Not So Hollo

I was following the boy I had saved and being led to the more central and populated area of town. Okay, so I was basically stalking the kid but I'm heading the same direction anyway. 'They're only going to hurt someone else because you didn't punish them', the voice spat angrily. I gave a mental shove and felt it ebb slowly but retaliate with a weak push. 'You have no power over me. Not anymore. Just go away. You are useless to me', I replied coolly. I had learned not to trust the voice long ago when my will and mind was weak. I wished for it to leave permanently, but I had also learned that wishes won't cure anything. I was angry that it dared to speak again after a wholesome month of being alone in my mind.

Slowly we passed more and more people until we were walking through the core of the market. I still wanted to make sure the boy was okay. He seems like a good kid, maybe naïve but generally good. I don't know what but there was something about him that made me feel protective. I've been more sympathetic lately but still there was something weird about him. I'm sure we were very different types of people so why does he feel kindred?

He greeted a few shop keepers and stand owners then continued through the market. I don't think he was doing any more shopping. I made sure not to loose sight of him while noting the different shops that were open and catching some prices for items I may need. Runt was awake and almost strangling me from the way his body trembled and tightened around my neck. I rubbed his head a little and he loosened up a tiny bit. I could tell he was nervous by the way his waves undulated frequently. The habitat change scared him but he had to get used to humans anyways so why not throw him in head first?

The boy led us to a moderate housing area and made a series of turns to what I think was his residence area. But something was amiss. There was a large squad of Patrollers breaking down a door. I hid quickly in the shadows of a nearby house and watched as the boy dropped the bag he fought so hard for and sprint straight for the Patrollers. Was that his home? The boy immediately started shouting and screaming at the task squad. A Patroller caught the distraught boy and simply held him from getting to the door. He struggled against the clearly stronger and larger man. I was standing too far away to hear the specifics but the boy was yelling at them to leave. What was going on? I slunk past a couple houses until I what practically in front of the whole unfortunate event. I hid behind a thick garden shrub and peeked from the more shady side of it.

The neighboring houses had closed and locked their doors and windows. A few wandering people that saw the scene walked quickly away in fear. The Patrollers had already busted through the door and were making hellish sounds of destruction in the house. Furniture and glass could be heard breaking in the boys house while he shouted angrily and cried for...his father? Yes, I think it was his father that was in the house. A Patroller had brought out a gaunt little man in a wheel chair. This man had two impaired legs and an arm that was drawn up close to his body. One leg was cut off at the knee and the other was missing a whole foot.

I pitied the boy, but I was staring at the man. I knew him from the team that had been attacked three years ago. He called me a monster and he was a lover to the Patroller lady. He looked broken and sad. He had not changed much by the way his eyes looked as though the pain were as fresh as yesterday. Physically though he had become thin and frail looking. I still don't know why he had said all those mean things. The boy had struggled out of the Patrollers grip and tried to reach out for the crippled man only to be stopped by the harsh pummeling of three Patrollers. They beat him down until he was curled up into a fetal position. Only when they prodded him and he did not respond did they stop the cruel assault. He lied on the ground unconscious. A Patroller wheeled out the crippled man into the street and dumped him unsympathetically to a prison wagon. The man crawled over to the back of the barred wagon and reached his one good arm in between the bars to the boy. He had something in his hand. A necklace?

The man called out to his boy. "Dare, Dare! Listen, be good while I'm gone. I don't think I'll be able to come back, but you have to stay here. Don't do anything reckless, okay? Promise me you'll be safe! Promise me boy!", the man pleaded to the boy, Dare. Dare stirred a little and opened his eyes. They reached out to each other but they did not connect. The man threw the necklace over to the boy. The wagon drove away. What had the broken man done to have been taken in by the Patrollers? What if the man hadn't done anything to deserve it? Unlikely but I was innocent when the black suits had taken me from my village. He could be innocent too.

The Patrollers marched behind the wagon in their usual cocky demeanor of authority. Should I help the boy? Was there no one else to help him? I waited for somebody, anybody that would assist the boy. 'They're probably bad people too. Maybe you shouldn't help them. Maybe they need to be punished too.' The voice was ceaseless today. I ignored it and walked over to the boy. The people he had lived by and his fellow towns people were all cowards. I was no coward. I was not afraid to help those who needed it or hurt those who deserved it. But it pained me that a stranger would be offering to help to this boy, Dare.
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My body hurt from the beating I took from the Patrollers but more than that my chest hurt. The Patrollers marched on. "Dad, I'm coming. I'm coming, don't worry. I promise. I swear, I promise, I'll do whatever you want. Just come back", my throat was raw even as I whispered promises. I had been hit on the head previously and just lied there as they stole my dad away. "They took him, took him. WHY!?", I slowly got up on my knees dizzily. Darkness closed in on my vision and I shut my eyes tightly. I heard footsteps. "Who's there?", I didn't trust myself to open my eyes just yet. I was angry and frustrated. I'm weak, pathetic, useless. I clutched at my aching head to stop it from throbbing as much.

"Hey you, boy. Are you damaged badly?", a voice called out above me. Wait I knew that voice, was it the lady from the alley? I opened my eyes and lifted my heavy head like it was filled with lead. Softly worn boots, brown pants, loose faded green tunic and the mysterious black cloak. I couldn't believe it! The attractive woman that has seen me weak and pathetic once has now seen me weak and pathetic TWICE. "Loose your words as well as...uh that man?" She crouched next to me and examined my face. Why do we always have to meet like this? Maybe she gets a kick out of rescuing people like me. "You should probably get cleaned up a lil' bit. Your head is bleeding too. They really went to town on you didn't they?... Come on I'll help ya", she stood up and offered me her hand. I remembered her name. I had practically thought of it the whole way home. Home, destroyed and deserted. Why did they take him? Why? I couldn't recall.

"Uuuuh, I'm fine", my voice sounded a thousand miles away. I couldn't pronounce it correctly because it came out like a lazy, 'Ahm fahn'. I wiped tiredly at my face. I looked at my hands that had held my head. There was streaks of blood on them. Not good. I tried to stand up but my legs wouldn't hold. I would've broken my face on the pavement if Hollo hadn't caught me by wrapping an arm around my waist. Her cloak shifted again and hissed at me. I am positive that I saw eyes glaring at me through the cloak. I'm going crazy. I have a concussion. Wait, this is all just a dream. I really don't feel fine anymore. "Ooooh god, what'd you do to the ground? And why's it so dark?" I was trapped in a spinning world. If I just closed my eyes maybe I'll wake up from this nightmare.
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"Hey now! Don't faint on me yet. Is this your home? Hey wake up!" I slapped at his face a few times while unconsciousness crept up on his bruised body. He mumbled something weakly before plunging head first into darkness. "I'll take that as a yes?" I carried his limp and broken body into his broken home. Now we have something in common.