Over The Edge

Chapter 7

The boy stumbled along the well beaten path back to his home... or well what used to be his home that is. The heavy burden on his back was what caused his discomfort today, the rough burlap irritated the angry red lines that adorned the skin of his back through his shirt and jacket. Despite the frigid mountain air, perspiration gathered across his brow and stung his eyes. His feet were sore and blistered per usual, and the baby soft of his hands had long turned to callouses.

The sun was just begging to rise at the moment, peeking shyly from behind long, fluffy clouds. The deliciously bright rays seemed to carry a certain promise of hope, such a contradiction to the suffering going on the earth that they shadowed. The boy's breath billowed out in front of him; testifying to the gelid world around him. 

Suddenly, a wail cut through the clear, mountain air. The boy didn't even halt in his journey, and didn't even bother to look around. He knew what he would see. Probably just a master punishing a disobedient slave. John had learned quickly that consequences followed defiance like flies to a corpse. He continued on his way, his eyes never straying from his path lest he tripped. What could he do anyway? Thus, the wail swirled up around him, raising in pitch until finally, relievingly it was cut down. The boy let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He was wrong. He actually wasn't as used to this suffering around him as he had originally thought.

The boy dropped his load of firewood by the front door of the cabin before wiping the sweat off his brow. It was just sunup and already his body protested against him. He leaned against the wall of the cabin, glad for the small reprieve, and unwilling to return to the house that was always so stuffy and hot. His master hated the cold of his mountain village; Therefore his home kept at a sweltering temperature, one that the boy couldn't stay in long without feeling sick. He wondered how Delilah, the other slave that was subjected to that home, could stand working in that environment all day.

He shut his eyes and leaned his head against the wall behind him. His master wasn't the same man who murdered his parents. The once kind-eyed-outsider had stayed with John Marcus weeks after he destroyed the small boy's life, barley talking to him and having the child doing the odd job around the home. The child was in a dream like haze most of the time, following orders silently, his movements mechanical and jerky. Fear is what kept the boy quiet and obedient. Terror he had never known before kept him frozen at night, unable to cry because how could this be happening to him? John hadn't left his home until the day his new master had arrived, therefore he had no idea if he was alone in this, or if all of his village was suffering the same fate as him. The Other never talked to him other than order him to do some trivial thing. Looking back at the pointless tasks now, such as sorting spices, or sweeping the floor as well as the pudgy kid could, John assumed that in a small way, the man was trying to prepare him for his future.  His new master was a balding man who was fat and sweaty and was constantly complaining. Whether it be the cold, the food, the walk up the mountain, or anything else, the Other let his frustrations known. On the other hand, John didn't utter one word for months, and his master liked it that way. Noise was another thing that bothered him. John Marcus never bothered learning the man's name, because a name would only make him seem more human.

It wasn't until months later, when Delilah was introduced to the household that John muttered a single word. He remembered breaking down in tears as the older girl hugged him and whispered soothing words in his ears like his mother would. She was a teenager at the time, and he quickly looked up to her as his new mother figure. It was she that explained to him that the Others had been placed methodically around the village, one per household. The village had thought they were alone on the mountain top, the only thing they had to fight was the occasional wolf or bear that wondered to close to the young ones. Therefore they were totally unprepared for the onslaught that occurred. Those that resisted were cut down, while those like John, who simply held out their arms and allowed the metaphorical chains slapped on their wrists, were enslaved. The two soon became fast friends, adopting a mother son relationship. They worked together, their master was kinder than some and didn't expect too much out of the two.

Delilah promised the small boy that as long as he behaved, she could keep him safe, and he held on tightly to those words as a drowning man holds tightly to his last gulp of air.

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"Are you even trying today?" The man sighed in exasperation as his fist barely missed my face, I had dogged right at the last minute. I stumbled back, my footing unstable on the frozen ground. I grinned sheepishly at my instructor after recovering, seeing as I had been lost in thought again.
"Ya Theo I'm just tired it all, Ben was up all night with a cough," I lied haltingly, not used to keeping secrets at all, having never really had a reason to. If Theo noticed he didn't let on.
"Oh?" Theo straightened, his lithe, defined muscles barley visible under his long shirt.
"I guess we can take a break for now then, you were out all day yesterday I expect you must be a little tired,"
I mumbled my thanks before collapsing onto the ground where I stood. Theo had been working me hard today, I was sure I'd be able to feel the full extent of this workout tomorrow.
Groaning I stretched my sore muscles, the cold not helping them loosen at all.
"Theo why do we even train so hard," I grumbled bitterly.
"It's not like we really do anything other than walk the border time to time," My question was rhetorical, more of a complaint than anything, and I didn't really expect my instructor to answer.
I glanced up at Theo, his 6 foot self seemed to tower high above my sitting frame. His blue eyes glittered like little shards of ice. He was looking off into the tree line of the forest that surrounded the village. The man's face seemed to go dark, as if a shadow had been drawn over his eyes. Now my interest was piqued and I was curious if he had an answer to my question.
"You just need to be prepared for anything," he muttered, shrugging.
"Don't complain to me I don't write out curriculum," The mirth returned to his eyes, and I wondered if what I had just witnessed was a trick of the light.
"Well to your feet then. I can't have you lazing around all day," he smirked. I decided to just put the feeling off as a trick of the light and continue on with my groaning and complaining.
     Theo and I continued training until late in the evening and by then I was exhausted. We decided to stop and go to our respective homes to rest and recuperate until our next training session next sun up.

My muscles were tight from the cold and were just screaming for a hot bath. Thankfully, I limped back home, while massaging my sore legs. Theo had worked me especially hard today and I briefly wondered if it was to make up for the training I had missed yesterday and for the fact that I was late to training today. Confused, I stopped my stumbling journey back to my cabin.
Why had I been late again? This morning seemed as if it had happened days ago. Oh that's right I had to find John Marcus, I had forgotten. Oh no! My heart sunk to my toes. I realized too late that I had forgotten to tell Theo about my discovery of the Outsider. I had planned to tell Theo after training, but I just fell into the usual habits of my daily routine while training and the fact completely fled my mind. I supposed I could just tell Theo tomorrow. Yes that's what I was going to do. Feeling slightly lightened I continued on my way to Healer's home.

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Hey, so I'm actually not dead. So sorry I havnt really updated at all in a long time, but I've just been so busy, and I havnt had really any inspiration to write or anything and writers block and blahhhhhhhh. So ya I'm not sure where I'm going with this story which is seriously poor planning on my part, but I still rlly rlly want to finish it bcs I still like the idea of it. Just wanna let whoever (if anyone XD) is reading this that I'm planning to finish, it just might take awhile.