Salvation
by Sandra Gray
sandragray@rica.net
1900 words

This is a second draft and my attempt to illustrate conflict. I think. :) I know
I often have problems deciding which POV to use, which, from what I've
gathered so far, can be traced to conflict problems. BTW, this piece was
obliquely inspired by the Workshop post, Horror Genre Definition & Sime~Gen.


Salvation


  1. Jana tried to ignore the queasiness in her stomach as she paced before
    her mother.

  2. "Jana, try to understand," said her mother.

  3. "Understand! All I understand is that you're letting my brother--your
    son--suffer and die!"

  4. "Would you rather I let the villagers destroy him?"

  5. Jana stopped pacing and looked into her mother's silver eyes, so like her
    own, which reflected her horror at the vision of the fate of those who
    changed. Jonel would be slaughtered like a wild animal. But was it
    really any kinder to bind him to his bed until he died from the lack of
    whatever it was that Simes needed to live? The bindings on his wrists
    would even hold back the eruption of tentacles. A dull ache ran through
    her arms.

  6. "We could take him to the border," said Jana.

  7. "And let him become a killer? He must do no harm."

  8. Jana turned away and looked out the window. Outside the noonday sun
    shone brightly on the fields, the warm breeze rustled through the line of
    trees on the hill. Do no harm. That was her mother's creed as a healer.
    She had modelled her life on that primary value, tried to instill it into
    her children.

  9. "I've given him what remedies I know to...ease his pain."

  10. Jana turned back to her mother. "And will you do the same for me?"

  11. Her mother's face paled. She grabbed Jana's arms, then ran her right
    hand over Jana's face and forehead. "You have no fever."

  12. Jana jerked out of her mother's grasp. "No, I just feel for my brother."
    Ignoring the pain in her mother's face, she ran out of the house. She
    sank to the ground behind the barn and wept.

  13. Yes, she felt for her brother. They had always felt each other's distress.
    But that was often the way with twins. When Jonel had broken his arm,
    she'd felt it. And she felt what he felt now, though his pain was dulled
    by their mother's medicine. At first they had all thought it was just a
    stomach ailment, but as the symptoms of his change became apparent, they
    knew that it was not.

  14. How can Mother let him die? How can I?

  15. Jana wiped her tears away and began to make plans.

  16. First she put fresh straw, water, and blankets in the back of the wagon
    her mother used to call on the sick. Then she walked back into the
    house. Her mother was not in either of the downstairs rooms, which meant
    she was upstairs with Jonel. Jana pawed through the medical supplies.
    She heated water for tea and brewed one of the invigorating varieties.
    As her mother's apprentice, she knew what powders had sleeping qualities
    and how much to use for what effect. She put the proper dosage on a dart
    and slipped it into the pocket of her dress. She put the teapot and a
    cup on a tray and carried it upstairs.

  17. Jana's mother was wiping her eyes as Jana opened the door to Jonel's
    room. "I brought tea," said Jana, setting the tray on the table beside her
    mother's rocking chair. "It will help you stay awake."

  18. "Thank you, Jana."

  19. "I'm sorry."

  20. "I understand. This is not easy for either of us."

  21. "No." Her mother eyed her for a moment, and leaned forward to pour a
    cup of tea. When she did, Jana whipped out her dart and jabbed it into
    the side of her mother's neck. Her mother's eyes widened and her mouth
    opened into an "O" before she slumped forward, unconscious. Jana caught
    her mother before she could fall out of the chair and leaned her back up
    into it. She removed the dart, noting that the wound was small and would
    seal nicely soon.

  22. Jana poured a cup of tea and approached her brother. She patted his
    fevered cheek. "Jonel. Jonel, wake up."

  23. Jonel's silver eyes, the one trait they shared with their mother, opened
    and she could see him trying to focus on her. "Jana?"

  24. Jana pressed the cup of tea to his lips. "Drink this." The invigorating
    tea would help to counter whatever sleeping draught her mother had given
    him.

  25. Jonel took a sip of the tea and started to turn his head away.

  26. "More," urged Jana, and poured the drink into his mouth. Jonel swallowed
    and gagged. Tea ran down his chin and neck.

  27. "No more," Jonel pleaded weakly.

  28. Jana set down the cup and began to work on the ropes that bound her brother's
    wrists to the bed. Jonel sighed as the bonds loosened on his left hand.
    He looked at her in confusion.

  29. "Jana?"

  30. "I'm taking you to the border."

  31. "What? But Mother..." He peered past Jana as she worked on releasing
    his right wrist. "Did I kill her?"

  32. "No. She's just sleeping." His right hand free, Jana moved to untie
    Jonel's feet.

  33. "I...I can't do harm, Jana," said Jonel.

  34. Jana looked up at her brother. "Do you really want to die?"

  35. Jonel only frowned.

  36. "They say there are Simes across the border who do not kill," she
    continued.

  37. "Legends."

  38. Jana freed the last bond on her brother and said, "I can't let you die
    like this." She moved to the head of the bed and lifted him up. He
    was weak and it was a chore getting him down the stairs and out to
    the wagon. Jana made him comfortable on the hay and covered him with
    the blanket. She gave him water and tied shut the canvas doors to
    keep the light from bothering him. She harnessed Whitefoot and set off
    down the road.

  39. Dusk was upon them by the time they reached the border between Sime
    and Gen territory. The forest that marked the border was composed of
    old and gnarled trees and the shadows under them sent chills through
    Jana. Jonel's moaning didn't make things any better.

  40. Jana jumped down from the wagon and untied the canvas door in the back.
    Jonel had thrown off the blanket. His face was red and his arms were
    swollen. Jana swallowed, then got into the wagon and helped her brother
    down onto the road. He seemed hardly aware of her and she wondered if
    she had really done the right thing in bringing him here. But he was
    still alive. He still had a chance to survive, more than he would have
    gotten from their mother or the villagers. She led Jonel over to a
    fallen tree and sat him down on it. She took one last look into Jonel's
    eyes and brushed the dark hair from his forehead.

  41. "I love you, Jonel," said Jana. Her eyes filled with tears. She ran
    back to the wagon and climbed onto the driver's seat. Tears streaming
    down her face, she drove away.

  42. ###

  43. The wagon bumped along the road in the growing dusk. Jana huddled
    beside her mother on the driver's seat. The dark and gnarled forest
    next to the road rose up to a more barren, rocky hill.

  44. Jana thought of Jonel, wondered if he had survived. It had been almost
    a year since she had left him at the border. Not that far from where
    they were, she realized. Maybe that was why her mother kept eyeing the
    hill. Or maybe her mother was wondering if Jonel lived too.

  45. The other wagons in the caravan rumbled in front of them, kicking up
    dust which made Jana cough. Supplies or no supplies, she would be glad
    to get home. They would have been there now, if they hadn't had to
    detour due to the bridge being out.

  46. A horse whinnied in the distance. Jana looked toward the hill, where
    several dark forms sat astride horses.

  47. "Simes!" shouted one of the mounted men in the caravan. He readied his
    weapon and the wagons speeded up. Jana clung to the seat as her mother
    whipped Whitefoot faster. Then they were surrounded by the raiders,
    all lean and hungry, leaping from their horses to the nearest wagons.
    Wagons skidded and overturned, screams filled the air and tentacles
    flashed. Jana's mother screamed and Jana turned to see her snatched off
    the wagon by a mounted Sime. The wagon hit a rock and turned over,
    throwing Jana to the ground. She struggled up.

  48. And found herself face to face with a male Sime. He grinned and
    approached her, tentacles extended.

  49. "No!" shouted a male voice just as the Sime grabbed her right hand.
    A dark-haired Sime pulled the Sime away and threw him down an
    embankment. He turned to her and she saw that it was Jonel!

  50. "Jonel!"

  51. He looked awful--thin and dirty. Jana choked on a sob and took a step
    toward him.

  52. "Stay back," growled Jonel, tentacles waving toward her. Then he
    grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him as another Sime lunged for
    her. His tentacles wrapped around her arm and then her other arm
    was similarly trapped.

  53. Jana looked down at her trapped arms and then up into her brother's
    face. His head shook. Then he leaned forward and kissed her on the
    lips.

  54. Jana felt a drawing sensation. Afraid, she tried to pull back from
    him, but he held her fast. He was sucking her life away.

  55. Jana closed her eyes. So be it. She had done this to him.

  56. The drawing sensation increased, then it seemed that energy just
    exploded out of her. Every sense she had came alive and a warmth
    spread from her loins outward. White fire burst behind her eyelids and
    faded to a red glow. If this was what dying felt like, she could see why
    the Simes craved it so.

  57. But it wasn't dying. She opened her eyes and looked into the amazed
    and weeping eyes of her brother. "You have been my salvation...again."
    He smiled.

  58. "Jonel!" said a male voice.

  59. Jonel pulled his tentacles back from Jana and looked up at a mounted
    Sime. Jana saw that the Sime was eyeing them curiously. "She is low
    field but alive?" He frowned. "How is this possible?"

  60. "I don't know, Stokan. She is my sister, Jana. A healer."

  61. Stokan reined his horse back a step. "Witch," he sneered.

  62. "But Stokan--"

  63. "I will not have dealings with witches." He backed up further and gave
    a sharp whistle. Simes mounted horses. He looked over Jana and Jonel
    once more and rode off, his other companions following.

  64. Jonel slumped onto the ground and started crying again.

  65. "Jonel. What is it?" She knelt behind him, her hands on his shoulders.

  66. "They have ousted me."

  67. "Don't worry. We have each other."

  68. Jonel looked at Jana. "You should be dead."

  69. "But I'm not." Jana stood and looked at the carnage that was all that
    was left of the caravan. Everyone else was dead. It was clear that
    she wouldn't be able to return home. The villagers would only try to
    destroy Jonel. "Maybe they don't want to have anything to do with us,
    and maybe we won't be able to go home either." Jonel stood and she
    took his hand. "But we'll find some place that will accept us. You'll
    see."

  70. THE END

    Copyright © 1999 Sime~Gen Inc.

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