Hey Lovelies!
So since the ebook verison of End of the Line is now available with the proof for the paperback in the mail I figured it was time to have an introduction of some characters! Today I will be having a Men of Ottilie so that you all can meet Aaron, the main male of the story. He is closely written to the guy that was in my nightmare that End of the Line was based on. I had a lot of fun writing him and I hope it shows!
Aaron
Blond
Blue eyed
A Protector
Headstrong
Has a tattoo
Tender
Was adopted
Learned to ride a motorcycle illegally
Scene:
watched Lauren fall asleep near
her brother and his friends. I hated her at that moment. There really was no
other way to express the feelings I had toward her. She had someone with her
that she knew: family. Not only that, but a whole group of people while I
didn’t. I was alone. She had her brother—I had a man who wanted my head on his
wall as a trophy. Looking at this strange cluster, I suddenly wondered why I
was even helping them. Even, as this question seeped through my mind, it made
me sick to my stomach. How could I look at them, especially the two kids, and
doubt my decision?
I was never friends with Lauren. We’d had
been on the same bus since kindergarten, until one of my buddies began to drive
me to high school. She and I had a few classes together over the years, but
Lauren was the silent one in the class, with the high stack of books, not
daring to leave them in her locker because you might need one of the textbooks in class that day. She could be
absolutely annoying. Was being a perfectionist really, honestly necessary? In
my handbook of life—no.
After watching my parents being crushed as
they tried to run for the house, I had to help when I heard her cry.
I saw it all happen as I was sitting on my
window sill with my window wide open, hanging a leg out while I was thinking. I
was hot and needed some air. Mom didn’t like when I sat like this, but I’d
always found it relaxing. Then in the distance, there were bizarre shapes in
the sky, and in a blink of an eye, scattered rocks the sizes of busses or
bigger were heading toward the earth.
I closed my eyes quickly and shook my head to
get the images out of my mind. I was not ready to face that. It was the first
time a major feeling of guilt and horror took over me. The only family I had
was killed before my eyes. They had put up with me, dealt with more than what
they signed up for.
Listening closely to the air blow by, trying
to make sure that no one was coming, I looked over at the six of them and I
felt my heart race. Trying to calm down, I hung my head low to try and get my
breathing back to normal. How did this whole mess happen? I just became an
orphan for the second time in my life. The first time was miserable enough, but
a second time? I just lost my all my friends. I was stuck with Lauren and her luggage. After what seemed like forever,
one of the kids started to move, which made Lauren come around.
She sat up appearing like she hadn’t really
slept either. Her eyelids looked heavy with dark circles, not all of which
seemed to be from her make-up. Lauren rubbed her head, then stretched her limbs
a little. Her jean-blue eyes met with mine and they were filled with pain, as
she remembered what happened. I noticed because it shined in her eyes and I was
sure she could see the same shimmer in my own.
“We should go, so wake them up and we’ll be
out,” I spoke softly.
She nodded and started to wake them up gently.
I remembered when my mom did that for school or if I was sleeping in too late
on the weekends and she thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep that night. That
would never happen again. She would tenderly rub my back until I made signs
that I was alive. The two littlest ones started to stir, then got up, looking
confused. Almost like they had forgotten that they fell asleep on the ground
instead of their beds. That yesterday was nothing but a nightmare instead of
reality.
Next, the other three woke up. We started
moving, as the two little ones wondered where breakfast was. This was definitely
going to be a long day, the first of many to come; I could feel it.
Lauren was walking in front with me as she
held the two littlest ones by the hand. I could tell she wanted them to walk as
far as they could because she wasn’t going to be able to carry both of them for
too long. Meanwhile, the three in the back were quiet, but Cole gave me death
glares every once in a while. I could sense his glare on the back of my head,
and I would turn my head as I felt the pricking. Our eyes would meet and we’d
both scowl. I still couldn’t figure out what I did to him.
“I want pancakes!” Sean pipped up,
nearly skipping.
“Waffles!” Paige spoke, challenging Sean’s
food choice.
“Pancakes!”
“Waffles!”
“Guys, there aren’t waffles or pancakes available right now,” Lauren
commented, sounding upset about them being hungry.
“But it’s time for breakfast! I woke up, so
it is time for food!”
I grinned, suppressing a chuckle. I really
liked the little boy’s logic. I watched as he looked up at his sister with a
straight face, which made me want to laugh even more. I had a feeling that this
was a normal relationship for the two of them.
“I know, but we have to wait a little longer
for food.”
Those two weren’t the only ones hungry. I was
starving too. I kept glancing at the two of them as they each swung from one of
Lauren’s arms. Lauren seemed tall next to the two of them. She always seemed
smaller at school. Was it because we were always sitting in desks, not near
each other?
“We’ll walk over those hills and see if that
town is up and functioning.”
Lauren agreed by nodding her head as we
headed over the hills and I helped her with the two little ones when they
almost fell. Once they were standing next to me, I helped Lauren by pulling her
hand to give her some balance. Her hand was smaller than mine. It was strange
seeing her long, clean nails against my hands. In school I never really noticed
or thought of her.
Moving on, I quickly snapped out of it, and I
helped the two girls. I really needed to learn the rest of their names. I
doubted they would want to be referred by numbers. Cole didn’t want any help,
so I let him stumble over the rocks on the slant.
“Aaron, we have a problem,” Lauren said.
I stared at her, confused, as I climbed the
rest of the way to the top where she turned to look at me. My eyes went wide
and my jaw dropped, not believing what I was seeing. Only a couple of feet
below us, water covered everything with only a few things sticking above the
new water line. I thought I saw someone’s satellite dish poking out. This was definitely
not looking good. I turned right and left, seeing that the water stopped along
the hills, but this couldn’t stay forever. We had to move before it rained or
something. It looked like the ocean had found its way to us.
“Aaron, does this mean the ocean was hit with
one of the asteroids?” Lauren asked in a murmur near my ear.
I couldn’t speak, so I just stood there,
shaking my head and shrugging my shoulders in disbelief. This couldn’t be
happening. This was getting more awful by the second. Just when I didn’t think
things could become stickier, they did.
“Hey! Look, Paige. The beach came to us!”
shrieked the little boy at Lauren’s side, his hands shooting up into the air.
He was about to run over to the water, but I
was able to grab him by the back of the shirt before he could make his leap. My
heart almost leapt out of my chest. I wasn’t sure how Lauren would react to see
her brother dive into the wet unknown. Lauren grabbed him from me and held him
close to her with her eyes closed tightly.
“Lauren, I can’t breathe. You’re hugging me
too tight.” The little boy squirmed in her embrace, using his small arms to try
to push his sister away from him.
I smiled at the little guy as I picked up the
little girl with dark red hair (who must’ve been Paige) just in case she tried what
he had failed doing. We really didn’t need to any more attempts.
“Sean, you can’t do that. You don’t know how
to swim. Stay by my side and don’t leave me.” She nearly cried, her hold on him
didn’t seem to loosen.
I was a bit taken aback by this. I had never
seen anyone that caring over a sibling. I was adopted and didn’t have siblings.
I watched her practically killing her brother with her hug because the fear of
losing him was too much to bear. I was resentful of them.
“Lauren, we should probably keep going,” I
said quietly, trying not to sound bitter and attempting to push those feeling
deep inside of me.
“Okay.”
We headed down the hill slowly, trying not to
kill ourselves from the tilt. I kept a close eye on Lauren carrying her brother.
Once we were on our way again, we changed our direction so we were heading
west.
“Lauren, what are everyone’s names?” I asked,
kind of embarrassed it took me so long to even ask.
She grinned. “This is my brother, Sean, and
the one you are holding is his best friend Paige... Both are six. The one that
has black hair a little shorter than her shoulders is Jill, and the other girl
with very short brown hair is Mandy. Then there’s Cole, and you know me from
school.”
“What are the others’ ages?”
“Cole is sixteen, Jill is fifteen, and Mandy
is nine.”
Nine wasn’t too young, so the only ones we
really had to worry about were Sean and Paige. They would need the most help
and attention.
“So, oh dear saviour, what is plan B?” called out a
voice reeking of bitter sarcasm.
I turned to glare at Cole, stopping everyone
in our little group.
“Listen to me you little piece of—”
Lauren slapped me on the back of the head. I
felt so stupid, as I stood there in shock with my mouth left wide open. She hit me!
“Listen, you two! We have to get along if
there’s any chance for us to stay alive. One person alone can’t survive out
here, so we have to work together and stop fighting with each other. We don’t
know what’s out there, so come on, please get it together. Furthermore, no
cursing! There are little kids around us!” Lauren ordered. I almost felt like I
was back at school with her scolding us.
I looked at the quiet book worm who was now
bossing me around and I couldn’t believe I was desperate enough to save her. I
knew that was horrible to think, but I could tell this was definitely going to
be harder than I thought with this group. She marched ahead of Cole and me with
the other two girls, as I stood there with the little girl in my arms. She glanced
up at me with big, brown apprehensive eyes, almost desperate for any comfort
she could get. I was not known for my reassuring traits or my child-caring
skills; I didn’t know what to do. I had to listen and work with the geek if we
had any chance for all of us to survive.
End of the Line
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