Written In The Scars

Chapter 2

I started to panic when I saw him, his presence felt eery at first. "Don't worry, I'm not a bad guy," he said before passing a gentle smile. "Who are you?", my voice was weak and static due to all that screaming and crying the other day. "Well, my name is Luke, and I am one of the survivors just like you are one, what about you?" said Luke looking straight into my eyes. I lowered my gaze, "Alex" I uttered. 

"Oh I see, why not join our camp? we have a bunch of other people like you, you can make friends there and we also have food there." Luke mentioned. I started to think, I wasn't over my mother's demise and now I had to make a decision that would change my fate.  He was a stranger after all but I had nothing left with me and on the other hand, I was hungry. If I stayed here, I'll probably end up dead which was the last thing I wanted, my mother did tell me not to trust strangers and after her passing, everyone was now a stranger. I knew I couldn't survive alone so I had to agree. "Ok, I'll go with you" I mumbled. He passed a smile, "Follow me", he stated and moved out.

This was my first time walking somewhere other than my home. The area was deserted and the wind carried bits of sand with it, moonlight stabbed my eye as I looked up. Soon I noticed a series of houses lined parallel to each other. They were abandoned and some wrecked out, I wondered how ancient they were and what made them the way they are now, taking their last breaths.

"I used to live here" Luke pointed to an abandoned creepy old house. "No one lives here anymore, goddamn fags destroyed everything". he continued. I didn't know if it would be okay to ask who they were but I decided not to. We walked for at least a mile and finally reached the camp. "There it is" his eyes pointed at a double story mansion, the entrance metal gate was wrecked and it also had another gate after it. Luke made sure no one else was around and knocked on the door and sung some words which seemed like some code words. A girl not older than seventeen opened the door and looked at me as if I was an alien, "He's our new member" Luke broke the silence. She didn't say anything and left. The welcome wasn't as warming as I had anticipated, "don't mind her".

 We entered the house, It was dark, moonlight was the only source of light that filled the house. The windows were huge and it was too silent. "I'll take you to the boss," said Luke and lead me to a small room, a row of candles lit up the room. An old man over 60 with a grumpy look on his face stared at us. "Who's this brat?" he questioned Luke. "Well I found him in an abandoned house" Luke was formal with him. 

The boss gave a nod and then Luke asked me to come with him. "Phew! glad it was short" Luke sighed while walking. He led me to the basement where I saw a few people gossiping. They went silent when they felt our presence. "You see, we call ourselves *the crescent*, see that mark on their arms? that's our symbol and now that you're a part of us we'll be needing you to get that tattoo too" Luke explained. "Don't worry it won't hurt that much" he added. 

The old lady examined for a while as the metal rod gained heat. "How weak," she mumbled and then smiled to make it sound less humiliating. Luke gave her a tight look to which she stopped smiling.  She took out the metal rod from fire and started to work it on my arm. It was hurting too much but I tried not to sob or make any sound. The Crescent tattoo was now on my arm. "Well, you're officially our member" Luke smiled. Something about this place didn't seem quite right. The only person who interacted with me was Luke and he seemed to be one of the veterans in the clan. Luke led me to a room with that rude girl who answered the door. "You two are going to share the room ". Luke murmured over his shoulder. "Oh, and dinner will be in an hour make sure to join us at the table" he added then left the room. People there didn't seem normal, it was as if they were living in fear. The looks on their faces indicated so.

The girl was already in the bed, I couldn't tell if she was asleep or not. I brushed off the dust on my bed sheet and sat for a while. I was starving, I laid down and closed my eyes. What next? I thought, what am I supposed to do now? what good is in clinging on my worthless life? Why did they kill my mother?. These thoughts jumbled up in my mind. "Hey!" a voice made me get up instantly, I could see the girl facing towards me. "Oh hey, I am Alex!" I passed a smile. "I am Emma. it's almost time for dinner, so just wanted to remind you" she said before putting on her slippers. "Oh thanks, I am starving" I stated. I had no clue for how much time I thought, probably lost track of it when I was overthinking.

 "What's your story?" she raised an eyebrow. "Um, my mother was the only one I had, she was killed", my voice was filled with sorrow.

"By the dragons?" she asked to which I nodded not knowing who "The dragons" were. She got up and walked off, I left the room for dinner too. Every member was already there, the huge table welcomed me. I dragged a seat and sat there. A plate was placed in front of me which had veggies drowning in the curry, a moulded bread was soon passed too. I quickly finished the meal and excused my self, Luke gave me a nod. No one spoke a word at the table, I wonder if it was like this all along or since when I joined. The food was appalling and I had to throw up right after consuming it, I made sure no one saw me.  I went to my room and soon Emma joined too. She was looking worried for some reason. 

"What's wrong?" I asked. She sat down and sighed. "The dragons, they are coming for us," she said looking me straight into my eyes with her eyes open wide, deep in fear. it made me remind of my mother, her agonizing screams still haunted me and her eyes glistening with fear.