Sorry this is so late guys! It's amazing how fast this freaking year has gone by... its so surreal, gah!
To The Fans: Thank you guys so much for the lovely reviews, its always good to know that people are finding interest here. And I'm glad that you guys have been as curious as I have about Kevin...
Anyway, I just wanted to give you guys a heads-up about this chapter. I tried to not make it so fast paced, but I might have not succeeded in doing so... I tried not to make it confusing either.
Enjoy:
Kevin whimpered softly at the incessant pounding in his head as he came back into consciousness. The darkness that filled his vision gave him an immense feeling of panic, but it quickly evaporated once he realized that the darkness was due to the fact that his eyes were closed.
He fought to remember his last memories, but they refused to come back to him. All that was left there was a darkness that his memories used to fill.
Slowly he peeled his eyelids open. His surroundings were blurry and he expected to find himself lying broken on the forest floor where he had last been. It was nothing but a surprise born of fear that he found himself in a small room, lying on a comfortably lumpy bed.
"What the…" he mumbled as he viewed the small space with interest.
Where was he? How did he get there? What was going on?
The young man's heart leaped into his throat when the wooden door opened with a creaking sound and an older woman with red hair entered. She didn't seem to notice that he was awake, her head looking downwards to a bowl she was holding. She wore the strangest clothes, part of him wondered about them… realizing that something about them felt wrong…
"Hello…" Kevin mumbled awkwardly to the stranger.
The woman jumped in surprise, the bowl falling from her hands and shattering all over the hardwood floor. "Oh my!" she shrieked in shock.
Kevin winced at the loud sound, wishing that he'd fall back into the dark void that allowed him to not feel any pain. He closed his eyes against the pain and prayed that he'd just leave the pain. "Urggg," he groaned in discomfort.
"Hey, don't close those eyes child," the woman cooed.
Kevin felt soft fingers against his face and cracked an eye open. "Where am I?" he asked in wonder. He fought to remember... "The last thing I remember... I don't…"
"Shh, honey you've been ill," the woman informed him. "You were found in the woods about a week ago."
The former ranger frowned at the information and his puzzlement heightened. "A week? Where am I? Who are you? ... who am I?"
At first the woman blanched at the information that Kevin had no idea who he was. "I assume your name is Kevin," the woman told him knowingly.
Kevin's eyebrows shot up. "How do you know that? Do I know you or…"
The woman laughed softly. "It was on that knapsack you had with you when you were found."
The injured man nodded slowly, believing the words this woman was telling him. After all, she didn't give him a reason to not believe her. "Oh okay. Why can't I remember anything?"
"You took a pretty nasty hit to the head," the woman spoke.
"Alice?" a male voice sounded from outside the door.
The red head looked away from the wounded man and looked to the door. "Edward, is that you?"
"Aye," the smooth voice confirmed. "May I come in?"
Alice looked over to Kevin who shrugged. "Yes, you may come in. It appears that our patient is awake."
The man entered, looking to be in his late forties, possibly early fifties. He observed Kevin with a bit of calm in his eyes, almost as if he was searching for something to attack. "Hello young man," he greeted. "I'm Edward Walker."
Kevin nodded to show that he understood what he was being told. "I'm Kevin," he spoke softly, almost feeling childish for introducing himself while not knowing any familiarity in the name.
"I know," Edward said intentionally. The leader of the town watched the young man again as silence took the room hostage. This young man looked harmless as far as the eyes could see, but that wouldn't mean anything in the near future. This man could destroy everything they had built.
"He doesn't remember anything Edward," Alice explained softly. "Amnesia, perhaps."
Edward let out a soft sigh in relief, making sure to speak so lowly that the man in the bed couldn't hear any of the words that were being spoken. "The town is curious and fearful to this young mans arrival. Myself and the other elders want to welcome this young man. We are planning to explain to the town that this man is a sign from the creatures that will help to protect them."
Alice searched Edward's expression for any doubt, but after finding none, let her shoulders drop. "Fine, but his man is confused and in pain…"
"Then we will find something to take his mind off of it." Edward turned back to the young man and smiled as if speaking to an old friend. "Do you think you're well enough to venture outside Kevin?"
"I don't think that's a good idea," Alice inserted her opinion. "He's just woken up from being asleep for nearly a week."
Edward grabbed her by the arm and pulled her ear to his mouth. "The village needs to see that he is harmless otherwise they could panic and do something foolish."
Alice gave in and nodded and turned back to Kevin. "Are you feeling well enough?"
The young man sat up and rolled his shoulders along with the stiffness away. "I'd like to see outside… but where am I?"
Edward cleared his throat and gave an explanation. "You are in our village, a desolated part of the world. We've fled here from the outside world many years ago…"
A flash of something came back to Kevin in a spurt; he jerked and looked to the man with wide eyes. "I… I saw something," he spluttered. He closed his eyes and sought to look for the memories. "I've seen… figures… they…"
"Those are the creatures we never speak about," Edward spoke softly. "They guard the borders we live within, they haven't hurt us and never cross into our village, but we believe that is because we follow their rules and have given them no reason to do so."
Kevin nodded, trying to process the information he had just given him. "Did I come from outside the village? Nothing seems familiar."
"You were found by my son and a man named Finton. You were unconscious just beyond the border," Alice educated him.
The pounding in Kevin's head faded a little and he came to a decision. "I want to see outside."
Edward held onto his forearm, leading him and held him upright when his legs turned to jelly.
It was so bright outside, a beautiful day, but blinding Kevin by its brightness, causing him to shield his eyes from the sharpness of the beams of sunlight. "It's beautiful," he observed.
The ground was a bright green, as were the pine and leafy trees that surrounded the bordered village.
Kevin then realized people were watching him. Many people stood beside each other, leaning over once a while to whisper things into each others ears. "They're talking about me," he realized softly.
"They fear you'll bring the creatures into our borders for breaking the rules they've give us to follow," Edward explained.
"Could they?" Kevin asked with a bit of panic rising in his voice.
Edward nodded knowingly. "But I believe you're a sign from them. Obviously they meant not to hurt you or you would not be standing here right now."
Kevin agreed silently. The creatures had spared him… but for a reason he didn't understand. "A sign?" he asked curiously.
"Maybe they were trying to save you from the outside world."
"But why?"
Before Edward could reply, a younger girl with bright red hair walked straight up to him and glared with unseeing eyes. "I asked you to inform me when he had woken," she seethed.
"Kevin, this is my daughter Ivy," Edward introduced.
This girl made Kevin's heart thump; something about her seemed so incredibly familiar it made him feel uncomfortable. "Hello," he greeted as he lifted a hand to shake hers.
When she didn't take it he gazed awkwardly at her. It occurred to him that she wasn't really looking at him, but more of in his direction.
"That will do you no good young man, my daughter can't see you," Edward supplied.
"Oh. I'm sorry," he mumbled apologetically.
The girl smiled brilliantly. "It's perfectly fine; you had no way of knowing." Silence took the small group for a moment. "Something about you seem so familiar, your voice… do I know you?"
"I don't know," Kevin told her truthfully. He was beginning to feel sick again and everyone's prying eyes made him self-conscious. "I don't feel very good," he whispered to Edward.
The man smiled down at him, almost as if a father would. "Alright, enough excitement for one day. Let's get you back inside before Alice comes to find us."
"It's been nice to meet you Ivy," Kevin told the girl before allowing himself to be led away.
"Same to you Kevin…" the girl smiled softly and waved to him as he was ushered back up stairs.
TBC... stay tuned for chapter three.