(Warning- this chapter contains some violence and descriptions of blood)

       He would have to prepare well and fast if they were going to have a chance at survival. Their duffels bags had collected a thorough layer of dust from lack of use. He roughly shook them out and set about packing their clothes. He quietly went into Sylva’s room to pack her things with practiced speed. Her magnifying glass and favorite sweater were first in the bag. A few pieces of clothing would have to be left behind, but they had no time to be fussing over trifling things.

 Dein went out to the garden with a large basket and lantern. He noticed unarmed men watching him from the edge of his property. Barrett probably wanted to keep track of him, but no one wanted to risk getting killed by a lacuna so watchmen to sound an alarm was the best he could do, at least until other folk brought them weapons which should be within the hour.

While harvesting he’d heard the noise of a bustling town preparing to hunt like a pack of wolves. People shouting to each other, disturbed babies crying as guns shot off a few test rounds.

He harvested the ripened fruit and veg, deciding the root vegetables would be easiest to carry without spoiling too soon and could keep them full for longer. They had decent sized potatoes and a number of carrots. He would take some of the shorter lived vegetables to give them variety, and nutrients, for the early part of their trip. With any luck they’d find a place to settle down before they ran out of food—and money.

 He carried the vegetable filled basket back into the house, making sure to lock the back door. The town couldn’t be trusted. The hunt was not a ritual he’d witnessed yet, but it didn’t seem like one that had any rules except to kill the hunted.

Boris had warned him. In fact, the man had been more aware of the town than Dein. Although Dein generally kept aware of their surroundings, with the need for money, he’d allowed himself to stay locked at home working. Losing track of the town’s whispers was his greatest blunder yet, and his daughter was paying the price for it dearly.

Out the front window he saw Huxley and Quinn blocking their exit. The positioning of the other men out back meant they could easily call for help within seconds. If Dein were to make an early escape he’d have to knock these two out silently. 

Quinn caught Dein looking, but did not challenge him with a stare, instead he glanced at Huxley, then at the ground. Dein watched the boy for a curious minute. Quinn shifted his body to block Huxley’s view of the window…was he trying to be helpful? The boy held his hands behind his back and waved Dein away…so he was choosing to help, but how far would he extend his hand? It was a huge risk to assume the boy really intended to help further than stopping Huxley from potentially harassing Dein, if the man even had the nerve to do so after the earlier threat.

Dein packed his wood working tools and the loom tools. Sylva’s back strap loom would come in handy for traveling.

His body still ached mildly, but the remaining lacuna remnants should find their way out soon enough. It would help with the travels to not have extra pain to deal with.

After about thirty minutes Dein woke up Sylva. Her face contorted in pain the moment her eyes opened. She whimpered as he helped her sit up. The Lacuna looked like it drained out her body earlier, so the stab must be the source of her pain. Did it cut through a nerve?

“Sylva,” He said, snapping his finger to get her attention, “Where does it hurt?” 

She used her good hand to point at her left arm, shoulder, and neck, 

“How does it feel?” Dein asked.

“Like my skin is burning,” She said.

Sighing thoughtfully, Dein pushed his hair back. Decided he stood and left to fetch cold water. He wrapped her arm in a soaked cloth which immediately warmed with her body heat. He had to do this seven times before the cloth stayed cool enough for him to leave it on. He carried her into the kitchen and helped her into a seat.

***

Sylva looked around the room bleary eyed. It spun. Her neck didn’t like any movement. Her arm was like a pain switch if she lifted it. A sudden wave of nausea swelled up. She held a hand to her mouth trying to find a place to throw up. 

A bucket appeared at her side. She wretched whatever was left in her stomach. Dein wiped her mouth then gave her a glass of water to rinse out her mouth. She spat the water into the bucket. He watched her with the most worried frown she’d ever seen. She gave him as much of smile as she could through the pain.

He brought her a bowl of stew telling her to eat it very slowly. She didn’t like the idea of vomiting again so she sipped at the broth and nibbled at the potato chunks, it was probably what he’d cooked earlier. When she was half way through her food Dein sat down at the table tapping his fingers on the wood.

“Sylva—” Dein started. 

When she looked at him he looked down at the table hands interlace in front of his face. Sylva tilted her head, wincing with the movement. Lately she saw so many different emotions from her father. She felt a pit in her stomach. If Da was worried, then it must be bad.

“Sylva—“ He tried again. A frustrated sigh escaped him, “Never mind, we’ll talk once we’re out of here.”

She watched him move about the kitchen gathering dried herbs, “Is everything going to be okay?”

He paused to glance at her, “Of course. So long as I’m here nothing will go wrong.”

Dein shoved the packets of herbs into a duffel. He clipped the two bags together horizontally and used a binding strap to makeshift shoulder straps. 

Sylva went to get dressed. He had laid out her comfortable clothes. A large shirt and loose pants. Easy to wear, and not a burden on her already weakened body. He told her to hurry, they had to leave in a few minutes. Sylva heard a few guns shot from the town and— ignoring her pain—hurriedly dressed.

***

Dein peered out the front window again. Quinn took immediate notice and blocked the window from view again. Dein did not enjoy thinking about what he was about to do, but it wasn’t as harsh as his earlier fight. He wrapped a long strip of cloth around his hand.

“Sylva,” Dein knocked on her bedroom door. 

“Yeah?” She answered from inside.

“Listen to me carefully. No matter what, stay in your room for the next three minutes.” Dein spoke as quietly as he could.

She offered no reply so he called her name again. Her voice came softly and sad, “Okay.”

The front door would creak no matter how carefully he opened it. If he wanted to catch Huxley off guard he would need to use speed and strength. He grasped the front door knob with an unsteady hand…This— wouldn’t work.

Dein opened the door but kept himself hidden behind it. He waited for Huxley to come inspect, but as a foot crossed the threshold, he realized Quinn was sent to inspect as bait. Sighing he let the kid walk inside.

Quinn saw him in his peripheral but looked about the room as if he hadn’t. Turning around he called, “He’s no’here!”

Quinn stepped aside so Huxley could come inside,

Huxley’s grumbling voice came  at a distance, “Wha’ nonsense, we couldn’ have missed a man of his size leave. Did you check the other rooms?”

“No, but I don’ see anyone here.” Quinn said easily. A skilled liar, like his father. No surprise there…

The door shook when Quinn was roughly pushed aside as Huxley came in.

“Useless kid, jus’ say you’re scared of the man, if he mean’oo kill he would’ve done so earlier—”Huxley said looking back at Quinn.

The man was no fool, Dein had to give him that credit. Taking advantage of the distraction, Dein got Huxley in a choke hold smothering his outcry with the mass of cloth over his mouth. Quinn bolted out of the house, Dein had to assume to call for help. Guess he’d made the wrong call about that kid.

Huxley went limp so Dein carefully laid him down on the ground, making sure he was nowhere near the Lacuna that was gradually growing in size in the living room. 

He shouldered the duffel bags then went to Sylva’s room. He called her out hurriedly, glancing at the front door every few seconds. When the door opened Dein hastily lifted Sylva into his arms. When she protested he hushed her.

Glancing out the door, he expected the men come from around back, and by this time they should have been given some kind of weapons for defense, but he saw only Quinn sitting atop a tree stump staring at the sky. What could have been a peaceful night was disturbed with the sounds of a raucous crowd not too far away being provoked to anger by their mayor.

Dein cautiously stepped out. No one came for them.

Quinn looked up with eyes glazed over hands rubbing tensely together, and whispered, “Dein—I’ve had strange dreams you know—about another world. If I eat a meal there I wake up full. If I get in trouble and feel bad, then the emotions never fade. There’s technology we’ve never had here, like its a ahead of us in time. There’s a whole history to the world, and I know all about it…So am I mad, or is there really something to this other world?”

Sylva’s eyes went wide but when she opened her mouth to speak Dein hushed her, “Quinn, make your life easy and just call them dreams.”

Quinn stared down the road, “You’re saying it’s real, but to pretend its not.”

“Yes.” Dein said, “There’s nothing wrong with knowing that it’s real, but people in this world don’t want to know about; so hold your tongue if you want to survive. We have to go now. Don’t get yourself in trouble.”

Quinn nodded, “I’ll tell them where you went later, so just get out of here before thee’s no time to escape.” 

Dein tousled Quinn’s hair as he passed.

Sylva stared at Dein with wide questioning eyes. He shook his head, holding finger to his lips for silence. She pressed her lips together but nodded.

“Sylva,” Quinn softly called. Dein turned so she could see him. He gave a sorry smile, “I’m sorry.”

“Thank you…and be careful,” She said pointing to her eyes with her good hand. Quinn ducked his head while nodding.

Dein stepped off the road into the trees. They couldn’t risk anyone seeing them. There could be more people stationed along the main road. Barrett vehemently wanted to hunt Dein that much was clear. At one point they heard people passing by and held their breath until they passed. After that Dein moved them deeper into the trees. He set Sylva on her feet and told her to follow so he could be ready to move.

After about ten minutes there was a sudden surge of activity, voices calling out to each others, footsteps rushing about. Quinn must’ve alerted them. Dein pushed on deeper into forest keeping a close eye in Sylva— a difficult task in with no light reaching the forest floor. He didn’t dare light a lantern. People could easily be in the forest by this time and they could move faster than him since they had no travel gear. When her eyes began to droop he carried Sylva once again to waste no time with putting as much distance as possible between them and the town.

***

Sylva came around to a small moonlit clearing. Forgetting the night’s events for a moment she looked around only to wince at the flare up in her neck and arm. Then she heard someone walk up behind her. She scrambled away from the person, instantly regretting the weight put on her stabbed hand. The world spun for a few moments. The person put a steadying hand on her good shoulder. She heard her father’s voice.

“Sylva, you’re safe.” He said. 

He picked her up and set her down closer to their bags. He pulled a blanket a duffel.

“Where are we?” She asked.

“Still in the forest. We have to keep our voice down to avoid drawing attention.” He tucked the blanket around her shoulders. He looked around, breath visible in small cloud from the cold. 

“Right….the hunt.” She murmured. She could still hear people. Mostly shouting to each other things she couldn’t understand from this distance. For a hunt, they were awfully noisy…

“Will we really find a new town?” She asked.

“Yes.” Dein adjusted his cowl and reached for the duffels.

Sylva didn’t dare to move her arm anymore, “I don’t want to live with new people…I’d rather them think I was crazy and stay out here.”

“No, living in a town is safer, and being labeled a madman like me would not an easy life.” He sighed, “It might be a little hard to live with other right now, but you get better at dealing with it, the older you get.”

“Da…you told Quinn there is another world…how do you know?” Sylva asked.

“If  I tell you, then you absolutely cannot tell anyone else. If  someone asks, you must not tell them.”

“So I have to lie?”

“I mean, you won’t tell them what what does not concern them.”

Sylva gave him an incredulous look.

“Yes-you MUST lie. WE must lie.” Dein conceded. When she nodded her agreement he began,“That world you went to…is the world I came from.”

“I would never leave if I could.”

-Love that Lives