Remnants- 2nd part of chapter10

The pain, the pain, the pain. Lucy tried to steady her breathing, but she couldn’t for every breath she took almost seemed to take away what was left of her life. She desperately tried to focus her eyes, but all was blurry. The only thing that she could make out was a faint outline of someone across the room. Whether they were sitting and standing, she had no clue, but she knew that it was someone. Her mind began to go blank and her vision began to fade as her body became numb to the surrounding world.

A voice that seemed to come from miles away then came through the fog to Miss Lucy. The words, at first, were not interpretable. Slowly, oh so slowly, did Lucy begin to become able to comprehend what was being said.

“Lucy. Lucy,” the voice sounded weak and strained, but it was there. “Can you hear me?”

Lucy attempted an answer, but her strength could only withstand for her to give a groan of recognition. She knew who the voice belonged to, and she was grateful for the fact. It was Jack, not Nate. The boy could be trusted, but Nate couldn’t be. For the next several minutes, Lucy remained still and quiet in an effort to gain a sturdy and complete grasp of consciousness. Her head gradually began to clear and the things around her came into focus.

When her physical strength allowed it, she began to sit up. Her head was a whirlwind as was her vision, but she was sitting. After that, came her attempt to stand. Although harder, her power was already beginning to return, and it went a slight bit better.

Jack began to speak again, “Lucy, can you untie me?”

Lucy looked over her shoulder at Jack. He was indeed tied to the chair in which he sat. She stumbled her way over to him and struggled with the knot. It didn’t take long, though, until she had freed the captivated Jack. Luck, as you may know, cannot last forever. Just as the boy was standing up, the door that led to the kitchen opened to reveal an armed Nate on the other side.

Miss Lucy heard Jack cuss under his breath as his eyes fell across Nate’s foreboding figure.

“Sit down where you were,” came his sinister demand.

Both victims obeyed instantly. They seemed to be deathly afraid of him, but that wasn’t the case, at least not with Jack. As he watched the approaching Nate, his mind was filling with thoughts of escape. Each idea that came to his mind, he thought to over, for he wasn’t going to take any unnecessary chances. Finally, though, he drew a blank. He couldn’t think of any possible way for him to escape without endangering his life and Miss Lucy’s. His sense of failure was only deepened when Nate retied him to the chair. This time the knots were exceedingly tight and the rope was cutting into his skin.

Lucy was faring better than Jack. Nate had no more rope with which to secure her. She became the only hope of a getaway. Her mind, as well as the boy’s, was scurrying in a frantic attempt to claim freedom as her own. Jack, in this scenario, was the genius.

He leaned over and quietly whispered to Lucy, “Pretend you’re in extreme pain, okay. Don’t stop until I tell you.”

Luckily, Nate neither seen nor heard any of this one-sided conversation. It was soon to be known as the beginning of his violent downfall to lose.

Miss Lucy played her part very well. She had every detail, of what she could, to the precise point of perfection. It was so real, that even the undefeatable Nate fell for it.

Jack told him to get her water to relieve her pain to a slight extent. When Nate refused, Jack replied, “She’s better alive than dead, right?”

Nate then left the room to get a glass of water, and when he did, Jack told Miss Lucy to get up. “I’m gonna hafta trust you. Go tell Shawna what happened, and tell her to come quick, if she don’t, I’ll die. She’s in an abandoned shack on the very edge of my part of town. If you can’t find it, ask someone, they’ll know what you mean. Go!” he whispered urgently, “Hurry.”

Lucy limped quickly out the door. Every step caused her further pain, but the importance of her mission gave her a high threshold and she continued faithfully on her way. After walking for several minutes, fatigue began to set in and Miss Lucy was soon panting heavily. Her field of vision again started to get blurry, but still she kept on walking, even if her pace was slower than before.

Just when she considered giving up, the bridge came into view. Upon seeing the end, her strength and energy was renewed. Her footsteps faltered as Lucy stumbled wearily over the wooden bridge. Deciding not to waste anymore time, Miss Lucy asked the first person she met, “Where is the old shack?”

Her question received a curious stare from the person, but he pointed over to his left. “Beyond that grove of trees. Don’t know why you’d wanna go there, but that’s where it is.”

Lucy’s feet felt like lead weights as she followed the man’s directions. To her physical and emotional relief, the shack was easy to find and Shawna was sitting with her head in her hand on the front step.

When the girl saw Lucy coming she asked, “Lucy, what are you doing here?” Her eyes grew wide when she saw the bloodstains on her clothing and the paleness of the lady’s face. “W-what happened?”

Lucy took a deep breathe as she started to speak, “Nate caught Jack. Don’t worry about me, just go back there and try your best to help Jack.”

Shawna was afraid to ask, “Is Jack alright?”

“Y-yes, he’s fine. But you have to hurry.”

Concern shadowed Shawna’s face, “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Shawna,” she said, “I’ll be fine. Go help Jack.” Her voice was strong and confident, so Shawna trusted that it was true. As Shawna turned to leave, Miss Lucy called out to her, “Wait!”

When Shawna turned back around to face Lucy, the maid reached down into her side pocket. From it she pulled out a small pistol. She extended her hand and said, “Here take this.”

“Lucy, I can’t take a gun.”

“You might need it. Be brave Shawna, be brave.” The maid pushed the gun into Shawna’s hand and closed her fingers around it.

Uncertainly, the girl turned to leave. She felt the cold, hard metal of the gun in her hand. She disliked the feel of it, but she knew Lucy was right. A time might come when she might have to use. Although, she felt no desire to use the gun, her life might come to depend upon this small, seemingly trivial product of the world, which she held in her insignificant hand.