Gray Blood

Sacha's POV
Where the hell is David?
I really really want him to beat up Warren.
I sat against the wall, noticing several people that just so happened to be Raven's friends. Damn her.
One guy left her group and walked around the camp a few times, before heading in my direction. I looked down, hoping that I could be left alone.
And that my hair would protect me from being seen of course.
"You know, its really hard to see you when you're hiding from me." I looked up.
"David! Hi! Wait, why were you with Raven?” He laughed and sat down next to me, shuffling my hair.
"I love it when you get jealous." He put his hand on my shoulder.
"I'm not jealous! Who would I be jealous of that?" David shrugged but grabbed my hand and pulled me up on my feet.
"Come on. I have a surprise for you."
"Really?"
"Mm-hmm." He dragged me over to Raven's group, even when I was pulling against him uselessly.
"David! I don't want to go there!" What's so special over there that I just have to see? David brushed me off and sat me down against the wall and called out in a girly voice,
"Shoo Shoo I'm home!" Shoo Shoo? My brother?
I watched in shock as Sean walked past a few people and grinned when he saw me.
I jumped up and strangled him in a hug, even though it was weird that he was here in my group and it wasn't Jia Day. He kissed my cheek and squeezed me tightly, making me fell more happier than I had ever felt in a long time. And...it felt good to hug my brother, after being lonely for so long.
"Sach, your hurting me."
"Sorry." I loosened my grip and he set me down on my feet. David slung his arm around Sean and smiled.
"I just love family reunions."
"Well I'm glad your not part of the family." He pushed David off. "So what happens now?"
"We wait.." I looked at David's suddenly serious face in surprise.
"For what?"
"You'll see." He took my hand and brought me into the center of people, with Sean following closely behind. As soon as David sat down, two boys sitting on Warren's lap ran up to David and sat on his lap comfortably. The youngest one-who looked about eight or nine-grabbed David's shirt and began whispering excitedly in his ear while the older brother-twelve? thirteen?-held David's arm shyly.
I sat down next to David, watching everyone talk and watching the little boy talk animatedly to him.
"Whose that?" The boy stopped talking, pointed at me, and stared.
"That's my friend Jordan," answered David with a smile.
"I'm Jordan. Who are you?"
"I'm Sacha."
"Hi Sacha!" He waved excitedly and David laughed. I don't know what it was, but something was very different about him.
He seemed really protective of both boys, almost paternal, even if the other one didn't talk much. Instead, he was holding David's arm tightly, his face sad and angry at the same time. Kind of like when I first met David.
"Hey David. Whose the other kid?" He looked up at me in surprise-obviously shocked from hearing my voice after listening to Jordan-and blinked before answering.
"This is Alex." I smiled at the boy but he looked away from me.
"What's wrong with him?" Jordan climbed on Alex and whispered in his ear. Alex whispered something back and Jordan pulled away frowning. David noticed this, but didn't speak because someone stood up and asked everyone to stop talking.
I looked over at Sean, who was analyzing everyone and I held his hand. He looked back at me and smiled.
"Hey guys! Come on! Shut up! I gotta say something!" I noticed Jordan trembling on David's lap. Alex's fists clenched. "I just wanted to say that for those of you who aren't very sure what's going on, we're leaving."
Leaving.................
Leaving?
"Now it's important that we go over the escape route so we're not all scrambling madly and end up staying here." A few people laughed collectively. But I couldn't shake the shock. I'm out of here. I'm gone. I'm free.
Then it hit me.
Sean's going to leave with me...and Sammy won't.
I turned to Sean and grabbed his shirt.
"Sean! Sammy!"
"I know..." His voice sounded so pained, so quiet that we both knew there was only two options for the both of us:stay here in imprisonment for the rest of our lives, hardly see each other at all, and stay here for our brother who wasn't even himself anymore or leave him here and probably never see him again.
"Sean..."
"Maybe we can-"
"-Get him?"
"I don't know." I sighed and started crying.
I could be selfless and stay here with my brain-washed brother. I should stay.
I will.
"You two in the back. Do you have any questions? If you don't, stop talking and please pay attention." I stood up.
"I have a question." The guy nodded for me to ask. "Is there any way to go back in there and save my brother too?"
Everyone looked at me and the guy who was talking sighed.
"How old is he?" I swallowed and crossed my fingers mentally.
"Five-"
"No. There's no way. Sorry." Sorry? That’s all he has to say.
"That's not fair!"
"Look honey! In times like this, life is not fair for any of us! Basically, your brother is one of them now, so there's no point in wasting time, fighting for something so useless and helpless that will result in none of us escaping and presumably, our deaths.
"But-"
"And there's absolutely no way your turning your back on us and staying when this could threaten our escape."
"How would-"
"They have ways. You are forbidden to leave us and stay here to be ‘noble’. Your signed up for the ride kiddo. Your leaving with us and that's final."
"But we still have time!"
"Not much! Hardly any! I still have to explain how we're escaping! So please sit!" Warren and Sean grabbed me and pulled me down. I pulled myself away from them and crawled over to David, who was avoiding my gaze.
"Signed up for the ride?" I whispered. It was all beginning to click. David sighed and looked at me from the corner of his eye.
"Look, bringing Sean here was all my idea, along with you. I worked my ass off trying to just Jordan and Alex here without looking suspicious and tried to get Sammy but it didn't work ok? There's only so much one can do in so little time." I seethed.
"What is all this? Who are these people?"
"My people." He raised the left sleeve of his shirt, revealing a small black rose tattoo, with thorns protruding from the sides. I stared.
"So what, your part of some cult?" David laughed.
"No silly. This is where I come from. Roseville. This is the symbol of the town, which every citizen is required to get in order to prove they are not an outsider." Roseville?
"Is Roseville some secret society that no one knows about?"
"Kind of." He smiled knowingly. "We are a town that does not exist, that no one has ever known and will never find out."
"Are all these other people from Roseville?"
"No. None of them are. Only a few of them are from different...how do I say this-"
"Secret towns?"
"Sure. Raven's from one of them." Of course she is. The little bitch.
"Ok....although I'm still really confused, what were they talking about when they said, you are forbidden to leave and all that? Why can't I leave?"
"Cause your one of us now." His words scared me. The way he spoke, the coolness in his voice, unnerved me. "Becoming part of the group means you get to be rescued."
"What about everyone else?" I looked around the entire camp.
"They stay. We go." I nodded, seeing there was no point in arguing by bringing more people. "You did this to me didn't you?"
"I'm doing this for you, so you can be safe, with your brother AND me. Isn't that what you want?" I nodded.
"But not like this. I'm only getting part of the deal." The part that doesn’t include my brother.
"I tried."
"I know. And I love you for that." He finally turned to look at me and smiled. I still felt uncomfortable though.
'Your one of us now.' How mind-controlling. Like those five words seemed to determine who you were. And there was nothing you cold do to stop it.
Obviously, David didn’t stop it and he wasn’t going to.
"When did you get your tattoo?" He thought for a moment.
"I dunno....maybe when I turned two or three. Maybe four." He shrugged and looked back at the guy talking with another girl about stuff she was curious about.
"Are you serious?!?!?!?"
"Ugh yeah." He didn't seem to think it was such a big deal and he didn't seem to care either. Maybe he was just taught that being marked was a good thing. That it kept you safe. That it was meant to be, as a part of life. "Now pay attention. I don't want to have to run after you if you get left behind."