Violet

The Inseparable Four

Five years ago, three of my friends and I managed to escape an all out attack of beasts that came out of nowhere.  Seth, Aidan, Jet and me. The inseparable four, the only surviving four of our hometown. My only reasons for living. For one whole month, we had been traveling and running using a van we managed to take before our parents pushed us to run away, to hide, to live while they were left at the mercy of those purple beasts. I cried every time I think of the fire, of our little hometown being attacked, of our school, of our family being destroyed, and I thought about that every night. And every night Seth, Aidan and Jet would comfort me, telling me everything is going to be alright. And I just listened to their lies. Then slowly I would begin to feel better and the next day we would travel again--to nowhere. For one month, our life was like that: uncertain, afraid. Until one day, our car crashed into the marsh and we were welcomed into the Guild. That was five years ago. I was sixteen.

Now five years later, a lot of things changed.

Jet and Aidan are on horses. Seth is walking. There are ten more men with them. The ten men plus Jet, Aidan and Seth are called the Thirteen. They are the best fighters of the Guild. Their missions are usually raids and all sort of major stuff like rescuing important people; and today, they return from a major raid mission. They were sent off three days ago to clear out an enemy camp that was spotted near the Guild, and they come back victorious. I am proud of my friends, yes I am, and I am happy to see that they are safe, that nothing dreadful has befallen them, but as I approach them, my heart aches.

They are bringing with them prisoners. A lot of them. Purple beings of different sizes were chained at the back of their horses. Fear is portrayed on their faces. They look pathetic; I actually pity them.

“Hey.” I say.

“Hey, Arche,” says Seth, looking down and frowning for his boots struck marsh water. Seth is actually, out of the three, the only friend speaking to me. Jet stopped talking to me about four years ago, a year after we came to the Guild, and Aidan a day after that. I look at Aidan, remembering the cheerful guy I used to hang out with in our backyard. I can barely recognize him with the cold expression painted on his face. Jet, on the other hand, is no different. He treats me like I don’t even exist.

There’s just too much heart aches in a single day. This is my life.

I want to hate Aidan and Jet. I want to hate them for forgetting our friendship just because of… I sigh. I actually don’t know what happened, why suddenly they don’t acknowledge my existence. We were best friends once, the four of us. Our villagers called us “The Inseparable Four” because they can rarely see one of us without the rest. Who would have thought that our friendship ends up like this--like a total mess?

I once asked Seth why Jet and Aidan stopped talking to me a week after I noticed. He just shrugged and said, “I don’t know Arche, but we’ve been through a lot. Maybe they just need space to sort things out, to make plans.”

“But why is it that you’re still talking to me?” I asked. However this time, Seth didn’t answer. He just went on, polishing guns.

Four years later and they’re still not talking to me. That’s a lot of time to sort things out. It’s hard to say but I’m getting used to it.

 “I thought Jet says to not take any prisoners,” I complain. “We can’t afford to have prisoners, Seth, you know that. We already have a lot of children to feed back at the Guild.”  

“No. Three days ago, he ordered we should take prisoners for information.” Seth stops walking, so is the whole group. Jet dismounts his horse, makes a splash in the water as his feet meets the ground, and looks around.

“Three days ago? I did not receive any order.” I just can’t believe what I’m hearing. “And what do you mean by taking prisoners for information?”

“It means we’re going to torture the information out of them, Arche,” Seth answers rather irritatingly. “You know what I meant. Don’t be such a little girl.”

“We’re done here. Let’s return to the Guild,” declares Jet as he mounts his horse, and as one, the Thirteen moves.

I do not move with them, I only watch them draw away from me. Seth, Aidan and Jet. My best friends. Now total strangers. What the heck is happening?

It means we’re going to torture the information out of them, Arche. You know what I meant. Don’t be such a little girl. Seth’s words echoes in my mind. I should be happy, right? To see those beasts suffer at the hands of humans, to see them cringe in pain is more than enough. It will make me happy, it will make me feel avenged, but none of those feelings come to me. Much as I hate the foul beasts, I don’t think they deserve to be tortured. I think they deserve a quick death.

“Rrrrr,” a coarse voice growls from behind my back.

I turn around.

I see one of the hideous beasts, with its sharp claws raised, ready to strike before everything goes black.