The Sounds of Being Lied To
The days just kept going, one after another,
and we were always running and scared.
Sleep didn't help much, just short, bad dreams
before we had to face the scary truth again.
We moved quietly in the dark nights, and the
buzzing of far-off flying machines was a
constant, annoying sound that made my skin
crawl and kept me listening hard. Every little
sound of leaves moving or a branch breaking
made me jump, reminding me that they were
hunting us.
Elara, even though she looked very sad about
Silas – I kept remembering the brave, kind
thing he did – and was worried about Gareth,
who we didn't know if he was okay, was very
strong. She held Taina's broken machine
tightly, now wrapped in ripped pieces of cloth
to keep it safe. It was our only hope, a small
chance for a future where we could think for
ourselves.
Being sad was heavy, but we
had to keep moving lightly to stay alive.
But my own thoughts were a dark, messy
river, always going back to the old werewolf
lying to us. His smooth words, the way he
seemed so wise, now felt like a mean trick.
His mean smile, the way his eyes shone when
he showed he was on their side… those
pictures stayed with me when I was awake
and made my dreams bad. Trust. That word
felt strange, like something from a time before
the world turned against us. How could we
have been so stupid? So easily tricked?
"We need to find water," Elara said quietly, but
her voice cut through my bad thoughts. Her
lips were dry, and her eyes looked as tired as I
felt. We hadn't dared to go near any water we
knew, because we were afraid they would be
watching.
I sniffed the air, trying to smell the faint smell
of a stream. My throat felt rough, and being so
tense all the time made my muscles hurt. We
were both very tired, just moving because we
had to stay alive.
The quiet of the deep woods
was more dangerous than any noise.
"There's a small spring I remember… further to
the west," I whispered, the memory of where it
was a small light in my tired mind. It was risky
to go to a place we didn't know well, but we
really needed water.
Going west was slow and hard. Elara's hurt
leg hurt more with every step, and I could see
she was struggling. I helped her as much as I
could in my wolf form, letting her lean on me.
The strong feeling between us, made by
sharing hard times and losing someone we
cared about, felt stronger than ever.
As we moved, the buzzing of a flying machine
got closer, its annoying sound like a mean bug
in our ears. We stopped, hiding in the
shadows under some thorny bushes, our
hearts beating fast together. The flying
machine went over us, its red light looking at
the ground, missing us by only a little bit. It
made us shake, a strong reminder that they
were always watching.
Every time the sun came up, it
meant we had survived another day of their
chasing us.
"They're not giving up," Elara whispered after
the flying machine's sound went away. Her
eyes looked a little hopeless, but then she
looked determined. "We can't either."
Remembering Silas's last brave thing he did
made us keep going. We owed him more
than just staying alive; we owed him a future
where they didn't control us.
The days just kept going, a hard escape,
each one showing how strong we were and
how desperate we were. We found the
spring, and the water was cool and made us
feel alive again.
We drank a lot, and it helped our dry
throats. But we couldn't really rest, we
couldn't let our guard down.
The sounds of being lied to,
the constant fear of being caught, made
us keep moving, kept us hidden.
The idea of being free felt as
dry as our throats.
One evening, as the last light went out of the
sky, we found a small, old cabin, almost
hidden by lots of plants. It gave us a place to
rest our tired bodies for a little while. Inside,
the air was old and dusty, but it felt safe
compared to the open forest.
As Elara looked at her hurt leg, her face
showed she was thinking hard as she
checked Taina's machine. The crash near
the tower had damaged it a lot. Wires were
broken,
and one of the special stones was
cracked.
"I don't know if I can fix this well," she said, her
voice worried. "We need more parts…
special little things."
I started to feel hopeless. Our only weapon
against them controlling us was breaking. It
looked like the old werewolf had completely
won.
Suddenly, I heard a quiet sound – the small
click of metal hitting metal. It wasn't the
sound of their flying machines or their
monsters. It was smaller and more careful.
Someone was nearby.
I became tense, listening very hard. Was it
Gareth? Had he somehow found us? Or was
it something much more dangerous? The
sounds of being lied to had made me careful
of anyone I didn't expect.
I moved quietly, going to the doorway and
looking out into the growing darkness. A
shape stood at the edge of the open area,
looking dark against the last light in the sky.
It was a human. And they were watching us.
My heart beat fast in my chest. Had they
followed us here? Was this another trap?
The old werewolf's words came back to me:
"They were expecting you."
The human didn't move, didn't make a sound.
They just stood there, watching silently in
the dark. I felt very uneasy. This felt different.
They didn't look like they wanted to hurt us,
just… watching.
Then, the shape raised a hand, and in the
fading light, I saw something shiny in their
hand – a small bird carved from wood. A
sign? A message? Or something to trick us?
The sounds of being lied to screamed in my
mind. Don't trust anyone. But the human
standing still, the strange sign… it felt like it
wasn't immediate danger. A little bit of
curiosity fought with my strong suspicion.
Who was this quiet watcher? And what did
their being there mean for our desperate
escape? The night, already full of fear and
not knowing, suddenly had a new, worrying
mystery.