Across the border – Book I - 1 Chapter

“David, wake up”, Sussan shouted and shook her husband with fear clearly visible in her face.

“What’s wrong, Sussan?”David asked with annoyance as he just got a few hours of sleep after 3 days.

“It is about Peter! Peter is missing! I cannot find him anywhere”, Sussan cried.

“Don’t worry, he must have gone near somewhere to answer nature’s call. He will be back in a few minutes. Just relax” Saying that he started continuing to sleep.

But Sussan could not rest her mind at ease and started worrying a lot. She could not sit around and wait. So she started to search in the area nearby.

It is already too dark outside the campsite and her little boy is too afraid of the dark. She is sure that something is not right.

She searched as far as she could but still could not find him anywhere.

She started imagining the worst and almost immediately remembered him saying he would go and search for Elly.

She half walked and half ran to the tent while holding her chest. ‘No, please no. It is a war out there and I cannot afford losing them both. Please be safe. Please! Please! Please’

She saw David fully awake and even the other tent mates were standing next to each other and discussing something serious.

When she reached them, she saw David talking to Sommer, “Are you sure? What your son said is true?”

Sommer looked irritated for being woken up in the middle of the night and when David did not believe him and started questioning his son’s authenticity of the news.

So, he just stared at David and let out a grunt.

When David saw Sussan coming faster towards them, his heart twitched in pain and he was sure she just could not take the harsh news.

“What happened, David? Did you find out anything?”, before she could even come near she shouted at David. Seeing David hesitating to speak she gave a nudge on his arm to force him.

“Sommer’s son overheard Peter talking with Robert that they are both going to find Elly across the border”, David said while holding his breath.

With more hesitation, he added, “I checked with Brenda and her son Robert is still with them. They said Robert never met Peter. I wanted to talk to Robert but they would not let me”.

“How could she not let us talk to their son? This is ridiculous. How much would we have helped them back then? Let me see her and ask once more” Sussan started moving towards her best friend’s tent.

David held her arm and stopped her saying, “They both left with Robert and even other families are moving out from this place, as it is not safe for anyone. They highly doubt if the military finds out about Peter, then he might bring them here to cause more trouble. So, everyone is packing and leaving this place”

Sommer patted David’s back as he saw his family already packed and ready to leave. He just shook his head to the couple and left.

Left with no one around them and having to stare at the wide desert with people moving away from them, they both were left speechless.

They remembered the happy times living with their whole family and how much everything has changed in a minute, leaving their dreams scattered.

Now they have both their kids gone missing and have no idea what to do next.

Sussan sat down holding her head and bawled her lungs out.

“What do we do now David? What do we do…?”

She just cannot figure out what she had done wrong?

All they wanted was to live in a place peacefully but why can’t they have that? It is a wide world but nowhere they are allowed to go.

They don’t have any identity and no one wants to give them one even after struggling a lot. Everyone called them Lambanies and all they did was call them different names and insult them.

They were even described as witches and dark craft people while they are just like everyone else as normal as anyone can be.

How long do they have to run around and how long do they have to pretend everything is okay. No, it has to stop, everything has come to a stop.

Sussan got up from where she sat and stared at David with her red eyes.

David felt his heart skip a beat, as he understood what Sussan was thinking and he knows for sure that it is not good for anyone right now.

“No, Sussan. I don’t agree with it. Let us just stop for a minute and think of a real practical solution”, David knows it won’t stop her but he still tried and knows very well what it means by exposing their true self.

They would lose everything they have worked so far.

“I don’t care about anything now. You said the same for Elly and I made a mistake by listening to you. I won’t do the same now. I want both my children and for that, I would go to any extreme. Even if it means leaving this world and traveling to another” Sussan informed David as she realized this was her last hope.

David held Sussan in his arms and tried to console her but she pushed him away and looked straight into his eyes and asked, ” Do you want to stay with me and find our kids or follow these cowards and keep running for our lives?”

“I took a blood oath and promised you with my life when I married you. And I would follow you to hell if needed but at this time we cannot make any rash decision which we may regret later. Just calmed down for a bit, please” David begged her while kneeling and hugging her legs.

But Sussan has already made her decision and would do it at any cost. “I can reverse the blood oath and you are well aware of this. You can go ahead with what you want to do and I don’t want you to be implicated with these. Anyways they are not your kids, to begin with, and I do not hold you accountable” said Sussan

Sussan tried to move away from him and took a knife to draw the symbol of the dark lord.

David ran towards her and stopped her before she could even draw a circle.

“I promised you my life and I will not allow you to do any harm to yourself. They are my kids as well not only yours, so don’t even think about leaving me out of this. I will follow you anywhere even if you stop me. I love you, Sussan. I will give you my life if needed without you asking for it” David hugged her and snatched the knife from her hand and hid it from her.

“Now, let us go and find our children together” David pulled Sussan towards the border.