The Graveyard

ENTER THE GRAVE YARD


Gaia felt bad for lying to Regenard, but she didn't let that stop her. She trudged on for hours and finally made it to the Graveyard. She sat by her Moms' graves and stared for a while before taking in a deep breath. She heard whispers among the few trees, each time the wind blew. She inhaled deeply and laid down between the two graves, quickly falling asleep.

When Gaia awoke a few hours later, vines had grown over her ankles and some of her body, preventing her from getting up right away, Once she cut herself free she sat numbly staring up at the sky, searching for a star. She wanted to find Regenard and Ohanzee again, but knew it would be best if she didn't.

ENTER THE GRAVEYARD

Regenard ran over a hill to see a graveyard nestled in a valley. The voices had been echoing again in his mind for hours. He couldn't escape them. He wasn't sure he ever would.
He caught sight of Gaia tangled in vines in the middle of the graveyard. He ran down the hill to her side and knelt down.
"You're just like everyone else, you know. Running away. The reason I trust no one. They always either run or get themselves fucking killed. I don't know why I'm chasing you, but..." his voice trailed off. His eyes fell upon a gravestone. It read "REGENARD GREY".
He looked at another.
"REGENARD GREY".
Another.
"REGENARD GREY".
His head started spinning. He jammed his hand into his pocket. One last vial of mental stimulant. He tore it from his pocket and jabbed it into his neck, a thin trail of blood falling down his neck. His vision became clearer, and he again looked at Gaia, frozen still.

"God fucking dammit." Gaia glared at Regenard. "Why are you here?" she couldn't believe that he had fucking followed her, AGAIN. "If i'm just like all the others, the people you don't trust, Then why did you follow me? I left so you wouldn't have to worry about me anymore." She looked up at his eyes. "Why can't you just let me go? You wanted to kill me to begin with and you said I was a bother." she looked down and rubbed her ankle. "I can't walk anymore anyway, it hurts too bad."

Reheard cut her free.
"Just come back to the house with me. Stay safe. I don't want anything happening to you during the impending calamity," he said looking at her, "And if you can't walk, I'll carry you."
He purposefully avoided her question, mistly because he didn't know why he cared so much.

Gaia glared at Regenard. "No." She stared at her Mothers' graves. "I want to stay with them for a little while, and besides, you're too weak to carry me in the condition you're in" She sighed "Give up," She smiled a little, taking in a deep breath. "You're never going to get me to stay in one place. Why don't you just kill me already?" She was testing him, not that she wanted him to kill her, but she wanted to see what he'd do. She looked up at him. "You don't need me, i'm just a burden."

Regenard raised his knife slowly.
"Don't... move..." he said. He stabbed the gravestone next to Gaia's head. Impaled on his knife was an insect the size of Regenard's hand.
"The only things alive out here," he said, and sighed. He lay against a gravestone.
His head fell against the stone, and he stared at Gaia.
"Pretty soon, no area of the Wasteland is going to be safe. A storm is coming, Gaia. And I'm going to be caught in its eye. I just want you to be safe while I'm away. And you're no burden. I just feel like I should protect you," he said. He tore his mask off, his long hair falling around his shoulders and in his eyes.

Gaia looked at him for a second and sighed. "I'll be fine, I promise. I'm sure you feel like Ohanzee and I should be friends, or something like that, but I don't see that happening" she sighed, Maybe he wasn't so bad, but now-a-days, getting friendly with people was risky. She shook her head. Gaia rolled over onto his lap, sitting to where she was nose to nose with him and pinning him down. "I'm going to leave, Go somewhere very, very far away." she searched his eyes for any sign of emotion. "You don't understand," she glanced back at her Parents' head stones. "I'm gonna go where no one will be able to come get me."

Regenard smiled faintly. Some faint emotion showed in his eyes. It felt like sadness and regret. He didn't care.
"You aren't staying out here. I'll take you back by force if you intend to. I'm not..." he paused, "... I'm not letting anyone else I care about die. And I sure as hell won't let you be out here when the thunder first cracks, signaling the storm."
He stared into her eyes, strands of hair covering his own.
"Come home."

"Regenard," Gaia didn't know what to say, he had just admited that he cared about her, and quite frankly she cared about him too. She glanced at his lips, biting her own. "You're so weird." She meant it like a compliment, She liked his personality. Gaia gently smoothed his hair from his eyes, getting a better look. "I don't want to leave you in the middle of a storm alone, you need someone to be there with you." She licked her lips and laid her head on his shoulder. "I want that person to be me."

Regenard shut his eyes. It felt like he was drenched in rain, but he knew there was none there.
"I'm sorry, Gaia, but I can't allow that. There's going to be a war. War is what took my family from me before, it won't take my family from me this time," he said.
He wanted both the people he had met that night to make it through. He felt responsible for them. Yet at the same time, he wanted to free the innocent people of the Wasteland. He would have his war, and his family would be safe.
His hand wandered down Gaia's arm and he touched the red ribbon. It felt like it had that morning, when he'd tied it on his sister's head after breakfast.
He knew that wasn't what it really felt like. He knew he was hallucinating again.
He didn't care.

Gaia felt comfortable for the first time in years. When Regenard's hand trailed down her arm it brought her comfort, it felt like it did when her mother would rock her to sleep. Regenard was someone she could trust. She felt relaxed. She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. "I wish you'd just give up on me..." She slowly drifted off, still sitting on Regenard's lap.

Regenard sighed. He was pinned to a gravestone in a place full of hallucinations. He didn't care as much as he normally would, because he knew she'd be safe at the house during the war.
"Never in my life," he said to himself.

Gaia was woken by Regenard's voice. She groaned softly and looked up at him, smiling a little. "When someone falls asleep, you should learn to keep quiet." Gaia rolled off of him, hating the fact that she was leaving his comfort. "I'm going to go away now." she paused "Back to the cabin, I mean." she sighed and struggled to stand up, her ankle was extremely swollen at this point. She limped forward a little, looking back at Regenard. "Come on,"

Regenard stood slowly and followed Gaia.
He walked up next to her.
"Sorry for waking you. Companionship is something I've not had in seven years," he said, "And sometimes I forget what it's like."

The voices came back. But they were familiar voices. His mother. His sister. His father. The old man.

He shut them out as best he could, but they ate away at him still.

Gaia smiled softly at him. "I'll help you regain the feeling," she smirked. "Though, I hardly know what it's like myself." she looked up at him with admiring eyes. "I don't know how much longer I can walk, we're going to need to take breaks." she gently took her hand in his and smiled. "Now come on," she said softly, twirling a piece of her hair.

Regenard looked ahead. His vision was blurring again.
"We can't stay in this place long. I'll carry you if you can't walk," he said. He felt sick, but he didn't show it. His eyes were clouding again.
He tightened his grip on her hand.
"You need to stay safe. Promise me."

Gaia sighed. "Okay, i'll stay." She smiled at him. "I don't want to stay here over night anyway," Gaia squeezed his hand. "It's making your eyes lose their luster." She felt sick suddenly, like she was going to pass out. She saw her moms cooking breakfast together, the man coming in and killing them. Gaia screamed and collapsed to her knees, sobbing. "No, No, No" she kept repeating those words, she let go of Regenard's hand and threw up on the ground infront of her. She wanted her parents back. She looked up at Regenard and looked embarrassed as she stood up and tried to limp away.

Regenard's world kept spinning, but he followed after Gaia, hardening his mental state. He didn't care if he'd shut off emotion again, he'd get the girl to safety.
He caught up to her and grabbed both her hands. He stared into her eyes, his hair falling in his line of sight again.
"Let's just run out of here. I'll make something for us when we get back to the cabin," he said.

Gaia looked at Regenard's eyes, fear in her own. She nodded slightly before turning and running towards the forest.

EXIT THE GRAVEYARD.

Regenard followed quickly. Once he was out, everything would be better.

EXIT GRAVEYARD.

ENTER THE GRAVEYARD.

Gaia collasped at the gravesight. The memory of Regenard's kiss, his hateful eyes and his voice haunted her mind. Suddenly she heard his voice repeating the words carved into her chest "PATHETIC. WHORE. SLUT." It was on the gravestones now. She screamed. "Stop! I'm sorry!" She truly was. But she didn't deserve forgiveness. The voices stopped and xhanged to her mother's voice, telling her she could be who and what she wanted. Oh, how she desired to leave. She didn't want to though. This is where she'd die.

Gaia had passed out. When she woke up she felt awful and her cheeks were sticky with tears. She wanted to tell Ohanzee and Regenard that she was sorry. She was just a failure to everyone. Gaia stood up, she decided she was going to go to the cottage.


EXIT THE GRAVEYARD