It was getting darker. They had
been travelling all day, not daring to leave the forest, and ending up deeper
in it. Despite the thick knotting of trees overhead rain still managed to reach
them, and the were soaked to the bone.
Butch looked at his companion, as
she struggled to keep up with him. She was tired and carrying more then he
would have liked her too, but they couldn’t stop. Not until the found somewhere
safe to sleep, or stay.
He paused to try and get some kind
of baring. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and shifted the pack on her shoulder.
Then something caught her eye, “What’s that?”
He looked in the direction she was
looking, “A cave…”
“Reckon it’s safe?” Rae wiped some
rainwater from her brow.
“One way to find out.” Butch
pushed forward, and shone the torch he was carrying into the cave. If any
Pokémon used the cave as a home, they would be in there now, sheltering from
the rain. However there were no Pokémon in the cave. “Looks good.”
Rae followed him in, and threw her
pack and herself to the sandy floor. She pulled several pieces of wood that
they had picked up during the day from her pack. “Better save the torch’s
batteries and use a fire. It’ll help dry us off too.” She started to build up
the wood, adding pages from the paper that had been left by the man the night
before.
Butch propped the torch on a rock
until the fire got going and searched his own pack for the blankets. He handed
one to Rae as she finished on the fire, and she wrapped it around herself
thankfully, before shuffling down onto the floor. “Night Butch,” She muttered
sleepily.
“Night,” Butch replied, as he
himself settled down for the evening. Thanks to the long walk it wasn’t long
before sleep found then both.
~*~*~*~
Everything
was dark. There was nothing to feel and nothing to hear. You couldn’t even see
your own hands in front of your face.
Then
suddenly everything stained red. Deep crimson, running over you like warm
liquid. But it isn’t liquid, it’s deep rage.
You can
hear screams, far away and yet clear as a bell. Echoing around and around in
your head, all around you and yet no where near you.
Through
the thick red fog which suffocates you, are ghostly images. Images of things
you don’t understand, and don’t want to understand that swirl towards you and
yet never get any closer to you.
Suddenly
you are being thrown around, and the screams and cries are getting louder and
louder. Hands at your throat tightening, pushing you from something… from
someone… your own hands around their neck, their eyes beginning to bulge from
their sockets…
Crimson
blood all around you… screams echoing all around you… are you killing him or he
is he killing you… The hands around your neck getting tighter, and tighter…
~*~*~*~
“Butch!”
He awoke with a start from the
horrible haunting images, and pulled himself immediately into an upright
position, banging his head against Rae’s head, which was bent over him.
“Ow!” His hand shot to his
forehead, as Rae’s did the same. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“What do you mean what’s wrong?
You’re the one who was having a nightmare,” Rae told him gently.
Butch closed his eyes in
frustration, he hadn’t thought he spoke in his sleep, “Shite.”
“What was it about Butch?” Rae
asked softly. He didn’t answer her, and pushed himself closer towards the fire,
which was still burning well. “Butch?” Rae gently pushed.
“I don’t think I should tell you…”
Rae shuffled closer to the fire
herself, and wrapped her blanket around herself, “Why not?”
Butch sighed, and pulled his
curtains from his tired eyes. “Because you said you didn’t want to know about
the fight.”
There was a moment of silence. “If
it’s still haunting you… then maybe you should tell me. It’ll help you feel
better,” Rae murmured.
He rubbed his head his the heel of
his hand roughly. “I have to, even if it makes you hate me.” He sighed again.
“I don’t really remember who
started the fight… I can’t really remember why it started. But I do know I did
something that not even you can forgive me for… Maybe ten minutes or so into
the fight I noticed that someone was… well pretty much killing Josh.”
Rae nodded, Josh was the youngest
brother in Butch’s family, whom they were all very protective of. She watched
Butch as he continued to stare into the firelight.
“So I pulled him off but… I was
too late. Josh was already dead.” Butch clenched his fists, “Your David killed
him.”
Rae’s eyes widened, in shock and
disbelief her brother would do such a thing, but she knew it had to be true.
Her fingers intertwined around her locket, and she watched Butch’s face in the
soft light. It was contoured with a thousand emotions.
There was silence for a moment,
and then he began again. “If we hadn’t all been so wasted he wouldn’t be dead…
and I wouldn’t have done what I did.”
“What did you do?” Rae asked, her
voice nothing more then a cracked whisper.
He gazed unblinking into the fire.
“There was a broken bottle nearby. I was mad and drunk and…” He paused, and
then turned to her, “Just before the fire started, I killed David.”
If Rae had suspected that was the
case a moment ago, nothing had prepared
her for it being true. For a moment she looked at him dumbly. Then tears
brimmed in her eyes, and she turned herself violently towards the fire.
He watched as a few tears fell
onto the floor of the cave. The hatred he felt for himself was overwhelming.
“I’m sorry Rae. I know you hate me now.”
“No!” She choked out in a sob. She
coughed and more tears slid down her cheeks, but she turned her face away from
the fire to look at him again. “No, I don’t hate you…”
His brow furrowed, “What the hell
are you talking about Rae?”
She swallowed down another sob,
and another slow tear trailed down her cheek, “I know this is the most horrible
thing anyone can say, but I’m glad David died…”
“What?” Butch was horribly
confused, and shocked.
“Well… if he hadn’t died, he would
have killed you… and if he, or any of the others, had been the ones to come out
alive without you then I-” She broke off. “I don’t know what I would have
done…”
Butch looked into her tearful wine
red eyes. “Rae… Are you…?”
“I care about you too much to hate
you,” She muttered. “You’re like a brother, and a best friend and…” She broke
off and looked flustered. Then she moved forward and wrapped her arms around
his neck and pressed her lips to his.
For a moment Butch was too
overwhelmed to even believe what was happening. Then he slowly began to respond
to her kiss, moving his hands around her waist to pull her closer to him.
She broke off from him, a blush
covering her face. “And I really, really
like you,” She concluded nervously.
He smiled at her, “I’ve wanted to
tell you that for a long time.” He reached out and stroked the side of her
face.
She leaned forward and kissed him
quickly again. “I love you,” She breathed softly, as she laid her head against
his chest.
He kissed the top of her head
softly, as his heart beat wildly in his chest. “I love you too, Rae.”
~*~*~*~
Rae’s eyes gradually flickered
open, as soft morning light spilled into the cave, which had been so dark the
night before. She gave a content sigh and snuggled into Butch’s bare chest.
Her movement woke him, and he
yawned and stretched his arms above his head, before wrapping his arm around
Rae’s shoulders. “Hey, don’t go back to sleep.”
Rae groaned, and then pulled
herself up. “Okay, I’m awake.” She bent and kissed him. “What’s the plan?”
“I don’t know,” He smiled back at
her. He was amazed how light he felt suddenly. A mix of having told someone
about the fight and having found out the girl he loved felt the same about him.
“Either we continue looking for somewhere in the forest, or we stay here.”
She pulled her bangs from her face
thoughtfully. “I dunno… You think it’s safe here?”
“As safe as anywhere else.”
Rae nodded thoughtfully and her
bangs swung back over her left eye. “Well… we’ll talk about it later.” She
pulled herself up, and picked up some of her things. “I’m going to the river to
get us a magikarp or something. Okay?”
“Okay,” He agreed sleepily.
The morning was warm and Rae
walked at a lazy pace towards the sounds of water, a small smile on her face.
She felt older, more mature… maybe she had become more mature overnight.
She set up her makeshift rod into
the water, and sighed. David had taught her how to fish on a camping trip when
she was younger. Steve, her other brother, had taught her how to gut and clean
anything she caught, although she preferred not to.
She remembered the day she caught
her fist magikarp, and she smiled proudly at the memory. Her brothers had
paraded her home on their shoulders, and they’d eaten it for dinner.
Something wet landed on her hand,
and she looked in shock at the tear she hadn’t been aware had fallen from her
eyes. She dragged her palm across her eyes roughly. She missed them, but she
wanted the memories to be happy.
The rod tugged in her hand, and
she brought herself from the dim, dusty world of memories and pulled something
quickly from the water. It flopped onto the grass, flapping around desperately.
Magikarp. She returned her rod to the water, and continued back into her
memories.
Her hands interlaced her small
locket. David had known her better then she knew herself. She had maybe only
realised this when she had opened her present.
She hadn’t found it until a few days after the funeral, when she was
helping to clear up his room. A small box with a blue ribbon. Inside was her
locket and a note.
To my baby
sister,
Your
getting older, and more beautiful and adult every day. Maybe this year you can
finally face up to your feeling.
Love you
Sis.
David.
Inside her locket he had placed a
picture of Butch.
The rod jerked again, and pulled
her from her sombre thoughts. She
pulled the second magikarp from river, and then set about tying them together
to take them back.
“Rae.”
She paused, and her eyes widened.
The voice, which had come from behind her, was all too familiar to her, and
sent a chill down her spine. She slowly stood, and then turned around to face
her father. “Yes, dad?”
The man she had once
unconditionally loved, and now feared, stood before her not looking too
pleased, to put it lightly. His eyes were clouded, and his hands were fists at
his sides.
The silence made her heart freeze.
She shifted uncomfortably. “Dad, I don’t want to go home. Please let me stay here…”
“Don’t be a fool,” her father
snapped. He reached forward and grabbed her wrist. “You’re coming home, and
this time you are not seeing him again.”
“But Butch is my-” She bit her
tongue before she said lover. “You can’t do that!”
“Rae?” Her father hadn’t spoken.
She looked past him to a female officer and Butch’s parents. It was his mother who had spoken. “Where is
Butch, Rae?”
Rae looked at the floor. “We were
staying in a cave not far from here… I’ll-“ She bit her lip to stop the tears
as she realised finally her freedom was gone, “I’ll take you there.” She
wrestled her arm from her father, and picked up her things she had taken and
then began to walk back towards the cave slowly. She would feel the people
behind her like a great black shadow. They finally reached the final stretch
before they would reach the cave, she stopped and turned around.
“I would like to go in myself,
please.”
Before any of the parents could
answer, the officer jumped in. “That would be alright. We’ll give you ten minutes.”
She gave a Rae a small understanding smile.
Rae nodded, and then turned and
continued the few feet to the mouth of the cave and walked until the cool
shadows of it covered her completely.
Butch was looking at his map by
torchlight. He looked up as she stepped closer, and stood quickly. “What’s
wrong?” He asked her huskily.
She looked up into his eyes sadly.
“They found us Butch.” She pulled herself close to him, “They found us.”
Butch cursed under his breath, and
wrapped his arms around her. She pressed her head into his shoulder and allowed
a few tears to fall down her cheeks. “It was good while it lasted Rae,” He
murmured into her hair.
“It was good while it lasted,” She
whispered back as he kissed the top of her head.