THE BOOK - To the Castle and Beyond?

{The last chapter written (so far! ^^)}

Chapter 17;
On the Road Again


The back of my head was throbbing the next time I awoke. I moaned softly and my eyes slowly opened. Where was I? I tried to sit up, but a suddenly little array of fireworks erupted in my eyes. I felt dizzy and sank back into laying position.
“Whoa…” I moaned, rubbing my eyes with my fists.
“Anderson?”
I glanced up at Haig. Past him, the morning sky was a bright pink color. I smiled slightly. “Yeah?”
“You’re an idiot.”
Not exactly what one wants to hear when one first wakes up. I scowled. “You just noticed?” I retorted, trying to confuse him.
Since I was half asleep, my little plan backfired. “Nope, I’ve known for a while now. Who crawls under the dashboard of a moving car and gets their head sliced open, other than you?”
“I don’t know,” I shoved him and forced myself to sit up. Blinking a few times, I saw I was sitting in a rough clearing that wasn’t unlike the one we’d been in a day or so (at the time I couldn’t remember) before. I blinked again. “Where are we?”
“Long story.”
I glanced around again, down at my red dress, up at him, at my mewing bag, then back at him. “I’ve got time.”
“After you blacked out, Ada managed to outrun the lil’ devils. She parked on the side of the road, dragged the two of us out here, and, wallah. We’re here.”
“Where’s here? Close to Nascondray? Or…?”
“Some what close to Nascondray. Still the middle of nowhere, but some what close.”
“Define ‘some what close’.” I said, propping myself up on my elbows.
“Uh…not exactly there, yet at the same time not to far away.”
I shook my head. “You’re confusing.”
“Thank you, I don’t try that hard,” He stood and bowed.
“Yeah, I noticed…Why is my bag mewing?” I looked over at my bag curiously.
“Lucky’s inside.”
“YOU PUT MY CAT IN A ZIPPED BAG!?” I screeched, crawling over and unzipping the bag. I pulled out my cat and hugged him close. “Oooh, my poor baby, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I cooed, rocking him.
“Jeez, you treat him like he’s your…I don’t know, like he’s your child!”
“He is! He’s my adorewable wittle baby, yes he is!” I pressed my face into Lucky’s side and kissed him. Of course I was over exaggerating, I didn’t treat Lucky like a child. If I did, I would dress him up and feed him at the table, not let him eat from a cat dish and bathe him only occasionally. If I ever tried to dress him, he’d probably rip my face off.
He stared at me, shaking his head. “Wow…” He said slowly, laughing as he did so. “Just wow, Anderson.”
I set my cat down and watched as he pranced off, most likely to do his business. I then plucked at my dress. “Hmph. I should really change.”
“Why?” Haig leaned against the nearest tree and grinned down at me. Like any other boy I’ve known, he preferred when pretty girls wore dresses than when they wore the some what baggy, definitely unflattering clothes that I normally wore. “You look good in a fire-engine red dress, Anderson,” He smirked.
My cheeks flushed a dark purple-red color at this. “Your face is going to be fire-engine red if you make another comment on my outfit,” I snapped, raising my hand warningly. He wore, I observed, plain jeans that were ripped at the knees and a white t-shirt.
He chuckled. “Can’t handle a joke or a compliment, can you?”
“Nope.” I growled.
He chuckled again. “Get dressed.” He said, turning around.
“No way, you’re leaving before I get dressed!” I rose to my feet and shoved him.
He rolled his eyes. “That doesn’t do much when I’ve got something in front of me, you know that, right?” He gestured to the tree.
I inhaled sharply. “Look, Mr. Thinks-He’s-All-That,” I snarled. “You will leave or I will make you leave. Do you understand?” My fists clenched and I reddened with anger. I had woken up in a bad mood, and I planned on staying in a bad mood. If he was going to dish the same bratty attitude at me, I was going to give it to him right back!
He just smiled. “What? You won’t let me stay? You don’t trust me, do you?” He put his hand towards me. “You wouldn’t trust me with your life, would you?”
It’s strange how sometimes it seemed as though he was reading my mind. As though he knew what I was feeling. As though he knew me. But he didn’t. Oh, no, he didn’t know me as well as many others did.
I spat at his feet. “No.” I replied. “I wouldn’t. Now, leave me be, please, I want to get out of this! It’s winter, remember? I’m cold!” There wasn’t any snow or anything, but the wind was thin and chilly.
He sighed. In his eyes, I could see he was hurt. He laughed despite this and walked off. “Stubborn as a mule,” He called over his shoulder. “Stubborn as a mule.”
“I know I am!” I ranted, shaking my fist in the air. “I know I am!” I turned and crouched next to my bag once I was sure he was gone and dug through what he had packed. I found several pairs of socks, jeans, and shirts. I snorted. “No underwear or anything?” I rolled my eyes and picked out a light blue t-shirt with the words, Take a picture--it’ll last longer on it, and a pair of dark blue jeans. I slipped them on quickly and then began to search for a hairbrush.
I found one and began to drag it through my hair. Well, I tried to. The second the plastic bristles touched my scalp, I gave a high pitched moaned in pain. “Ow, what, the, heck!” I dropped the brush and gently ran my fingers over the nasty little bump on the back of my head.
“Goose egg.”
I glared over my shoulder at Haig.
“What, I can come back now, you’re dressed.” He pointed out with a smug smile. He went back to leaning against the tree. I didn’t make a comment in reply, so he went on. “That’s a nasty goose egg you’ve got. Ada said it bled a little at first, but then it was better. Is it all scabby?”
“No.” I picked up my brush and gingerly brushed my hair straight. I felt extremely self-conscious with him watching my every move. I flinched and tied my hair back with white hair tie.
“Some one’s crabby,” He sang.
“I’m not crabby.”
“Moody.”
“I’m not moody!” I whined, tears boiling in my eyes as I sat and pulled on my sneakers.
“Look who’s the bipolar now,” He smirked.
“MY GOD!” I gripped, shooting him an evil glare. “Will you shut your mouth already? I’m about ready to just go home! I’m tired of it, I really, really am!” I stood.
He put his hands in the air, palms towards me. “Sorry.” he said simply, bluntly, but sincerely.
I just sighed. I didn’t want to fight any more. I mentally admitted that I was moody, but refused to agree that I was bipolar. I said, “Sure.”
He sighed and gazed at me, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. I thought for a brief moment and then asked, “Where’s Ada?”
“Dunno.”
“Was she here when you woke up?” I asked, placing a hand over my rumbling stomach.
“Yep.”
“And when did she leave…?”
“Oh, like, an hour ago.” He smiled.
“So where did she go?” I said, sounding agitated.
“She didn’t tell me,” He replied in the same tone. “She just said, ‘Watch after Anlya, I’ll be back in a bit’, and then was gone.”
My nose twitched. “Hm.” I rubbed my chin and then shrugged. “Oh well.” My stomach growled like a wounded animal. “Man, I’m hungry!”
“Nice to know.”
“Caaaan you make me some breakfast?” I asked brightly, blinking my eyes hopefully.
“Yeah, no.” He shook his head.
I glared. “Why not?”
“I don’t have any food, genius.”
I ran my tongue across my dry lips. “Fine. I’ll get myself some food.” I stomped off.
He chuckled and walked at a leisurely pace after me. “And how, Ms. Anderson, may I ask will you do that?”
I didn’t reply. I pushed brushes and thicket out of my way, wishing that I had changed from the heels into my sneakers. He caught my shoulder and shoved my sneakers into my arms. “Might want those if you’re walking in the pricker bushes.”
I took a deep breath and slipped off my heels, pulling on my sneakers. I glanced up at him. “How did you know I wanted my sneakers?”
“Sometimes,” He said, leaning towards me and tapping the side of his head. “You are extremely predictable…Plus, those things looked really uncomfortable.” He picked the heels up and tossed them back into camp.
Before he could turn and face me again, I was off, running now that I could do so without tripping. For a while the two of us just ran, silently, only the sounds of our in sync breathing and footsteps audible. After a while we came to a stop. I was sure neither of us knew where we were--we weren’t that far from the camp, I could tell, but that didn’t mean anything.
“So…what now?” Haig asked, sitting down on a mossy log that lay in our path.
“I don’t know,” I sighed, sitting down next to him. I put my head in my hands and moaned. “I am soooo hungry…”
“Why don’t we go hunting?”
“Um, don’t you mean why don’t I go hunting? There is no ‘we’ in hunting, there is an ‘i’, but there is no ‘we’.” I babbled nervously, looking up at him.
He laughed and dragged me to my feet. “Oh, common, Anderson!” He grinned at me. “It wouldn’t be that bad, I promise. I will, as you say, ‘pinky swear’!” He held out his pinky to me.
And to this, I doubled over with laughter, hysterical, giggly laughter. “Since when have you learned about pinky swears?” I managed. “You didn’t even know about ‘Jinks you owe me a soda!’, but you know about pinky swears?”
“The world is a strange place.”
I calmed myself and snorted. “Tell me about it.”
“Well? Are you going to swear or not?” He kept his pinky held out to me.
I stared down at it. Perfectly trimmed, no dirt under the nail, it didn’t have any flecks of white, nothing. It was too inhuman. I shuddered, but curled my pink around his anyway. “Fine,” I muttered drearily.
“Common,” He took my hand and lead me through the forest. Seconds later, we appeared in the clearing where my things were.
“Are you kidding me?” I moaned.
“We were just running in circles around here, you know that, right?” He laughed and went over to my bag. Digging through it, he pulled out his sword, Thanos. Then he pulled out a second sword--a wooden, toy sword. He gave me the toy sword. I glared.
“Excuse me, but you and I both know that I am a way better with swords than you are, yet you give me the toy?” I snapped, looking at him.
Haig just nodded calmly and smiled. “Well, duh. I don’t want to risk you getting mad at me and having a sword in hand at the time.”
I thought a moment. I giggled. “Good idea,” I said, tapping the side of my head with the rounded tip of my sword.
“Now,” He said. “Let’s go.”


For almost and hour we wandered through the forest, silent as the grave. Every so often he’d hold his hand up and motion to stop and listen. Sometimes a rabbit would scamper across the way, other times a bird would screech loudly and there would be a call in return. I smiled at these simple wonders; it’s amazing how such little things like those can be so beautiful, especially on such a nice day.
The sun was casting shafts of light down through the branches, making the ground speckled with color. There was a light breeze carrying the classic winter chill; it made me shiver, yes, but I didn‘t care. I had moved from New York City, and it got cold there sometimes, so it wasn’t like I hadn’t ever been in this type of weather. Birds sung, bugs hummed, water trickled through slowly freezing streams.
My stomach seemed to stay in a grouchy mood--it grumbled and groaned every few seconds, I clutched at it and scolded it several times, of course in vain. Each time I did this, Haig shot me a look. I would blush and glare, making a comment like, “Well, I wouldn’t have to do this if we’d just catch something already!”
Finally, my prayers where answered. There was a rustle in the bushes to the left of us. Haig’s hand flew up, nearly knocking me in the face. He hissed at me to stop, and the two of us stood still. An innocent looking rabbit slowly hopped into our path. It was quite fat, and very fluffy looking. It reminded me all too much of Mr. Bun-Bun, a stuffed rabbit that I’d had when I was six (it had been eaten by my Aunt Rosa’s dog when I was seven).
Haig looked to me with a smile; he nodded.
My face contorted in fear and disgust. “We are not going to kill an cute little bunny!” I squeaked, crossing my arms.
The animal stopped and looked up at us. He was completely white, his little beady eyes were black. He blinked once, then again, still staring at us.
“There is no ‘we’ in Haig,” My idiot-friend whispered. He raised his sword high over his head in a dramatic way, keeping it there for a few long moments. I tried to make him drop it, to knock it out of his hands. But I couldn’t. His grip was too strong, I was too weak.
Then I saw his arms begin to move down, the sword went swinging at the rabbit’s neck. I shut my eyes and turned my head away, stepping back. There was a short squeak of pain, a grunt from Haig. Now there were what sounded like squeals of pain. There was another grunt, the squeals stopped.
I turned around, fell to my knees, and vomited.
“Oh, common Anderson, stop overreacting!” Came a voice from behind me.
“You call this overreacting?” I whimpered, wiping my mouth clean with my sleeve. I twisted around enough so that I could look at him. He was a blur, and the bloody thing he held in his left hand swayed slightly. More bile rose in my throat so I squeezed my lips into a thin line.
“Well, yeah,” He sighed. “How can you even see me? Or the rabbit?
“It’s a bit fuzzy,” I mumbled. “But I can see, sorta.”
“You need new glasses.” I heard the thump of the rabbit as he slung it over his shoulder. “Common, we’re going back to camp.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t feel like staring at your barf for much longer. Not only is it ugly, it stinks.” He mad a gagging sound.
I sighed and rose to my feet. “Let me go first.”
“But you don’t know where the cap is--”
“I don’t care.” I ran off.
A half hour later, we were going in circles, thanks to me. Haig finally pulled me over and made me stop. He took my hand and lead me to camp, letting me keep my eyes shut.
When I was safely sitting down again next to my bag was when I opened my eyes. I saw he was already building up the fire and skinning the rabbit. I moaned softly. “Ewe, Haig, that’s just…ewe.”
“Nice adjectives.” He remarked. He carefully examined the carcass, setting the soft white skin aside for later. “Hmm…Where is the meat on this big fella?” He shrugged and gutted the creature.
Not having anything else to do, I watched. This time I restrained my gag reflexes and kept whatever fluid was left in my stomach down. Off came the bunny’s head, it’s tail. Its entrails were a very interesting color…My nose wrinkled when Haig asked me to clean up the blood as he roasted the rabbit (which smelled surprisingly good when he added a few wild herbs he found growing near by), but I did it anyway (using a stick and a large leaf).
When I came back and sat across from him, I warmed my hands over the fire and smiled. He poked the meat with a small forked branch and grinned. “This is gonna go great with those snack bars, hm?”
My features drooped in disbelief. “We…have…snack bars?” I asked slowly.
He nodded. “Er, yeah…Remember…I packed some…They’re in your bag…?”
“So you dragged me out to go kill a stupid rabbit…for…nothing…”
“Anderson?”
I was shaking with rage. Now I knew I was overacting--probably thanks to my wild teenager hormones or something--but I didn’t care. “You made me barf my guts up…for nothing?”
“No, not for nothing--dude, you’re so going overboard with this, relax!”