Soul Stitched (book one)

Chapter 22: Wilt

Have you ever felt...oh I don't know, LIKE YOU'RE GOING TO DIE??? Well, let me tell you. It's not very fun. After trying to break the giant wall of ice for a few minutes, I gave up and slumped on the ground. I'm only 12, soon to be 13 years old! I'm go young to go! I've got so much to live for! I looked around the cave. It was almost completely dark in there, with icicles hanging down like knifes. Suddenly a pain flared up in my arm. It felt like I was being stabbed or hit by lightning. I looked down and my arm was bent in a strange angle.

I let out a moan. This is just great. I broke my arm! How much worse can that day get? Suddenly I heard a shuffling sound in the corner of the cave. I somehow managed to get to my feet. "Who, or what's there?" I called out, fed up with life at the moment. Then a figure emerged from the shadows. A boy. Oh. A cute boy in fact. Longish brown hair pulled back into a short ponytail, brown chocolaty eyes, and tall, very, very tall.

"Well hello there." I said, smirking. He squinted at me. "Why are you here, how are you here?" He demanded an answer. "My names Wilt, thanks for asking. And you?" I replied. "How did you get here?!" He growled. I backed up. "Calm down dude! FYI, strange name. But hey, who am I to judge? It's a good thing you're cute..." My voice trailed off. Since I'm so short, this strange boy towered above me. Gulp. "No, ugh. I'm Cryptic. I'm asking you how you got here. This place hasn't been found for many years." He said. I laughed. "Well you found it, sooo...it can't be that hard." I snapped. He boy shook his head, as if my sarcasm pained him. I guess it could. Cryptic, I love that name. So mysterious, matches his personality very well.

"So you wanted to know how I got here? Well I'll tell ya." So I started. "It all started when this storm came, like, a freak storm...." I told him everything. About my journey here and all the other lame, juicy stuff. He blinked at me. "Is your arm okay?" He finally said after an awkward silence had settled over us. "Oh, um. No, but I'm going to say yes because that's what people do. They lie." I said.

He rolled his chocolate rasinets for eyes and groaned. "You're impossible." He said. I scoffed at him. "You don't even know me, how dare you judge so quickly?" I joked. He put his head down and sighed. "Look, you're arm is dislocated, I can fix it, but it's going to hurt." He said. I laughed. "Oh please, pain is my middle- SWEET MOTHER OF JESUS WHO SAVED THE WORLD!" Cryptic jerked my arm up and a loud snapping sound filled the large cave. I fell over and groaned.

"Ouch." I muttered under my breath. When the pain subsided, I moved my arm around. "Okay, all better." I said. I stared at him for a long time, he noticed and heat rose to my cheeks. So I covered for myself. "You have something in your hair." I lied. He brushed it off and gave me a quizzling look. "You're different then anyone I've ever met." He said.

"I hope that's a good thing." I replied. He nodded. "It is, everyone is so serious. But you, you're strait to the point." He said. Haha, that's funny Cryptic. "Anyway, so lets get out of here." I said walking over to the ice wall. "We should wait until it melts and softens, it's rock hard right now." He said. "And when will it melt?" I asked. He paused. "In a few weeks, maybe a month or so." He said. I froze in place. "I really hope you're kidding." I said. He shook his head. "Nope, want some beef jerky?" He asked. I started to pace.

"Ooooh, I can't leave Crystal out there all alone!" I said as I paced the floor. "You sure you don't want any beef jerky?" He asked again. "You have beef jerky?" I stopped in my tracks to look at him. He nodded and held out the bag. "I go over Saturday to the store." He said. "Store?" I asked. He nodded. "I walk down to town and stock up on food and stuff." He said. Huh, cool. I sat down next to him. "So...tell me about yourself." I said. He shook his head. "I'd rather not, I have a rough past." He looked away. Confusion flickered on my face but I hid it.

"Let me show you the closet." Cryptic stood up. I followed him. "Closet?" I asked. He walked into the shadows and disappeared. What? I followed him a realized that there was another part of the cave. I walked through the doorway and froze. "Wow." I whispered. Wow was an understatement. The closet was 10 times bigger then the first room. There was a candle lit in the corner and clothes in a pile and a food stock and water. Folded blankets were next to the doorway. The best part, is that the whole room seemed to glow a light blue because of the snow. It was beautiful. I grinned. "This is so cool?" The ceiling went up so high that you could stack six of me on top of each other and I still wouldn't be able to touch it.

"You should probably sleep, you don't look to well." He said. Ouch. I nodded. I yawned and sat down on his blankets. I laid down and it suddenly dawned on me. I was alone...with a boy...and I didn't even know him! Oh well, I was to tired to even process what just happened, so I let sleep take me away.

When my eyes opened, Cryptic was in the corner, starting a fire. I sat up groggily and stretched. "Morning." He said. I smiled. "Hey." My hair stuck up in sixteen different directions but I didn't care. I walked over to where he was and he handed me melted snow and some dried fruits. I munched on that and watched him keep the fire alive.

Let me describe Cryptic a little bit better for you.

He had oval eyes, very brown that gave you a good feeling. He had a longish, thin nose and a very light spray of freckles on his cheeks. He had a very thin face as well and his hair was a little bit tangled. He was muscular, I'm not if he had a six pack, but I wound't be surprised. Picture Bucky Barnes from The Winter Solder...just younger, not as muscular, two arms, thinner face...okay don't picture Bucky Barnes. Anyway, he glanced up at me and caught me staring. I looked away and blushed.

"Okay, I know your childhood is classified but what happened to you're dad and mom, why'd you run away?" I asked. He frowned. "I never said I ran away." He finally said. I shrugged. "I just assumed..." My voice trailed off. He stared straight through me. "My childhood is something I wouldn't even wish upon my enemies." He said. I raised my eyebrows. "You have enemies?" I asked. He laughed and shook his head. "Well, I'm just saying. My mom is dead, and my dad is somewhere, he wasn't spoken to me in years...anyway, I used to live with him, but he made some bad decisions. I ran off here and been hiding ever since." He said. I frowned. "Sorry, I didn't know." I replied. He looked away. Suddenly he noticed something on my hand. Oh yea, my swirl. I had left that part out of the story.

"You have a swirl on your hand." He pointed out. "No kidding?" I said sarcastically. "What does it do?" He asked. "What does it do? Well, it does nothing." I mimicked his tone. "I like it." He smirked. I shoved my hand into my jacket and looked down at my jean skirt and black leggings. I look a mess. My face probably looks like it was just at war and my everything looks bad. He glanced up at me a blushed. I bit my lip. "You like my swirl?" I asked. "I think it's beautiful." He said. I slowly brought my hand out of my pocket and held it out for him. It's just a swirl...

"I-I think we should try to break the ice now." Cryptic said jumping to his feet. I watched him leave with an ax and I slowly stood up. "Good idea." I said.

I think...I think I'm falling for him.