Chapter Thirteen: Back In the Woods
Copyright © by J. Faith Kenney
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission.
The sun is barely coming up and a fresh layer of dew covers the ground. My eyes open, and I can feel a few small pebbles digging into the side of my face. Sitting up and brushing them away, I look around. Zac is nowhere to be found, and panic rushes through my veins.
I try calling his name, but my throat is too dry to say a single word. No, please tell me he is not dead, or that someone is not trying to play another sick game with me again.
“Zac is at the river!” calls Lucas.
My head whips around to his voice, forgetting he is even there. Lucas sits beside Tess, who still sleeps peacefully. Nodding my thank-you, as Lucas points to the left of him to a little pathway between the trees.
Nodding again, I get up to walk down the path. The water comes into view, along with the open field of tall grass and giant rocks by the riverbank. Zac is crouched down close to the edge, drinking from the river, not hearing me as I approach him.
“Morning,” I say, my voice scratchy.
Zac quickly jumps to his feet, putting his hands up as if ready to punch me. He pulls back at the last second.
“Whoa,” I say, holding my hands up. “It is just me.”
He lowers his hands, looking at the ground before locking eyes with me. “Sorry.” He shifts his weight to one side, turning slightly and trying to hide something from me. “You really shouldn’t sneak up like that.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
He looks to the ground, trying to decide if he should turn back to the river or not. Instead, he looks up to me and smiles.
“You know I can see the blood, right?” I say, throwing him off guard, and he raises his eyebrows with confusion as I point to his side. “The blood on your side. Let me take a look at it.”
“It’s nothing, Thela. Really, I am fine.”
I take a step forward, and he takes a step back, cringing at the sudden movement.
“If it was fine, you wouldn’t be cringing like that from pain. Just let me take a look at it, Zac.”
“It’s not a big deal, just sore from yesterday and sleeping on the hard ground.”
He turns back to the river, exposing how his shirt has splotches of blood bleeding through. My eyes widen, and I take a few steps forward. Zac realizes his mistake and gets back up, gritting his teeth to hold back a yelp.
“Zac, take off your shirt,” I demand.
“What? No.”
“Zac, take off your shirt,” my voice firmer.
He hesitates but takes off his shirt, revealing his toned, muscular form, a six pack and the V lines forming his waist. His muscles, from his jaw to his stomach, are tight, trying to cover up the pain. Trying to act like he is fine when he is clearly not. The place where he got shot just below his chest, and his stomach is black, blue, and purple and badly swollen. No wonder he winces at the pain.
Why didn’t he say anything sooner? Probably sleeping on the ground, tossing and turning, didn’t help with the bruising. That’s probably how the wound reopened.
I take a step forward, returning my eyes to his instead of the wound and his muscles. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?” My voice light.
He shrugs. “I don’t know. I thought it was going to heal on its own, but it hasn’t. I didn’t want to tell you because, well, I didn’t want to worry you.”
“I need to wash it so it doesn’t get infected. You’re lucky that it hasn’t already.”
“I don’t feel so lucky for having it, but I would take it any day.”
Nodding, I take a seat on a giant rock on the edge of the river and pat the surface of the rock next to me for him to take a seat. He nods, giving up the little battle to take a seat and let me wash his wound. My focus sharpens on the wound, and I note he is not bleeding internally, just bruised from the rocks.
“I need to sew it up as well,” I say, cupping my hands into the river to get some water.
“How?”
“I know a way. Now this might sting a little, and you may want to lie down.”
“Okay.” He lies on the rock, and I pour the cold river water onto his wound.
Zac twitches from the pain or the cold as his whole body tenses and his hands clench into fists. I look up to his face, and he just nods for me to continue. Gently, placing my hand right under the open flesh to see how deep the bullet hole is—like I used to do when I was a Caretender. He grunts through his clenched teeth from my touch as a stream of fresh blood rolls down the side of him.
Zac nods for me to continue again without opening his eyes. Again, I cup my hands together and gather some water, pouring it slowly over the wound to clean as much as I can. The blood streams down, coating the rock and a little bit of my pant leg.
Again, again, again. I gather water and pour it onto him until the water is clear. Blood still cakes his surface, but I can’t get it without a cloth to wipe it clean. I place my hand on his chest above the wound, and Zac’s eyes open. He reaches up and takes my hand in his, squeezing it slightly.
“Did you sew it up already?” he asks.
I shake my head no. “I will when we get back to the others.”
I grab his shirt, swinging it over my shoulder, and Zac stands up to follow me back down the trail. The sun is now high in the sky, and when we get back to camp, Tess is up and talking to Lucas. As soon as she sees me, she rises from her seat on a log and comes over, pulling me into a hug.
“Thank you, Thela,” she whispers.
“For what?”
“Saving my life multiple times. For fighting for my life harder than I am.”
Tess pulls back but stops midway as she notices Zac’s condition. His bruises are vibrant, with the veins popping out more than they should. Tess is used to seeing people hurt, she basically grew up seeing it, but Zac’s issues send deep worry over her features.
“Did he just get shot?” she asks, her voice wavering.
“No, it’s from before, but I need to sew him up.”
“How?”
I smile, a little laugh escaping me. “I will show you, but can you get me a couple of leaves?”
“Sure,” Tess says, eyeing me with confusion. She looks to Zac, who only shrugs, before she runs off to get some leaves.
Turning to Zac, I grab his hand and lead him to the tree we slept by last night so he can lie down.
“Here, lie down and try not to get any dirt or little pebbles in the wound,” I say to him gently.
He nods and lies down with a little groan. My eyes close and I take a deep breath in and let it out. Every single time I do any medical procedure, I take a deep breath to help calm my nerves. Just like old times when I was Caretender and needed to focus. This will probably never happen again in a hospital while I am getting ready for surgery.
My eyes open and Tess is patiently waiting for me with a few leaves in her hand. She smiles at me, and I smile back as she hands me the leaves. Like a Caretender at The Helping Care Shelter who used to help me get ready, or was in the surgery room to hand me tools.
“Thank you. Do you want to watch, maybe learn something?” I ask her.
“You are going to manipulate the leaves, aren’t you?” asks Tess with the excitement taking over her voice.
“That is the plan.”
“Have you done it before?” she asks in a whisper so Zac doesn’t hear her.
I nod, looking at Zac, then back at her. “Yes, but it has been a while so I am a bit rusty.”
Tess smiles and nods her head. “I would love to watch. It will be good for me to see something like this again.”
“Again?”
“My mother could manipulate things,” she states simply with a sad smile, remembering the memories.
“Oh. You can sit on the other side of Zac. It’s not the greatest view but it will do.”
She nods her head vigorously with excitement. Tess takes a seat on her knees, ready to watch. I take one more deep breath before sitting down beside Zac closest to the wound. Looking to Zac and he nods for me to begin, lying completely flat on his back.
The leaves lie flat in my palm, and I close my eyes to really concentrate on the leaves and the leaves alone. Leaves to threads, thread to leaves. Leaves to thread, thread to leaves.
“Leaves to thread, thread to leaves,” I whisper to myself, feeling the leaves transform into a thread-like material from the veins of the leaves.
“Wow,” breathes Tess, and my eyes open to her. “I forgot, how some Neuroners can do that with only a simple connection.”
Nodding, giving her a small smile and turning to Zac, who smiles up at me.
“You did that at the orphanage on your stuffed animals whenever they ripped,” says Zac, a little in awe. “You showed me how to sew them back up like nothing even happened.”
“That is when I knew I wanted to be Caretender, and it served me well because now I can do surgery and close them up with little to no scarring.” My voice soft with the memories that fill my head, and Zac knows exactly what I am talking about.
“You were trying to teach me when we were very young, but I could never do it.”
“I thought—well, I didn’t know that was part of me being a Neuroner. I really thought everyone could do it.”
“Yeah, just you.” Zac’s voice in a little dazed. “And of course you,” he adds, turning his head to look at Tess.
Tess shakes her head. “I can’t do it. I am not that kind of Neuroner.” She looks up to me and back down to Zac. “But my mother could do it.”
Closing my eyes again, I hold a new leaf to transform it into a needle. Leaf to needle, needle to leaf. This transformation is much faster compared to the first one. It only takes one chant in my head for the vein of the leaf to transform into a pointy tip and a hole at the other end for the “thread” to go through.
With steady, slow hands, I sew up the open flesh in Zac’s stomach. Within a few minutes, I lean back and look at my work with a pleased smile for myself. Always was a good sewer.
“Done,” I say, looking up to Zac with a little grin.
Tess comes around and stands over me to see my work. She studies it, her eyes gleaming with amazement. Zac sits up and looks down to it, running a light hand that barely touches the stitches, and I swat him away. He looks up to me, his eyes impressed and approving.
“That was pretty fast and not at all as painful as I thought it would be,” says Zac as I hand his shirt back to him.
“Did you have doubts in me?” My voice light.
“No,” he says, putting on his shirt, which sticks to his still wet skin.
“That is very impressive,” states Lucas, and we all turn our heads to him standing behind Tess and looking over our shoulders.
Zac and I have definitely forgotten Lucas is even here, and maybe Tess has too. She turns to him with a smile and stands right next to him, wrapping an arm around him.
“Well, she is the best. She kept me alive even though I should technically have died more than once,” express Tess.
“I see that now. I thought she would-”
I cut Lucas off, not wanting him to finish that sentence. “Be bad? Or not even know how to stitch someone up because I work at The Helping Care Shelter?” I ask, my voice on edge.
“Well, yeah,” Lucas mumbles, but it’s clear enough for everyone to hear.
“Just because I work at the Shelter, that doesn’t mean I am less than a Caretender for Medical. Same for any other Caretender who works there.” The rage boils at my skin.
“Okay, sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Thela is better than anyone in Caretender for Medical,” Zac says as he stands beside me, his skin on fire just like mine. “If something happens to you on this journey, she will be the one to save you.”
“Okay, okay. Let’s just get started for the day. The sun is already up, and it was your idea to move as soon as it came up.”
Zac and Lucas hold each other’s stare for a few minutes. If there is going to be a fight, Zac will definitely win, but he is more mature than to beat someone up for no reason. Instead, he takes the lead with me by his side and Tess and Lucas trailing behind us.
With a few feet ahead and a chance for everyone to calm down, I look back to Tess and Lucas, who’ve fallen a couple of feet back even more.
“Did you ever dream of us getting married?” I ask Zac, looking up to him.
Zac pauses, looking me straight in the eyes before he starts walking again. “I did, more than once too, and may again.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know why. Maybe, because when we were younger, I said someday I would marry you.” Zac stops and turns to me with a little goofy smile. “I like you, Thela, I mean I like you a lot. Maybe someday that dream of mine will come true.”
A goofy smile of my own takes over my features. “Hmm, it is not going to happen, at least not anytime soon.”
Zac lets out a little puff of laughter, and the slightest smile curls his lips. His eyes gleam with hope for that future. I shrug as I turn toward Tess with a little grin of my own. Zac shakes his head as he continues walking with a little laugh.
“Hey, Tess, how are you feeling?” I ask her like a friend not like a Caretender as I stand beside her. “We haven’t really talked to each other since-”
“I was in the hospital and could barely move because I was so sick.”
“Yeah,” I say, regretting that I even asked in the first place.
Tess turns to Lucas and motions him to join Zac or walk farther ahead so he is not in hearing range. He rolls his eyes but does what she motioned him to do. He keeps his distance from us and from Zac, not getting too close to him either. Tess lets out a ragged breath. Her eyes plead for happiness, but her face tells a different story.
“Honestly, I feel great besides the little pain in my arm, but that’s not a big deal,” she states with sadness in her voice.
“Then why do you sound so sad about it?”
She grabs my arm to make me stop walking to create greater distance between us and the others.
“When Lily put me under, even though it was for them to watch my mind, it felt…” She pauses, thinking of the right words. “Like my mind was finally free to let loose, to be itself, and not in a cage anymore. It was nice to finally see what my mind was capable of and to see what a Neuroner means for me, but now I feel guilty for wanting to feel that again.”
“I know what you mean.” We start walking again. “The whole world tells us that we are scary and that we are monsters. We even tell that to ourselves and hide and push the feeling away.”
“Yeah, that’s for sure. It just feels natural, though.”
“That is because it is natural for us, Tess. That is how we are made. Our brain nerves are stronger than the rest of the body.”
“And for that reason, it’s not a blessing, it is a-”
“Curse,” we both say the word in sync, knowing it by heart.
Tess nods as we both let those daunting words sink into our minds. Our whole lives, that phrase has been repeated over and over again. Society sees it as a blessing, but at the same time they call us monsters.
“Thela,” starts Tess, breaking the silence that has spread across the woods. “When I got taken or kidnapped, whatever you want to call it, I thought it was you.” Her voice in pain as she remembers that day.
“What, what do you mean me?”
“I thought you told someone-” Her voice becomes thin with tears building up. “I thought you betrayed me and told someone with power that I was a Neuroner, and they were coming to take me. I got lucky in a way, though. If someone besides Lily found out I was a Neuroner, they would have killed me for hiding it.”
“What do you mean by that?” I ask, already knowing the answer as I remember Lily’s words that seem so long ago but were only earlier this week: She said I was stronger— more valuable than others.
“I am just a plain Neuroner, nothing special.” She pauses and looks into my eyes with a little grief. “They wouldn’t kill you though. You would stay a lab rat because—because you are more.”
“Oh.” My voice only a breath. I know what you’re trying to say, Tess. That I am considered a dangerous kind of Neuroner.
Tess’s voice fills my ears, clouding out my thoughts. “I was so angry at you. But after time it didn’t make sense, you’re the Caretender that spent four years of your life trying to keep me alive. It wouldn’t make sense if you turn me in just to die, you are not that kind of person.” She looks to me and smiles a little, trying to show she has no more false hatred toward me.
“You knew the Neuroner phrase, and you wouldn’t if you weren’t a Neuroner. You have to know their phrases to survive, to stay hidden.” She points to Zac and Lucas, the ‘normal’ ones. “Neuroners, they are nothing to die over.”
I nod, learning one of their— the ‘normal’ ones phrases for the first time in my life. Looking up toward Zac with a smile that we only share together. Except one has risked his life to save me, knowing that I am a Neuroner, and maybe even knowing I am the dangerous kind.
Zac’s heads turn slightly to me, meeting my eyes and matching my smile with a light one of his own. He stops and waits for me to catch up to him, and I slide my hand into his as soon as he is in reach. We all start walking with the sounds of nature filling our ears.
. . .
Hours on hours pass us as we walk, just walk, getting farther away from Lily with each step—I hope. The lack of sleep and food is taking a toll on all of us, with each step slower than the last, and our stomachs grumbling in our ears.
A couple of times, I see Lucas picking up some grass and sticking it in his mouth with nothing coming out. As the long hours go on, Tess picks up a little bit of grass as well. At least they are okay with that. So hungry they’ll eat anything. They aren’t caring anymore, as long as they eat something to fulfill their hunger.
A smell, a delicious smell, makes me stop in my tracks, letting my delirious mind wonder what it could be. Smelling the air again and again. I take a big sniff, letting the smell alone fulfill my hunger. Bread. Fresh, homemade bread. My mouth starts to water, and a little drool runs down the side of my face.
“Look down there!” shouts Lucas, who now stands on the edge of the woods on a little hill.
His voice pulls me from my delicious thoughts, but not all the way. I take one step forward just to stop and smell the air again, with my mouth watering more.
I am so hungry. Where the hell is that smell of bread coming from? That fresh, out of the oven, homemade bread scent catching in the wind just right to hit my nose. Man, if someone proposed to me with hot bread, I would say yes in a heartbeat. If Lily offered me a slice of this bread, I would—
Zac nudges me, interrupting my thoughts, and I almost fall over even with the light push. He eyes me with a little smile, holding in a laugh as I look at him.
“What?” I ask.
“You okay there? You look like you are in heaven even after all of this hell.”
“I was,” I say, nodding. “It’s called freshly baked bread in my mouth and goes to my stomach.”
Zac chuckles to himself before pulling me to his side and leading the way to where Lucas and Tess are. I really look around where we stand, taking in our surroundings for the first time in a while.
Wait a minute, everything looks so familiar. Why—
“Oh my god,” says Zac in a little daze.
He took the words right out of my mouth as the house and barn come into view. My stomach turns a little and not in a bad but uneasy, unreal real way at the sight.
“What?” asks Tess, unsure what made us both so uneasy.
I swallow but it has nowhere to go with my throat being so tight. “This is the orphanage that-”
“Me and Thela grew up in when we were younger,” finishes Zac.
“What, you both are orphans?” asks Lucas with a grin, follow by laughter.
Zac and I both snap our attention to him with disgusted scowls, wishing he would choke on that pride of his. Before Zac can do anything to shut him up, Tess elbows him in the ribs—and not lightly in the slightest.
“Not everyone has a perfect family like yours,” mumbles Tess, but everyone hears it.
“What are you talking about? My family isn’t perfect,” whines Lucas in a chance to define himself.
“Exactly my point.”
Lucas doesn’t say anything back to her, only huffs to himself and looks away from us. Zac and I turn back to the house to survey it, making sure our eyes are not playing tricks on us.
I laugh a little as my eyes land on the old beat-up bench on the opposite hill from us. Time has not been so kind to the bench, but it never was. Wood is chipping away along with the paint that used to be clean and a solid color, but is not anymore.
“I never thought I would be back here—well not like this,” states Zac, mostly to me.
“Me either. But it sure feels the same,” my voice distant.
“A home that is a reminder that we don’t have one, abandoned, rejected by society-”
“Scared for our lives.”
Zac and I turn to each other. He knows that feeling all too well as well. He holds out his hand for me to take, and I gladly do.
Together with Tess and Lucas trailing behind us, we walk up to the front door. We pause only a foot away to take a few deep breaths and let all the same old feelings sink in. Zac looks at me and smiles weakly, and I match his smile. His hand slides out of mine and reaches up to the door, hesitating slightly.
Zac knocks slowly, and it rings in my ears.