Blake was six, only six. No mother, no father, no sister. He sat shivering in the cold, his tears dripping down his face as he curled up. His back was against the bridge as he stared out to see snow gently drift down. In his mind, he went over everything that happened since his mother left. It all seemed to go by so fast, until he was left alone in the cold.
His mother told him to hold onto Eva no matter what, and he had promised to. But the promise was easier to make at the time. He still had a house and a father. It was about a month after his mother left, he heard banging on the door of the one-room house. His father always taught him not to answer the door. Which he would have followed the rule, but when he peeked out the window he saw a group of Watchers.
Watchers were safe, weren't they? He assumed so at least. He opened the door to see the men's gaze lower down on the little bout. Then one of the men grunted out in an irritated tone, "Where's your father kid? Uh..." The man checked the paper in his hand before saying, "Bret is his name, right?"
Blake nodded slightly, murmuring out, "My dad's name is Bret. But I 'unno were he be. He aint tellin me where he goes when he leaves."
A long sigh escaped the watcher, his air puffing out of his mouth in the cool evening air. He then finally said, "Let me in kid. We'll wait for him here."
There was a moment of silence, where no one moved. Until Blake finally pushed the door open to let the Watchers in. He knew better than to argue with the Watch, his mother always told him that. As the men stood around the small fire, Blake immediately crawled into his bed and hugged little Eva to him. He didn't trust the men, so he didn't let them anywhere close to the girl.
The men paid no attention to the two children huddled on the bed. They stood mostly in silence, with an occasional soft whisper between two of them. There were about four or five in total, but Blake didn't really know how to count above the number of three. The night wore on, it felt like it would not end. Day was just breaking as Blake began to doze off.
He suddenly jumped as the man Blake knew as his father broke in through the door, stopping dead in his tracks at the sight of the watchers. Then his gaze fell on Blake, narrowing his eyes, "I told ya to never answer the door."
Blake hugged Eva closer to him, the girl was fast asleep at this point as Blake almost whispered out, "Momma told me to always respect the watch."
He could hear a snort come from his father before the man turned his gaze back to the Watchers, finally muttering out, "Whatcha want?"
The main Watcher that Blake had labeled to be the leader said in a flat, emotionless voice as he pulled out the same paper from before, "Are you Mr. Bret?" As if saying 'Mr. Bret' made the Watcher sound more polite.
Blake's father nodded faintly as he said, "Yea, what's it to ya?"
The Watcher nodded as he shoved the paper into his pocket. The others came around Blake's father, grabbing him as the Watcher says, "Yer bein' arrested, Mr. Bret."
Bret tried fighting back as the Watcher's grasped him, but there were too many and they were too large for him. Before Blake could even blink, the Watchers and his father were gone.
Later that day, Blake snuck out towards the jailhouse, carrying Eva with him of course. He saw his father hang, whatever crime he had done was punishable by death. And Blake saw his father dead. It felt as if a pit dropped through his stomach, as if some weight was dropped on top of him and he could barely hold himself up. Blake didn't cry though, or fall, he just grasped his sister closer to him as he slowly backed away to run off. He didn't know where to go, what to do. He just made his way off to the home he had grown up in.
As Blake trudged up the hill leading home, he saw the small house burning. A band of men, dirty with tattered clothing feeding the flames. Soft, white flakes began to trickle down from the sky and around Blake and his sister as the boy's eyes widen before he turned to run, almost running right into a woman who stood behind him.
The woman looked down at what was held in Blake's arms, a grin across her face, "Well hello there kid. Whatcha got there?"
Blake looked to his sister before up at the woman, stammering out, "M-My sister."
"Your sister? Oh, let me guess. Lil' Miss Eva tha' Bret told me abou'. 'N ya must be Blake. Ya look a lot like yer father, 'cept yer hair is darker." She said as she ruffled the top of Blake's head, causing him to wince.
"Yea, Imma Blake, 'n this is Eva."
The woman cooed softly, saying, "You two are orphan's now, aintcha."
"Yea, we are."
-To be continued-
The Woman
By: Abduzeedo
