Six Figures by Audrey Parker (the reading list book txt) 📖

rain grew. It was pin pricks on my skin, and I could feel it through my clothes.

        I almost didn’t notice it until I was upon it. The clearing from last night. It had taken me longer to get there than it had yesterday, but I had still come swiftly. This is where my feet had been leading me and I quickly realized why. Waiting for me, almost blinded by the rain and blurred around the edges, was a man. My heart quickened when I realized it was Oliver. There was only a yard between us before he realized I was there.

        He turned toward me and it was a moment before I recognized a slight grin across his features. Though he obviously wasn’t thrilled that I was there, he wasn’t completely adverse to it. Oliver didn’t move towards me one inch.

        “Hi, Oliver,” I shouted over the punching downpour. My face was crumpled up against the rain, but Oliver’s eyes were undefended; he didn’t seem to mind the prickle of the water.

        He didn’t answer me, just indicated with his hand for me to trail him away from the clearing. I was his shadow as we ventured further into the forest; visibility was limited to a few feet as the light was dim. My feet splashed through puddles of water and I could feel the dirt and twigs tickle my toes. Oliver trudged seemingly fearlessly on an invisible trail, vulnerable only in the smallest stoop in his shoulders; the slightest curve in his neck. Also, his thumb fumbled between his fingers. Pointer, middle, ring, pinky. Pointer, middle, ring, pinky. Over and over again, in rhythm with his footsteps. Like me, Oliver has shoes made of the underbrush’s scraps that get washed away when we tramp through large water slicks.

        After following the trail for a while, Oliver glances back at me, his eyes dark and reflective. I detect weariness in them, but also surprise; he is surprised that I was still behind him –I didn’t run while I could. But by now the downpour was deafening and my shoulders stung from the impact of the droplets. My eyes couldn’t make out anything out of the gray, and when Oliver suddenly stopped in front of me, my nose collided in between his shoulder blades. I gripped his arm to keep from slipping in the mud. The last thing that I wanted was to become soaked, cold, and filthy.

        Oliver opened a door to a building that I didn’t realize was there. He ushered me inside and I stood just inside the doorway, water sopping down my legs and off my fingertips. It dripped down my nose.

        The room I was in was small and a lot like my own house. A bed stood in a corner and grass mats lined the floor. Various objects littered the corners, but the place was reasonably clean. We were the only ones here.

        “My older brother and sister already fled to a cousin’s house, miles away.” Oliver started. “I’m leaving in the morning, to follow them. After what happened yesterday, we sense that it’s not safe for us to live here anymore. We should have left over a year ago, and are most likely still alive only by sheer luck.” Oliver paused and took a half-step closer to me. “Let’s go get you some dry clothes.”

        He lead me to a messenger bag very similar to my own, and pulled out a shirt similar to his own drenched one. Then he pulled out yet another one for himself to change into. I showed him my back and changed quickly, shivers rushing up and down my spine.

        When I’m finished, I turn around and my eyes widen reactively. Oliver stood in front of me, his back bare. It was whiter than a dove, though like a dove, his muscles twitched under his skin as he lifted his arms above his head. Oliver slid the shirt down his back and pivoted around. His eyes meet mine, but instead of me regarding the ground in embarrassment, he did. He was still astonished by the color of my irises.

        “So why are you leaving?” I prompted into the still. Oliver glanced back up at me, eyebrows raised.

        “Because I was being targeted by the Six, and yesterday it was cut too close. I have to leave before they come again,” Oliver answered, grateful.

        “Then why did you bring me here?” I puzzled.

        “I was curious,” Oliver has a staring contest with the flat of his clasped hands. “If my dream was correct, your witnessing of my prosecution was no accident. You are fated to save us from the Six’s wrath, and I’m not going to let that possibility get thrown away. I want you to come with me.”

        My mouth gaped open for a moment, like a fish gasping for water. Of all things I had no prenotion that Oliver would suggest that, though now that there was another option, it made plenty of sense. Oliver wanted to make sure I full-filled what he believed me capable of, to accompany me on my journey. He obviously had experience with the Six and wanted to see their downfall.

        Though, Oliver didn’t seem to be second guessing himself. “It would be safer for you to leave with us. We could find the birds that had recused me yesterday, and ask for their help with this,” he blurted. “I’m sure they would agree.”

        Years passed before I could speak again. “I have a family to watch over. What about them?” How badly do you want me to come?

        Oliver bites the inside of his lip as his face turns into a puzzled expression. “I guess we could bring them with us. They could stay at my cousin’s house – it’s only a three hour journey.”

        I considered it. There was a good chance that the Six had glanced at me when I saw them yesterday, they would remember me. That made my family a target also. Since my father wasn’t there anymore to protect us, I’d made it my responsibility to make sure no one gets harmed. I would journey to the ends of the earth to save them, and if it only takes moving them out of the area, I would do it, for them.

        I nodded my head. “When do we leave?” I ask.

        “We can go get them in the morning, after the rain.” Oliver genuinely smiles.

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Publication Date: 03-03-2013

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