Chapter 2

Ezra’s POV

“Son of a b*tch. Faster, Ezra!” my mother yelled.

My tears keep running down my cheeks as I run with my barefoot. I ignored the dump and muddy ground as well as the sharp stones that pierces through my sole. It’s too dark in here.

The only source of light is the silver shining moon displayed in the sky and the wildfire that quickly eats our small village.

I wipe my tears away as I continue running.

I couldn’t stop. I shouldn’t stop. They will kill me. They will kill us.

“Help me! Help, please!”

I roam my eyes around me without stopping my feet from taking huge steps. I do not know where the voice is coming from. Everything around me is in chaos. Some are screaming because their houses are burning, while others are screaming because they are burning.

My lips quiver in fear. As much as I want to help, I know I could do nothing.

My mother and father are both a few steps ahead of me. They are holding each other’s hands while running.

Our small village is being attacked. No—more like, we are being hunted.

The village that I am in is the village of the rogues.

Yes, I am a rogue. We are rogues.

I saw a huge root of a tree blocking my way. I take a huge leap to pass it but suddenly, I felt someone pushing me from behind.

My eyes widens when I realized I’ll fall. I shut my eyes tightly and embraced the impact. My body hit the rough and muddy ground. I wail in pain and bite my lower lip to stop myself from yelling. The metallic taste of blood kissed my tongue. I think I bit my lips a little bit hard.

“F*cking b*tch, Ezra!”

I look up to see who it was. My brother, Eliot, rolled down the ground with me. But unlike me, he immediately got up.

“Get the hell out of my way, b*tch!” he yelled.

Every time he say my name, it always entails the word ‘b*tch’. It’s more like my surname already instead of Zavala. I use it more often than my real surname.

When I lift my head, I saw my parents look over their shoulders to check on us… more like, to check on him.

“Eliot, are you okay?!” My mother yelped. I can see in her eyes how worried she is. She paused for a while, but my father pulled her wrist.

“They will catch us!” he yelled. His eyes widens while emphasizing his every word.

“I’m okay, mom!” Eliot yelled back as he dusted off the mud out of his shirt.

‘I’m okay too… mom,’ I said to myself.

Instead of calling out my brother and scold him since he was the one who bumped into me, I decided to ignore it, like what I always do.

Nothing will happen if I’ll confront him. Maybe that would be the reason why we’ll get caught.

I quickly get up in my feet and continue running.

As we run away from our burning village, I can still hear some of them screaming for help.

I shake my head to stop myself.

I cannot help them. If I’ll go back, might as well just kill myself because it’s the same thing.

Tears started pooling my lower lids. I harshly wipe them away while my feet did not dare to stop.

I’m sorry if I couldn’t help you…

***

It’s the village that I grew up with. My friends… my family… everything and everyone in my life was built there. I actually thought I will also die there.

But here we are, hiding under the handmade tarpaulin as a roof above my head and thick banana leaves that we use for our beds. 

I gently blew the fire on the small bonfire that I am making while my mother is cleaning the fish that my father and brother caught on the river. 

"Is that done?" my mother asked. 

"Not yet, mom," I replied. 

"Then faster!" she yelled. She stabs the knife that she is using to clean the fish on the huge leaf that we use as a chopping board. 

No one anticipated the attack from our village last night. No one was ready. 

After we ran away, we have no idea where we are going. We just let our feet lead the way and unfortunately, but fortunately, we arrived here. 

I do not know what exactly is this place called, but this is definitely a forest. We found a river and we decided to build a temporary house here. 

We can have water and food in the river. So this is basically a smart choice. 

Imagine if our feet made us go to a small village or something alike. We will definitely be beggars. Good thing that here, we are beggars, but at least we can still survive without asking for alms.

"Nice catch! That's a big one."

I lift my chin and look up straight in front of me. My father and brother both walk out of the river, dripping wet. 

My brother raises a big fish. Its mouth is still pierced with a hook that is connected to the string. 

"Ohhh! That's nice, son!" My mother commented. She reached for Eliot's face and caress them. "I am so grateful to have you!" she added. 

Unconsciously, I smiled. 

My brother is a big boy. He's 5 years older than me, yet they treat him as a child more than me. 

It's fine. Although, sometimes, I'm kind of jealous because I never felt that kind of love from our parents. Eliot is obviously their favorite.

Maybe because he's a guy, that's why mom and dad love him more than me. 

In our village, being a man is a huge advantage. While being a girl is considered a liability. I once heard from one of our villagers that women, aside from cooking and pleasuring men, have no other job to do. so if we can't cook better and satisfy boys, then we are called useless. 

I do not know if I'll get happy or sad about what our village experienced. 

It's sad that it burned down along with the memories that I made there. But there's a small part of me that was happy that the abusive village is now dust and ashes. 

"Is there a cooked fish already? I'm already hungry," I heard my father ask. 

I stopped fanning the bonfire with my hand. Stunned, I can feel my heart racing.

"How can I cook our food if this b*tch right here still hasn't made a fire? Look, the bonfire that she is making isn't even half-done!" 

I bite my lower lip. Before I can make an excuse and tell them the fact that it is hard to make a fire from stones alone, I felt a hard slap on the back of my head. 

I lost my balance and my face almost fell on the pile of wood that I am using to make fire. Good thing I have a fast reflex and I manage to use both of my arms to support my weight. 

"You've always been useless. We should have left you there burning. You're better off dead."

Tears started forming on the sides of my eyes. Now, my sight is blurry due to the hot fluid of tears blocking my gaze.

I know that they do not want a girl, but I do not think it's necessary for them to loath me. It's not my fault that I'm a girl!

Without knowing, I found myself angry. My first are now curled into a ball while my tears started running down my cheeks.

"Move." 

I felt someone kicking me softly from the back. I do not have to check who it was. 

Should I be glad that my brother did not kick me hard? 

"I said, move, stupid..."

Yeah, right. He did not kick me hard like he always does, but of course, he'll curse me. It's his everyday routine. 

I stand on my feet and dust off the mud out of my body. I look at my parents. My father is finding a way to light up a fire while my brother is helping him. On the other hand, my mother is holding the clean fish, waiting for my father and brother to finish the fire. 

As I look at them, they all look like a complete and contented family-- minus the furrowed brows of my father and the side glances that my mother is giving me. Maybe without me, they are perfect.

I bite my lower lip and slowly exit the place. I wipe the tears slowly forming on my bottom lids. I do not want to cry anymore. 

"I-I'll just take a walk," I said in a soft voice, hoping they would tell me to keep safe and take care of myself. However, just like what always happens, I receive nothing. 

I am planning to walk in the deeper part of the forest. I think I'll find something that we can eat here. Like fruits! 

I pick up an average size stick that is on my way. This is helpful to shove vines and pointed thorns out of the way. 

I am only a few steps away from my family when I saw something from afar. Suddenly, I heard some footsteps approaching. 

My eyes widen when a group of soldiers appeared behind the bush.  They are all holding guns and swords. 

I feel like my feet were glued to the ground. I know that when we decided to stay here, there was a big chance that they will catch us, but I did not know that it will be this soon.

I made a step backward. That simple and small move made one of them turn in my direction. Before I can run, he yelled. 

"There's a rogue over there!" 

I turn on my back and run towards my family. They are all smiling and talking when they all turn their heads in my direction.

"Mother, father... Eliot, run!" I yelled. 

I saw how the fish from my mother's hands dropped on the ground. While both my father and brother rush inside the small tent that we made and grab their bags. 

My eyes widen when I felt an arm snaking around my waist.

"Stop or I'm going to blow her head off!" The soldier pointed his gun at my temple. 

I started shivering in fear. As much as I want to stop myself from crying, I couldn't help it. 

Is this it? Am I going to die today?

In a blink of an eye, a group of soldiers are already beside me. The soldier who is holding me tightens his arm around my neck. 

"Try to run or we will kill your daughter!" The soldier threatened. 

I saw my mother raise her hands, but her back is facing me so I couldn't see her face. On the other hand, both my brother and father are looking at me. Their bags are hooked on their shoulders. 

I look at them with tears pooling in my eyes. "P-Please..." I whispered. 

However, I felt it. I knew it. 

Without hesitation, my father yelled,

"Run!"

I feel like my strength was drained out of my body as I watch my family run away from me, leaving me in the hands of death. 

I know they don't like me, but what kind of family would leave someone behind? 

The soldier doesn't need to wrap his arms around me anymore. I won't escape. I'm tired of running. I'm exhausted from trying.

If they want to kill me. Then do it.