Surrounds (Bonds) (10 page)

Inside is a huge room filled with tables in the upper half, while towards its rear are fifty tents all in greens and browns, beyond it is a small secluded office which Lacey finds herself sitting in, in front of a brown desk, in front of a large, tired looking man, with short black hair and blue eyes.

"I told her it was stupid." Nathan nods, folding his arms.

Lacey stares at him, her amusement with the younger boy finally turning into annoyance.

"I will speak with you later about what you did." Mr. Barkens says barely offering his son a glance. "But as I was saying, your here now and its nothing much we can do about it." He offers both of them a tiny smile.

"We only want to stay the night if that's alright with you." Henderson speaks up. "We only need a place to sleep and warm up some of our food."

Mr. Barkens nods. "Its fine. We have a sort of homemade cooking area outside in the back. We unfortunately do not have any free tents nor sleeping bags available."

"They can use mine," Hanna offers, "I have watch tonight anyway, right?"

"Its fine, were use to sleeping on the ground." Henderson quickly cuts him off, smiling gently at the girl, "but thank you for you help." Hanna blushes a pretty pink. Lacey mentally scoffs, whispering under her breath about the 'Henderson charm'. Henderson turns his gaze onto the leader of the group. "I also thank you for your hospitality."

"Thanks..." Lacey offers half-heartedly. She was ready to eat and be off her blistering feet.

"They are here." A soft voice whispers, seeming out of breath.

Lacey turns around a few seconds after Henderson, finding herself staring at an old woman breathing haggardly, wrinkled arms holding her up against the open doorway. She was hunched over, with wrinkled light brown skin, snow white hair, and milky unseeing eyes. She was obviously blind but her gaze was focused on Lacey, as if she could see.

"Mrs. Agatha," Mr.Barkens got onto his feet and quickly made his way to the old woman. "I thought you were taking a nap." He carefully leads her over and settles her in his wooden chair. "Is something wrong?"

The air inside the office grew tense, as Agatha stares steadily in Lacey's direction while everyone else focuses on the woman. Lacey suddenly feels naked, as if every one of her secrets were on display, even secrets she had no idea she had.

"Who is here, Mrs. Agatha?" Thomas Barkens asks his panic filtering through his lips with his words.

"Leave us," Mrs. Agatha says suddenly, still staring unblinking at a now freaked Lacey. "All of you except for her." Her old withered finger points at the now shivering girl like a weapon. Lacey flinches.

Mr. Barkens gaze falls on Lacey briefly, face unreadable, before nodding once. "Yes, come on Nathan, Hanna." He motions both blondes up out of their seats and leads both of them out.

Henderson doesn't even move an inch. "I... don't understand." He finally says after a few minutes of awkward silence.

"It's not for you to understand," Agatha says shortly, "on your way out, close the office's door."

Henderson frowns, obviously not wanting to leave her, and not going to leave her with a threat. Even if the threat was a blind old lady. A little insulted by that, and wanting to see what the woman wanted from her, Lacey smirks at Henderson.

"I'll be fine... go" She waves her attention turning to the woman fully.

"Are you sure?" Henderson asks uncertain. Lacey nods.

Henderson hesitates but nods, leaving after giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"What exactly do we have to talk about?" The teen asks after a moment of silence, fighting to hold in her annoyance. Unlike how she behaves with everyone else, the girl was usually nice to old people.

"You can save us all."

Lacey blinks, wondering if she had heard right. "Huh?" She asks unintelligently.

"You can save us all." Agatha repeats unashamed. "You are, Lacey, your fate... you have the ability to save us all."

Lacey blinks again. She's old, so probably senile and she's blind which means she fits in with the whole being a made-up seer, fortune teller person.

"I think you're unfortunately mistaken." Lacey says slowly. "I don't understand what your saying."

"My visions are never mistaken." Agatha says simply. "You must find who came here with you when our dimensions was broken eighteen years ago. She is already aware of you in a way, you must find her, although she has yet to understand. You destroy what is bad and she heals what is good. You're bound is not of blood but created specially for reasons you are here."

The girl felt a shiver run down her spine but ignored it. "What, you can see the future? Excuse me, but I don't believe in that type of stuff."

"Did you believe in bleeding skies and demons before a few months ago when you woke?" Agatha asks matter-of-factly. "No? What about being able to turn them into dust?"

The teen's blood ran cold. "How do you..."

"Visions, my dear. Your attitude isn't a nice one and it will be what causes you many problems, but your quick-action and stubbornness will save you and your other half. It is an honor, honestly, to meet you." The old woman smiles kindly.

Lacey swallow dryly. "You're uh, mistaken..."

"You have to find your partner."

"I can't, no time, I have other places I have to be." Even if she believed a crazy old woman's words, her brother and father were in Mexico, she was going to Mexico.

"Mexico is a long way from her, Lacey Augustine, you'll likely run into her before you reach Mexico." Mexico was a very long way from here, her and Henderson never spoke about it though. She wondered if she even truly believes both of them would make it.

The younger woman bites her lip. "What exactly do you mean dimensions broke?"

Agatha smiled a sad smile. "The monsters who are here now came from another dimension. A powerful being on their side created a spilt and opened a door, it is why they are here."

"You said I came here with someone else..." Why she was humoring this woman, she wasn't certain, but answers, she had always been one to want answers. "Are you saying I'm one of those things?" She asks. It was a test question, if this insane old lady said she was, Lacey was sure that then she could discount everything the woman says. She was no fleshy monster, nor some blood-hungry beast. Human, she was human.

Agatha smiles an odd smile. "No, you are not one of them."

"What about Henderson? You can see the future. Can't you...? You say I do something great. What about him?" She's not even sure why she asks, when she afraid of the answer and doesn't even truly believe the woman.

The old woman's smile grows but there's something else in it which Lacey cannot understand nor read. "I said you 'can' do great things, Lacey. As for Henderson... He is a good person and an even better friend. He would very easily give his life for you."

Unsure what else to say, unsure what to feel, Lacey stands abruptly. Something about the woman's words not at all sighting well with her stomach. Not that the woman was lying but... "I'm going to find Henderson." She quickly makes her get-away, feeling like a coward.

(O)

She finds Henderson out in the back, over an outside grill, stove thing dumping soup into two bowls. He looked absolutely exhausted. When he turns around and finds her standing there, lit by light coming out of the warehouse, he grins, flicking off a light hanging above the grill and heads her way.

Wordlessly, they both return back inside, maneuvering around people getting ready to turn in, men, children, and women - families. Its an odd sight to her families. Mother's washing smiling children faces with damp rags, brushing hair, and kisses. At the front of the warehouse are men, playing cards, laughing, bent over maps and smoking cigarettes.

Henderson has laid out their blankets in a corner which housed a small amount of tents, on the left. He hands her one of the bowls along with a plastic fork.

"Oh, fancy..." She lightly grins, settling onto the ground. Henderson smiles back, settling beside her, brown eyes sharp.

Both eat in silence, Henderson waiting for Lacey to speak and Lacey avoids speaking altogether. She's suddenly happy Henderson is Henderson, because he would never force her into talking.

Though as she finishes her last bit of beans, she quickly realizes she's out of excuses and distractions. Henderson sets his now empty bowl beside him and looks at her, waiting.

"I'll change your bandages now." She blurts loudly, smiling sheepishly as Henderson frowns at her. Picking up her backpack, Lacey begins pulling out bandages and ointments before glancing up at a still Henderson. "Come on, Henny, show me your six pack..." She tells him loudly, drawing a few sniggers from two women at a tent nearby.

Underneath his hair, Henderson's flesh flushes. He tugs his shirt over his head, looking bashful. Lacey laughs loudly, crawling to him and starting to unwrap his old bandages. Lacey feels a little off as she focuses on Henderson's scarring flesh and only realizes its because its noisy inside the warehouse, not exactly loud, but noisy. It was nice.

"Its nice here." Her fingers work over his back, cleaning the wounds with a clean brown rag. Henderson glances at her over his shoulder.

"Yeah, it is."

"Oh whoa, what happened?" Hanna was suddenly in front of them, now dressed in a black hoody and brown pants, blonde hair up in a ponytail. She was holding a lamp. "I noticed your arms before but I... Oh, God, I'm sorry for asking. I shouldn't have asked huh? Ethan always says I talk way too much." The girl rants. "I'm so insensitive..."

"Its fine," Henderson quickly says before the girl fainted. "Its not a big thing. We had a run in with a few creatures about a week ago."

"Oh no..." Hanna's blue eyes swim with worry and interest. "How did you get away?" That, Henderson didn't answer and wouldn't answer. Lacey continues working on Henderson's back, for whatever reason, not wanting to talk about her bad-ass skills. Hanna picking up on both of their reluctance, quickly changes subjects. "So... Lacey, We're curious, what was it that Agatha spoke to you about? It was important for sure. Agatha can see things. She told you right?"

Lacey groans mentally. Henderson fully turns his attention to her now, eyes dark and questioning. Would it hurt the guy to use words?

"She... told me." The older girl shrugs. "I guess I don't believe in that type of stuff is all."

"Oh, I understand what you mean, but Agatha's 100%. She warns us when the monsters are going to attack, she has visions. Its why we have time enough to hide before they show."

"Visions?" Henderson echoes.

"Oh," Lacey says quietly, awkwardly.

"Yeah... I brought you guys a lantern." Hanna sets her battery powered lamp in front of Henderson. "I'll see you in the morning. Maybe, you guys will stay longer after a good nights sleep?" With that Hanna left.

"Time for lamps out." A voice calls out as Lacey finishes with Henderson's bandages.

Henderson turns off the lamp and a minute goes by before the entire warehouse is dark, besides a few lanterns burning on low blinkingly throughout.

(O)

Chapter 23

Alasa

Dreams of a girl and a boy she's never met before isn't the oddest thing Alasa has been through recently, that's for sure. But they always plague her dreams now, for a week straight, none of them as horrifying as her first one.

Alasa found herself happy that the girl and boy were alright after her first nightmare, her second dream had been of the girl, helping the boy walk after he had fallen during there travels. He was weak, but alright. None of her dreams were as long as her very first one, a couple of minutes at best, nothing more.

Alasa thought about them a lot, not truly believing them to be actual people, but... Alasa had no idea what to think. It usually felt awfully real.

Wolf's growl brought her attention away from her fire to him. He tilted his head in a way she understood now as 'follow me'. Getting to her feet, Alasa dusted herself off and smiled at him before walking over. She follows him out into the inky tunnel, not flinching when he took her arm began leading. She was nervous about being outside again, with the creatures and unexplainable, but also excited about breathing fresh air again.

She guesses it takes about an hour and a half to reach the outside of the cave and into sunlight. Its a trek for sure and she's blind during all of it, though this go she's less nervous about it.

Fresh air hits her in the face and fills her lungs. It's a pretty day, like the other few times she had been allowed out. A cloudless sky, a cool breeze, and no sign of any monsters in sight.

Wolf bends down in front of her a few steps outside the cave and quietly growls. She hesitates for a moment, unsure, though it was obvious Wolf wanted her on his back. It was an odd request and she was much to shy for it.

"I can walk on my own..." She lightly digs her left foot into the gray earth underneath her. Wolf only remains bent over, giving her no other options but to awkwardly climb onto his naked pale back. All of his larger wounds had been healed by her, his smaller wounds had vanished a few hours later.

Her arms wrap around his neck, she's careful not to choke him. She tightens her legs around his back, blushing pink when his arms wrapped underneath her legs, holding her in place.