Chapter 3

"Jay!� A girl screamed across camp, �hurry up and sleep. It�s going to be dark soon.�

The girl sitting on the rock grunted and turned herself around. �I told you Kitty, leave me alone!�

"I know you�re not doing research out here. You�re waiting for Dan aren�t you?� Kitty asked as she sat next to her friend. �Come on, we�re researching the environment as well as looking for them. But right now it�s late, we have to sleep. We�ll have more energy to walk further tomorrow and find them.� She tried to coax her friend. �Come on, before the teachers realize we�re out here alone. Okay?�

Jay sighed, �fine. Whatever. I wouldn�t want to be here if a tiger leaped out of no where and eats us.�

"It�s things you say like that makes me wonder how I ever became your friend?� Kitty asked as she got up to walk next to her friend. �What�s that?� Kitty asked as she heard something coming from the bushes. �It�s growling, that bush is growling. Jay! That bush is growling at us!�

"Then why are you still standing here! Hurry up and run!� Jay instructed her friend and took off without her.

"Jay! Wait for me! Jay!� Kitty yelled as her feet became numb and couldn�t budge. �Jay!�

Jay ran and yelled out, �I�ll go and get help, if you can�t run then just stand there!� Jay suggested and ran off without her friend.

"AHHHHH!� Kitty screamed when something leaped out of the bushes.

"So, where are we going to rest?� Rye asked as he sat almost frozen on the horse. �It�s cold, and I�ve been sitting on this horse since noon. I haven�t even got off this horse too pee yet. I even ate my lunch on the back of this horse as well as my dinner.�

Jang looked up at Rye, �do you always complain this much young sir?�

"Jang, stop it. If he�s tired then let him rest.� John suggested. �Are you tired too young sir?� He asked Dan looking up at him on the horse.

Dan pulls his face closer to Matika as he scooted closer to her on the horse, �are you tired yet Matika?� She didn�t answer him. She continued to look up at the night sky and their surroundings. �Matika? You want to rest now?�

"Yes, we are resting!� Rye cheered as he hoped off the horse and fell on his butt. �Oh� that was mind boggling. I can�t even feel my own pain when I fell.�

Dan laughed and dismounted from the horse and standing with his arms reached out to help Matika down. She looked at him then his hands but sat there on the horse still. �Let�s go. We�re going to rest now. We�ll go again in the morning.�

Matika looked up at the north star then looked down at Dan from the horse, �Why are we stopping now? We�re going in the right direction to mommy.� She thought to herself then looked at her bruise and cuts on her wrist then looking at Dan�s hand and shaking her head.

John yelled out, �you�re going to have to carry her down, her arms are too much in pain from the shackles.� He goes back to setting the fire with Jud as Rye brought out his sleeping bag.

"Was that why you wouldn�t take my hands earlier today when I offered to help you onto the horse from the village?� Dan asked as he helps pull Matika off the horse. �Let me see your hands.� Dan waited for Matika to pull out her hands for him to see. �Hurry on, if you don�t let me how will I clean it for you?�

Matika tilted her head, �why is this boy helping me?� She looked at him then at Jang and John.

"Go on Matika, there�s a little pond over there past that big rock. Go get yourself cleaned off.� John insisted seeing that Matika wasn�t listening to Dan at all. �Go on, listen to him. He helped you from Jud remember?�

Matika raised her eyebrows and followed Dan to the water�s edge. �Let me see your wrist.� Matika holds up both wrists to him. �Just your left one for now.� Dan said and placed her right hand back to her side. �Sit right there while I get a the first aid kit from my bag.�

"What�s a first aid kit?� Matika thought to herself as she watched Dan digging through his bag. �What�s that thing?� She frowns seeing Dan pull out some cotton balls and tweezers. Dan swallowed the lump in his throat and brought out a lighter. Matika flinched seeing the sparks and watched him hold out a hooked needle into the flame of the lighter, �why is he burning it? Metal does not need heat nor could it be melted with that small fire.�

"AONG!� Kitty screamed and jumped in one spot as she madly pointed at him, �You freaking ass!�

"Hahahahaha.� Aong laughed as he and his friends jumped out of the bushes at his friend. Kitty slapped him and stalked away. �Oh come on Kitty, don�t be mad. We were only trying to cheer you up. Rye isn�t going to die out there.�

"Cheer me up? How is that cheering me up?� Kitty asked angrily. �You know what I was thinking when you were growling in those bushes?�

"You were thinking of how scared you were and wished you were dreaming?� Aong asked.

His friend scratched his head, �you were thinking, you shouldn�t have wore your nice pants because you peed all over it?�

Kitty slapped Aong�s friend, �no, besides all of what you said. I was thinking, how Rye was if he and Dan are out there alone. What if they ran into a tiger?�

"Easy, then they�re dead.� Aong answered nonchalantly and laughed. Kitty slapped him again and made her way to camp with the guys following from behind.

Jay popped her head out of the tent as she heard Kitty�s voice. �Kitty!�

"I thought you were going to go and get help? Why are you in the tent all curled up?� Kitty asked angrily.

"Wouldn�t you have done the same?� Jay frowns.

Kitty thought for a moment, �yea, I probably would. Now scoot over, I�m tired and want to sleep.�

Chapter 4

Dan lets go of the lighter and pulls out Matika�s wrist. �Keep still as much as possible okay?� Dan asked as he placed his bag under her wrist for support. �Keep it steady. This might hurt a bit� or rather a lot?� Dan frowns as he wipes her wrist with the cotton balls. �If you need to scream� bite on to this.� Dan handed her a rolled up shirt. She held it in her right hand and frowns. �Put it in your mouth and bite onto it. Don�t look at what I'm doing either.�

Matika did as she was told and placed the shirt into her mouth and bit down onto it while she didn�t do as she was told but looked at Dan as he pulled the tweezers out again with the hooked needle. �What�s he doing?� Matika thought as he steadily brought it closer to her wrist and stopped right where her skin was. �Hey� what�s he doing? Why is he bring the needle to my skin? He�s not going to�?�

Dan didn�t look up hearing Matika scream as he began to stitch her cut up with the light of the flame as his work lights. He was amazed that her voice, even if she was screaming from pain, she was screaming a melody so sweet to his ears that he did not mind her bellowing out the notes in his ears as he stitched up her cut on the left hand. It was like she was singing from pain.

Rye shot up from his sleeping bag. �Who�s singing? Singing like her heart is broken.�

Jang looked up at the sky as John smoked his joint. �No, that�s a voice for pain� don�t you think Jang?�

He shrugged, �we�ll ask Matika when she gets back.�

"You�re saying that�s Matika singing?� Rye asked surprised, �wow, I didn�t know she sings, but does she talk?�

"Oh, she talks, after this, I bet she�ll talk non stop.� John laughed.

Jang joined him in the laugh, �we should�ve told the boys to buy something to gag her mouth with once she gets going with her mouth jabbering away.�

Rye only watched from where he was sleeping at the two trackers that were to be their rescuers. �Those two men are weird. And they�re suppose to be taking us to our group?� He sighed and went back into his sleeping back to sleep almost rocking himself to sleep with Matika�s soulful voice even if she was singing from pain it was still soothing in a sad sense.

"What�s that?� Jay shot up from her sleeping bag.

Kitty was already up and out of the tent hearing the voice. Jay got out when Kitty was asking, �who�s singing?�

"I don�t know.� Jay said as she looked around seeing everyone else including tour guides, their teachers and fellow classmates, were all out side of there tent looking around.

A tour guide smiles, �it�s the sound of a lovely angel.�

Another said, �it�s a she devil, luring us to her, where she will kill us for our flesh.�

"No.� Another tour guide said, but this time a woman. �She�s a nymph. A forest nymph. Like the creature sirens of the ocean, but she�s the siren of the forest. Her voice, she�s in obvious pain.�

Aong scratched his head, �are you sure it�s not a female ghost calling for help. To help her find out why she�s dead and in the forest?�

Everyone looked at Aong and quickly darted into their tents to hide from that ghost that Aong had assumed was real. Aong scratched his head as he looked around, �why did everyone go in their tent?�

Aong ran when he heard the soothing voice again after it had died out momentarily. But once the voice came back and was softer and not as painful from earlier he ran to his tent to hide from his fictitious ghost.

Dan sighed as he finished stitching up her right hand. �See that wasn�t so bad. After I managed to wrestle you for your right hand.� Dan laughed as he went to wash the tweezers and hook needle.

Matika studied her wrist. It wasn�t gaping with open flesh nor was anything going into her wounds and leaving any maggots in her. It was clean, and not as horrific of a site as it had been for the past months she had been tied down to Jud�s hut.

Dan looked up from the water seeing the fire he had made was dying down but he still saw how dirty she was from the glow of the small flame. He dug into his pocket for his handkerchief to soak up in water. �Come here Matika.� Matika shook her head and hid her hands behind her back. �I�m not going to hurt you again.� Dan said as he walked up to her. �Let me see your hands.� Matika shook her hands and held them tightly behind her not letting him pull it away. �I need to clean your hands.� Dan sighed, �I know the water isn�t the cleanest, but its better than you having dirt smeared all over your face and body.�

"Why can�t I be dirty? I like having my face smudged in dirt.� Matika whined and twisted her lips.

Dan opened his eyes widely when she finally spoke to him. He was even surprised that she said something to him.

Chapter 5

In the moonlight Dan could see that she was pouting and laughed. �What�s so funny now?�

Dan shook his head, �the first thing you said was being dirty� honestly. That isn�t very lady like if I take you home with me, my mom would have a heart attack.�

"Your mom?� Matika frowns, �why am I going home with you?�

"Until I know what I�m going to do with you, or if you�re able to be on your own, I�m going to watch over you.� Dan said as he brought up the cloth to her face. Matika pushed his hands away. �If you keep this up, your bad habits of hygiene would only kill you faster.�

"No it wont.� Matika muttered pushing his hands away again.

Dan sighed, �it�s a proven fact that the cleaner you are the healthier you�ll be. Not to mention your cuts and bruises, if you�re clean the wounds would heal faster.�

"My wound are the same either way, no one worries about my wounds. It�s nothing, not fatal to me, not fatal to anyone of my kind.� Matika said softly and almost let the tear roll down her cheeks.

"Why are you crying?� Dan asked.

Matika looked away from Dan, �I don�t want to be clean. It will only cause anger, jealousy, blood shed��

Dan laughs, �you�re not Pandora�s box, you�re not a disease or threat to us.� He finally got her to stop moving and wiped her face with his damp cloth, �that wasn�t so bad was it?� Dan asked. The fire had already long died before he was done wiping her face. �We got to go back, get some sleep and find my way back to my group.�

"Could I go back with John and Jang instead?� Matika asked lightly as she followed Dan back to their camp site for the night. �I do not wish to follow you nor your friend. I would only cause��

Dan cuts Matika off, �look. I don�t know if its you talking or the bad water I was wiping you with talking, but I'm not going to let you go back to having a life like some freak show girl chained to a man�s home.� Dan got his sleeping bag out, �I�m not going to let a life be ruined like that. My parents taught me better than that.�

"Are your parents nice?� Matika asked as she watched Dan get his bag ready.

"They are nice,� Dan smiled, �they�re too nice come to think of it, nothing like my friends� parents at all.�

"But with me, I will change it all.� Matika said almost crying again.

Dan sighed, �I�m tired. Time to sleep.� Dan saw Matika looking around. He smiled, �room for two in this sleeping bag.� She shook her head, �I wont do anything to you, and we don�t have a spare blanket for you either.�

"I don�t need a blanket, a huge rock I could lay on would do.� Matika said looking around the sight.

Dan got up to follow Matika and pulled her around from the wrist. He saw her wincing and quickly released her hands. �I�m sorry, I forgot about��

"Why did you do this?� Matika asked holding her hands up to him. �Why did you sew my wrist?�

"It�s not sewing, it�s stitching. My dad�s a doctor. I learned it from him.� Dan said as he took Matika�s elbow instead of her wrist this time. �He helps heal people. But I didn�t want to be like my dad. I want to be able to help animals instead. That�s why I'm here, researching animals out in the wild and got lost.�

Matika looked away from Dan, �you didn�t get lost from your group accidentally.�

"What?� Dan asked as he turned around to face Matika. �What makes you say that? We�ve done it before, we�ve lost our classmates and teacher before. This is just my first time lost.�

Matika shook her head, �no, you were brought to me.�

"Look, I wasn�t brought to you. Rye and I got lost, we found the village and��

This time Matika cuts him off. �No, you didn�t find me. I found you.�

"How am I suppose to believe you?� Dan asked as he listened to Matika.

"My mom, she told you to come here.� Matika said. �I know she told. Because she told me.�

"And where�s your mom?� Dan asked.

Matika shook her head, �I haven�t seen her since I was little. She told me to learn first, before I go to see her. But no one is left in my village. I had to find her before I should be able to learn anything.� Dan frowns as he watched Matika speak, he only focused on her lips as she spoke. �I went to you in your dreams like mom said. To get you to help me out of that place. And you did. But that�s all I know how to do. I could only go into people�s dream. I haven�t learnt how to do anything else yet. I wasn�t trained thoroughly��

"We could talk about this tomorrow when we�re on our away again. But I really am tired Matika, you�re going to have to rest too. But not on the rocks.� Dan said leading her by the elbows back to the sleeping bag. �Get in.� Matika shook her head, �Get in and sleep.� Dan ordered before he yawned. She noticed him yawning so she went into the sleeping bag without a fight. Dan got in and zipped the sleeping bag. With the flame being so high up he was able to see Matika clearly in the dark. This time, her hair was with dark black streaks and her eyes were dark black� everything was black. He looked at her shoulders where the sheer fabric were. Still torn they were, but now no longer the honey shade of brown, but black instead.

Matika opened her eyes widely seeing that Dan was paying close attention to her. �The mean man told you I was a nymph� but not that kind of nymphs. Those are my cousins in another village.� Dan looked at her lips and kissed her. That was all he did, one good night kiss and slept as Matika watched him sleep.

"No dreams tonight. I do not need to go into your dreams tonight.� Matika said as she slowly drifted to sleep. I will find mommy by following the north star� Dan will help me go to my mother.� She yawned and rested her head next to Dan as he slept silently while John and Jang snored to their own rhythms.

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