This is the seventh installment of my NaNoWriMo challenge: My Sister's Keeper, chapter ten.
With this chapter I have uploaded a total of approx 13,300 words. Total written to date is 16,400 words.
Chapters One and Two (Part One)
Chapters Three and Four (Part Two)
Chapters Five and Six (Part Three)
Chapter Seven (Part Four)
Chapter Eight (Part Five)
Chapter Nine (Part Six)
CHAPTER TEN
Ruby awoke to the sight of several of the adults talking amongst themselves. Anastasia was with them and Ruby noticed how animated she was. She knew the conversation was not going well. The leaders of the groups, the ones who were supposed to protect the rest of them were scared. Of a child.
“Are we in trouble?” Ruby turned to Emerald. If anyone knows what's going on then she will.
“No, nothing like that,” she replied, keeping her eyes focused squarely on the men and their discussion. Anastasia had chosen to retreat, it seemed.
“They won't take us with them,” Anastasia told Ruby.
“Why?” Ruby asked, visibly upset by what was now occurring.
“This is not easy for me to tell you, Ruby. I don't want to hurt you. It is my desire to protect you, at all times. But there is something I need to share with you.” Anastasia spoke her words hesitatingly. She feared the child's response, and with her already fragile state in this environment, she knew she needed to tread carefully.
“What is it? I am in trouble, aren't I?”
“No, you aren't in any trouble at all. The things is,” Anastasia paused, reluctant to continue. “It's not really you. It's Emma.”
“Emma, what about her? She hasn't hurt anyone.” Ruby said.
“The others in the group are frightened of her. Well, technically they're frightened of you.” Anastasia internally chastised herself for getting her message so confused. How can she follow all of this, Anastasia asked herself. Time to just spit it out. “Emma isn't real.”
“What do you mean she isn't real?” Ruby started to be agitated. She turned to look at Emerald, but she wasn't there. Where did she go? Have they scared her away? Tears started streaming down her cheek.
“Ruby, Emma has always been a projection of your hurt and scared mind. It's never been a problem. I still don't understand why it has become one now. But the others in the group have been watching you interact with her, the projection, and it frightens them. They too believe she is real.”
“See, I told you she was real,” Ruby exclaimed.
“They may see her as being real, but they don't believe she is human, Ruby.” Anastasia replied
“If she isn't human then what is she?”
“To them she is some type of demon.” Anastasia weighed up the words in her mind. She couldn't believe she was saying all of this to a child. A damaged and frightened child. What have I become, she thought. There must be a better way.
Without hesitation Ruby jumped up and ran to the others. They started to back away out of fear, “Emma is real. She's my sister.” They all stared at her, as if they were waiting on another to offer a retort. “She hasn't hurt anyone. I don't understand why you are frightened of her.”
One of the men finally offered a reply. “She has brought death and destruction with her. She is cursed from above and from below. And you are cursed along with her.”
Anastasia walked up to Ruby and put her arm around her, partly to protect her, but also to offer solidarity. It's no use she thought. These men have made up their minds, and if they are pushed then perhaps they will exact their own destruction in our direction. Anastasia couldn't risk this possibility. She retreated with Ruby back to where they had been.
Emerald appeared again beside Ruby. “Tell Anastasia we should get going, we really need to leave now.” Ruby turned to Anastasia, and realised that she was oblivious to what Emerald had just said. For the first time she stopped and considered the possibility that only she could see Emerald. Maybe so, she told herself, but she is still real. “Yes I am,” Emerald reassured her. Ruby smiled at her, and offered Emerald her gift of gratitude.
“Anastasia, we need to go. Now!” Ruby said. “Emma says it's important we leave now.”
Anastasia looked at the child, and sensed no reason to be alarmed. Emerald had always protected Ruby, that much she knew. She had observed that for herself. How this had occurred remained a mystery to Anastasia. But she was in no mood to question or challenge the energies that were guiding her little group. She reached for her bag. “I managed to get some more supplies from what was still here untouched,” she said. “This will keep us going for another week. We should be near the camp by them.”
Ruby stood up, and placed her hand in Anastasia's. “We need to go. She says we can't wait.”
They started walking to the exit door. “Will they follow us?” Ruby asked.
“No, they told me they intend to rest here for another day. That suits us, we can get a head start on them.” The rest would have been good though she told herself. No time for that now.
The rest of the group watched them leave, offering no support or comfort. Anastasia noticed their coldness, as she followed Ruby out back into the destroyed remains of the city. She couldn't see her, but for the first time Anastasia believed she could feel Emerald's presence. And it made her feel safer. This must be how Ruby has always felt, she thought, as they left the charity building behind them and started walking at a much quickened pace. Anastasia looked at Ruby who appeared to be driven by a need to get as far away from the centre as possible. What does she know? What does Emma know? She considered these questions, but was not prepared to cause them to slow down. She doubled her focus and marched in step with Ruby.
The had made it about half a mile down the road when Anastasia first heard it. A faint noise coming from the distance. She looked around, darting her eyes in all directions. She could see no movement. No reasons to be concerned. Yet the noise was still there, and it was growing louder.
“What is it?” Ruby asked.
“Can you hear it, that noise?” she pointed in the direction it appeared to be coming from. From the direction of the city they had left several days ago.
Ruby remained very quiet, straining to hear the noise. When at last she heard it, she turned to Anastasia and asked, “What is it?”
“I don't know, but I think we need to get to some shelter, out of the open.” Anastasia looked around to find a place that wasn't completely destroyed. She noticed what looked like a partially destroyed house, with enough space for them to hide. They ran towards the shelter, and hid within it's one, partially remaining room.
The noise grew much more noticeable, allowing both Anastasia and Ruby to realise what it was they were hearing. “Planes!” they said in unison.
“Do they know we're here?” Ruby asked.
Emerald turned to Ruby and said, “They only know about the others in the charity centre. That's why we had to get out.”
“Emma says they know about the others at the centre. Are they going to hurt them?” Ruby asked.
Anastasia looked at Ruby, wondering how Emerald could know such a thing. Maybe she's not a phantom twin, or a mental projection, or any such thing she told herself. She may very well be an angel. She sat silently allowing the thought to permeate her fear and dissipate the concerns she had been feeling. Ruby has an angel guiding her, she thought. An angel that the others rejected. She slowly put the pieces together in her head, realising what was about to occur.
“I think the others may be in a lot of trouble,” Anastasia said. “It seems Emma has lead us to safety.”
The first impact jolted them, sending shock waves through the Earth beneath them. They were a safe enough distance from the centre, if they weren't aware of their presence. They could hear the sound of several explosions, followed by the rumble of buildings being destroyed.
“They knew people were here,” Ruby said. “How could they know that?” she asked.
It was a good question, Anastasia thought. “And why would they deliberately target civilians?”
“Thank God for Emma,” Ruby said.
Anastasia smiled from relief more than anything. But Ruby is right she thought. Thank God indeed. There had been so little in her life to be grateful to God for. Perhaps this was a sign of change.
“Yes, thank God for Emma,” Anastasia agreed.
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This fiction is my own work, written for Steemit
Image Credit: Unsplash.com
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