4 Chapter 4

After burying the two bodies I sit in front of the graves for a while. Why couldn't my life be peaceful? Why can't I live a normal and happy life? Why do I have to live in misery? Thoughts flood my head. I can't help crying anymore. I stand up and look ahead at the green meadows. I remember when I was just 3 and alexander was 5, holding my hand and running around the meadows, I remember when me and mason used to sit and watch the clouds trying to figure out what they looked like. Our laughs would echo through the beauty of this land. When me and Amelia would have tea parties and picnics in the summer. I could remember when me and dad would lay down and gaze at the stars, searching for constellations or just counting them. He would sometimes tell me about the myths behind those constellations. "You see that constellation above there" he used to say, and I would nod "it looks like a hunter with an arrow and bow" I would say. "yes, indeed it is a hunter. That's Zoë nightshade, she was a daughter of atlas, you know atlas?" he asked "umm... he was the titan that Zeus punished, and he would hold the weight of the sky, right?" I would guess "yes atlas son of Iapetus! Anyways he killed his own daughter in that war; Zoe fought against her father cause he wanted to help koronos destroy the world. She was a hunter of Artemis She died under her mistress's legs and her last words were 'I can see the stars again, my lady.' Artemis was heartbroken, for Zoe was one of her bravest hunters and she said 'Yes, my brave one. They are beautiful tonight.' When Zoe died, artemis said some words upon her soul and then she blew and there she was in the stars. and what did Iapetus say before he closed the doors of death?" my father told me "he said 'tell the stars hello for me'" I would answer. My father smiled then said, "and Zoe said 'the stars say hello Iapetus'" "so when I die will I be gone to the stars, too father?" I would ask, and he would smile then say "oh no that's just a myth from the old times but I hope you don't die my little one" he says. "but it's a part of life, everyone dies" I would protest. And he would laugh. "yes, your right, but when time comes, you won't be a constellation, but our ancestors always said 'when someone dies and no one is left for you, look up to the night sky! You will find them in the stars'" it was one of my favorite quotes and I would smile then rest my head on my dad's lap and fall into a deep sleep. Watching the meadows, I remember when mom would sit and play with my hair and sing me songs while we enjoy the calm wind. I remember when me and max used to sit in the shadows of the only tree in the meadow. I used to rest my head on his shoulder, and lace my fingers through his. We used to listen to the birds sing and sometimes would talk about life and share personal jokes. It felt good to be with him. I never had true feeling towards him, all I ever wanted was to stay best friends with him, cause he was the only person aside from my family that I could share my sorrows with. I loved him like a brother. They were happy and warm memories. I just wish they could come back. It isn't until mason puts his hand on my shoulder that I go back to reality, to my miserable life. "we are leaving, there is a ship going to America I am thinking we could ride aboard, but we will have to hurry to catch up with the ship" he says. A ship to America. Maybe I could find a peaceful life there. with mason anyways. I proceed and take our stuff and follow the others. As I leave the meadow, I turn around and take one more look at it and at the graves. "goodbye" I whisper. I swallow back a sob. And give a small miss you smile. Then I turn around and jog to try and catch up with the rest. As soon as I catchup with them, we are close to the ship. Mason discusses his plans with us "Mason that's insanity!"

He grins and shrugs "insanity is my middle name" I manage a smile. I don't argue, he knows what he is doing, I guess. As soon as we reach the ship, Mason gets to work. "If something goes wrong, I will give you a sign just don't leave your place until I give you my command" and with that he leaves. A couple minutes pass, not a single word from me or David or even peter and no command of mason. After a few minutes Mason is waving for us from above the deck. As soon as mason throughs the rope. me and David get to work. "you go first" David tells me. I don't argue. I secure the rope to my waist and Mason pulls. I feel myself being pulled to the air and in a matter of seconds I am laying on the deck. "ow" I groan . Mason pulls peter who doesn't seem to weight to much and I hold him. I lay back on the deck while peter fixes his shoes. Mason is too busy pulling David, who nearly falls on top of me but lucky me, I move out of the way, so he falls headfirst into the deck. I give a tiny laugh. Its been how long since I last laughed? Honestly, I lost track of the days of happiness. It feels too good to be true. After all the crying I deserve a day to laugh. "ouch" he groans. "Sorry" I say grinning. David sits up and cracks up. "What?" I demand. "have you looked at your self in the mirror?" he asks. And I suddenly get what he means. After the war and all I definitely looked like I came from an electric explosion. My hair sticking in every direction like an Einstein. "shut up" I say, and I start laughing, too. After we stop David's eye caught something. "Guys follow me" he stands up. and we follow in his wake. The people on the deck are all dressed like they are from the 1912th 's. women wore tight laced corsets and expensive tailored gowns with gloves, several wore long skirts, boots, and high collared blouses, a lot of them also Victorian hats. Some men wore tuxedo style suits with white bows, and with top hats and polished shoes, others wore britches and shirts. multiple men and women wore posh clothes. And there was us, ashy clothes, messy hair, jeans, and hoodies. It must have looked like we time traveled to the past. We followed David and then he stopped behind a woman. She was a wearing a beige collared coat and a Victorian hat. She was no taller than David was. he gestured for us to keep quiet and still. Slowly he proceeded towards her so fast he put his arms around her eyes. the girl panicked, she almost screamed but David was prepared he put a hand on her mouth. No one seemed to notice us. she moved her hands blindly then she put her hands-on David hands and tried to get them off. David laughed, not a cruel cold laugh but a soft heartly laugh. He loosened his grip and she ripped his hands of her face and then gasped for breath. When she noticed David, her eyes widened "David?" he nodded and opened his arms for a hug. She walked in. "Never do that again or I will kill you!" she scolded at him, but I could still see a glint of happiness in her eyes. David grinned "sorry" he said. The girl laughed and then she realized us. her laugh faded. She faced David and realized that his clothes were messed "what happened to you, and...." She turned to us. "who are those?" David smiled wryly "got hit by a bomb nothing bad, oh and those are my friends," he turned to me "Alice, this is Jessica my uh girlfriend, Jessica this is Alice an old friend of glimmer, our neighbor" Jessica smiled and extend her hand. I shook it and returned the smile. She then turned to David and pointed with her chin to mason and peter. "and what about those two?" she asked. "oh, that's Mason, Alice's only brother..." I looked at him like seriously my only brother, I think you are asking me to hit you with a street light, aren't you?! " uh I mean her only brother left, her other brother Alex. Alexander? Yeah alexander well he..." he glanced at me nervously. I sighed and then said, "he is dead" and although it hurt to get those words out of my mouth, I managed to hold back the tears. "you are Alexandra florit's sister?" asked Jessica. "yeah?! Why?" I asked. "oh nothing, he was handsome and actually even though you don't look like him, but you are beautiful, oh and I am sorry about his death" she said lowering her head. When she said he was handsome she gave no reaction, she said it like it was an obvious fact. And when she said I was beautiful I had to resist the urge to smack her head and every other person's head who ever called me beautiful. I smiled and thanked her instead. Jessica had straight light brown hair, a normal skin colored and her eye color was hard to tell. it fell between a blueish greenish color and dark stormy grey. "anyways before I start to ask you how on the planet earth you made it aboard this ship alive I guess I should note out one thing" she faced David "In order you haven't noticed but you guys look like you came from an electric explosion" she noted. David sighed "in order you haven't noticed but we already know that" he said in a perfect mimicking of her voice. Jessica looked like she was about to hit him and indeed she did slap him. The slap was pretty hard I winced. "hey!" he complained rubbing his cheek. She smiled wryly "don't ever mimic my voice, honey. Also sorry but no not sorry". Despite her beauty that made her look a calm and warm person, she was terribly good at hitting. "now seriously you guys better come along, you got some clothes to change?" she asked me. I nodded. "good, let's see what have you got" and we made our way into the hallways of the ship.