Sucki (C I N's Puritan Series Book 2) Read online

  The Puritan Series

  Story Two

  Sucki

  A short story by

  Christina Leigh Pritchard

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  © Copyright 2012 Christina Leigh Pritchard. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

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  Under Copyright Law: No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise (except for brief quotation in printed or digital review) without prior written permission of the copyright owner.

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  This novel is a work of fiction. Any references to real people, places and/or events are merely added to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used factitiously. All other characters, and all incidents and dialogue, are drawn from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real.

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  Note to Reader:

  Prior to reading this short story, please be sure you’ve read book one in the C I N Series, entitled C I N: “Lynn, Lynn, City of Sin. You Never Come Out The Way You Went In.”

  This story will not make sense without the debut novel. It is also necessary that you read Book Two of the C I N Series, TRAITOR. Characters are from book two.

  The Fire

  We always took the pilgrims in. They were pale faced and didn’t live so long during the winter months. Father said we needed to show them compassion since they were so weak and helpless.

  I didn’t agree.

  The pilgrims came in floating monstrosities, mostly men, bringing sickness with them. There were many more of them to come; I could feel it in my bones.

  I sat outside my family’s hut by a small fire, pressing my knees to my chest. All the pilgrims ever did was cough and sob all night as if they didn’t realize what it was they were doing by coming out here across the sea in strange contraptions that usually never made another trip. Danger comes with adventure, didn’t they understand this? I hated them all.

  Except one little girl.

  She was born here in the tribe and immediately became ours. Her mother and father were too sick to raise her themselves and died after about only a month. Before her mother died, she begged our father, Nootau, to name their little girl Celeste. Nootau agreed and gave the child to another nursing mother two huts down from ours. My mother, Chepi, had a child named Anna around the same time as when Celeste was born. They were so close in age, sleeping in the same bed most nights, Chepi decided to keep Celeste as her own. Both girls were toddlers at this point and Celeste’s nursing mother wept for days when she was taken from her.

  Sure, she could’ve requested the council to intervene. But Chepi and Nootau were 2/3’s of that council. What good would come of it?

  A young boy, about four, screamed, waking the others. Men with sleep in their eyes squinted, staring out across the dim fire. What was happening?

  A silence crept through the tribe, bringing with it a feeling of eeriness. Birds flew away, sounding the alarm.

  “We’re being attacked!” I hollered, racing for the warning chime. I could see glowing eyes on invisible bodies hidden behind the shadows of the forest. It was our sister tribe—the ones who did not wish to be like us. They called our people a darkness that did not deserve life. They held torches of fire and marked themselves with painted war symbols. Our sister tribe disowned us, calling our pilgrims, demons in a man’s skin. They told us that if we did not destroy them that they would turn on us.

  I slipped in the dirt, my feet numb with fear. Two warriors stood before me, their spears pointed, ready to strike. “What do you want?”

  “The one you call Anna,” he answered.

  “What do you want with a baby?” I scrambled backwards, knocking into a pair of legs. I dared not look, waiting for my death. “Hurry up and do it.” I begged, covering my head.

  “I’d run,” Nootau said. He stood above me; arrows arched and ready, pointed at the sister tribe. “I use this bow and arrow as a courtesy. Run you swine.”

  Fire blazed around us, huts burned and squaws carried children out in their arms racing for the safety of the hills. Spears and arrows painted the sky and I recoiled into my father’s legs. Babies cried, women begged for mercy while the pilgrims died, having their heads scalped. A horrible feeling crept up into my throat.

  I needed to run.

  My legs wouldn’t bend with ease and I couldn’t hear what my father said, his voice too muffled. “I have to go,” I said, grabbing a root in the ground. I dragged myself away, escaping towards the hills with the women.

  “Coward!” A squaw shouted. “Go back and fight with the other men!”

  I was just sixteen. Sure, most my age were men already and considered great hunters whereas I still refused to eat their kill. How could I hurt someone who never did anything to me? Why couldn’t we live off the vegetation? The buffalo were gentle and nonaggressive for the most part.

  I didn’t want to fight anything or anyone.

  “Coward!”

  I ran, glancing back. Spears fell from the sky, catching women in their shoulders. Squaws dropped to their knees the same way the buffalo did. Babies tumbled from their arms and rolled in the grass. Smoke permeated the air around us. I glanced back at the children. The sister tribe dragged the older ones by the arm. What were they going to do with the babies? One warrior lit his spear on fire. Were they going to burn the child alive? How sick could someone be?

  They weren’t spearing me. I was fast, the swiftest in the village. But also dumb. I slammed into an oak, passing out in the grass.

  The Council Rules

  I rubbed my eyes, cringing from the light. Where was I? Smoke burned my throat and I sighed. How could I forget? The sister tribe attacked us, destroying our village. Babies cried and tribesmen coughed, trying to repair whatever seemed salvageable.

  My father held my mother tightly. Why was she crying? I ran forward. “What’s wrong, mother?”

  They narrowed their eyes at me. “Your sisters have been stolen by the sister tribe,” My mom answered.

  “Sucki, you’ve shamed us with your cowardice,” my father said. “You ran away from a fight. That’s not what a real man does. How can I give you my place in the village knowing you may turn your back on your tribe?”

  “I’m sorry, father.”

  “You’re excommunicated from the tribe.”

  “No, don’t do that!” My mother said. “He’s still a boy, that’s all.”

  “Unless you find a way to bring your sisters back, you haven’t a home either.” He pointed at the hills. “Goodbye son.”

  “Father,” I cried. “I said I was sorry.”

  “When a village relies on your bravery to survive, you don’t get to say you’re sorry. It’s time you grew up and learned to be a man.”

  I ran off into the woods letting the shrubbery smack against my ankles. So I wasn’t brave like the other boys my age. Who cared? It wasn’t like they couldn’t defend themselves. Was it wrong that I didn’t want to fight? Everyone faced a fear of some sort. I guess what made me a coward is that I allowed it to take over me. I guess I should’ve stopped the spear from killing the squaw. But then I’d be dead. Is that what father wanted from me? My death? Would he be proud of me then?

  I sat underneath a tall tree covering my face in my hands. Life didn’t matter when you were alone in the wild. My life would soon be over. I’d just sit here until the sister tribe found me, and then scalped me. They loved to torture the weak.

  Was I really all that weak? Should my village be ashamed of me just for running aw
ay? I could prove them wrong. Anna and Celeste. I’d bring them home.

  The Sister Tribe

  I stood at the top of a hill overlooking the sister tribe. The warriors did not wear their faces painted anymore but they beat drums dancing in a circle around two pilgrims. The two women begged them for mercy. I didn’t understand their tongue well but anyone could see how desperate they were. The chief stepped out from his hut with a scalping knife.

  “No!” One woman screamed. “Please, no!”

  They cast lots. The women sobbed, jerking about trying to free themselves. A young boy around my age won. He held his lot high for all to see. The other tribesmen cheered.

  The boy knelt, taking the knife from his chief.

  I couldn’t watch. The women’s screams were painful enough. Fear enveloped me again. How was I supposed to save my sisters from such horrible monsters?

  “It’s time to eliminate the future darkness!” The chief shouted. The others hooted, dancing around the women’s dead bodies. The boy tied rope to their ankles, hoisting them into the air above the village. Was he that sick, wanting all to see his kill?

  I vomited.

  If being brave meant doing unthinkable things then I was proud to be a coward! I didn’t kill the squaw—these monsters did. Why was I being banished again? I turned to run.

  Spears pierced the dirt beside me. I turned sideways, eyes wide. The young boy who scalped the women nodded in my direction. Is that what my father wanted me to be like—like that boy? Banishment seemed more of a blessing suddenly.

  “He’s the brother,” the boy said. “Keep him alive long enough to watch his evil darkness die.”

  My evil darkness? What was he talking about? Warriors grabbed my arms, dragging me back to their village. The scalped women bled, causing a stench to permeate the air.

  “Bring out the evil darkness!” The chief shouted.

  A squaw held two little girls in her arms. She wept, placing the babies on a stone. “Please, they’re just babies,” she said.

  The boy tossed his knife, piercing the squaw in her heart. The others cheered, lighting torches of fire. I narrowed my eyes, realizing the babies were Anna and Celeste.

  “Anna! Celeste!” I screamed. “What are you doing? They’re just babies!”

  Anna glanced in my direction. Was she smiling? Celeste cried, holding Anna’s hand. Underneath the babies was a pile of sticks mixed with hay and dried grasses. The village took turns tossing their sticks of fire into the pile.

  “My sisters!”

  Anna didn’t cry. She glared at the young boy.

  Flames covered the scalper from head to toe. He screamed rolling on the ground. But the fire wouldn’t die down. His skin burned and Anna giggled, motioning for Celeste to watch. The pale faced child didn’t want to see and cried even more.

  “Anna!” I shouted. She nodded, raising her hands.

  “The evil darkness already has her powers!” The Chief said. “Run!”

  It was too late. Fire consumed all of them just as it did the scalper. The ropes that bound me shriveled and I ran towards my little sisters. The fire was nearly to them. I leaned over, burning my wrists, grabbing each baby around the waist.

  I ran up the hillside, glancing back as fire consumed the village. My heart pounded in my chest. The last baby that displayed such strength was sacrificed by Inteus, the third party to our council. Would he sacrifice my sister?

  Maybe I was a coward. Maybe I didn’t like hunting or fighting like the other boys. I didn’t care. If being a monster meant I was a man, I’d just stay a boy—forever.

  My village saw me in the distance. My mother and father raced towards me.

  My mother cried, reaching for her girls. Celeste cried even harder while Anna kept her composure. “You’ve saved them, Sucki. I knew you weren’t a coward.”

  “I—”

  “My son, the hero!” Nootau exclaimed, raising Anna above his head. She giggled. “How did you get them back?”

  I glanced at Anna. Fear overcame me. She shook her head, pointing at the fire that blazed behind us. “I burned them all—just the way they burned us.

  Anna grinned, wrapping her arms around our father.

  My mother frowned, squeezing Celeste tight. “I think I liked you better as a coward, Sucki.”

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  Anna’s Treachery Begins…

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  C I N’s Puritan Series

  Story 3

  Charles

  No one loves without being forced into it.

  You’re probably thinking what’s he talking about? I love my significant other. But do you really? That’s the question I’d like you to really ponder. Are you with the same person who seduced you? Are they still charming and genuine? Or have they transformed into someone else?

  Learn More

  BOOKS IN THE C I N SERIES

  1. The C I N Series: Book 1 - "Lynn, Lynn, City of Sin. You Never Come Out the Way You Went In."

  ALL 6 C I N Series Shorts are available in BUNDLED format for over 50% off!!

  Short Stories included in BUNDLED format:

  The C I N Series Shorts: Story 1 - Donna Denning

  The story behind Donna’s traitorous beginning…

  The C I N Series Shorts: Story 2 - Jimmy & Amber

  The story of Jimmy and Amber’s beginning…

  The C I N Series Shorts: Story 3 - Pete & Marie

  Millie loved Pete and Pete loved Millie… So, why’s he with Marie?

  The C I N Series Shorts: Story 4 – Regrets

  Are there second chances in life?

  The C I N Series Shorts: Story 5 – Lanie

  Millie’s cancer is now in 90% of her body and she needs Lanie to help her…

  The C I N Series Shorts: Story 6 – Rat

  Millie just wants to remember…

  The C I N Series: Book 2 - Traitor

  C I N’s Puritan Series

  (Available now)

  Fatal – Story 1

  Sucki -- Story 2

  Coming Soon

  Charles – Story 3

  Tobias – Story 4

  Celeste – Story 5

  (The Puritan Series: Bundled Stories 1-5 (Bundled format coming Soon!)

  The C I N Series: Book 3 – Ally’s Secret

  C I N’s Temptation Series

  (CASTING CALL WINNERS!)

  Paranoia

  (based on winner Maddy’s character Crystal)

  Desire

  (based on winner Sam’s character)

  Unrequited

  (based on winner Savannah’s and Jake’s characters)

  Loss

  (based on winner Kae’s character)

  Sulles

  (based on winner Anna Sulles character)

  C I N’S NOVELLA:

  AMIE’S JOURNAL #1

  An innocent face but a wicked mind…

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  Christina Leigh Pritchard, Sucki (C I N's Puritan Series Book 2)

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