The Shattered Genesis (Eternity) (134 page)

             
I ignored her, too.

             
“This is counterproductive.” Don
muttered as he rubbed his eyes.

             
“What is? You torturing Maura or our current conversation?”
             
“Both. Maybe I did do it for the reasons you're saying. Maybe you're right about that. I'm a big enough man to admit that, and doesn't that count for something?”
He looked up at me.

             
“I suppose. However, it does not reverse the life-threatening wounds you and your thugs inflicted on her. It does not undo the toll her fear has taken on her body. If you could successfully reverse those, then I would consider us squar
e.” The smoke I exhaled cast a haze between us that hid his expression.

             
“Can I be frank with you?”

             
“I suppose. I do love honesty, however brutal.”

             
“This isn't brutal. It's an observation and a proposition.”

             
“How interesting.” I replied apathetically.

             
“You love her. I don't know what happened between the two of you but you need to realize that it's obvious. There is bad blood there, definitely. But you wouldn't have brought her to Pangea if you didn't feel some level of affection for her. While I don't
feel guilty for what I did because of who she is, who she's married to, I do know that there more than likely was a different way to go about it.”
             

             
“Of course there was. There were many paths you could have taken. Unfortunately, you chose the darkest one.
I think you should ponder exactly what that says about you. Though, spoiler alert, what it says is not good.”

             
“Would you just be quiet and listen for a second? You told me that you and I don't see eye to eye and that is very true. I believe that force is
necessary and sacrifices must be made. You don't.”

             
“No, I don't disagree that force and sacrifices are necessary. You and I differ on when force
should be utilized and which sacrifices are worth making. On the subject of sacrifice, we also disagree as to
which are morally acceptable.”

             
“Brynna Olivier, I thought you shunned morality.” There was a lightness to his voice that I had not heard in many months.

             
I looked over at him, smiling slightly.

             
“I never said that, either. What is it that you're asking m
e, Don? I am unable to decipher it at the present time as I am now entering my third day without sleep. My exhaustion hinders my ability to comprehend even something as simple as your true intentions.”

             
“You must be. Generally, you know what I am trying to
say even when I don't.”

             
“Are you complimenting me? Is that meant to advance the likelihood of me accepting whatever proposition it is that you refuse to say out loud?” I scratched the end of my cigarette against the concrete wall and watched the rain of
sparks fall to the ground.

             
“Yes. But that shouldn't suggest that I'm not being honest. And my proposition is that I need someone to bounce ideas off of. I need someone to help me figure out what I'm supposed to do. I know you have never really trusted me,
though I have tried to gain your trust. Brynna, I need for us to put our differences aside. I didn't want to become their leader, if you can even call me that. I don't even like to use that word. I need you to trust me when I say that when this all began,
all I wanted was to keep people safe and once we were safe, to keep us alive.”
             

             
“I trust that wholeheartedly, Don. Power corrupted you as it has corrupted many men and women far greater than both you and me. It sounds now, though, that you are resurfacin
g. You are coming back to your senses. Otherwise, you would not be asking for help.”

             
“I
am
asking for help. Brynna, I'm asking you to be my second-in-command.”

             
I nodded again and looked up at him; I had seen who Don truly was a handful of times before. I
had seen a man who possessed the will and ability to protect others. Our time at the house, though there had been hiccups both minimal and severe, had been the most peaceful and productive time we spent on Pangea. With my help, we could avoid those proble
ms that had been faced and as a result, actually stand a chance of winning the war against the Bachums. I could mold him to see as I saw: The other side could not all be killed for they were not all bad people. They were scared survivors scrambling to make
their way on Pangea, knowing that they could not do it alone. In short, they were just like us, except they had turned to the Bachums, who offered them safety in exchange for their blind commitment to their ridiculously unrealistic vision of God. In time,
they would find their way to us and if I could convince Don that they were on our side, we could protect them, too.

             
“Don Abba, you have yourself a deal.” After lighting up yet another cigarette, I reached my hand out to him.

             
“Really?” He asked and his c
omically large eyes widened. I chuckled softly as he shook my hand.

             
“Yes.”

             
“I was so prepared for you to refuse that I don't know what to say now.”

             
“Just say that we're going to make this work. We're going to figure this out. In the end, everything will
turn out in our favor.”

             
“We're going to figure this out. We're going to make it work.” He told me instantly.

             
“Yes. Do you know how we can start? You can let that woman and her two children out of lockup.”
             
He grimaced.

             
“Are you sure?”

             
“I am positive.”

             
For a moment, he looked thoughtful. Then he nodded and in his heart, I could sense an acknowledgment that I was right. When he reached the stairs that led down to the cells, he turned back to me.

             
“I am very sorry for what I did to Maura. Though she did
admit that she knows what they're planning, I could have gone about getting my answers in a different way. It's amazing, how quickly guilt starts to kick in. Pray that you never feel this.” He was silent for a minute, his eyes fixated on a crack in the con
crete floor beneath our feet. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet, resigned to a fact that saddened and disgusted him. “I know that I'm sick, Brynna. You might not see it as sickness but it's uncontrollable, just like a fatal disease. That's why I nee
d you. I need you to help me avoid the worst in myself.”

             
“I know you do.” I told him gently. “I'll help you any way I can, Don. If Maura dies today, there will be anger towards you, great anger that I will control just barely. But I do believe in time and
with our joint mission in mind, I will overcome it.”

             
“Fair enough.” He replied. “But will you forgive me for it?”

             
I looked into the room when Maura called my name again. I looked back at him and shook my head before saying softly and resolutely, “No.”

             
“Brynna, please just come in here!” Violet screamed to me through her tears. Begrudgingly, I walked into the room. Maura, even when her eyes were open, was not conscious. When she spoke, she spoke to my father, Violet, her mother, Elijah, Penny, and Lucien
. Never once did she speak to me. Now, she was calling out for me. I could not afford the anger that I felt towards her for that. I didn't understand why it was there, but I knew that her condition was worsening. If the worst was going to happen, I had to
let that anger go.

             
I had to let it go.

             
“I need you both to leave for a few minutes.” I told Elijah and Violet, who looked at me curiously.

             
“Why?” Violet asked. “Brynn, what if she...”

             
“If she does, I would prefer you not see it.”

             
“But I need to be wit
h her, Brynna!” Violet wailed before throwing her arms around my neck and crying into them. I rubbed her back comfortingly.

             
“Violet, I need you to trust me on that. You do not need to see her end. Now, just in case it happens while I'm here, say your good
byes now.”
             

             
“Brynn, Jesus Christ!” Elijah was stunned by my blunt order. He was too young to understand.

             
“Elijah, I am not going to shield either of you from the grave severity of the situation. You do not deserve to be lied to. I would not forgive mysel
f if you two never got a chance to tell her goodbye.”
             

             
Elijah glared at me for a moment and then knelt down beside the bed, his mouth close to Maura's ear.

             
“I know you're in pain. I'm so sorry for that, Maura. They said that there's nothing we can do. I
should have stopped them. I did try. I told them there was nothing that you could tell them. But they didn't listen, and I should have broken down the door. I should have run in there and killed them all for what they were doing.”

             
Regret. It cascaded from
the tip of his consciousness like acidic rain. Every other thought melted away as the drops burst open against them. I hated that he now had the means to torment himself forever.

             
“I know what happened...” He told her as tears began to leak from his eyes.
“I know what you did with Brynna. I don't understand it. But it doesn't matter now. She doesn't want me to be angry at you.”

             
Maura gave a soft moan of agony. I wondered if it was in response to what he had said.

             
“So I'm not angry. If this is it, Maura,
I just need you to take that with you, okay? I need you to know that.”

             
My own throat clenched. I held Violet tighter, focusing my energy on keeping my tears at bay. I would not cry.

             
“I need you to know that I love you. That is just about the most clichéd
thing to say and I know
that if you can hear me, you're rolling your eyes and telling me to come up with something more original,” We all laughed softly at that. “But that's the best I've got.”

             
“It's plenty, Eli.” I assured him. “It may be clichéd, but i
t's plenty.”
             
He nodded, squeezed my shoulder, swiped at his eyes and left the room.

             
“Alright, honey, your turn.” I told Violet softly. She took Elijah's place beside the bed.

             
“Maura...” She managed to croak out. Then she sprang up, threw her arms over M
aura, and cried hysterically into her chest. “I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!”

             
“
Shh
...” I whispered as I eased her up off of Maura. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

             
“I promised her I'd keep her safe. I said I'd take care of her, Brynn. I failed her. Don'
t you see? I failed her!” She cried to me uncontrollably. I struggled not to grasp my chest or contort my face into an expression of pain as my heart broke for her.

             
“You didn't!” I told her firmly. Some of my earlier ice resurfaced but its new life was
not bred from a desire to push her away. It was meant to convince her of a truth that would heal her grief, however minimally. “There was nothing you could have done, Violet Mae. She wouldn't want you to feel that. That is the last thing she would want.”

             
Violet looked up at Maura's bruised and bloodied face. She kissed her forehead gently.

             
“I love you, Maura. Please don't die. Please, I need you.”

             
“Alright. Go with Elijah.” I took her hand and steered her towards the door. When I opened it, Alice and Qui
nn had come downstairs. A look passed between Alice and I. Immediately, she knew that I was going to ask her to watch over my sister. She nodded and squeezed my hand. I was stunned briefly that she understood so clearly. A surge of love for her went throug
h me. I realized that she and Quinn were my friends. I pondered the implications of that even as I closed the door to the room.