked back, and saw blood seeping through her Aunt"s hands which were cupped on her abdomen. She screamed. The boy followed her gaze, then grabbed her hand and ran. She struggled, but the boy was stronger. "Please don"t make me do this." he said. She punched him hard. He looked at her with sadness and muttered something,"oh no you dont" and hit her with the metal bottle from the backpack. Then everything went black. I woke up screaming. Turned out I was fighting the bedsheets. Daniel rushed into my room with sleepy eyes. "The dream again, Nicole?" he asked. I nodded. He sighed. "It will get better" he said, mostly to himself. "You"ve been saying that for a year now." I said, rubbing my forehead. "Well, the War hasn"t left anyone the same." he replied with a sad smile. The War was terrible. It lasted for most part of mine and Daniel"s life. More than 80% of the human race was wiped out. The others, survivors of the War, were damaged physically and mentally. Few like Daniel and I, are not. Emotionally every one us is damaged mostly beyond repair. Half the world was destroyed. More than half. Actually, i don"t wanna know. All i know is that we are not safe here either. Daniel says this this is the safest place but it is hard for me to believe him. Or anyone. Our Uncle,who is the President, tries hard to make us feel safe. "Nil? Asleep already?" Daniel asks me, snapping his fingers. "No, Danny." I said sticking out my tongue. I studied his tired-looking face. He looks so much like our Dad. Actually both of us look like our Dad. Dark brown hair, blue eyes. But Daniel has my Mom"s qualities. Caring, Optimistic, Amazing chef, and he never got angry. Thank god for Daniel, i can always see my Mom in him. He and my Uncle are the only family i have left. And i love them to death. Me? I was the girl version of my dad. Intelligent, Funny, Sarcastic and calm. I got up from bed and looked around my huge room. What a mess. We lived with our Uncle in a mansion. But since we have our own duties, we had to keep it clean by ourselves, which was quite a tough job, since this place was huge. "Soon we wont be needing an alarm clock if you keep waking me up like this." Daniel said. "We gotta go Nil, or we"re gonna be late." I groaned. I hated doing the "debris removal" duty. But somehow, I got up and showered, brushed my teeth, and wore the uniform for work. A grey shirt with "Debris Removal" written on both sides of it, and black pants. Yes, the War was that bad, we had to ask all citizens (those who were left, anyway) of the country, aged 16-18 to do the removal duty. In half an hour, we were out and about doing our duties. My best friend, Ilsa, and I were trying to remove a particularly large chunk of cement stuck between the door of an old house. Suddenly, I heard a noise. I looked around. "Hey, Ilsa, did you hear that?" "Um. What?" "help." It came from inside, echoing a bit. "That." I said, pointing towards the house. "Yeah...Could someone be in there? If so, how"d they survive for what, almost a year? It could be dangerous Nil." Ilsa said, her face quite pale. "We have a hammer, and a mini axe." "But still..." I put all my strength on my hands and pushed. The big chunk of cement landed on the other side of the door with a thud. "Who"s there?" I barked out. I wanted to sound strong, and fearless. "Help me, please." it came from under another big chunk of cement. "Hey Ilsa, care to help?" I shouted.She came in, looking cautious. We put our hands on the side the cement block, and pulled, and threw it to the side. A metal door, probably leading to a basement. I pulled the door upwards, and saw a scared looking, pale guy staring up at me. I shrieked, and Ilsa gave a small scream. "Hi." he said, his voice cracking. "I"m Felix." I held out a hand, he grabbed it, and I pulled him up. "I"m gonna go look what"s down there." Ilsa said. "Ok, see you at the Middle." The Middle was a place where they took injured people. I started walking, and Felix followed me. We didn"t talk during the way. I could feel him staring at my back, but I didn"t look. After we reached, a helper came, and I waited outside. After an hour, Ilsa came. "He had food supply, a heater, and mini lamps. There was a well in the basement, probably where he got water from." He was running low on food, I think, only few energy bars and some other stuff." she told me. "I"ll take him to our place, since he doesn"t have a family yet. We"ve got three extra bedrooms." I had offered Ilsa to move in with us, but she always refused, don"t know why though. "Be careful" Ilsa said. "Nope, i"ll let him murder me and my family, and eat us up for a midnight snack." I said, sarcastically. Ilsa let out a small laugh. Just then, Felix came out, looking much cleaner, and a little colour had returned to his super-pale face. He looked quite.... attractive. I asked him to wait in the Middle for a while, as I still had to finish my duty. And he waited. A little after sunset, I went back for him, and he looked well-rested. I took him home, my brother hadn"t returned from his duty yet, but my uncle gladly agreed to Felix staying until he had a duty, and a home. "How old are you?" I asked Felix as I handed him a towel, a toothbrush and a few of Daniel"s old clothes. "Seventeen." he replied. A year older than me. "Debris removal. You have your duties according to age." I said, and explained the new system to him. The whole time, he stared, his dark blue eyes never leaving my face. After I was done, he nodded. "Thank you for saving me." he said. "No problem." I replied a bit unsure. "You look sleepy." he said, studying my face. "Yeah, ill go now... Sleep well." I said. And patted his back, still unsure of what do or say. He chucked. I got up and turned the door handle, he said "You too." I smiled, and left. After brushing my teeth, I changed and got into my comfy bed. Just before I slept, Felix"s face came into my mind. He looked so familiar, I felt like I knew him for a long time. I remembered him, a brown-haired boy laughing with me, his blue eyes sparkling with joy. A different time, it had been, a happy time. I wanted to get up and ask him about it, but sleep overtook me.