VICIOUS (II) : peter pan ouat

How to See the Truth

Chapter 11

Pan said we would talk to Alex and Harry today about what we are going to do about Jared, yet the sun has come and gone and there has been no sign of him.

It's been nice to have a drama free day though. I actually ate during meals, cleaned my body and my clothing, tried to do magic. Boring, but at least it was productive.

Even if most of it was spent sitting around the fire with Alex and Harry. We sit and wait even now. Harry's curly hair shifts around his head as he looks back and forth. Hands twiddling in his lap with nerves, and ragged breaths. Alex has been no better, staring forward in a stunned silence.

It feels like we are sitting in a waiting room, counting the seconds until a doctor comes to tell us the worst.

The med tent doors flap open, and Alex is up first, looking forward. Rufio stumbles out, because of course he does. I can't have one normal day.

Felix left hours ago; it's essentially the middle of the night now so I can't blame him for wanting to get some sleep. Still, he should've assigned someone else to watch him. Rufio is a ticking time bomb, and should be handled as such.

I turn my head away, hoping he won't start attacking me if he can't see my face.

"It was horrible." Rufio's voice is a whisper.

Harry stands up, stepping in front of Alex. "Rufio, it's alright."

I look back. Rufio laughs, swaying back and forth on his feet. He looks broken. Hollow eyes, a fraying cloak, and bony hands that leak out of his clothing. I never got a good look at his face, but he has two long scar lines across his cheeks. Parallel to one another, in the spot where freckles ought to be. They are tinged red, like burns.

"You don't get to talk Inali!" He shrieks. "You're friends with the Captain. Look at him, sitting with you, as if you can forget what happened!"

He doesn't seem like he could attack me, which is probably why he hasn't yet. I once thought Jared was a ghost, and he is a ghost of his formal self. This boy is an apparition, or a shadow. I can't even make out who he used to be, and I wonder if it was a good person.

"He killed Keaton." I tell him. "After what he did to you."

Not all that sure why I add that in, but I know Alex can't say it. At least it will draw attention away from Alex. His lips part slightly at the center, and his usually stoic demeanor is dropping. Whatever is happening, he can't handle it.

Harry still stands in front of Alex, trying to provide protection.

"You mean after what you did?" He grabs his hair, pulling out strands as he does.

I can't tell if it's falling out from malnutrition, or if he is genuinely pulling his hair hard enough it falls out in clumps. Thankfully it's more of a mop on his head, so the rest of his hair covers the bald spots.

That is, until he cocks his head to the side, and his hair falls. Red skin, threatening to bleed.

"How many years was it," Rufio demands, "that you thought I was dead Alex, before you got all tangled up in this?"

I can't tell if he talks cryptically because he's delusional, or if because he only wants Alex to understand what he's saying. Probably the former, since any shred of clear thought Rufio once had is long gone.

"This isn't like that." Alex spits, tears brimming in his eyes. His face is red, contorted in anger. "That wasn't like that."

Rufio charges forward, so I do as well. I may not know what's going on, but I know how to block him from attacking Alex. It's not difficult to hold the frail boy back, not as difficult as it is sad. His body shakes against mine as he tries to leap over my shoulder into Alex. He feels like a delicate antique, and I'm all rough edges. I couldn't handle his body properly even if someone had taught me how. I'm rough edges, and thorns, and he's so very fragile. A skeleton ready to crumble.