Page 28 of The General's Captive
“And you survived how?”
“I hid in a cupboard. So, he didn’t see me.”
He shook his head, making me frown and ask, “What?”
Which was when he dropped a bombshell on me.
“I am not sure how you survived that, because no one has ever been that close to him for a reason.”
I started to shake my head and say, “But I just told you, I hid from him.”
“No one hides from him, Alex, people have tried but he always knows,” he replied, saying my name for the first time, increasing the intensity of what he just told me.
“But I don’t understand, why, if he knew… why did I…”
“Survive?”
I nodded before he rocked me to my core and said, “Because for some reason…”
“He let you live.”
Dreams.
Some think dreams reflect the cognitive functioning of the brain, the way we process memories. Our conscious and unconscious thoughts, and our experiences in the world.
But some think dreams represent unconscious desires and wishes.
And if that is true, what does that say about me?
What does it say about me when he is all I see each night?
Present Day
Ioften thought back to that day I first arrived.
I honestly didn’t think I would have lasted as long if they had turned me away at the gates that day. The day I met Riley and my life changed forever.
For the better.
Since then, my feelings for him had only grown and I had harbored a secret love for him all this time. Because despite how much we flirted, how much banter we had, and how much I knew he cared for me, it didn’t take me long to realize it would never happen.
He refused to put himself through that again.
Now what exactly that was, I still didn’t know, because Riley was a closed book for the most part. He rarely talked about his life before the Rift, and he definitely didn’t talk about anyone he had lost. But after seeing his reflection that day in the mirror when I mentioned my uncle, I knew that he understood what it felt like.
It was the look of a man who knew heartbreak. Who knew of the guilt felt for surviving in place of people he wished to have saved. I saw that same look for the last two and half years whenever we lost someone. So, he protected his heart with an iron clad fist. And I accepted it, because I loved him.
So, we settled for a friendship.
One as loyal and as strong as they came.
It was a bond that had formed that day and one he wasn’t willing to give up when they tried to turn me away. Instead, he had fought for me, going so far as to say, if she leaves then I leave with her, and we take our loot with us.
That was all it had taken, and I will never forget it. Never forget what he did for me, because every day since felt like he had saved my life again and again. Until I was finally accepted. Of course, I had worked my ass off to prove to them that I could be an asset like Riley was. And it had taken time, but he started training me. Homing my body into a weapon and I, in turn, helped others with my knowledge.
My knowledge of the creatures which aided in their battle against them. And when I thought we were ready, I finally had a voice in letting other civilians in, calling this place a sanctuary before it became home for many. And they each had their own stories to tell, stories that could potentially hold a clue as to how to kill the different Myths. More to add to my journal that had become the guide to turn this war around, finally giving us the edge we needed. The attacks on the base became less and less, as if they knew. Knew how strong we had become.
We started training people, just as I had been trained. We created a small army to fight, so supply runs were coming back with less and less casualties. But not only that, we also discovered that with each new person came a new skill. Those that knew how to build, knew how to farm, were engineers, mechanics, or had medical training. Those that could teach others so these skills wouldn’t be lost but would continue.
