Table of Contents [Report This]
by Aubrey
*Alone.*
The single statement stabbed into the void of her heart, and she frowned as she crawled into bed, remembering when Mama would brush her hair, moments spent with her only girl friend ever, her sister, Faith, and when Thomas first kissed her gently on the lips. Everyone she had ever loved was gone.
* * *
*Alone.*
He traveled the darkened streets, avoiding the lamplights, mind fixed in memory, of his first taste of ice cream, of the reunion with his father, of the happy faces he had helped. All these seemed fleeting, and he knew she felt the same. Across the miles, he had reached out to her, and the only word he could find to comfort instead enclosed him in a cage of despair.
*I escaped again, but they still hold me.*
He sucked in a precious breath of air, shutting his eyes tightly to close off the pathway for tears. *As long as I live,* he vowed, *as long as I live I will search, until death, if necessary, for what the Centre has stolen from me.* And he could only hope she would do the same.
* * *
For the first time in her life, Miss Parker wished she could talk to Jarod. He understood how she felt, and she cursed herself for not seeing it sooner. Jarod is the key, her father had said, though she was not sure in what sense Mr. Parker had meant. *The key to what? To finding my way out of this black hole that is my life?* Miss Parker felt as though she was losing her mind. *You're a Parker,* she reminded herself. *Get a grip.*
In the darkness, she uncurled from her protective fetal position, stretched out, and commanded herself, *Sleep.*
* * *
Outside the hotel where his sister had stayed, Jarod paused before continuing on to his own place of lodging, a small place a few blocks away, across from the city park. He wished he could say something more to Miss Parker. She deserved to know that somewhere, out there, hope still existed, though he wasn't without his own doubts. He knew what she was capable of, though she didn't know it herself, what greatness was stored up within her, waiting to be revealed by someone who cared enough to try. Thomas had begun to uncover this wellspring of potential, but had come to his demise too early. Jarod shuddered every time he thought of how Thomas's life had been snuffed out for daring to defy the Centre and teaching Miss Parker to do so as well. Thomas's death had beaten her back into submission, but Jarod intended to see the real Miss Parker someday, and he could only hope the cost wouldn't be too high.
But for now he could only finish his trek back to his hotel and gather his wits for the trials of tomorrow.
