Shattered - By Sophia Sharp Page 0,31
I might have prevent some deaths.”
Laura understood. She understood what he meant. She identified with him.
“Logan,” she asked suddenly. A question had occurred to her, one that she wanted to know the answer to. “Are your kind born that way, or can they be transformed?”
“Both,” he answered.
“And you, then?”
“I was born a human.”
Everything clicked again. She understood his struggle, understood his morals. Understood why he tried to fight something that came so naturally. She had one last question, though.
“How old are you?”
In reply, Logan smiled sadly, and turned his head. For the first time in what seemed like eons, their eyes met. “Do you want to know my age, or how long ago I was born?”
“What’s the difference?”
“We stop aging once we’re transformed.”
“Tell me both.”
“My human age,” he said, “is eighteen years old.”
“And how long ago were you born?”
“I was brought into this planet four hundred and twenty-nine years ago.”
Too much blood rushed to Laura’s head, and she passed out.
Chapter Fourteen
~Confrontations~
“Laura? Laura, wake up.”
Laura opened her eyes. Logan was standing over her. She was lying down, on a hard surface. Somewhere damp. She blinked. She was inside, and the interior reminded her of a wooden cabin.
She pushed herself up, and looked around. She was in a small room, a single window letting in the outside light. The walls and ceiling were both made of wooden planks, but they were heavy with age. The room was completely barren. Mildew grew thick on the walls, and the floor she was lying on was dirty. Heavy dust filled the air, causing her to cough.
“Where are we?” she managed eventually.
“An old grain mill,” Logan said. Laura noticed a closed door in one of the walls. “Nobody comes here anymore, and I thought it’d be a good place to regroup.”
Laura stood up, eyeing Logan warily. “How come you didn’t tell me we were coming here?”
“You passed out before I had the chance. I carried you here from the car.”
“You carried me? How far away are we?”
“An hour from the road. Nobody should bother us here for some time. We should have tonight, at least, before we need to move on.”
Suddenly Laura’s ears caught the heavy clunking of machinery coming from the adjacent room. She went to the door and cautiously edged it open. And felt as if she’d stepped into the past. In a vast, largely empty room, huge spinning pulleys and belts worked overhead while metal poles positioned horizontally rotated quickly. Gears and levers dotted the floor of the room, providing control over the machinery. Much of the metal was red with rust, but it still moved, clanging and groaning along.
“It’s still running,” she marveled.
“It never stopped,” Logan shrugged. “The river runs year-round, and as long as it spins the waterwheel, the mechanisms in here keep going.”
“The river?”
“Yes. You can hear it from here, can’t you?”
Laura strained her ears. And realized she could make out the sound of rushing water nearby. Logan walked to another door, right by a window, and motioned her over. When she came, he pushed it open, revealing the outdoors.
Beautiful vegetation surrounded them. They stood at the bottom of a narrow gorge, with a rocky slope to one side and thick forested trees on the other. Under her feet, right beneath the building, a river roared with life. The sun shone through the leaves of the forest, making shadows on the ground. It felt like they were hundreds of miles from civilization.
“So,” Logan said once Laura turned back inside.
“So,” Laura echoed.
“We need to get rid of your belongings.”
“Why?”
“The men tracking us. They’re like me, and once they have your scent, they can track you forever. Getting rid of your belongings might make it harder for them to do it.”
“Is that how they knew we left the school?”
“Yes, I think. The man you saw – he knew your scent from the dream. Thankfully, amidst all the other students, you were harder to pick out. Otherwise he would have come for you right in the classroom.”
Laura shivered. She didn’t want to imagine what would have happened then.
“We have to change you out of your clothes as soon as possible. It might help us get a lead on them. But you have to understand Laura, they’re like hounds. No matter where we go, they’ll only be a single step behind. If we ever stop, if we ever rest for more than is absolutely necessary, they’ll get to us.”
“Let’s go to the police,” she said suddenly. “They can help us.”
Logan laughed bitterly. “The police?