The Rebel Star Part 6

The roar echoed up through the night air like a cold wind.

I thought of my parents, somewhere in the town at work, and how they would come home to an empty house and a broken door. I thought about the day they took me to the zoo, and I stared into the face of a roaring lion, and even though I was trembling my feet were rooted to the spot. My mum screamed at me to get back, but I couldn’t. I was paralysed, helpless, but my mum never came for me.

Fallen took a step towards the sound, then gripped my hand, and we kept climbing. She asked about school.

“My teacher always makes us stay behind if we’ve been talking,” I said. “And he’s always so cross about it!”

“Why?” Fallen asked.

“I don’t know, it’s just the way things are.”

“And you never thought to ask?”

I shrugged.

“But it’s making you miserable!”

I could sense an edge in her voice that hadn’t been there before.

“Isn’t asking questions what got you into this situation?” I dared to say.

Fallen didn’t answer. But her bright face had closed.

“Maybe… maybe if you can’t get back to your people, I can show you my school?”

She didn’t smile. “Maybe,” she said.

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