Faith [5] 456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK8boX5ULJP
You can sleep when you're dead456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJ9q7H5DSe
Ririe 456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4roTVvSlYv
A month had passed.
There had been no word from Aster and Taylor, as far as they knew, they were dead. Sonny practically lived in the shanty opium den in town. Colton and Cash disappeared most days, doing whatever it is they did.
This left Faith and Pierce alone in the apartment most days, which led to some awkward moments. Awkward moments which included Pierce’s discovery of Eli. It had been evening time, the afternoon light still slipping through the giant round window. Faith had been sitting on the pretty black metal chairs that looked like they belonged outside, talking with Eli who sat on the other side. She’d woken late that day, and by the quiet assumed Pierce had gone out when in fact he was upstairs.
Upstairs, and listening to every word Faith said to her imaginary friend. He’d crept downstairs and watched her have a full-blown argument with someone who wasn’t there. When Faith realized Pierce had been standing at the bottom of the stairwell the entire time, she’d been forced to attempt to explain the existence of her invisible Daemon constantly by her side. Pierce had stared at her for about six seconds before showing her the stack of books he’d hidden behind his back.
“You can make purple lightning shoot out of your hands, you have a tattoo of the sun on your hand and you can’t remember 96% of your life. Having an invisible daemon with no color coordination and stellar advice on killing people isn’t all shocking at this point if I’m being all that honest,” Pierce shrugged, setting the stack down on the table.
“What are those?” Faith asked, curious. He sighed and rested an arm on the book stack.
“I’m going to educate you slash hopefully trigger some memories. I mean, what else have we got to do?” Pierce grinned.
A lot, actually. Not that Pierce would admit that. After the incident with the Shadow Man, Pierce’s scavenger trade had more or less fallen to pieces. With the trade as their main source of income, the others had all looked to Pierce for some kind of answer. He didn’t have time for Faith, yet he made time.
Like now, for instance. Maverick had grown to the size of a fully grown cat within the month, and seemed to continue to grow every single day. He lay stretched out, dividing the chessboard that sat between Pierce and Faith. There wasn’t much point to moving him, as he’d find some other annoying position to lay in. For now, the purple furred cat was merely an obstacle.
“How do you do it?” Faith asked, moving a white pawn forward a space.
“How do I do what?” Pierce replied, still staring at the board as he moved a black pawn.
“Be so damn cynical all the time yet seem…content,” She said, biting the tip of her finger lightly.
“Cynical? Ha. I’m actually quite optimistic thank you,” He said, grinning lightly.
“Says Mr. Everything We Do Is Inherently Selfish,” Faith mocked, smiling in return. She moved her piece a step closer to the wall o’ fur.
“You realize people can have multiple perspective on things, including life right? I’m not going to pretend to be some great philosopher, but in my humble opinion life is all about choices when you get down to it. For example, I believe that everything we do is inherently selfish but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I also choose to believe that there’s always hope, and that things can always get better if we have the drive to make it so,” Pierce explained, placing his own pawn a step away from the wall o’ fur.
“How do you manage?” Faith sighed, inspecting the carvings on the pawn.
“It’s…confusing. But, I’ve found that there are two aspects to maintaining yourself. And since, well, you’re missing more than half of your life I might as well preach it to you. I mean….if that’s ok?” Pierce said without his usual confidence.
Faith had lost memories of her past, of who she was or really who she had been. And yet, she still knew how to use a fork, what a chair was, how to draw a bath and which was up and which way was down. In summary, she was a different person in the same body. Some nights Faith lay awake, her daemon keeping her warm, asleep beside her (even though Faith had come to realization that he most likely didn’t need sleep.) She’d lie there rested under the blanket of cold, milky white moonlight and bite the tips of her fingers, her palms sweating feeling a growing knot of guilt tighten in her stomach. It almost felt like she’d stolen this life.
Looking at him now, without that usual look in his oaken eyes it was obvious someone hadn’t cared in the past. Someone, or no one. He was unsure of himself, and the advice he had to give. Yet, Faith would rather no other teacher.
“Go for it,” She said with a warm smile.
Pierce sighed through his nose, and rolled the pawn about in his palm.
“It makes sense in my head, see. I’m not entirely sure if this makes sense aloud, but…it’s made up of two aspects. Passion and control. Like a tree, it needs its seed, a center. Everyone needs a passion, something to strive for. It gives meaning to your life, a true purpose sometimes depending on what this passion is. And like anything else, you need control, which comes from balance,” He said, still staring at the pawn.
“How do you maintain this balance, and… how is it you’re so well versed in the ways of life for a nineteen year-old?” Faith wondered, spinning her pawn around where it stood.
“Believe it or not but nineteen years is plenty of time to experience the worst in humanity…but, it’s better than being sheltered away I suppose. Balance is easy enough I maintain it through staying fit…which may work for you?” He said, half-mumbling the last part. Faith placed her pawn down.
“Are you saying I’m unfit?” She said with an eyebrow raised. Pierce shrugged with a weird look he only did when he was trying not to be rude (yet failed miserably.)
“A passion will keep you centered, keeping fit will keep you focused. Your body was at a vulnerable point when I found you. From then on your entire diet has consisted of pancakes. Specifically, the pancakes I’ve been making in the last month, drowned in maple syrup,” Pierce shrugged again, trying in vain to hide his smile.
"That sounds like a challenge,” Faith sneered, placing her pawn over Maverick.
“And now it's a challenge accepted,” Pierce said, placing his pawn on the other side.
A sprint around the bustling town, that's how Faith had decided to prove the black-haired weirdo wrong. Hands clasped with an evil smirk and laugh, Pierce had happily accepted.
They were to begin down at the other end of the apartment block, (which was really no much more than a heap of rubble), make their way through the field outside the metal-patchwork gates of town, through the stream and then follow the chain link fence around the edge of the
Town until they finished out at the bluff over-looking the ocean.
The race began, and Faith managed to even over-take Pierce for the first sixty seconds. Then they kept an even pace, until Faith began to fall behind. Further, and further behind until she had made it to the chain-link fence, doubled over with her hands rested on her knees. Pierce jogged back to her and looked to his watch that wasn’t there.
“Hmmm, how long did that take, two minutes?” He said as Faith gave him the filthiest look.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7UQT4eapTp
“Point…taken….” Faith wheezed, letting herself collapse to the ground.
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For not being human, Eli happened to be very good at reading people. Whilst Faith did her ‘lessons’ with Pierce, as she was doing now, Eli would notice the little things. Faith wouldn’t mention to Pierce that he was there, at least she wouldn’t have to until Faith glanced about the room with an irritable look she always got when Eli got bored and decided to let her know about it. It wasn’t until Eli had started humming in such a tone-deaf manner that Faith barked at him to shut up that Pierce dared to try and speak directly to her ghostly-counterpart and asked him to kindly shut up if he cared anything at all about recovering Faith’s memories. To that, Eli had slumped on the couch and called Pierce a few colorfu names that Faith chose not to recite and pretended he’d decided to disappear instead.
This had led to Eli taking an interest in the other inhabitants of the apartment. An interest he’d happily yammer on and on about for hours and hours into the night. He'd tell her how Colt smelled of too much lavender oil to mask the scent of the beer as if he’d bathed in the stuff. Cash never slept in her own bed, as she barely slept. She only felt solace in sleeping in Colton’s bed, (not that they did anything, Eli assured her), they just simply slept. Or sometimes they’d stay awake and whisper inaudible things to each other until one or both fell asleep. Sometimes Cash would cry silent sobs, and Colt would hold her and hum a soft lullaby until it eased her racing heart.
Yet when Colt found himself with the need to cry and throw up half the contents of his stomach he'd lock himself inside the bathroom and try his best not to make his sobs too loud.
“They're both hiding something. They all are. Whatever Cash is hiding, is hiding is on the past, but whatever Colt is holding onto is slowly suffocating him so he drowns himself in the local Tavern,” Eli said softer than before, as if someone else might hear him sharing this secret.
When Faith found sleep to be a waste of time, she'd ask Eli many a question. Questions such as;
“Do you know what I am?”
“Why are you bound serve me?”
“Why can't anyone else see you?”
“Do I wield magic abilities?”
“Why can't you leave?”
“Don't ever leave me.”
Eli gave answers that didn't answer the question.
The daemon and his master had grown closer. Nothing like what had happened in the field had happened since, despite their close quarters. It was more of an agreement between the two truthfully, to watch each other's backs.
As a result of Eli’s answer dodging, Faith had turned to Pierce and help piece together who she was exactly. In fact, he'd been the one to propose the idea of their lessons. These lessons were more conversation than teaching, where Pierce would dictate a series of topics, words and names in an effort to jog her memory. This, Eli disliked. But like most of the time, Eli’s opinion was beside the point. Besides, Faith found she enjoyed Pierce’s company, just a very involved conversation between the two, which brought them back to where they were now. Very involved.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmtUbB1x9Tl
They sat the black seats before the round window, a recording device sitting on the table (an invention of Pierce’s own genius.) Faith wore her usual attire, the white shirt of Colt’s she'd adopted as her own, the the cream leather jacket and her own black pants and boots (which had been washed, by the way.) Pierce wore the same type of shirt he usually wore with the same black pants, but the shirt was a bright, bright red. He'd grown out a bit more scruff, which was essentially the only sign of the stress and weight that became heavier and heavier every day.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLYre9P8OIt
At first Faith had been hesitant at the thought that this would just add to the growing stress, but after a while she came to the realisation that this time of distracting conversation and sarcastic jabs made him forget about the stress, at least for a little while.
Pierce adjusted his glasses, looking to the scraggly list of things he planed to talk about. (If there was one thing Faith had learned in these lessons, Pierce had terrible handwriting.)
Without looking he pressed the record button on the machine and nudged the end with the microphone to her.
“What is the Arabellan tree? He asked, tapping the black pen to his mouth. Faith only realised she'd been terribly distracted by his lips when he raised his eyebrows expectantly.
“Oh ah, I-I don't know,” she said, averting her eyes to stare at the recorder.
Faith only heard the faint click as he tapped the pen against his lips and then went to write something down.
“The tree is the centre of the Capitol, it was planted by the Phoenix Men as a sign of unity amongst the many peoples,” He said scratching something out from the list.
Faith started when Eli leaned in to whisper into her ear, deciding to only appear then.
“You're getting distracted Faith. If you're trying to figure who and what you are, you'd best stop staring at the veins in his neck and try tearing down that wall inside your head,” The daemon said before immediately leaving.
Faith took a deep breath and felt for the wall. Pressing against the wall inside her mind felt like scratching at an old wound. Unlike before, it felt cold, almost dead-like and unwelcoming. Very, very unwelcoming. As hard as she dared, Faith pressed against the wall.
“The Arabellan Tree, the Arabellan Tree, what is it…?” She thought, trying her best to surpass the wall and find some inkling of memory. With her eyes closed, Faith focused on those three words until something began to happen…the sound of static began to fill her ears. The static clouded the blackness until the outline of something began to form.
It was a glowing green outline of a tree that glowed brighter and brighter with every heart beat that thumped louder and louder like a drum in her chest. The static whined and spiked in pitch growing higher until the vision disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
When she opened her eyes Faith let out the breath she had been holding in.
“It's a tree!” she blurted without thinking, looking to Pierce in astonishment. Pierce kept an even gaze and pressed stop on the recorder.
“Quite,” He said, adjusting his glasses slightly.
Faith sat back down in her seat, pinching the bridge of her nose for a moment.
“Ah, right. That much was probably obvious…but, I did manage to something!” She exclaimed, to which Pierce then turned the recorder back on.
Faith tried her best to explain the experience, and Pierce scribbled down notes as she talked. During their talk Colton and Cash had returned to the apartment, merry and cheerful as could be considering the overwhelming amount of flower bunches they'd purchased from the traveling salesman currently visiting Ririe.
Whilst Pierce looked through his notes for another subject the two began their daily exercise routine. Colt did his chin-ups on the apartment doorframe whilst Cash did push-ups beneath him, his feet on her back supporting his weight.
Faith rested her head on her propped up knuckle, wheezing out a sigh. A sudden sickness had upset her stomach, a sick feeling that crawled up her throat and into her head that made her vision go in and out of blurriness. Pierce looked to her as if to continue and Faith put her hand on his face.
“ShHhssH now. Cash and I are going to the tavern,, I feel like shit I need a drink.”
Pierce gave her a curious yet guarded look.
“Be careful, then.”
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Cash was more than happy to go for a drink. Despite the fact that the tavern smelled of rotten hay and the soured breath of its patrons. The timbers of the walls and floors were worn and gnawed at, scuffed from more than a few fights.
They sat at the bar, staring into tankards of froth and watered down ale. Slightly tipsy and no longer quite as nauseous, Faith was curious.
“So, what's going on between you and Colt, really?” She asked, sloshing around the drink.
“It's complicated. We want to be together, but…there are some obstacles on both our ends. We still look out for each other, though,” Cash said, staring off into nothingness.
“But, speaking of complicated, bet you didn't know it's Pierce’s 20th Day of birth soon,” She said, nudging Faith with an elbow and mischievous grin.
Twentieth? What am I to do about that?
“Usually he doesn't let people in his room but this one day he was out and his room was a bloody mess. So I stepped in to clean it and came across this scrunched up piece of paper and turns out it's a list. A list of all the things he wants to do before he turns twenty, Cash explained pulling up a crumpled, folded piece of paper.
She handed it to Faith and said, “He’s done a lot for you, he's done a lot for all of us. You don't have to do anything, but…he deserves a bit of thanks doesn't he?”
Just as Faith went to nod in agreement, the door of tavern slammed open. There was four of them, but they were all the same. They smelled of the road and unsalted animal skins. Hardened bread and cheese, musky tasting water and long unwashed, sweaty boiled leathers garments. Unkempt beards and grazing stubble lining their necks and jaws and long hair tied into ponytails or buns.
“Poachers,” Cash sight irritably. The one that looked to be the leader came up to the bar and leant against it. He lit a cigarette and held it between his teeth, giving Cash a wry grin as he grunted for a whisky from the musty old barkeep.
“Ey’ darling,” He winked, running his tongue over yellowed teeth. Faith almost went to turn away, expect a sigh of disgust from Cash at the poacher’s advances. Instead, Cash bent a little further over the bar, cocked her head and smiled her beautiful smile. She wore a woollen brown coat and a red, tight-fitting leather and silk sashes that formed an x-shape over her breasts and down her sides. Brown leather pants that went down to her ankles and black high boots. Faith was undoubtedly jealous, considering only Cash could ever pull such an outfit off.
Is she drunk or something…?
“Strange, I don’t think she is,” Eli said. He sat atop the bar, legs and arms crossed watching the scene unfold.
Huh.
Faith shifted, slightly uncomfortable with whole situation but too confused to really ask for an explanation. Cash continued to flirt with the grizzled poacher and Faith tried looking anywhere else but them. She peered around the room awkwardly until she spotted someone she didn’t quite expect. It was Colt, well, at least she thought it was. Faith didn’t know of any other tall, lanky, dirty-blonde haired eighteen year olds in the whole town. The only question wasn’t really why he was here, but why he sat up the back of the bar, feet up on the table in a hooded cloak playing poker with the other poachers.
She almost made to go over to him, but just as she did Cash slapped the poacher.
“Goat-fucker!” Cash hissed, stepping back.
“Why you…fucking slut!” The Poacher didn’t hesitate to hit her back.
At that, Faith forget her detachment from the situation and swung a punch with full force into his ugly, haggard face. He shuffled back, clearly surprised at the sudden strike from the quiet adolescent. The poachers from the poker table stood, sending their cards and chairs falling to the floor. Cash and Faith stood back to back and when she looked to Colton, he was gone.
“Two versus five? Heh, seems fair,” Faith smirked, shifting her left foot back and raising to fists in a defensive motion. She looked to Cash, taken aback at how calm she was. Her friend stood normally, arms slouched comfortably at her side. Cash cracked her neck and fingers, then charged full force at the black and grey-haired hunter. To every one’s surprise, Cash sent him flying, smashing through a wooden table. Faith took advantage of the younger, red-haired poachers surprise and delivered a swift, sharp kick between his legs. He instantly peeled away from the fight, holding his crotch as he stumbled away.
Cash tussled with the leader and another bald, mauled looking fellow with three teeth left. This left Faith with the other two that were fast approaching. One even smashed his tankard against the wooden support beam on his way across the room.
“Aggressive lads, aren’t they?” Eli quipped, still sitting on the bar watching the fight take place all casual-like.
“Oh please, don’t bother yourself with helping or anything troublesome like that,” Faith hissed.
“Oh no, of course I’ll help. See, the red haired that ran off squealing will be Sir Soulless. The fatty is Lady Pigsworth and the one with the hooked nose is Captain Hook, eh?” Eli aided.
Lady Pigsworth certainly earned his name. Unlike his comrades, his leather armour and bear-skin trousers sagged and jiggled as he swung his broken tankard at Faith. She dodged the slow blow easy enough, but matching Lady Pigsworth might prove to be a problem, even without counting his friend Captain Hook. Faith spared a glance at her sun-mark on her arm and hand whilst circling around the two, with their backs now to the bar.
Times like this I really wish I knew how to get this whole lightning thingy working.
Any other patrons had vacated the tavern quick enough, leaving chairs and spilled ale about. Everyone but the bartender it seemed. He was a small man, probably in his seventieth decade and quite frankly he dressed far too well and nicely for tavern like this in a town like this and didn’t really give a damn about the poachers and patrons having it out right in his tavern.
Suppose this’ll hurt.
Faith charged Lady Pigsworth, and yelped in shock when he used the force of her charge to pick her up and throw her over his shoulder sending her sprawling and only coming to a stop at the bar. Dazed and slightly winded Faith hauled herself up and held onto the bar as the world was currently spinning.
“What’ll it be?” The little bar owner asked, adjusting his worn spectacles.
“Seems I’m destined for a beating,” Faith said, half-aware her sentence didn’t make much sense.
He began mixing a drink. “One seems I’m destined for a beating coming right up.”
“Wait, what?” Faith said, trying to hold onto the bar realizing she was being dragged away by Captain Hook. She twisted around with an almost round-house kick, landing the blow right on his already crooked jaw. He let go, leaving Faith to roll backwards onto her feet and back into her fighting stance. Panting heavily in exhaustion, she looked to Cash, fearing the worse and found that both the leader and the other poacher she’d been fighting lay unconscious but she couldn’t find Cash. Faith looked back to her two opponents to find Captain Hook with Sir Soulless bolting for the door and Lady Pigsworth on the ground, held by the throat by Cash delivered five hard punches to the face that were more than certain to leave a mark.
Faith stared as Cash stood, her fist bloodied and said, “We should probably go.”
Faith raised a hand telling her to wait and skipped over to the bar and took the Seems like I’m destined for a beating mixed drink waiting for her on the bar and left a single copper Bella.
Faith followed Cash as they left Ririe and made their way across the sea of long grass and around the course they’d taken on their way to October’s Crossing.
Where did she learn to fight like that? Maybe it has something to do whatever’s happening between her and Colt. All this time and I never had time to stop and ask myself who these people really are. Sonny seems the most aggressive but she spends all her time in the opium den. In fact, this whole town sits at the end of the world. It’s home for those who’ve been running their whole lives and finally run out of ground. For the most part, Colton seems normal…but, if what Eli says is true he’s struggling, almost oppressing something. And then there’s Aster and Taylor on their mysterious assassination mission. By Haine, where in the New World did they come from? But first off, why are we going back to October’s crossing?
“Guess we’re gonna find out,” Eli whispered.
“Where’re we headed?” Faith asked, boots squelching against the muddy field.
“You probably saw it on Pierce’s map, but there are different zones. I have a safe house in the orange zone, out here in the woods to the east of us. Ever since…ever since we’ve lived here the safe house has been sort of a safe-place for me. I love and trust all of my friends, but I needed somewhere where I could be completely alone. Having the house in the orange zone isolated it from people due to the Ashlings, and Ashlings only really dwell in the city,” Cash explained, turning to the direction of the forest.
Faith followed. “Even Sonny?” She asked, curious.
Cash smiled sadly, “Yeah, even Sonny.”
The house was more of a shack, with shabby roofing and walls almost falling apart. They ducked under a torn up chain-link fence that surrounded the outer reaches of the hut and picked their way past the weed-choked lawn. The hut itself was musty and smelled of rain-soaked wood, especially so as a light shower washed over the hut.
Faith sat on the wolf skin throw rug, slightly damp. Cash unlocked and sorted through boxes unceremoniously thrown underneath the lone table wedged in the corner of the hut that looked like it might just collapse. In fact, at a closer glance the table was covered in scratches and what seemed to be enormous claw-marks etching far too deep for any human to have made them. Faith watched as Eli approached the table, Cash completely unaware of the Daemon standing right beside her. He ran a finger over the deep groves and rubbed two fingers together, obviously puzzled as Faith as to what could have left them. He then looked underneath the table, squatting alongside Cash who still searched through her boxes.
Tell me what you find, daemon.
“So, Cash…why flirt with the poacher only to slap him off when he tried something?” Faith asked, curling the wolf’s fur around her fingers.
“Why flirt with him at all? Also, off topic but could you see if you could get that fire going? It’s freezing in here,” Cash said, motioning over to the little hearth by the throw rug.
“Sure,” Faith shrugged, shifting over to the hearth to sit on her haunches.
“Don’t worry, I wasn’t flirting with him for his dashing good looks,” Cash assured her. Faith removed the right glove and felt the soot and the ashen remains of kindling and found them damp.
“I just needed to borrow something of his, that's all,” Cash said, pulling out something from beneath her wooden brown coat.
Faith sighed, realising there wouldn't be a fire anytime soon.
“Try clicking your fingers in frustration, maybe that'll help. Also, I’m not sure why, but there are black cuffs strapped underneath the table here. They’re adjustable, curious.” Eli wondered. Faith grunted and did just that and with the click of her fingers a spark of purple electricity zapped from her fingers, sparking the damp kindling alight.
Oh of course when my life is in possible danger don’t worry about working but when I might catch a chill I can make lightning shoot from my freaking fingertips of fucking course.
Faith half sighed half groaned, falling back onto the wolf pelt. She glared at Eli who returned her glare with that sly wink and lopsided grin of his.
“What did you borrow from him?” She asked.
“This,” Cash said showing Faith an odd looking knife. The hilt was black, and the blade itself was white and looked to be more like a elongated fang rather than steel. Cash took a cloth-wrapped bundle from the box and sat before Faith. Faith picked up the blade, rolling it about in her palm appreciating the sharpness of the tooth and the balance of the black hilt. A symbol had been engraved into the hilt, a raven and wolf chasing each other in a circle.
“That’s the symbol of the Lycanthropes, isn’t it?” Faith said half-sure, remembering Pierce showing her a book filled with the many symbols of the many peoples of Valyrett, Terraghar and Dordathion in a search to find the sun symbol tattooed on her hand.
“It is, but these poachers use the symbol to sell their goods, now that there are no more lycans to kill. But what I’m really curious about is the snake that supposedly bit Taylor. If Aster and Taylor both wanted to leave and go on this noble kill quest, why really poison Taylor and pass it off with a snake that was already dead? Aster must have bought both the venom and the dead snake. But why use that escape plan and endanger Taylor, as weak as he already is? Whatever happened, I don’t think Taylor would’ve been willingly apart of it. He had an awkward temperament and was off sometimes but he has a good heart, which is why I’m worried he won’t survive whatever Aster is dragging him through,” Cash said, frowning.
“Wait…it was Sonny who came out of their room with the dead snake and said she killed it…do you think she knew?” Faith wondered. Cash sighed.
“I…I don’t know. I mean, it’s definitely possible but I certainly hope not,” She said, taking the poacher’s blade from Faith.
“I think the question is really why she’d cover for them, or cover for Aster at least. Their relationship was shaky at best, as it was with everyone except Pierce, essentially,” Cash wondered, staring into the flames dancing in the hearth.
Cash shook her head slightly and stood, placing both the blade and dead snake bundled in cloth in the bottom of a box, then placing a book atop to hide them. Faith found herself giving the strange book a second glance. It was leather bound, with a mysterious eye carved into the front.
“Hmm, a leather bound book? It just begs to bed read, doesn’t it?” Eli smirked, looking down at it.
Not now, Eli. We’ll come back here on our own one day and check it out for ourselves…for now, we’ve plenty of other stuff to worry about.
“So, what now?” Faith asked, standing with her. Cash folded her arms and peered out the window.
“Colt will take care of it for now. We’ll look into it more in the morning,” Cash said bluntly.
“Surprising,” Eli said, putting his arms around Faith’s shoulders, resting his chin on her head.
Yeah, surprising
“How so…?” Faith ventured.
“Colt. Will take care of it.” Cash simply replied.
And that was the end of the conversation.
They all returned to the apartment at different times that night. Faith took her time wandering the farmers market that had set up in the lower parts of the town. The farmers were selling all sorts of sweets, fruits and savoury foods. Faith chose a spiral of rainbow cotton candy, a decision which her stomach cursed her for that night.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZrWzlmxdY1
The nauseousness had returned, and Faith found herself fighting urge to run from sleep. Eli had fallen asleep on the giant window sill, Maverick curled up in the crook of his arm. So Faith left her daemon and purple cat to sleep in peace.
Every day, Pierce, Cash and Colt took turns to bring him food and water. Roth never made a move to escape or make a run for it, only sat in a particular corner of the attic complacently. All three had made attempts to talk with him, but he’d only ignored them and gone to eat the food or return to drawing elegant patterns into the dust with careful prowess. Faith had kept away from him for the most part, too busied with trying to figure out herself to be concerned with the handsome stranger she’d arrived with.
“Everything we do is inherently selfish,” Pierce had warned her not so long ago. Faith hadn’t given his words much thought until now, finding some truth in them. Faith was finding there always seemed to be truth to Pierce’s words. Then again, Roth was the same handsome stranger that had tried to kill her the moment he’d woke. In her search to find herself, Roth might prove to be a vital puzzle piece Faith wasn’t willing to overlook so easily.
Faith wore only her white shirt and underwear as she padded out into the freezing, wooden hallway outside the apartment. She crept up the hall and up the short flight of stairs leading to the attic doorway, one which had a small rectangle window at the top. Faith sat by the door and her hugged her knees close.
“Hello?” A voice she supposed must be Roth’s whispered from behind the door.
“Ah…hello. It’s…it’s me, Faith,” She whispered warily.
“Oh, right. I’m ah, I’m sorry for attacking you. I…I don’t know what happened to me, I can’t really explain it…are you ok?” Roth asked softly.
“You didn’t hurt me too bad, don’t worry. I just…I…do you remember anything, like, anything at all?” Faith insisted, resting her head against the wooden door.
“N-no, I don’t, it’s like every memory from before was just burnt away,” Roth said, trailing off into a sigh.
“For me it’s more of a wall, like there’re still there but that wall stops me from remembering,” Faith said, frustration plain and clear in her voice.
“…Roth, I’m curious, why haven’t you even tried to escape yet?” Faith wondered.
You’re big, you’re definitely strong and with looks like that you could probably persuade anyone to lend you their horse or hitch a ride in an automobile if you wanted. In truth, we haven’t got any real reason to keep him locked up other than the fact that he’s a wild card. And he’s the only real link other than Eli and this mark, as to what happened to me.
Roth took his time to reply.
“I don’t know, I-I really don’t want to hurt anyone. And I don’t trust myself not to do that,” He hissed, those last few words crumbling under the weight of his distress, letters flaking at the tears she could hear choking out any possible further conversation.
Faith closed her eyes, and felt that hazy blanket of sleep begin to wash over her.
“Neither do I.”
She dreamt a dream that shouted all kinds of evidence that it was no dream. That door that was not there was there again at the very end of the hall where a door might have fitted well. Faith, despite only wearing her shirt and underwear was not cold, as it was in fact a dream. She crept down the hall, and stood before the door and gasped when she recognised the strange eye carved into it.
It’s the same eye on the book Cash had stashed away…Pierce hasn’t shown me that sigil before and I haven’t seen anyone with that symbol town…what in the Forgotten World is it? Maybe Eli or Pierce might have an idea…
“Faith?” A familiar voice grunted. She turned and flinched noticeably when she found Roth standing by her side.
He wasn’t wearing what they’d captured him in. Pierce had lent the strange man a few of his old clothes, which he apparently now wore in this bizarre dream they shared. A grey shirt which proved slightly small for the taller man, dusty cargo pants fitted with adjustable straps to serve as makeshift holsters. And no shoes. Apparently he had something against shoes.
“How did you…” Faith began.
“I didn’t escape, this is a dream, I think. But…. I suppose it must be a shared one, considering that I haven’t seen you for a month, and considering what you’re wearing…” Roth trailed off, looking her up and down, not bothering to try and hide his green, brazen eyes grazing every inch of her skin as he did so. When his eyes met the sun-mark, the stretchmarks and scars battering her thighs and upper legs, his gaze drifted away something flickered in those eyes. Almost like he had regained something lost.
“I think it’s a dream, too…” Said yet another familiar voice. Taylor was timid in his approach and looked to be just as confused as they were. Faith took a step back.
“Taylor…you’re back-” She began.
“-No, I’m here but my body is far away. Like he said, I’m pretty sure this is a dream, Faith,” Taylor evidently decided.
“Well, if this is a dream then why in the Forgotten World are the three of us sharing it?” Roth questioned, looking around the hall as if he might find some answers.
“I’d say it has something to do with whatever is behind that door,” Faith ventured.
She knelt by the doorknob, and dared to peer through the keyhole.
“What is it?” Roth breathed.
“It’s a clearing in a forest…and there’s a cabin.”
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Faith woke in a feverous sweat. She stumbled, half-blinded by the haze clouding her mind until she returned to the apartment. It was only there that she let herself collapse onto the floor in an unconscious heap. And none of her new found friends would know until morning, for they were asleep, Taylor was leagues away and Roth was still locked in the attic. Even Eli did not come to her aid, for he too was sleep. Some might have found it odd, for he was some strange spirit being. Yet in fact, he was neither dead nor alive. He was somewhere vaguely in between, and still found the need for sleep for only those who are dead need not sleep.
It was only Colt who came to her aid, because in those late hours when all others slept he had begun to find no need for sleep.456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5LHGvWE81z
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