Chapter 26: Hello

Elinn I squeezed the little girl in my arms as close to my chest as possible. She was the one person I knew wouldn't hurt me here, she was too sweet and innocent for anything like that. Her father and brother may hate and torment me for killing them but she didn't love me any less because her family died because of me. As my sobs began to die down along with Annelise I noticed that there were two other sets of hands touching me and I recoiled slightly. Who was that and why were they so close to me? Still holding Annelise tightly I scooted back trying to get a glimpse of who it was. When I was finally able to see them I didn't know what to think, mainly because I didn't know who they were or why they were here. "These are my new friends Katen and Sam, they have been really nice to me while you've been gone. They wanted me to feel better so they helped Luna make cookies with me. Their nice, I promise, if they hurt you I'll make them go away." The two boys looked panicked at the idea of having to leave Annelise's side. "Hi, I'm Sam and this is my brother Katen, are you Anne's sister?" The bigger of the two boys introduced himself. They seemed identical at first glance but as I examined them more closely I realised that Katen had several thin scars across his throat while Sam's was bare. Almost without thinking my hand went out to touch his scars but stopped when he backed away from my touch. I knew what it was like to have something like that upon your skin. People stared and whispered behind your back about what it could mean or where it came from. It was like a neon sign telling everyone that you were broken, you weren't like anyone else. "I have some of those too look," I rolled up the sleeves on my right arm allowing the children to see the intricate scars that laid across my skin. Elinn gasped and ran her fingers over a large vine-like section as if trying to decide if it was real. Katen took a step forward to inspect the lines before turning to face Sam. His hands moved quickly and in a way that I had never seen before, Sam seemed to be watching as if he knew exactly what the quick movement meant. "Katen says that your scars look a lot prettier than his do. He wanted me to ask if the bad men gave you your scars as well." Sam and Katen both turned to me expectantly then. I was a bit taken aback and took several seconds to come up with an answer. "Yes, some very bad people gave me my scars. I think your scars are beautiful too though Katen, they are just a different kind of beautiful than most people expect." This brought a smile to the young boys face and he reached out a hand and I looked at it questioningly. "You shake it silly, see like this." Annelise demonstrated forcing Sam to help her show me what I was supposed to do. I mimicked her movements taking Katen's hand in mine and moving them up and down. "Hey, you never answered my question, are you Anne's sister?" Sam demanded I couldn't come up with how to respond. "Elinn is my big sister, she makes sure I'm safe and happy don't you Elinn?" Annelise sounded hesitant as if she wasn't sure whether I would accept this answer. As if I might shoot it down and tell the boys that Annelise was just someone that I had met while I was here. "That's right, why are you boys here anyways? I don't think I was introduced to you when I was last here." I say standing up and sitting cross-legged on the bed. Katen quickly climbed up after with a little help from Sam then Katen helped his brother up, the sight made me want to laugh. Katen's hands began flying at breakneck speed once again and Sam began translating. "We came because Carter asked our parents to help find you. The bad men took you away and we came to help find you. We weren't much help though we couldn't really do anything, but we were here to make sure that Annelise was okay. My parents say that they didn't find all the bad men so we are staying to try and find them." His words froze me and my heart rate increased slightly. There had been no bad men involved in my leaving, Master had merely come to bring me back home. He had been the one to take me away from the bad men, not the other way around. I hadn't been rescued from him I had been kidnapped and these twins parents had helped. "Go away, they helped take me away….your parents helped take me away, go, GET OUT OF HERE!" I yelled and the boys jumped a little at my sudden exclamation. "Wait what are you," Sam tried to ask but Annelise cut him off. "You're making Elinn upset, go back to your rooms, your making my sister sad so go away." With tears in their eyes, the two crawled off the bed in a daze as if not fully understanding what was going on. With one last glance back at Anne they scurried out of the room and I tried to get my heart rate back under control. "They are gone now see, I made them go away, see I made them leave, you won't go now, right? I made them leave so that you would stay so you'll stay right? You told me you would stay and I made them go so you could be happy, don't leave please," Tears welled in Annelise's eyes as she begged me not to go. She clung to me as if I was the last thing in this whole world that she had left. I stared down at her in shock as she sobbed pleading with me to stay with her. "I'm not going anywhere, see I'm not moving or trying to leave I'm staying right here. There is no need to get upset I wouldn't leave you, even if I decided to leave I wouldn't leave you, I would take you with me so you wouldn't be alone. I could never leave you….not again." I assured her running my fingers through her hair hoping that it would help to calm her. It seemed to work because pretty soon she was fast asleep in my arms and I laid down with her tucked into my side. As my eyelids grew heavy I could hear heavy footsteps in the hall and hushed voices. I could tell they were talking about me but the words sounded as though they were in another language. My eyes closed and my mind drifted bringing me closer and closer to sleep. Just as I was about to fall into its sweet embrace I felt a rush of sparks run through my arm causing me to relax further and with a sigh of contentment, I let myself succumb to the darkness