Even Ghosts Forget

It had been a few hours since I had been able to hear again. Kier had used a lot of the notebook to talk to Laurence and have an odd conversation with Luke and Drew, however I used none of mine for talking, I instead drew one of the creatures we had seen. Their body’s long, tall and thin, with narrow purple eyes (although I just shaded them in grey as I did not have a purple pencil). I had dropped the pencil and, to my delight, heard a clatter of pencil to floor. I let out a small gasp, which made Drew instantly look up from lookout. “What’s the matter, Cy?” He asked.

“I can hear again” I explained. Kier let out a sigh, looking between us. I guess he still hadn’t got his yet, but then he was closest.

“Well that’s great!” Drew smiled. Laurence stood up, handing Kier the notebook.

“So, I was thinking...We should definitely go and blow up the place they create these creatures. That way, we will be able to take down the palace with no problems” He announced. I supposed he had already written this down for Kier. I bet he was glad he didn’t have to write it all down for me as well. Luke nodded, but Drew didn’t look too sure.

“Are you sure Barrone will be okay doing that in the state he’s in?” Drew asked.

“Yeah, he’ll be fine. If it makes you feel better, you can stick with him, Drew” Laurence said. Drew gave a nod, now reassured. I didn’t exactly like the way they were talking like they were deciding for me, but then I did’t have any idea what they were going on about, so it was okay. I knew we were blowing something up, and it would have something to do with this ‘cardinal’, but I didn’t understand why they were spending all of this time wasting gunpowder when they could be using it on the palace, their main aim.

Drew seemed to notice my confusion, and gestured me over. Outside it was raining, the sea of droplets made it hard to see more than a meter away.

“You know them creatures we saw earlier? Well, if we destroy the source that makes them, then The Cardinal won’t have any protection. He won’t have them to slow us down, so he’ll be more vulnerable to us. We want that because...well, if we go to the palace and fail, who knows what he could do to us afterwards? I mean, you were so lucky he didn’t torture you until you went insane, or worse, made you into one of them creatures” He explained in a soft, slow voice. I nodded, cramming the information into my empty head. “So just stick with me, we used to stick together anyway unless you had to set the bomb up and I was working alongside someone else. Just last time we both would know what we were doing” he sounded angry. I mumbled a sorry. His eyes widened. “No! It’s not your fault. God no, it was The Cardinals” He put a hand on my shoulder, looking down at my notebook and smiling. “You’re slowly getting there, Cy”

I smiled back at him, I trusted him a lot.
-

Once Kier had got his hearing back (which he was very happy about) Laurence said for us to get ready to head off. Luke went to get his weapons, Kier and Laurence leant over a map, confirming where we were going, and Drew was with me, handing me my gun, which he taught me how to load and shoot, and he handed me a spare knife. “Just incase” he told me, before picking up his own gun and checking it had plenty of bullets inside. 


“Ready?” I jumped at the voice that came behind us. Laurence chuckled. “Sorry, Barrone. Are you both ready?”

We nodded. Kier and Luke pushed open the boulder and we set off. Kier patrolled a little ahead, and Luke hung back to make sure nothing followed us. Drew explained to me about how they made the creatures in a quiet tone. “They get people and they make them drink this poison, then their eyes go purple, and then their bodies transform and they become a creature.” Drew explained.

“How do you know?” I asked.

“Because we saw one get transformed” Laurence answered before Drew could. I couldn’t imagine how horrible that could have been.

A few hours of trekking later, a village came into view. We saw Kier had stopped a few miles in front, waiting for us to catch up. When we had gotten there, Kier murmured to Laurence “we need to keep our heads low, they’ll be looking for Barrone especially” Laurence nodded and looked over to me.

“Change of plan, stick with me, okay Barrone?” He more ordered than asked. I would have preferred to stay with Drew, I haven’t spoken to Laurence as much as the others, but I knew from how he said it that I didn’t have that much of a choice. We carried onto the town. Laurence had taken my goggles off, which took me to surprise first. He handed them to me, and then he whispered ‘keep your head low’. I noticed Kier had slipped a top hat on, making sure none of his red hair was revealed. Drew kept his head low, and Luke had tied his long hair up, and then kept his head low too. I looked at Kier’s boots in front, caked in mud. He stepped lightly, as if the world might collapse under his feet. I was starting to slowly trust Kier, I mean, he did save me, and if he wanted to hurt me he would have let the creature do it, wouldn’t he? I still, however, had doubts about the other two. Especially as Laurence was the prince, who knows what he would do just to get at this Cardinal just so that he can get the throne. I didn’t say any of this out loud, and never will intend to, because if they were my old friends, then I guess thinking that would be wrong, and I would upset them all. I’m not planning to do that, because so far they have been nice.

So far, anyway.

“Left” Laurence grabbed onto my shoulders and steered me to the left. Kier glanced back, his brown eyes falling on me. I noticed a strand of red showed under his hat. I gestured to my head to tell him. He swept it back inside and whispered a thanks before turning back to walk along side Drew. I looked up for a second, seeing the street was narrow and most of the windows of the houses were boarded up. Each door had a cross hanging from it.

“The creatures stay clear of them. However, they have to be of a certain material and we haven’t found out what it is yet” Laurence whispered in my ear. He pushed my head down again gently. 
I wasn’t sure wether I would grow a trusting to Laurence as quick as I had to Kier and Drew.

A few minutes of walking later, we had arrived at a large black building. Luke had caught up with us now, a backpack slung over his shoulder. He looked at Laurence who nodded. Luke parted from us, Kier and Drew went the opposite way. Laurence and I kept walking forwards, despite the fact I would feel safer following Kier and Drew.

“Right...”Laurence took a roll of rope from his trouser belt, unraveling it and connecting it to a hook.

“Stand back a bit, it this hits you, you’ll have more damage done to you than what the Cardinal has done."

I stepped back, watching him throw the hook up on top of the building. He tugged on it, before starting to scale up it.

“Follow me” He said. I watched him climb over the edge, before I started to climb up. It was easier than I thought. Once I had gotten to the top, Laurence had helped me get myself over. He then lead me over the roof to a lid, leading down below to what I assume to be a room. He pressed his ear against it, as if listening, before retrieving his sword from his belt and undoing the lid. He then jumped inside, disappearing from my view. I looked down the hole, to see he was standing in a almost pitch black room, lighting a match to use as a source of light. He looked up and gestured me to jump in. I did, having to put a hand on Laurence’s shoulder to stop me from almost slipping over. “We need to make our way to the centre of the building where we will meet Luke. Don’t panic when sirens wail, Drew and Kier are distracting them for us” he explained. He pressed an ear against the door, looking at me and putting a finger to his lips. After a few silent minutes, he opened the door and cautiously walked out. The hall was empty and dark, with a railing to my right. Laurence had blown out the match so that we wouldn’t be seen. I looked over the edge of the railings, my eyes widening at the machines, and the pile of corpses, one being plucked up every second and dropped on a conveyor belt, taken to a large machine and passed through. Then a creature would step out, and would follow a worker to a room.

Laurence put a hand on my shoulder and ushered me on. The path traveled in a square around the building. “He’ll be on the other side” Laurence told me. That he was, with his backpack on the floor. He was discreetly wiring up a bomb. “Keep an eye out for people coming” Laurence ordered me. “If you see someone, shoot them before they can yell” I took out my gun, watching up one way of the corridor, whilst Laurence looked the other way.
A few minutes later, Luke was ready. ‘Where’s Kier and Drew?” He asked.
“I don’t know. The alarm should have sounded by now; that would be our signal to set the bomb off...but...” He sighed. “Barrone, can you go looking for them?” He asked me.


“Are you sure?” Luke raised an eyebrow at Laurence.


“Yes” Laurence nodded. “Is that okay, Barrone?”


“Y-Yes” I nodded. “Where should they be?”

“Downstairs, kicking up a fuss” Laurence said. I nodded, and decided to walk down the hall, there should be some steps leading to downstairs.

I had walked for a few minutes, darting into the shadows when I heard several footsteps coming. I saw two guards, like the ones at the prison place, they were dragging Drew and Kier, both unconcious, however they didn’t have a mark on them.

“At least we know that new anesthetic, chloroform works” One said, holding Drew. I held my gun out, glad they hadn’t noticed me yet. I shot the one holding Kier in the head, both guard and friend falling to the ground. I next shot the one holding Drew, before he could yell or move. I then ran out of hiding, getting to Kier first. I shook his limp body, trying to get him to wake up. His body remained unconscious, so I went onto Drew.
“Drew?” I shook him harder, but he didn’t wake up either. I started to panic, so much so I didn’t hear the footsteps from behind. Both Laurence and Luke ran round the corner, seeing me and the other two. However, their eyes trailed to behind me. Laurence lifted his gun, yelling and shooting. At the same time someone grabbed me, jamming a cloth to my nose and mouth. Luke cried out in pain, falling to the ground

.
“Thought you could stay away?” The man hissed. “Now you’re friends are in our hands too”

The last thing I heard was Laurence yelling and cursing the man, before he too screamed in pain.