REDEMPTION

CHAPTER 10

I sat alone for a while, feeling a venomous hatred for this world and its ways. Zoe came and sat beside me. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t try to comfort me. She knew it would be useless and futile. Instead, she handed me a plate with some salted bread, that looked quite stale, and grilled rabbit. I felt nauseous at the sight of the food and pushed it away. I couldn’t stomach food right now. I would surely throw up if I ate. She didn’t push me. She sighed and just sat there. I wanted to be alone right now, but her presence was comforting and I didn’t ask her to leave.

Derek and Zac emerged from the tent and Derek came over and sat down on a log, opposite of us. Zac disappeared into another tent. I turned my head away when Derek looked at me. I couldn’t meet his eyes just yet. I felt so betrayed and hurt. How can a boy who I just met two weeks ago hurt me so much? It didn’t make any sense, the world and its confusing laws.

No one said anything, lost in their own thoughts. Then Zac came out of a tent with a tall, burly man and a bloodhound following them. The man was very tall, well over six feet, with corded muscles and an olive complexion. He had dark, straight hair, tied back in a ponytail and stormy, very serious, gray eyes. He had tattoos all over his arms but again, the most prominent one was that of a wolf. He looked superior and commanded presence. His blood hound looked quite smug as well. I had never noticed the bloodhound before. They made their way over to us, stopping once, when the man gave some instructions to a Rebel who was passing by. I noticed the other Rebels who were outside, look at the man behind Zac in awe and respect. They inclined their heads towards him in acknowledgment and he did the same.

“Reyna, Derek, meet our father, Damien Stephens”. Damien? As in the son of the devil? That wasn’t reassuring at all. Zac continued, “He is in charge of this particular Rebel camp and as scary and intimidating as he looks, he has a soft nature, although, his wrath will be unleashed upon anyone who dares to ill treat Lucifer here”, Zac said,  indicating to the blood hound that stood loyally beside him and Damien.

Damien and Lucifer? This family had quite the sarcastic sense of humor, although, I suppose Damien and Lucifer were suitable names for the head of a Rebel group and for his dog.

Damien boomed with laughter and ruffled his son’s hair. I could swear the ground beneath me shook when he laughed. God! That man was a giant! Zoe and Zac looked so small compared to him. Everyone looked small compared to him.

“Hello Reyna, Derek”, he said.

Derek got up and shook his hand. Damien offered his hand to me but I made no effort to get up and do the same. He let his hand drop after a few seconds. I’m pretty sure no one had been that rude to him before, for fear of offending him. But I had stopped caring the minute I heard Derek’s confession. I didn’t care what people thought of me anymore, and I certainly didn’t care what Derek thought of me. It didn’t matter.

I made a mental vow never to trust anyone ever again. No one, was truly your own in this world. Everyone, in the deepest parts of their hearts, cared only for themselves. And even if true love did exist, you can never truly understand someone. You can never know what is going on in the other person’s head. For all you know, the person can be looking at you with loving eyes, full of bliss, but really they are battling their own, inner demons, keeping secrets buried and telling lies to cover up. That’s what people do. That’s what everyone does. Keep their demons buried and  tell lies to keep them buried. And people love so that they can heal, so that they can find relief from continuously battling their demons. To have someone to share their burden with. And havoc occurs when the demon is stronger than your will, when love isn’t enough to keep the monster at bay. I know Derek felt bad for keeping that monstrous secret from me, that he had been fighting his own demons ever since I told him how my parents had died, but I wasn’t going to forgive him so easily. I wasn’t sure if I ever could.