"I'm so sorry," I whispered, "I didn't even realize what he'd done until a couple nights ago, I'm so sorry,"
"It's not your fault," he said, "You shouldn't be apologizing for anything,"
"But if I wasn't so naive then I could've figured it out and done something! I could've gone to counseling, I could've joined a survivors group,"
"You're the victim," Dan said in a steely voice.
"I don't want to be a victim anymore," I said, forgetting to store away my emotions, "I want to be me, and I'm not some animal that people can pity!"
"Mai!" Mila said, interrupting us, "He's trying to point out that it's not your fault," I snapped my mouth shut and stared at Dan. He returned my look and slowly wrapped me in his arms. I was in my own personal bubble, free from all stress, and surrounded by love. It sounds cheesy, but it calmed me down.
"Can we move on now?" I asked . Sheelin nodded and wrapped a blanket around herself before starting.
"Well, as you all know by now, I ran after Lamai. I didn't know where she was being taken, so I relied on sounds I heard. Mila ran past me so I went a long way around to maybe cut the guy off. I ended up losing sight of her so I ran back to where we were camping," she screwed up her face in pain as she tried to remember what happened next.
"Sheelin?" I asked.
"Sorry guys, I can't remember," she said hopelessly, "I... there was... I was in the hospital..."
"How did you get there?" Mila asked gently.
"A guy," she started. Cole spiked my blood. I prayed that she didn't suffer the same fate as me. "A shovel? A guy and a shovel at the camp?"
"Sheelin," Mila coaxed, "when I came back with Lamai, there was an ambulance taking you away. You stayed in the hospital for, what, like two weeks? What injuries did you get?"
"I," she struggled. She stood there and looked at us with a painful expression.
"Guys," Ben said, standing next to Sheelin, "Maybe she blocked the memory because it was so bad," I was kind of pissed at that because Mila and I had shared our problems, but she couldn't 'remember' hers. Biting my lip to keep myself from saying something I know I'd regret, I watched her, analyzing her every move. She shuffled from foot to foot, swung her arms about, rubbed her shoulder- could someone have stabbed her shoulder? No, she'd have some pain left over from it. She scratched her head and I saw a spark in her eyes. Sitting up straighter, I watched her hand slowly move from her curly orange hair to right in front of her eyes.
"It's not your fault," he said, "You shouldn't be apologizing for anything,"
"But if I wasn't so naive then I could've figured it out and done something! I could've gone to counseling, I could've joined a survivors group,"
"You're the victim," Dan said in a steely voice.
"I don't want to be a victim anymore," I said, forgetting to store away my emotions, "I want to be me, and I'm not some animal that people can pity!"
"Mai!" Mila said, interrupting us, "He's trying to point out that it's not your fault," I snapped my mouth shut and stared at Dan. He returned my look and slowly wrapped me in his arms. I was in my own personal bubble, free from all stress, and surrounded by love. It sounds cheesy, but it calmed me down.
"Can we move on now?" I asked . Sheelin nodded and wrapped a blanket around herself before starting.
"Well, as you all know by now, I ran after Lamai. I didn't know where she was being taken, so I relied on sounds I heard. Mila ran past me so I went a long way around to maybe cut the guy off. I ended up losing sight of her so I ran back to where we were camping," she screwed up her face in pain as she tried to remember what happened next.
"Sheelin?" I asked.
"Sorry guys, I can't remember," she said hopelessly, "I... there was... I was in the hospital..."
"How did you get there?" Mila asked gently.
"A guy," she started. Cole spiked my blood. I prayed that she didn't suffer the same fate as me. "A shovel? A guy and a shovel at the camp?"
"Sheelin," Mila coaxed, "when I came back with Lamai, there was an ambulance taking you away. You stayed in the hospital for, what, like two weeks? What injuries did you get?"
"I," she struggled. She stood there and looked at us with a painful expression.
"Guys," Ben said, standing next to Sheelin, "Maybe she blocked the memory because it was so bad," I was kind of pissed at that because Mila and I had shared our problems, but she couldn't 'remember' hers. Biting my lip to keep myself from saying something I know I'd regret, I watched her, analyzing her every move. She shuffled from foot to foot, swung her arms about, rubbed her shoulder- could someone have stabbed her shoulder? No, she'd have some pain left over from it. She scratched her head and I saw a spark in her eyes. Sitting up straighter, I watched her hand slowly move from her curly orange hair to right in front of her eyes.
