“Blaise.” Kaleb whispered.
The forest appeared around me.
“What do you want?” I asked.
He stepped out from behind a tree a grin stretched across his face that made my stomach turn.
“How’s Ashton my dear?”
“That’s none of your business.” I snapped.
“So you know he’s alive and I assume he’s with you.”
Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. How could I have been so stupid?
“Well that was all I wanted to know.” He said.
The forest disappeared.
I shot up in bed.
I can’t believe I just gave Kaleb that information. I looked down at Ashton sleeping peacefully beside me. I made the right choice choosing him. I do miss Ryan but not nearly as much as I would miss Ashton.
Pushing thoughts of Kaleb from my mind I laid back down. There’s not much I can do about him right now. I snuggled up against Ashton’s warm body and felt at ease. Eventually, I fell into a dreamless sleep.
A few weeks passed with silence from Kaleb.
I frowned at the TV.
“What’s up?” Ashton asked, sitting beside me.
I shrugged.
“Has Kaleb been invading your dreams?”
“Not for a while, it’s weird.”
“Hmmm… He’s not one to give up.”
I nodded. “What if he has a lead?”
He frowned. “I’m sure he wouldn’t.”
“But we can’t be certain. What if he knocked on that door right now.”
He chuckled.
“What?”
“I doubt he’d knock.”
I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean.”
He sighed. “Yeah, unfortunately.”
“I don’t want to go on the run. I like this place.”
“Me too.”
“And there’s something else.”
“What?”
“I’m…” I trailed off, not sure how to tell him.
He took hold of my hand. “You can tell me anything.”
I looked into his eyes. “I…I’m pregnant.”
His eyes widened. “What?”
“I did a test this morning. This isn’t exactly the best situation to have a baby.”
“Blaise I love you, this is great news. We can keep our baby safe.”
“Neither of our parents could keep us safe.”
We sat in silence for a moment.
“I have an idea.” He said.
“What?”
“It’s a long shot but it might work.”
“Explain Ashton.”
“My parents had a friend who could shield a small area from the hunters.”
“Then why were you caught?”
“I didn’t listen to my parents.”
“But your parents…”
“Are gone. You know what happens to parents who try to rescue their children from the hunters.”
I sighed. I knew all too well.
“So where is this friend?” I asked.
“Twinbrook, hopefully.”
“Lets go then.”
“It’s too risky, the hunters will be watching for me trying to go home.”
“Well we’ll just have to be careful.”
He shook his head. “I should go alone.”
“No I want to go with you.”
“No Blaise, you should stay here, it’ll be safer. Kaleb hasn’t turned up in the last few weeks I doubt he’ll turn up in the next few days.”
I wasn’t going to win this argument.
“Fine then at least take Mirel with you as back up.”
“She should stay with you.”
“Like you said, Kaleb probably won’t show up in the next few days, so you need her more than I do.”
He sighed. “Fine I’ll take her.” He lent in and kissed me. “We will keep our family safe.”
That afternoon, Ashton and Mirel set off to Twinbrook.
The house was oddly quiet now I was alone.
I focused on my painting to pass the time.
A few days past and morning sickness was now kicking in.
There was a knock on the door late one evening.
I stopped when I saw Ryan looking at me through the window.
I opened the door and stepped outside. “Hi.” I said.
“Hey.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see how you were. Where’s Ashton?” He asked looking behind me.
“I’m okay, he’s not here.”
He nodded. “When will he back?”
“Erm I don’t know.”
He nodded. “Okay that’s all I needed to know.”
“What? Why did you need to know that?”
He was fidgeting.
“It doesn’t matter.” He replied.
“Is everything okay?”
“It will be soon.” He said.
“You’re scaring me Ryan. What’s going on?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. I’ve got to go.” He turned and left before I could say anything else.
I closed and locked the door.
Something’s very wrong with Ryan. I wish Ashton would hurry up and come home. I expected him to be back by now.
I forced myself to go to bed that night. The pregnancy was really making me tired.
I tossed and turned for what felt like hours before I eventually fell asleep.
I was stood in the forest again.
“You’re all alone now Blaise.” Kaleb said.
“No I’m not.” I lied.
He laughed. “I have Ashton.”
My stomach twisted. “What?” He couldn’t have him, Ashton couldn’t have been caught.
“Yes, he’s back where he belongs.”
I couldn’t speak.
“If you ever want to see him again you’ll come back.”
The forest faded and I sat up.
I need to save him. But I can’t go back. There has never been a successful rescue mission. And now I have our baby to think about. My child can’t grow up in that place. I can’t save Ashton.
Tears broke free. I wrapped the covers round me and curled up into a ball trying to hold my heart together. Ashton’s never coming back. I’ll never see him again. I’ll never feels his arms wrapped around me. I’ll never hear him say he loves me. He’ll never meet our baby.
The Harmony Legacy 