Chapter 16 Chapter 14 Controversy

It was so hard for both of us, seeing him here, after having accepted that we would never see him again, after believing we had lost him forever.This fixes me firmly in place and prevents me from reacting.I wanted to look at Uncle Jeb, to understand his heartbreaking answer in the desert, but I couldn't take my eyes off it.I stared at Jared's face, unable to appreciate it. Melanie reacted very differently. "Jered," she yelled, a hoarse croak through my damaged throat. She jerked me forward much like she did in the desert, taking control of my stiff body.The only difference is this time, it's forced.

I wasn't fast enough to stop her. Suddenly she staggered over and raised my arm to grab him.I screamed warnings in my head, but she didn't listen, she was barely even aware of me. No one stopped her as she stumbled towards him.No one but me.She was within inches of touching him, and yet, she still didn't see what I saw.She didn't see how much his face had changed after those long months of separation, how hard it had become, the folds pulling in different directions now.She didn't see that the involuntary smile she remembered would not be on this new face.Only once she saw his face turn livid and dangerous, and that expression was nothing compared to his expression at the moment.She didn't see it, or she didn't care.

His influence is greater than mine. Before Melanie could get my fingers to touch him, he jerked his arm out and smacked the back of his hand hard on the side of my face.The slap was so hard my head hit the rocky floor and my feet lifted off the ground.I heard the dull thud of the rest of my body hitting the ground, but I couldn't feel it.My eyes rolled back in my head, buzzing sounded in my ears, and I struggled desperately not to let the dizziness knock me out. So stupid, so stupid, I sobbed and blamed her, I told you not to do that! Jared is here, Jared is alive, Jared is here.She spoke incoherently, repeating the words over and over as if they were a ballad.

I tried my best to adjust my eyes, trying to see clearly, but the strange ceiling of the cave made people dazzled.I turned my head to the backlit side, swallowed a sob, and the turn made my cheek ache like a knife. I could barely cope with the pain of this involuntary blow, and what hope could I have of a stronger, more prepared attack? Footsteps sounded beside me, my eyes instinctively searched for the threat, and I saw Uncle Jeb standing beside me.One of his hands reached out to me, but he hesitated halfway and looked elsewhere.I lift my hand just a little, stifling another moan, trying to see what he's looking at.

Jared came toward us with a face like that of a savage in the desert—only it was beautiful in its rage, not hideous.My heart skipped a beat, then jumped wildly, and I wanted to laugh at myself.He's handsome, I love him, does it even matter when he's going to kill me? I stared intently at the murderous expression on his face, longing for him to give me a fatal blow quickly in his rage, but the eager desire for death eluded me after all. Jeb and Jared looked into each other's eyes for a long time.Jared's jaw tensed and then relaxed, but Jeb's face was calm.Jared let out a sudden exasperated breath and took a step back, ending the silent confrontation.

Jeb bent down and reached out to me, put his other arm around my back and pulled me up.My head was dizzy, it started to ache, and my stomach started to gag.If it wasn't for the fact that I hadn't eaten in days, I might have thrown it up.Feeling as though my foot hadn't landed, I limped forward.Jeb steadied me, then grabbed my elbow and straightened me up. Jared looked at all this with a distorted face, baring his teeth, and Melanie struggled to get closer to him like a fool.But the shock of seeing him here is over, not as stupid as she is now.She would never break through my defenses again, and I locked her in every fence my mind could create.

Quiet, can't you see how much he hates me?Anything you say will only make things worse, we're dead. But Jared is alive, Jared is here.she hummed softly. The silence in the cave died away, and there were whispers from all directions at the same time, as if I had missed the signal.I don't understand what these sibilant humming noises mean. My eyes flicked across the group of humans—everyone of them was an adult, and there was nothing smaller or younger among them.Not finding it made my heart ache, and Melanie struggled to ask, but I firmly silenced her.There wasn't much to see here, except the anger and hatred on the faces of these strangers, or the anger and hatred on Jared's face.

Until another man squeezed his way through the whispering crowd.He was slender, tall, and his skeleton was a little more visible under his skin than most.His wet hair was either light brown or an indescribably dark blonde.Like his mild hair and slender body, his features are mild and thin.There was no anger on his face, which is why I couldn't take my eyes off him. The others made way for the apparently unassuming man, as if he had some status among them.Only Jared didn't respect him, he stood his ground and kept his eyes fixed on me alone.The tall man walked away from him, seemingly oblivious to the obstacles in his path, as if there was nothing but a pile of stones in front of him.

"Okay, okay," he said in a strangely cheerful voice as he walked around Jared and came to face me, "here I am, what have we got?" Aunt Maggie appeared beside him and answered his questions. "Jeb found it in the desert. It used to be our niece, Melanie. It seems to have followed the route that Jeb left for Melanie." She glanced at Jeb quickly, showing a disgusted look . "Hmm." The tall and bony man hummed vaguely, his eyes looked at me curiously, this kind of look - very strange. He looked like he liked what he saw, and I couldn't figure out why he did that.

I averted his gaze and looked at another woman - a young woman peeking past him, her hand on his arm - and my eyes were drawn to her brightly colored hair up. Sharon!Melanie cried out. Melanie's cousin turned livid when she saw the way I recognized her eyes. With difficulty I pushed Melanie to the back of my head.Hush! "Hmm." The tall man said again and nodded.He put a hand out to touch my face, and seemed surprised when I moved away from her and moved closer to Jeb. "It's okay," said the tall man, smiling slightly, and said encouragingly, "I won't hurt you."

His hands came toward my face again.I ducked beside Jeb like before, but Jeb let go of his arm and pushed me forward.The tall man touched my jawbone just below the ear, his fingers a little softer than I expected, and pushed my face away.I felt his fingers caress a line on the nape of my neck and realized he was checking the scar on my neck from the implants. I watched Jared's face out of the corner of my eye.What this man is doing clearly annoys him, and I think I know why - he must hate that thin pink line on my neck. Jared frowned, but I was surprised by the lack of anger in his expression.His eyebrows were tangled together, which made him look bewildered. The tall man put down his hands and took a step back.He pursed his lips and his eyes sparkled with some challenge. "She seems healthy enough, other than the recent exhaustion, dehydration, and malnutrition. I think you've given her enough water so that dehydration doesn't matter. Well, then." He unconsciously With a wacky gesture, as if he was washing his hands, "Let's get started!" Then his words corresponded with his brief examination before and after, and I understood—this gentle-looking man who just promised not to hurt me is the doctor. Uncle Jeb let out a deep breath and closed his eyes. The doctor held out a hand to me and motioned for me to put mine in his palm, and I clenched my fist and hid it behind my back.He looked at me carefully again, studying the fear in my eyes.His mouth tugged down, but it wasn't disapproval, he was considering how to proceed. "Kyle, Ian?" he called, craned his neck and searched the crowd for the two he'd just called.When two big black-haired brothers walked forward firmly, my legs gave way. "I think I need help, maybe if you lift" the doctor, standing not so tall next to Kyle, he began. "No." Everyone turned to look in the direction from which the disapproving voice came.I didn't need to look because I recognized the voice, but I looked at him anyway. Jared's brows were drawn over his eyes; his mouth twisted strangely.A mixture of emotions swept across his face, it was hard to tell which one it was, anger, outright disapproval, confusion, hatred, fear, pain. "yes." Everyone was waiting except me, and the corners of Jeb's lips pulled down as if trying to force a smile.If so, the old man had an eccentric sense of humor. "Is that so?" asked the doctor. Jared replied viciously, "I'll tell you what the problem is, Doctor. What's the difference between letting you do that to it, or Jeb shooting her in the head?" I was shaking, and Jeb patted my arm. The doctor blinked again, and all he said was "Oh." Jared asked himself and answered: "The difference is, if Jeb killed it, at least it died cleanly." "Jared," said the doctor in the same reassuring tone he used on me, "we learn so much each time, maybe this time" "Ha!" snorted Jared. "I don't see much progress, Doctor." Jared will protect us.Melanie thought weakly. Difficulty concentrating and organizing language.Not us, just your body. Almost her voice seemed to come from far away, from outside my thumping brain. Sharon took a step forward so that she was half in front of the doctor. "There's no point in wasting time," she said fiercely. "We all realize it's hard on you, Jared, but in the end it's not your decision. We have to consider what's best for the majority of people." Jared looked at her angrily. "No!" The word came out with a growl. I could tell he didn't say the word softly, but it still sounded very soft to my ears.In fact, everything suddenly quieted down.Sharon's lips moved and her fingers pointed viciously at Jared, but all I heard was a soft hiss.None of them moved a step, but they seemed to be drifting away from me. I saw the dark-haired brother walking towards Jared with a scowling look on his face.I felt my hand rise in protest, but it just twitched feebly.Jared's face turned red, his lips parted, and the veins in his neck pulled like he was screaming, but I didn't hear anything.Jeb let go of my arm, and I saw dark gray smoke rising from the barrel of the rifle next to me.I dodged the weapon, even though it wasn't pointing in my direction.This threw me off balance and I could see the room tipping to one side very slowly. "Jamie." I sighed as the light swirled out of my eyes. Jared's face was suddenly very close, and he was lying on my stomach with a look of excitement on his face. "Jamie?" I whispered again, a question this time, "Jamie?" Jeb's gruff voice came from somewhere far away. "The kid is fine, Jared brought him here." I watched Jared's tormented face quickly disappear into the black mist that blinded my eyes. "Thank you." I whispered. Then I lost consciousness in the dark.