“I will not apologize to her when she is the one…”
James squeezed his wrist harder. I watched as Don’s face contorted into an expression of both agony and terror at being forced to withstand even more pain.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” He cried out.
“Look at her. You look at her when you say it, you son of a…”
“James…” I stood up, walked forward and placed both of my hands on his face. “Thank you. That will do.”
James released him instantly but continued to glare down at him as he curled up on the ground and grasped his wrist. James pointed at him over my shoulder, gritting his teeth in an urge to suppress his violent inclination to rip that little man apart.
“Look at the big man. Look at the big leader now. You’re such a big man that you need to rough up a woman to make your point.” James spat at him, trembling with the fury so clearly evident in his eyes. “I am astounded that you would be so stupid, doing that right in front of me.”
“Come on.” I whispered to him before standing on my toes to kiss his cheek twice. “Come on, baby.”
My voice was the beast’s sedation. When James’s eyes met mine, they were that deep brown that glowed in the dying sun. I kissed his lips for one long, glorious moment that calmed him further. But when his eyes saw Don trying to maneuver his way onto his feet, the rage erupted once again. He stormed forward, almost unrecognizable in his anger, but I grasped his face and kissed him again.
“I love you,” I whispered to him, and his hands pulled me closer to him gently. He kissed me again with even more frenzied heat than I had used to kiss him.
As we walked away, I heard Don give another shout of pain. I turned back to see that both Quinn and Elijah had kicked him, one right after the other, in the ribs.
“We are going to pay dearly for that.” I told James dismally.
The feeling of foreboding that had failed to warn me of the danger Penny and Violet were in dragged its claw-like fingernails through my chest. I could feel Don trying to channel his rage and bring us to our knees. His grasp on the powers with which he had been bestowed would only make his eradication of us that much easier. I shuddered to think what would happen when we returned. My sweating hands held one of James’s.
“Hey,” His finger trailed lightly along my jawline. I turned my head to look at him. “No worries. Not one, you got it?”
I nodded, the trace of a smile on my lips upon being filled with that glorious warmth that accompanied the sight of him. His kiss expanded that warmth inside of me; I could feel it strongly from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. I wished I could stay forever submerged in that warmth; I would swim in it until the world no longer existed.
But Violet and Penny were in need of rescue and I would not lose them to anyone, least of all the Bachums and the natives that had aligned with them. Or had the Bachums aligned with the natives? It was an impossibility, at least at the current time, to decipher which pack ruled the tribe.
It was unclear because at the time, it was irrelevant. What mattered was the fight ahead of us. The population of our house had been quite large, hovering in the middle hundreds. But in the northern part of Pangea, the Bachums possessed an army that would make Genghis Khan positively green with envy. Their number doubled or perhaps even tripled ours. Yet there we were, five people facing over one thousand.
I was undaunted. I was unafraid to die if it meant the safety and prolonged life of my sisters. I had wronged both of them in so many ways; I had deprived Violet of my love after she had reached a certain age and Penny had been born only to rectify my deadly mistake. No act would ever truly make up for what I had put them through. Nothing I did could ever erase the pain I had inflicted upon them.
“I know what you’re thinking.” Elijah told me softly after we had hopped the canal and begun our trek through the shadowed forest.
“I sincerely doubt that.”
I avoided his eyes as I spoke strictly out of guilt. I was responsible for what had happened to our sisters. If the worst happened, their blood would be on my hands. If we lost them, I wanted him to blame me. I wanted to feel every last bit of his hatred and resentment. My foolishness and naivety already warranted public and private scorn. I wanted no one’s sympathy, for I did not deserve it.
“Tell me it’s my fault. Is that what you are thinking?” I whispered to him so James, Alice and Quinn could not hear.
“No. See, you told me you didn’t think I could know what you’re thinking but I was right. You’re blaming yourself for this. Brynn, it’s not your…”
I closed my eyes, shook my head slightly, and held my hand up to stop him.
“I am supposed to know these things. I allowed my blood-lust to lead me away from them when given the current climate, I should have stayed right by their sides where I could protect and watch over them. I do not want to imagine, even vaguely, what might happen to them. I only want to get them back. But there is one other issue that I must resolve and it involves you. I need to know if you blame me for this.”
“Well, I don’t.” Elijah told me, “I don’t, Brynn. Does that help you or hurt you, to know that I don’t blame you?”
“Neither. It is just something else to know.” I watched as James, Alice and Quinn walked ahead of us. “I will never say a negative word about those two again. Alice suffered a gunshot wound because she refused to allow Penny and Violet to be taken. Quinn immediately ran after them, suffering injuries in his pursuit. They have earned my respect.”
Elijah nodded and looked at me.
“And I’ll never say a negative word about James again. He has earned my approval.”
I smiled, surprised to find how happy Elijah’s approval made me. I discovered that while I had been saying frequently that I did not care what my brother or anyone else thought of mine and James’s relationship, Elijah’s opinion did matter greatly to me. I had always operated by the laws and morals of my heart and mind, never stopping to wonder what anyone thought. Now, I was seeing that those I held dearest to me, meaning Elijah, Penny, and Violet, would hold sway over my actions. They were all I had, after all.
“What made you change your mind, if I might ask?” I asked him.
“A lot of things. He cares about you. He protects you without thinking about his own safety. He respects you. He can deal with your insanity and send it right back at you. Plus, you told him something you never told me, which must mean you trust him. Brynna,” He looked at me with eyes begging for an answer he assumed I would not give, “Why didn’t you tell me about what happened?”
I wanted to shut off. An icy glare and a hurried walk forward would affirm his suspicions that I would never disclose the details of what had happened to me. But my brother deserved to know the truth after so many years of lies.
“I did not tell you because I hated the way people looked at me after they knew. I hated seeing their pity. Sometimes, I swear to you, I saw very slight disgust. I know now that those people must have thought that I had some way allowed it to happen. Perhaps they even believed that I had asked. Whatever the reason and whatever the emotion behind the look, I did not like it.”
He stared at me for a long while, clearly fighting tears.
“I also did not want you or Violet to ever carry that burden, even minimally. I did not want you two to wonder how you could ever have loved such an evil man.”
“How could I, Brynn?! How could I not have…”
“You were very young. On the surface, Michael was very kind. He had been present in our lives from the moment we entered that world. We all trusted him and loved him like family. It just turns out that we were all wrong.”
“Did he ever say why?”
It was a child’s question posed to me by my twenty-four year old brother. Normally, I scoffed at such displays of foolish childishness. But with Elijah, I understood; his inner goodness was as pure as a child’s and thus, he was blinded to the true nature of people like Michael. I felt as
though answering honestly would crush his refreshing ignorance the way a boot crushes a newly bloomed lily. Tears welled in my eyes, forcing me to look away.
“Sometimes, there is no reason for such depravity. Just know, Eli, that I am alright now. For years, I hated everyone except for you, Violet and Penny. I know it must have seemed like I hated you, too, but I did not. After what happened to Lucien, I did not want to cause you or Violet anymore pain.”
“But that wasn’t your fault, either! How could they have said that was your fault? You weren’t sleeping!”
“I might as well have been sleeping. I just...” I rubbed my forehead with the tips of my fingers for a moment, wondering how best to continue, “I had such a firm grasp on everything around me all the time. I was always so alert that the slightest sound could make me jump up out of my skin. I would lapse into those fits and lose track of everything but still, my mind never relaxed. I just wallowed in the worst of it, trying to make sense of it all. Lucien paid the price for my ignorance.”
“But it wasn’t your fault! You were sick, Brynna. They shouldn’t have left you alone with him! And Dad was calling you a liar! I remember that! Mom believed you, but Dad didn’t! And then Mom turned on you after Lucien and that’s so horrible, Brynn. Dad, Maura and Mom were cruel. They deserve everything they get for what they did to you!”
“See, that is what I was afraid of.” I stopped him from walking and grasped his hand. “I told Violet this and I will tell you as well: Do not change your feelings towards them on my behalf. Do not allow yourself to hate those you have loved your whole life simply because they were cruel to me. It is not…”
“Don’t even try to tell me it’s not worth it, Brynna. It is worth it! They told you they wished it had been you. They told you they hated you. Mom kicked you out the day you turned eighteen. Maura used to get drunk and tell you to kill yourself, for God’s sake! And I was too stupid to ask questions! I ran off to college and left you to deal with all of that by yourself! I left you to raise Violet and Penny by yourself. And worst of all, I didn’t stop that sick piece of shit from touching you!”
“Stop.” I whispered to him as tears ran down his cheek. I put both of my hands on his face and wiped them away. “Eli, you were eleven years old. You could not have known.”
“I would have killed him. I should have killed Dad, too. I will, for every time he hit you and for every time he told you he wished you were dead.”
“No. I have made my peace with all of this, Eli. We are here on Pangea. We have a chance to start over. Once we get Penny and Violet back, we will start everything over. We will disappear into the woods with like-minded people and live out eternity just trying to have the best life we can. That will make up for all horrible things that happened on Earth.”
He nodded, wiping at his eyes furiously, so ashamed of himself for crying.
“I’m going to lose my man-card right now.” He told me, and I chuckled softly.
“No. A little emotion is allowed under the stressful circumstances. Even tough men are allowed a few tears. If even I am saying that feelings and tears are warranted, then it must be true, right?”
“Do you love James?” He asked me. Upon seeing the look of surprise on my face at the random question, he elaborated. “You just deserve to be happy after everything. Is it serious with him? Do you think you two will be together for a long time? Do you love him?”
I looked ahead of us, observing James as he walked. That man had come along from nowhere and saved my life not just once. He had tolerated my personal slights and the intricate difficulties of my personality and past. He was quick to make me laugh or to comfort me when my anxieties grew too large to handle alone. In fact, he did not allow me to handle anything alone, no matter how much I insisted or insulted. After all of that became evident, I had wanted our friendship to progress into something more and it had, beautifully and rapidly. I could not live a day without him. The love I had in my heart for him brought tears to my eyes and that tiny smile to my lips. Knowing that those wonderful feelings were mutual was enough to take my breath away.
“Yes,” I answered Elijah, “To all of the above.”
Elijah nodded and smiled, too.
“Good.”
Quinn
It was not smoke or shouts that had alerted us to the presence of the Bachums. It was a full-fledged inferno. I had been out chopping wood with Eric and Teresa, a married couple from Maine. We had been joking about Don’s crazy eyes, a subject that brought much laughter to many in the house. We respected Don tremendously for what he had done for us, but some things are too funny to ignore.
“Especially when he starts getting overexcited. Man, I sometimes think they’re going to fall right out of his head.” Eric told us.
“Do it again. Do the thing again.” Teresa urged him through her hysterical laughter.
Eric widened his eyes so that the whites glowed in the twilight. He pulled a sadistic, all-tooth grin and began to chop wood quickly and with gusto. Teresa and I fell over ourselves, cracking up at the impression.
“Does this make you uncomfortable?!” Eric bellowed as he continued chopping the wood in fury.
We only laughed harder.
“Better resume our work before he gets back. Just think, guys, we’re going to be completely safe pretty soon. The other side will be gone. We’ll have won. It’s pretty awesome, isn’t it?” Teresa asked with a dreamy smile.
“I don’t know if it’s going to be that easy.”
“Are you kidding? We’re tougher and stronger than they are. We’ve allowed ourselves to change over and they’re too afraid to do the same. They think the powers are evil. God, people like that annoy me.” Teresa shook her head.
“Whatever. We don’t have to worry about them anymore. I think Brynna said something about bringing back a lot of their people. We could use more people around here, what with all the work. She doesn’t think that all of them are as devoted to the cause as the Bachums are.” Eric said, “She’s a good kid.”
“She’s a little crazy, but she’s definitely grown on me. I couldn’t stand the bitchiness before but now, it’s actually kind of funny.” Teresa told us, “She really gives Don a hard time. Don’t get me wrong, I like Don. But he’s a little intense. She calls his attention to how crazy he is sometimes. Like, I guarantee you that she was the one that told him the amount we had to contribute needs to be less.”
“Knowing Brynna the way I do, I can tell you that she was definitely the force behind Don’s change of heart. She doesn’t take that stuff lying down.” I chimed in as I threw two pieces of wood into the wheelbarrow.
“Hard to believe she’s Daniel Olivier’s kid, considering how nuts he was. We would all be dead if we had stayed. We’re just fortunate enough to have chosen the side that doesn’t tell us when we’re allowed to eat, drink or take a…”
Eric turned around, his eyes wide. He wasn't pulling another dead-on impression of Don; there was a rustling in the trees that had nothing to do with the evening wind. Frenzied movements were breaking sticks on the ground and rustling the dirt and pine needles that covered the forest floor. Humans were approaching our camp.
I smelled the air, trying to discern a familiar scent. If any of the people had crossed my path in the campsite, I would remember their smell. We needed to know if we were dealing with humans or natives. My nose told me that we were dealing with both, but also that there was a fire burning close by.
I whipped around, being assailed instantly by a thick cloud of black smoke. My stinging eyes could see through it vaguely but the blazing fire consuming our home was bright enough that I didn't need to ask questions. Eric and I, both clutching our axes, turned to run for the house.
“Stay here.” I heard Eric tell Teresa behind me.
That was the last I saw of them.
I ran into the house through the backdoor, shouting for Alice, Penny and Violet. I choked on the smoke that had filled the space. When a beam crashed beside me, I
jumped sideways and rolled away, just narrowly avoiding being crushed. In my quick dodge, I hadn’t realized that I was rolling right towards the fire. Even after I knew that I was safe, I didn’t realize I was burning. Only when I felt the pain did my reflexes kick in, telling me to move. I ran out of the kitchen towards the stairs.
“Quinn! Quinn!” Alice was screaming.
“Alice! Where are you?!”
“At the front door!”
I couldn’t go forward; part of the roof had collapsed and was blocking my way. I tried to go back into the kitchen to use the back door again but an almighty rumble above my head stopped me in my tracks. I stumbled backwards when another beam fell just in front of me, blocking my entrance into the kitchen. I swore loudly as I jumped up out of the rubble that I had been blown into by the force of the beam hitting the ground. I jumped up and down, trying to swat the embers out of my clothes before they caught fire. Sweat poured from me and tears pooled in my eyes; the smoke was thick and the fire was strong.
“QUINN!” Alice screamed.
“You have to jump over it!” I heard Violet shouting.
“What?!” I exclaimed, noting that the pile of rubble between myself and them was at least ten feet high.
“It’s going to hurt but it’s the only way!” Violet continued loudly and urgently, “Trust me, you’ll make it!”
“Oh, man…” I muttered to myself as I looked up at the towering wall of burning debris just in front of me.
I backed up so that my back was almost touching the burning beam that was blocking the kitchen door. I looked up at the ceiling and pressed my hands together. “Lord, if you’re up there,” I stopped and rolled my eyes, “Never mind.”
My legs carried me forward at that inhuman speed I was becoming used to. My body acted by its own accord; my hands pulled me up, ignoring the painful burning of my skin making contact with the fire. I ran so quickly up the mountain of splintered, burning wood that even when parts slid under my shoes, I was still able to keep moving. Once at the top, I turned sideways and heaved all the force in my body forward so that I slid quickly without stopping. Fresh air was intermingling with the coarse smoke, tempting me to run faster towards the open door. Alice, Penny and Violet were there, encouraging me to run faster.
The Shattered Genesis (Eternity) Page 72