The Prophet's Daughter (16 page)

I sank to my knees, holding her close. Felicity had disappeared into the house and I could onl
y hope she was searching for whatever we needed to help her daughter. I started humming, rocking Olive back and forth in my arms, sneaking a glance every few seconds at the door. It wasn’t long before Felicity appeared a gun in her hand.

“Felicity!” I cri
ed, holding Olivia a little tighter. Her mother did not respond, however, and proceeded to dash away, out of sight to find whoever had shot her daughter. Returning my attention to the sobbing girl in my arms, I closed my eyes, continuing to walk back and forth, hoping Felicity would return soon. Sweat formed in every place it could, my nerves shot – every sound that wasn’t Olive made me almost jump out of my skin, and my stomach seemed to roll and flip every second, threatening to spew vomit everywhere at any moment.

“It hurts…” gasped Olivia and I felt her shift. I opened my eyes at her words and looked at her face, her eyes searching mine, her pain obvious in her expression.

“Show me, sweetie, where does it hurt?” I breathed, glancing at her blood covered hands. She moved her hands; tears streaming down her face, sticking lose strands of hair to her cheek. I looked at where her hands had been and the hole in her dress was obvious, the fabric around it soaked with crimson blood. Running my fingers through her hair, I bent over to give her a kiss on the forehead, holding my lips there for a few moments.

“Ouch,” she whimpered and I pulled away, staring into her terrified green gaze, her eyes flitting. For a moment, the two of us remained staring into each oth
er eyes, and her ragged breathing came to an end, her eyes closing one final time.

“Olive?” I whispered, giving her a gentle shake. Her hands, once rested on her stomach, fell to her sides at the movement, limp and bloody. Nausea coursed through me and I s
wallowed hard, biting my lip to try and keep from crying.

“Come on, baby girl. It’s your birthday, remember? We’re going to try all the special treats they have and play games, but you have to stay with me, baby girl,” I croaked, my body beginning to shake
.

“Come on…”

Pulling her against my torso, I hugged her tight; unable to keep the tears from flowing down my face. Ringing sounded in my ears as I began to cry, unable to contain my screams of agony – they ripped free from me, and I no longer controlled my body as it bent over her.

“Olivia!” I cried, leaning against her and running my fingers through her hair, shaking my head. “Olivia, please…” I breathed,
pressing my lips to the top of her head, my body beginning to shake with violent, uncontrollable shivers running up my spine. My heart hurt an indescribable sort of hurt that I had never experienced in my life. Not with my mother, nor with my father or Seth. It was a hurt I wished never to feel.

I couldn’t breathe. I gasped for air, sobs racking my body a
s I lay down against the snow, curling around Olive, rocking back and forth. My head throbbed and my chest heaved with every desperate breath I made in an attempt to breathe. I pressed my cheek against Olive’s head, closing my eyes and holding her tight, waiting for Felicity to come back, to know that she hadn’t even tried to save her.

I don’t know how long I laid there in the snow, but it felt like a lifetime had passed until Felicity returned her face stone cold and eyes just as.

“Felicity,” I breathed, unsure of what to say. I didn’t have to tell her about Olive – all she had to do was look.

“Get up,” she ordered, bending down and picking up her lifeless and limp daughter in her arms, coddling her against her chest. I did as told, forcing myself up as my
body screamed against it. All I wanted to do, really, was lay in the snow, curled up around Olive, until she woke up. I knew she wouldn’t, but there was nothing wrong with hoping.

“Felicity…” I breathed, watching as she moved towards the house, laying Oliv
e on the doorstep.

“What?” she said, her voice cold, distant. She didn’t even bother to turn and face me.

“I’m sorry.” I took a step towards her and she turned around, her eyes wide and mouth pulled into a smirk.

“You’re
sorry
? You’re the reason they killed her! And the others! It’s your fault!” she said, her voice high, finger pointing at me with each ‘you’ she said.

“What?” I gasped, stumbling backwards as if she had punched me in the chest.

“My daughter is
dead
, the people of my village slaughtered, all to find you. So don’t you dare spew your pathetic apologies to me!” Her words were venomous, her gaze full of hatred as she spoke. “And I’m going to make sure it’s not all in vain.”

“
What
?” I gasped, taking a step backwards. Everything in me screamed to run, but as my gaze swept over Olive’s limp body again, I stayed still, staring as tears threatened to escape me again.

“What’s so hard to understand? You’re going with the Raiders and you
are going to do what I asked of you,” she spat, clenching her hands into fists.

“What you asked of me?” I stared at her, searching my brain in an attempt to remember what she had asked me to do. I couldn’t remember, however, for whenever I tried to think a
ll I could see was Olive lying dead in my arms and Felicity, standing before me with anger slithering through every part of her body.

“Kill Lovelock,” she said, taking a step towards me. I hadn’t thought about going to Cobalt in a long time – there had bee
n no news about the Raiders in days, and I had grown so comfortable with Felicity and Olive; but it was obvious that they had still been looking for me, otherwise they wouldn’t have found me.

“I’ll do it,” I breathed, nodding. I had no choice; if I didn’t,
they would keep looking for me, keep killing, keep destroying the little peace that was left in the world.

“Good,” Felicity said, turning towards her daughter. “They are waiting for by the tents.”

“Okay,” I murmured, trying to glance at Olive, but my view was blocked by Felicity. I turned away and sighed, clenching my fists and closing my eyes.
I have to do this.

“Arin,” called Felicity, walking up behind me and grabbing my hand, shoving something into my palm. Confused, I held it up, wide eyed at the sigh
t of it.

“Olive’s necklace?” I breathed, holding the silver chain in my hand, staring at the heart shaped stone. Tears rimmed my eyes again and I blinked my vision blurring.

“She wanted you to have it.. now go.” Felicity grunted, picking

Olivia up in he
r arms and staring at me. “Please.”

“Goodbye,” I said as she carried Olivia into the house, closing the door behind her. I looked at the necklace again, holding onto it with a tight grip. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, before putting it in my poc
ket. “He’ll pay for this. I promise, Olive. I won’t let the bad man hurt anyone again.”

It didn’t take long before I found the place where the tents were located – or had been located. Most of them were no longer standing, taken down for the wi
nter, but the few that still stood were hard to see, snow piled and crushing them against the ground.

Felicity had been right, however, for when I arrived there was a small group of people standing and waiting for my arrival. One was tall and blonde who l
ooked to have her nose always in the air, one a short and bearded man who was a little pudgy. The third person, however, was a face I couldn’t forget.

“Isaac,” I hissed, walking towards him.

“Arin,” he sighed. “Long time, no see, am I right?” He looked tired and his words didn’t seem to register in his mind; he seemed almost robotic. His voice, however, was like pouring acid on my heart. I had trusted him, a big mistake on my behalf.

“Go to hell,” I spat, balling my hands into fists, fighting back the de
sire to punch him square in the jaw.

“She’s a charmer,” murmured the blonde, snorting.

“And you’re a cow,” I said in retaliation, glowering at her. “So, which one of you shot the kid?” I asked, trying to keep the emotion from my voice. It was hard and I hated referring to her that way, but I had to try and make it seem like they hadn’t hurt me.

“Probably Jim, he’s a lousy shot,” responded the blonde with a shrug. “That is, unless you meant to shoot her, hm?”

“I did,” he said, glaring at her. “And I’m a better shot than you,

Kate.”

“You’re a dead man,” I whispered beneath my breath, swinging my fist. It connected hard with the man’s jaw, the bristle of his beard rubbing against my knuckles, his jaw cracking upon impact.

“Ow! What the…” Jim began, but his w
ords were covered by his hand as he grabbed his jaw, his face reddened with pain.

“Evil,” I hissed, spitting on him, “that’s all you are.” I moved forwards, intending to kick him, but Isaac grabbed my and pulled me against him, pinning my arms to my sides
and stepping on my foot.

“Play nice,” he said.

“Now, here’s the run down. We’re going to shove you in the car and you’re going to come with us up to Cobalt, got it?” the blonde, Kate, said with a wry smile.

“Got it,” I grunted, trying to free myself from I
saac’s arms.

“Good, great! The Prophet will be so pleased!” Kate said, clapping her hands together.

“I’ll get the car,” grumbled Jim, spitting blood as he shot a glare at me.

It wasn’t long before Jim returned with a beige vehicle, somewhat square and larg
e, labeled as a Jeep Wrangler. It was somewhat beaten up and it wasn’t silent in any way, but it looked like it would be able to do its job.

“Come on, the sooner we can get home the better,” Kate said, climbing into the passenger's side of the car, right b
eside Jim. Isaac dragged me, refusing to let me walk, to the back seat. He closed the door behind us and looked at me, smiling.

“Let’s go, Jim,” he said, and the car began to move faster and faster with each minute.

“Hey, Jim?” Kate said as we drove through a forest past, the vehicle bouncing in a violent manner.

“Yes?” Jim kept his hands, and eyes, on the bumpy road.

“When things are back to normal, are you going to shave that horrid thing on your face?” she chuckled, leaning back to give Isaac a high five.

“It is not horrid! It’s awesome!” Jim protested, sounding quite offended.

“No, man, she’s right. It’s awful,” Isaac laughed, and I couldn’t help but laugh with him. It was true, after all – his beard was disgusting.

We drove in silence for a while, aside
from the occasional banter, but otherwise it was silent aside from the roar of the engine. After a while, Kate broke the silence again.

“Arin, you know it’s your fault, right?” she inquired, looking back at me from the car.

“What is?” I asked, staring out the window.

“That little girl, she’s dead because of you,” she sneered and I felt Isaac’s hand brush my leg.

“I know,” I whispered, pulling Olive’s necklace from my pocket and twirling it between my fingers. It was at that moment that I realized I had left all of my things at Felicity’s cottage – not that I had much. But I had left my bow, my mother’s bow.

“What’s wrong?” Isaac whispered, and I jumped.

“Nothing,” I lied, glowering at him.

“Look,” Isaac said, glancing at Kate
and Jim. “You can trust me.

I know I messed up before, but… just trust me.”

“I’d sooner trust your silly Prophet.” I put my finger against his chest, pushing against him. He pulled away, opening his mouth a few times as if trying to think of a way to respond, but he said nothing and instead remained silent. Instead, he snatched Olive’s necklace out of my hands.

“Hey -” I cried, reaching for it.

“Here,” he said, moving towards my neck. I glared at him as he pulled the chain around my neck, latching the necklace on and pulling my hair out from underneath it. It was a little snug, but the cold silver against my neck would be a constant reminder of Olive and so I didn’t mind.

“Thanks,” I grumbled.

“Yeah.” He turned away, putting his hands in his lap and staring ahead, watching as the car bumped along the path. My gaze hovered on him for a moment, staring at the side of his face that faced me. There was a frown on his lips that was quite similar to my own. I wanted to say a thousand things, yell a thousand words and make him feel like he was no better than a bug; I wanted him to hurt more than Olive did. I wanted him to suffer.

But, most of all, I wanted to know why he had done it. I settled into the seat, adjusting my p
osition until I found something comfortable. I then closed my eyes, listening to the roar of the engine and my own breathing in an attempt to fall asleep.

I woke up a few hours later, the car pulling to a sudden stop, tires squealing. The sharp, unexpected
movement threw me against the front seat, my head smacking hard against the window.

“Ow,” I grumbled, leaning back against my seat with my head in my hands.

“We’re here,” Jim said. “Sorry about your head,” he chuckled, his tone sarcastic. He climbed out of the car, still laughing as if he enjoyed my pain – thought I didn’t doubt he was, in fact, enjoying it.

“Where, exactly, is ‘here?’” I asked as he opened the car door, bowing in a dramatic fashion. I slid out and glared at him, Isaac following close beh
ind me, remaining silent.

“Well,” he began, rubbing his jaw. “The Chapel is where we are, and your last stop.”

“Dramatic,” I snorted. “I thought we were going to Cobalt?” I looked around the area, but I didn’t see a Chapel anywhere in sight. I just saw a lot of dead trees and snow. What little sky I could see was tinted a soft sunset orange – I’d been out for quite a few hours. I rubbed my arms, shivering. It was way too cold.

“We’re near Cobalt,” Isaac added, glancing up at me before lowering his gaze.

“Yes ma’am we are,” Jim said, grinning. “Beautiful place, really.

The Chapel was a good find on the Prophet’s part.”

Kate crawled out of the car, stretching and yawning. “That was a
much
needed nap. We’re here already?”

Jim nodded, patting her on the back. “Now if only I had gotten to sleep and you had driven like you promised.”

Kate snorted. “I thought you didn’t like my driving?”

“I don’t see the ‘Chapel’ anywhere around here,” I interjected, interrupting the two of the
m and gesturing towards the trees that surrounded us.

“You aren’t very observant, are you?” Jim sighed, grabbing my shoulders and spinning me around. I gasped at the unexpected sight standing before.

It stood, towering before me, the light of the setting sun shining behind it. With brown bricks accented with gray stone, the Chapel stood tall with two large front doors and windows of varying colors, round and large or high and pointed. Vines crawled along the walls, reaching towards the roof. Leaves blossomed from these vines, covering the walls as if the building had been woven together, created by the vines and not by the brick that stood, shadowed beneath the foliage.

“No, she’s not,” Isaac murmured, brushing Jim away from me and grabbing hold of my arm.
I jerked away from him, but his grip remained tight. “Jim, go on ahead. Alert them so they can be ready for her arrival.”

“This place would be a lot prettier if it wasn’t used to house a lying coward,” I sighed, still struggling to remove my arm from Isaac
’s iron grip.

“Good idea, anything to get away from big mouth,” Kate said as she glowered at me before she spun around and skipped off towards the church. Jim shrugged and followed, trudging along behind her. Isaac and I stood in silence for a long moment,
watching as they disappeared inside the Chapel.

“Why didn’t the just stop in front of the stairs?” I asked, squirming and trying to move my arms out of his hands.

“Don’t really know,” he responded with a quick shrug before falling silent again.

“You’re so
vocal,” I said, clapping my hands together and giving a dramatic sigh. “Really, you’re talking my ears off.”

“Just miss my dad.” He looked at me, a thousand unsaid words dancing in his eyes. For a brief moment, I felt a sort of empathy towards him. I knew
his pain more than most others did – we had both lost our parents just days apart and the wound was still fresh and painful. At the same time, I wanted to punch him, just reel back and hit him straight in the face. He deserved it – he was an idiot who had lied and betrayed me and I hated him. He should have been the one to die in place of his father, but that was not how the world worked.

“Yeah, and I miss my parents too. They were good people – no matter what they did in the past,” I responded with scorn,
clenching my hands into fists.

“So was my dad, I just wish he had managed to save you like he wanted to.”

“What?” I asked, blinking. His response came unexpected and hit me like a train, a wave of confusion washing over me.

“You heard me,” he muttered.
“Despite what you seem to think, I don’t want you dead.” He let go of my arm, watching as it fell limp to my side.

For a long moment we stared at each other, eyes unblinking and mouths unmoving. Neither of us made a single sound, the creak of the trees aga
inst the soft winds the only sound.

“Why?” I croaked, breaking the silence as I stared at him, anger obvious in my tense body. “Why now? Your friends killed my parents and everyone else who I have ever given a damn for, and now you tell me you don’t want
me dead?” I closed my mouth, clenching my jaw and swallowing hard. I wanted to say so much more and yell until his ear drums burst, but instead I chose silence – a far better option, I had thought.

“Arin, I like you. You’re better than the others, differen
t…”

“Yeah, I’m not a goddamn child murderer,” I spat in response, fists clenching and arms flexing. I had no control over my body, and I swung – connecting with his jaw. Isaac closed his eyes, pain obvious in his expression as he staggered backwards, holdi
ng his face.

“Arin, please…” he groaned, crouched over and rubbing his jaw.

“I hope you realize the feeling is not mutual,” I hissed, taking a step away from him to restrain myself. The urge to beat him to a bloody pulp thrummed through me, blood roaring in my ears, drowning out the sound of my own breathing.

“Yeah,” he murmured, disappointment apparent on his face. It may as well have been scrawled along his face in big, black writing.

“Good,” I said and pivoted around as the doors to the Chapel swung open and Kate poked her head out, waving at us.

“Let’s go,” Isaac murmured, his hand still holding his jaw.

“Awesome,” I snorted, heading towards the Chapel with Isaac behind me. Kate looked on, her face twisted in a sly grin. I had a feeling she’d been expecting me to go along without much fight after we’d arrived – after all, it wasn’t like I had anywhere to go if I even tried to flee.

“Almost everyone is already here,” muttered Kate with a look of disappointment on her face. “I think the news got o
ut pretty fast that we found you.”

“More like when Neil found her,” Isaac interjected, shoving past Kate and into the building. She scowled at him, a look of complete hatred pasted on across her faces. I brushed past her, stepping into the building and loo
king around.

Candles flickered along the walls, a long hallway leading to a set of wooden doors. Isaac disappeared into an archway a few steps ahead to the side, a bang echoing throughout the hall as Kate slammed the door shut. She ran her fingers through
her blonde hair, sighing.

“I suppose we might as well get something to eat before everyone sees you.” She patted me on the back. “I’m starved; I wouldn’t doubt you’re hungry too?”

“Considering I’m going to be dead, no, not really,” I responded, moving away from her hand. My stomach, however, protested against her words – I was hungry, but I didn’t want to eat. I just wanted to get everything done and over with.