Rebel Children

A wave of relief washed over Eli when he saw Charlie, but Charlie looked absolutely mortified. Especially when Eli yanked him into a tight hug. Everyone was watching them, but Eli didn't care. He was just glad Charlie wasn't dead. Eli released him and the boy quickly fixed his hair like he was trying to look cool and casual, and then the anger caught up to Eli. He gave Charlie a good smack in the back of the head.

"What the fuck were you thinking?!" he snapped. "Running off in the night? No note? All the money missing from the drawer?"

"He hit me!" Charlie shouted, looking over at the others he had been camping with. "Did you see that?! I told you he abuses me!"

"I don't know," one of the men grunted. "Looks like you deserved it."

Everyone was sort of snickering in amusement, and Eli suddenly became aware of them being there. He kept a hand on the back of Charlie's neck and turned to face them. He must have looked pretty wild and frazzled.

"I'm sorry he bothered you," Eli told them. "He ran away from home a week ago, and I only just managed to figure out where he went. And I don't abuse him. I'm his brother, Eli. Again, I'm really sorry about this."

The woman who had called over Charlie stepped forward with a glint of interest in her eyes and an amused smile. He had hardly looked at them before, but he straightened up a bit when he realized how pretty she was.

"It's alright," she said. "You poor thing, you look so tired. We were about to settle down for supper. Why don't you join us? My name is Rose. This is Maria, Tobias, and Phillip.'

"We won't impose," Eli said. "He's already been enough of a burden."

Phillip and Tobias seemed a little apprehensive, but Rose shook her head with a smile.

"Not at all," she said. "We're happy to have you."

"Rose," Phillip said quietly. "Maybe we should let them leave. We don't know these people. And one of them is posessed."

Eli realized suddenly that his sleeve was rolled up and one of his more distinctive scars on his left arm. It looked like a chain and wrapped all the way up his arm and over his shoulder. The others glanced at the visible part of the scar, noticing it for the first time. It was a mark Eli could never get rid of. Charlie gave him a sort of sad look, knowing Eli was a little sore about the marking.

"I'm not posessed," Eli said reluctantly. "I mean, I was. About a year ago. We got rid of it, but the scar stayed."

"He's telling the truth," Charlie said, suddenly taking Eli's back. "It was kind of miserable."

There were quite a few dark entities that creeped out from cracks between their realm and the dark world, which were caused by Queen Lorena's dark magic. They sometimes attached to people, and as someone who handled dead bodies, Eli had been unlucky to have one attached to him. While it was a terrible and painful process to get rid of it, it was gone. But the scar remained.

"Phillip, don't you think you're being a little rude?" Rose asked, surprising Eli. "This man clearly means us no harm. Eli, I apologize. We're happy to have you until you're rested enough to go home."

Phillip looked a little rustled by being called out, but everyone seemed a little more at ease knowing that Eli was no longer posessed. It may have left behind a dark aura, but otherwise he wasn't out for blood.

He was still angry with Charlie, but he was too exhausted to continue chewing him out. He was relieved to sit down while one of the others in Rose's group tended to the horse he borrowed. They sat around a fire and ate the roasted fish Rose had prepared. It was better than anything Eli had eaten in ages.

They stayed around the fire for a while, and eventually Charlie fell asleep on a mat near Eli. While he was asleep, the others took the opportunity to question him about where he came from. Brimsey was nearby, but it seemed they hadn't been around any town in a long time.

"How long exactly have you all been out here?" Eli asked.

"Long time," Tobias told him. "We've been waiting for things to get a little bit better. How are things in Brimsey?"

Eli hesitated, which made Tobias grimace.

"Not great?" he asked.

"It's... so much worse," Eli sighed. "I wish I could tell you otherwise."

"We only want the truth," Phillip said.

"I can only speak for the lower class," Eli admitted. "We don't exactly live in the hills. Lorena has increased taxes and cut the funding to the poor. People are starving in the streets and anyone showing any sign of unrest is arrested or executed. Usually the latter. There's not enough room in the prisons for all the people they arrest. Other times, people will just go missing. Especially if they haven't outwardly broken any laws. They just disappear one day. We call them ghosts. That's why I was so worried when Charlie disappeared."

He glanced over at Charlie's sleeping form, making sure the kid didn't wake up and join the conversation.

"But there's rebellion," Tobias noted.

"It's mostly underground for now," Eli said. "The people don't have the stregnth to put a dent in Lorena's army. Some people are skeptical, because they just want to survive. They're scared of her."

"Stupid bitch," Tobias grumbled. "The people suffer so she can have an extra fine powder for her big nose."

"They are suffering," Eli agreed. "She cut all the charities. I had a neighbor, Melinda. Her husband was killed, but the funding for young mothers and widows was taken away. The poor woman became so malnourished, she couldn't produce milk for her baby. The baby got sick and died, and she went just a couple weeks later. From heartbreak, I'm sure."

He looked up and noticed Maria's eyes were teary, and he grimaced.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," he said. "I didn't mean to upset you. I should've kept that to myself."

"No," she said softly. "You didn't upset me. She did."

"The truth is what we needed to hear," Tobias agreed.

"That's probably where I went wrong with Charlie," Eli said. "The plague took our parents. I was ten, but he was only a baby at the time. He doesn't remember how horrible it was. And then I did everything I could to shield him from what was happening in the world. That's why he thinks this rebellion is an exciting adventure instead of an unfortunate circumstance. He wants to come with me on these jobs, but I can't let him do that."

"So you're a rebel?" Rose asked.

"I guess," Eli shrugged. "Not a very important one. More like a dirty rat they use to do the things they don't want to."

"So you can tell us about where the rebellion is at?" Tobias asked.

"I better not," Eli said. "Like I said, I'm not very important. But if you come to Brimsey, I can connect you to the people who are."

"I don't know," Phillip said. "It's safer to stay here."

"Stay here and do nothing?" Rose frowned. "While people are out there dying? Children starving? We have to go and do something."

"We'll discuss it later," Tobias said, giving her a stern look. "For now, I think our guest needs some rest."

"Right," Rose sighed. "Sorry."

Eli gave her an apologetic smile, and she turned a bit pink as she returned it. Eli was given a sleeping mat to borrow, and he was able to get a good night's sleep for the first time in a week. As good as he could, anyways.