Amethyst City Down

Chapter Twelve

"Amos?" A little voice called to him. His eyes snapped open. He sucked in a breath. He sat straight up, looking for the source of the voice. He found it. A small girl with long, curly black hair stood at the door of his room, looking concerned.

"Oh, my God, Adamina...." His eyes got wide as he stared at the girl.

"You screamed. It really scared me. I thought the guy had gotten loose or something." The girl looked at her feet. "I thought he'd hurt you."

"Oh, God, Adamina.... Oh wow.... Oh Adamina...." Amos kicked his feet off his bed and started toward the girl, looking as if he were in a trance. "I am so sorry... I thought you were dead... Oh, my God, Adamina...." He stopped inches from her and wrapped his arms around her neck.

"Why did you think I was dead?" Adamina asked in surprise.

"I just had a dream about my mother.... She held you out, and you were all clean and stuff.... Then she picked you up.... and you had a gash on your cheek and your skin was grey and your veins stood out and your shirt..... Oh, Adamina, your shirt..... it had a huge bloodstain on it.... it covered your entire torso..." With every word, he pulled tighter. He was shaking. He was crying.

Adamina couldn't think of anything significant to do, so she rubbed his back gently. Of course his dream had disturbed her, but she didn't want to make it worse by saying something about it. Her hand found his hair. She stroked it slowly, feeling how soft it was. He was still trembling, but not as violently as before.

"Adamina...." His voice was muffled. "I just wanted to say that when I first saw you on my doorstep, I knew I had to protect you. I guess it was an instinct. I mean, minus the black hair, you look like my mother. I just didn't want to lose something so precious ever again. Never."

"Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf,

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day

Nothing gold can stay." Adamina recited quietly.

"What?" Amos took his face out of her shoulder to look at her.

"Robert Frost; Nothing Gold Can Stay. He was way before our time... Nothing precious will forever exist." Adamina looked into Amos's hard, golden eyes.

"I wish I could say that was false," Amos smoothed back his hair, "But I would be lying."