Playing with Fire

11

Adam, Ruben and Toboni meets us in front of the Brown Taven with their bags (and Willow).

"Lawrence, for the love of God, this is not a joke." Adam exclaims.
"Why would I joke about this? We are wanted people," I turn to Toboni who is shaking, whispering to herself.

"Is Jeanine after us?" her voice trembles.

Jeanine?

Who is Jeanine?

"I don't know." Daniel answers my thoughts. In the most pointless way.

Toboni stares at Daniel, then at me. "Jeanine. Jeanine Elizabeth?"

Still no clue.

Daniel still looks confused as the rest.

Toboni sighs. "Jeanine Elizabeth is the most professional scientist in New Elizabeth, yet the ruler and her only way to success is to make adolescents fall under her control and to wipe out all her non-followers."

"So... she used us two as test subjects?" I ask.

Toboni nods.

I turn around and walk away.

"Where you going?!" Adam questions.

I look around to face him. "I can't stay here for another bloody second."

I scowl and begin to run, followed by the rest.

I lead them into the forest, still running but I never knew how fast Toboni is. Well. She's pretty tall after all.

"Why are we running?!" Ruben shouts over the feet pounding against the Earth.

"Did you hear Toboni's question and Lawrence's silence?!" Daniel responds to him. 

"JUST SHUT UP!" I yell and everyone stays quiet.

I keep running down a path which slowly gets wetter as ahead of me is a rough river. I pause beside it, hands shaking with fear. Because it's water.

I can't swim.

I can't swim.

I can't swim.

"L, why did you stop?!" Adam asks.

Thump... thump... thump... thump...

"It's water." Ruben identifies. "She can't swim."

Toboni's light footsteps pelt past us, jumps over and she rolls onto her elbow and gets up onto her two feet then opens her arms out. "Lawrence, jump to me!" 

I shake my head, body paralysed with fear.

Thump... thump... THUMP!

"COME ON LAWRENCE!!" Adam screams down my ear.

I brace myself and I jump to her.

Toboni's arms embrace me and I am currently hyperventilating.

"Now guys! Come on!" I stammer.

They all jump over (including little Willow) the river and we can still hear the THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP!s behind us.

*

Night struck, projecting midnight light onto the floor, some of it trending down onto the forest floor. Stars scatter across the sky. I rest my head onto a tree, catching my breath.

"I think we have lost them," I smile and look over to the rest.

Ruben is stroking Willow, Adam is making a coffee in a flask for Toboni and Daniel is comforting Ruben by talking to him.

I sit by the tree and I take off my rucksack. I unzip it to pull out another rectangular piece of material.

What's with Nat's obsession with rectangles?

It has paper in between the thick chunk of leather, I think. I grab my torch and I examine it. I slide my fingers across the front cover and I find a piece of paper stuck on top of it.

I take it off ever so gently and the thing was, it says my name: Lawrence Anne Holloway.

I unfold it and I try to make out the words which is scrawled upon it.

"Lawrence..."

Okay, I got that.

"M... m...-"

"Here, I'll read it," Daniel walks over and sits next to me. I clutch it tight and I press the note and the rectangle close to me. I turn away from him and scowl.

"No, what's it to do with you?" I question.

He frowns. "You can't read. You've never learnt to-"

"Eff off." I snarl.

"Not unless I can read it."

I look down at the rectangle then at Daniel, to the rectangle, back at Daniel.

I sigh.

"Fine." I hand him the stuff, excluding the rectangular thing.

He stares at the note and starts reading but his voice doesn't sound the same... it's as if he's trying to pull a New Elizabeth accent.

"Lawrence my sweet girl,
I didn't mean to leave you. I have no choice otherwise you would if been killed by the rightful hands of Jeanine, the leader of this reckless town.
But if I were you: when you're older, make friends and run from New Elizabeth and reach to Brockley.
There's a map in the book which I wrote myself (I hope you can read. If not, for the love of God, ask for assistance. Don't turn out like your father: all sinister and too independent that all his friends abandoned him).
I will be at Brockley and I promise you, it's peaceful here... so come here, warn the others in case Jeanine will be after you.
Otherwise war will break - again - and we'll have to organise an army. A rebellion."

He stops and gazes at me.

"Is that it?" I ask.

He pulls out another sheet of paper but it's from the rectangle. It's the map.

"Tell the others tomorrow." Daniel says and leaves the stuff by me and walks off.

I look at the letter again and I see at the bottom right corner: a red silhouette of a phoenix, flying but it's wings are spread out. It's like it's been rotated and viewed in a bird's eye sight.

"A rebellion?" I question to myself.