Rats: Shai's Story

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Author's Note: Thanks to everyone reading! Please comment and vote

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Shai got up out of Jasper's bed before dawn. He was curled up on his side still fast asleep. She crept around the room in the dark and searched for something to wear. She found her pair of jeans and slipped on one of Jasper's shirts. His scent enveloped her.

She made her way quickly across the room as quietly as she could. She opened up the door just a crack and slid out. She silently closed the door behind her and sat down on the floor. It was empty and she knew everyone else would be asleep. She let out a deep breath and pushed her back up against the wall.

Todd's pendant was in her fingers. The cold metal felt good on her skin. She slid her thumb over the carved dragon in the metal and the green rocks that made his eye. When Todd ripped it off his neck was the first time that Shai had ever seen him take it off. She couldn't stop wondering why he had given it to her. She thought that maybe it would be a souvenir of him; that he gave it to her so she would remember him. But Todd was never big on memories or emotions.

She took her knife out of her pocket and began to flip it in and out. She had watched Todd do it so often that she started doing it too years ago. She closed her eyes and flipped the blade in and our as she tried to breathe calmly. She wanted to clear her mind and just stay focused on what needed to be done.

It felt like only minutes to her before she heard another door open. She opened her eyes and stopped flipping her blade to see who it was.

Brodhi closed his door quietly behind him and looked shocked when he saw her sitting in the empty hallway. He walked towards her and sat down beside her. From the rings under his eyes she could tell he got just as much sleep as she did.

"You sure you still want to do this," he said quietly. The walls were thin in their house and everyone else was still asleep.

Of course, Shai thought to herself, try to convince me outta this again.

"Yeah," she said quietly.

She heard him let out a deep breath. Shai had put her knife back into her pocket, but still had Todd's pendant in her hands. She squeezed it so the stones pushed into her palm; trying to keep herself calm so she didn't raise her voice and wake everyone up.

"What if it's too late?" he asked her. "What if they already killed him? We both know Todd's gotta attitude and Officers probably already gave up and kill him. Is it worth it to get yourself and my brother killed too?"

Shai felt the rocks in the dragon's eyes cut into her palm as she squeezed it tighter and tighter. She didn't want to think about Todd already being dead.

"I don't care," she replied quietly. "Todd could be dead. But what if he's not? What if his living in a camp and bein' tortured? I saw it happen. I watched a couple Officers arrest him and I just stood there and watched. I need to at least try."

"Shai, you're grieving. You're just upset about watching it happen," Brodhi told her. "He was my best friend too and I hate that this happened to him. But in a week or two you won't be so upset about this."

She rolled her eyes and got up off the floor. Brodhi looked up at her.

"You don't understand," she muttered as she walked past him and down the stairs. She was in the kitchen and she heard the thudding sound of some one walking down the stairs behind her. The dim light above was turned on and Shai spun around to see Brodhi standing there with his arms crossed under his chest.