Chapter Three

My shoulder burned, blinding me to everything but the pain, throbbing beneath a bandage wound way too tight. I forced open my gritty eyes, my fingers trailing the thin gauze and flinched. I was surrounded by rock, white rock that seemed to radiate a soft blue glow. The entire room was made of it, the ceiling, the walls, all of it, pressing down on me, suffocating me.

I turned my head and stared at the swept ground, my quickening breaths easing as I caught sight of two bedrolls, their blankets clean but slept in. A pile of clothes by the far wall was the only sign of colour and even that was mostly black and denim, punctured by a scattering  of Lill's pink and green singlets.

Lillith. 

A pained grunt escaped me as I rolled onto my good side and forced myself up. The heavy curtain covering my only escape parted the moment I'd made a sound and Aaron strode in, his face furious.

"What are you doing?"

"Finding Lillith," I said, trying to see through a veil of falling stars.

"Lie down."

"No."

He put his hand between my pitiful cleavage and pushed. "I said Lie down."

I met him with a moment of resistance then gave in. He was too strong and I was too sore. 

"What the hell did you think you were doing out there?"

I rolled my eyes at him, despite the pain lancing through the bite. So much for sympathy or a thankyou. "Saving your cranky ass."

"You nearly got yourself killed!"

"I'll remember to use the eyes in the back of my head next time."

"Why did you have to argue? Why couldn't you just let me do it?"

"Because you do everything! And you’ve been doing everything since day one!"

"So?"

"I'm suppose to take care of her, not you!"

His eyes narrowed. "And you plan on doing that how if you're dead?"

"I don't need you to look after me."

"I never said I was."

"Then why won't you let me search for food? Or go to trade points or even pay the damn guy at the reception desk? I'm just as good in a fight as Dave and you know it!"

"No you, no Lillith, no cash."

It was true, though that didn't stop his words from feeling like a slap across the face. The only reason they'd joined us was for the extra money and kitted up transport, but somewhere during the last five months I'd started hoping it wasn't the only reason they'd stayed. 

"Get out and leave me alone," I said, ashamed of the tears rushing to my eyes.

"Fayle -"

"I said get out!"

He gave me a curt nod and left, sending the curtain billowing behind him. I lifted my good arm and covered my damp eyes. I hadn't cried since Nick disappeared and I refused to do it now. Not over him.

The next four days passed in much the same way. I was left alone and confined to my room, forced to take it easy as I counted down the minutes until Lillith and Dave returned, bearing hard rolls and what looked like road kill stew. 

I don't know why I looked forward to seeing them so much at the end of each day. They were too busy drowning in each other’s eyes and making lame excuses to touch each other to have any kind of lasting conversation with me. 

And Aaron? I hadn't seen hide nor tail of him since that first day, which according to Lills was actually our third day here, where ever "here" was. It was also the longest amount of time I'd ever been separated from Aaron, and with nothing but white, blue tinged walls and my thoughts for company, the aggravating man was all I could think about.

"Feeling any better today?" Lills asked. 

I shrugged without thinking and only just managed to hide my wince. "I'm fine. Better if they'd let me out of this room." 

"It's not that bad," Dave said, grinning at my twin.

"That's because you're not the third wheel."

"You're no such thing!" 

"It's okay Lills, I'm happy for you both. Though one night of nausea free sleep would be nice every once in a while."

She cracked a smile and the skin above Dave's stubbled cheeks threatened to turn pink. 

"So are you guys going to tell me where we are yet?" 

I'd asked them countless times a day, and everyday they gave me the same answer. ‘It's best if we don't tell you. Yet.’ I couldn’t say for certain, but I was pretty sure that nagging question of mine was what kept them away from me for the bulk of our waking hours. At least that's what I hoped it was.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"You mean you're actually going to tell me this time?"

She bit her lip, hesitating with the answer.

“Come on Lills, it's killing me not knowing!” 

Her bottom lip slid free of her perfectly white teeth. "We're with the Scorchers."

"Scorchers?"

She nodded.

"How...?"

Lillith and Dave shared a fleeting, knowing look. 

"Aaron," she said, finding my confused gaze again.

"Aaron? But their nests are impossible to find. Not unless... light have mercy," I said, feeling like I'd been punched in the chest. 

"We're gonna go," Lills mumbled, getting to her feet. 

I nodded, too lost for words to find the one's that would make her stay. Scorchers were dangerous, a militia that stood outside the rules and laws the rest of us lived by. They were those who'd committed their lives to the destruction of every non human creature beyond the borders of the Diarna, the furthest mining town in the south.  They married their work and bred for numbers. They were smart, strong and loyal to a fault and would rather see our entire world blaze then let the shades win. 

Before the sky started to change colour, the Scorchers had been nothing more than a nuisance, a buzzing fly that refused to leave the food table. But when the Shades crossed into our lands, they'd reared their hooded heads and come pouring out of the cracks, shocking us with their organisation, their weapons and numbers. This was the day they'd been waiting for. 

Any interaction with them was always done on their terms and when and where they wanted. No one, and I mean no one knew the locations of their hidden communities, or nests as they called them. To know that, you had to be one of them. 

And Aaron had known. 

It made his supply connections make sense, his survival skills, the way he used a weapon. But the rest? Scorchers stuck together in packs of at least five and never hunted on their own. True, Dave and Stuart had been with him, but - Dave! Was poor sweet Dave a Scorcher too? 

I smacked my forehead with the palm of my hand. That wasn't my only problem. Aaron knew about Lillith and he would've told the others everything by now. Scorchers didn't keep secrets from each other, they were one mind amidst hundreds of bodies. 

The question was, what would they do with her now that they knew? Would they think her a weapon, or a freak? Would they go as far as keeping her against her will? It would mean having something the shades wanted, even if we didn’t know why.

A million other questions ran through my head before I made my decision to move. They'd kept me here long enough and hell or high water, I was getting out of this room. My ribs weren't cracked, just bruised, and most of my lingering pain came from the bite they'd burnt shut on my left shoulder. 

I shook my head, lightly touching the dressing that covered what would be a fist-sized scar. Burning the bite. Only Scorchers would think of that. They were probably worried about me getting some kind of shadow infection. Idiots. 

I ditched my use-to-be-white singlet for a yellow one that lay on top of Lillith's clothes pile, then pulled on a clean pair of jeans. The denim over my knees had thinned to a single weave, and the hem at my heels dragged on the ground where it had been worn to shreds. They weren't the most presentable things to be walking around in, but it was the best I could do with what was infront of me.

I pulled my hair back into its usual pony tail and pulled it strait back out again. I preferred it up, but a side comment Aaron made three months ago hinted at the possibility that he liked  it better down and I needed to use every advantage I had.

I pushed aside the blue curtain covering our doorway, feeling more vulnerable than I cared for. There was nothing I could do though. Everything that could be used as a weapon short of shoe laces and bra straps had already been taken from us. These people were crazy, not stupid.

I made a move and froze, almost tripping over the human ball blocking my way. The crouched man unfurled himself and stood, his face knocking the breath from my lungs. I'd thought Dave looked like Aaron, but this guy... He was what Aaron must've looked like back when he was my age. 

"What are you doing?"

"Leaving my room," I said, finding my voice. 

He had that same dent in the bottom of his chin as Aaron, the kind that begged little kids to make butt crack jokes, and I felt confident enough to bet my glimmer of freedom on him having a dimple in his left cheek when he smiled.

"I can't let you leave on your own." 

"Then come with me."

He ran a hand through short, dark hair, his frown deepening. "Where'd you want to go?"

"I want to see Aaron."

"He's busy."

"I don't care."

"I won't take you there,” he said, folding his arms, “so think of somewhere else or go back to your room.”

I lifted my chin. "How do you know he doesn't want to see me?" 

"He said so."

Ouch. "What's your name?" 

"Huh?"

"Your name. What is it?" I repeated, liking the fact that my question had knocked him off centre.

"Burney."

You've got to be kidding me. Who in their right mind would name their Scorcher kid Burney?

"Listen Burney. I don't want to cause you trouble, but one of two things are about to happen. Either you come with me and take me to Aaron, or I can beat you bloody and tear this place apart looking for him. I know which one I'd rather, how about you?"

He towered head and shoulders above me, but even with his extra height, he wasn't anywhere near as broad as Aaron, and I doubt his fighting as good. It didn’t matter though. I was useless without a weapon, even more so injured, but he didn’t know that. All he'd know was that I’d been in a wrestling match with a Shadow Man and won. 

He let out an exasperated sigh, obviously frustrated with the situation, and no doubt me. "I was told not to let anyone hurt you. That includes me."

I raised an eyebrow. It's not like this guy would've listened to a request by Lills so... "Who said that?"

"Aaron."

"Does he ever make sense?"

He laughed, the deep, genuine sound surprising me. "Nope. Come on then."