by Ryan Casey
Digging right into her bleeding skin. Clamped so tight that no matter how much the woman shook, no matter how much she writhed to get him free… he just wouldn’t budge.
Aoife stood there and watched. Shocked. Amazed.
And when the woman’s eyes went dead, and her body started twitching, Rex let go and wandered over to Aoife, blood dripping from his sharp teeth, docked tail wagging.
She reached down. Stroked his head. Stared at the twitching, bleeding body of the woman who’d come so close to… well, to doing whatever she was trying to do to Aoife.
“Good boy,” Aoife said. Still a bit shellshocked by Rex’s uncharacteristic display of protectiveness, of violence. “I didn’t… I didn’t think you had it in you,” she muttered. “Good lad. Good…”
And then she heard footsteps behind her, and she knew it was too early to celebrate just yet.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Aoife heard the footsteps behind her, and her stomach sank.
She stood there, over the fallen body of the woman. Rex lifted his head, looked back. Growled, snarling with those blood-stained teeth. And Aoife braced herself for another assault. Braced herself for whoever was going to throw themselves at her, for whatever was going to happen next.
She didn’t want to turn around, didn’t want to look, but she knew she didn’t have a choice. She had to at least weigh up the situation so she could figure out her next step.
She turned around slowly, preparing herself for anything.
She saw a man standing there.
Holding a bow and arrow.
Pointing it right at her.
“Not another move,” he said. “Not after what you’ve done.”
And Aoife wanted to run away. She wanted to bolt. But she wasn’t sure she could make it in time. Especially not with that man standing here, pointing that arrow at her.
“You’re in deep shit,” he said. “Robert’s gonna be so, so intrigued to hear what you’ve done. To our people.”
“I’m hearing a lot about this Robert. Sounds like a really great guy.”
“You’ll kneel for him,” the man said. Lowering the bow, pointing the arrow. “And if you don’t… well. Maybe I’ll just make you.”
He pulled back the arrow.
Went to fire.
Aoife didn’t even think.
She jumped out of the way. Landed on her right, her wounded shoulder hurting like mad.
She rolled onto her back and tried to scramble to her feet as Rex barked.
Tried to figure out where that man was and where her escape route was.
She looked around, over through the trees, over into the open expanse of the fields beyond the woods, and she knew she only had one choice now.
“Let’s get out of here, Rex. Let’s—”
A yank to her hair.
Her head jolted back, a splitting pain stretching right down her neck.
She fell back. Hit the ground, like a dog on its lead being yanked back when in flight.
The man rolled her over.
Wrapped his hands around her throat.
“Maybe I’ll take you back to Robert,” he said, tightening his grip. So tight she couldn’t breathe. So tight she couldn’t do a thing.
“Or maybe… maybe I’ll deal with you myself.”
Aoife clambered around. Tried to scratch at him. Tried to punch him. But it was all no use.
He was too strong. His grip was getting tighter.
Her time was running out.
She looked around to Rex in one desperate final hope when she saw him standing there. Barking at the man. Not attacking. Not repeating what he’d done before.
And she couldn’t exactly chastise him for it. He’d protected her once. But she figured attacking a person wasn’t something that came naturally to him.
She tightened her fist and took a swing at him, a swing she knew would be her last, when suddenly she felt him tumble from her.
He rolled onto his side.
Aoife gasped. Coughed. Spluttered her guts up.
When she’d got her breath back, she looked around at the man, still not quite sure what the hell had just happened.
The man lay there. Bleeding out of his mouth.
A knife in his back. A throwing knife of some kind, by the looks of things.
Aoife frowned. What the hell had happened here?
Then she heard movement, right behind.
Looked up and saw them both standing there.
Familiar faces.
Vince.
Heather.
Heather walking over, yanking the knife from the man’s back.
Then she stood opposite Aoife. “You owe us,” she said. “Big time.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Aoife sat in front of a tent deep in the woods, Rex by her side.
It was morning still. It was dragging like mad. Felt like it’d lasted forever. But then again, Aoife figured she’d better savour it. She could very easily not be alive right now, after all.
And the fact she was alive was all down to those two people sitting opposite her.
They were sitting around a campfire. Another helping of squirrel, something Aoife didn’t really feel like right now after eating it with Kayleigh not that long ago. Even though it did feel forever ago.
But she couldn’t exactly walk away. Not after Vince and Heather saved her like that.
And not after they insisted she came back to their camp with them, just to lay low and stay safe for a little while.
Aoife looked around at the trees. Kept getting the feeling someone was out there. Watching.
“Don’t worry,” Vince said. “They never come this far.”
“There’s a first for everything,” Aoife muttered.
She looked around at Vince. Watched him chomping down on that squirrel kebab, which dribbled down his chin. Eurgh. Made her want to vom.
And she looked at Heather, too, who sat beside him, constantly staring at Aoife.
“Thank you,” Aoife said. “I would’ve died back there if it wasn’t for you.”
“Yeah,” Heather said. “You would’ve.”
“Look,” Aoife said. “I appreciate you doing that for me. And I appreciate your… your hospitality and everything. But if this is some kind of plot to get me to agree not to go after my friend, then I’m sorry, but it’s just not going to work—”
“We used to live in a nice little community about five miles west of here,” Vince said. “It wasn’t anything special. Only about fifteen of us. We weren’t the best at hunting. Some of us didn’t know how to trap for shit. Between us, we weren’t the most skilled. But we knew enough to get by. And for us, that was enough. We had each other. That was the main thing.”
He paused. Stared out into space. As if he’d disappeared to some place different entirely.
“I remember the day our first hunting party went missing. We hadn’t dealt with much drama at that stage. So when two of them, Kev and Ulrika, vanished… yeah, it was pretty big news around our place.”
He looked down. Cleared his throat.
“Even bigger news when they arrived on our doorstep two weeks later. Alongside this group. This group ordering us to kneel to Robert. To his prophecy. Because if we didn’t, there’d be consequences. Serious consequences.”
“What happened?” Aoife asked.
Vince looked away. Started picking at the grass, growing visibly uncomfortable. “We didn’t kneel. Obviously. Nobody took them seriously. Laughed them off. And they walked. So we didn’t think much of it. Not for a few weeks, anyway.”
“What changed?”
“Weird shit started happening. Sheep went missing and showed up decapitated. People started falling… sick. Like, all of a sudden, really sick. One bloke, Carlo, fell into a coma. And we couldn’t figure it out.
“Not until they showed up again. Must’ve been poisoning our water supply somehow. Only this time, they were with this… this Robert. This leader. He told us what he’d been d
oing to us. And that if we just got on our knees and knelt… all of it could end.”
“I’m guessing you didn’t kneel?”
“Some of us did. But most didn’t. It didn’t matter anyway. He slaughtered the lot of us. Well. All of us except… except us two.”
“How did you get away?”
“Vince,” Heather said. Her voice firm. Stern. Like she didn’t want him to go any further.
“I—”
“It doesn’t matter how we got away,” Heather shouted. “Look. What Vince is trying to tell you in his convoluted way is that you’re an idiot for even thinking about going after anyone related to Robert. Because if you do, you’re putting yourself in danger. If you do, you’re finished. Seriously finished. Even if he makes you feel like the most special person in the world, you’re finished. And look, for me, you can do whatever the hell you want. But my brother here is more sympathetic to a fault.”
Aoife wanted to ask Vince more about his story. She sensed he was hiding something. That there was something on his chest that he wanted to release, but that Heather was holding him back.
“The best thing you can do?” Heather asked, standing. “Turn away. Run the other way. Forget what happened with the helicopter. Forget about your friend. They’re gone.”
Aoife knew this woman, hard as she was, was only looking out for her. She didn’t want her to put herself in danger, and she appreciated that.
But what was she supposed to do?
Just give up?
“I really do appreciate everything you’re saying,” Aoife said. “And maybe… maybe I will end up getting myself killed. Or worse. But I can’t let these people go. I just can’t.”
She stood up. Rex stood, too, although he didn’t look too happy to be on his feet again when there was squirrel nearby.
“I have to go find my people,” Aoife said. “I have to try to help them. I’m sorry for what you’ve been through, and I’m really grateful for everything you’ve done for me. But I’m not giving up.”
She looked at Heather, whose eyes narrowed. Her eyelids twitched, and she shook her head, then shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. “Whatever,” she said. “Your funeral.”
Then Aoife looked at Vince.
Vince stared at the ground. His eyes were wide. He kept on pulling clumps of grass up like a nervous child.
She wanted to press him for more. She wanted to know what’d happened to make him and Heather this way.
But she knew time was of the essence.
She turned around. Walked.
“He made me choose,” Vince said.
Aoife stopped. Looked back. Frowned.
Heather glared at him. “Vince—”
“He made me choose. Between—”
“We don’t fucking talk about this, Vince,” Heather shouted. But there was desperation to her voice.
“Made you choose between what?” Aoife asked.
Vince stared at her. Tears streaming down his face. Lips quivering like he’d had something bottled up for a long time, and it was finally coming out.
“Vince,” Heather begged. “Don’t.”
But Vince closed his eyes.
He took a deep breath.
And then he opened his eyes again and looked right at Aoife.
“Robert made me choose between my sisters,” he said. “He made me choose, or he’d kill them both. And I chose Heather. I—I chose Heather.”
It was only then that Aoife realised exactly what degree of monster she was dealing with.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Morning rolled into afternoon, and Aoife still hadn’t brought herself to leave Vince and Heather.
How could she, after all? Especially after the confession Vince just made.
Vince sat there outside his tent, bawling his eyes out. Heather was silent. Totally silent. She hadn’t even looked at Aoife since Vince’s confession. She wasn’t sure she’d even looked at her own brother since that confession.
But clearly, the admission, putting it out into the open, had put a massive strain on the pair of them.
And who could blame them?
Aoife didn’t know what to say. What could you say to something like that? Obviously, she wanted to get moving. She wanted to get after Kayleigh, and she wanted to get after Thomas, and she wanted to get them away from this Robert psycho as quickly as she could.
But she couldn’t just walk away from these two now. Not after what they’d admitted. Not after what they’d just opened up about.
Vince.
Robert making Vince choose between two sisters. Between Heather and someone else.
Vince choosing Heather.
The guilt that must leave him with.
And the shame that must leave Heather with, too. That she was the one who lived. The one who was chosen.
Suddenly, everything became very clear. Why Vince was how he was. And why Heather was how she was, too.
But one thing was for sure.
It certainly didn’t deter Aoife from her plan.
Made her hesitant, somewhat. Made her feel… well. Afraid. But only a natural level of fear. The kind of fear anyone would feel when they were facing the prospect of coming up against a complete ruthless nut job.
But she understood why Vince and Heather couldn’t join her.
She understood why it could only be her.
She walked over to Vince. Heather definitely didn’t look like she was up for much talking right now. Looked like she might stab anyone who tried.
“Hey,” Aoife said.
Vince glanced up at her. Nodded like he’d forgotten she was even here. “Oh. Hi.”
“You, erm. You want anything? Like, anything at all? Or to talk some more, or…”
Vince rubbed his eyes, took in a deep, snotty inhalation. “I think I’ve done enough talking for one day.”
Aoife nodded. “I’m sorry for what you went through. What this Robert bastard put you through. Really, that’s… that’s rough.”
“I just wish…”
“What?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“No, it does. If there’s anything on your chest, you should let it off. I mean, no pressure. I know how it can be. But there’s an opportunity to, here. If you need it.”
He looked at her. Smiled. “I appreciate that. Makes a change from the emotional closed book that is my sister, that’s for sure.”
Aoife glanced over at Heather. Saw her staring off towards the woods, scraping a stone with a knife. “I know how it can be,” Aoife said.
“I just… Sometimes I wish I was stronger, you know? Sometimes I wish I could go back there. Sometimes I wish I could look Robert in the eye and slit his fucking throat for what he did. Sometimes, revenge is the only thing I want in the world. But then I realise… I realise it’s useless. He’d get the better of me anyway. And besides. I’m afraid. I’m far too afraid for that.”
Aoife took a deep breath, sighed. “Sometimes, revenge is overrated.”
“What?”
“Nothing,” Aoife said. “Listen… I get why you and your sister can’t come with me. And I appreciate you looking out for me. It’s good of you. But surely you can see things from my perspective, too. Surely you can see why I need to do this.”
Vince puffed out a long, deep breath. “I get it. I just… I just don’t want to see anyone else suffer. Like we have. Like—like Yara did. My sister. Our sister.”
“Yara,” Aoife said. “That’s… that’s a nice name.”
“Mum picked it. Always said it was her favourite name. And we all knew Yara was her favourite, too. Even though—even though she was a little shit.”
Aoife thought of her brother, Seth. “Sometimes parents can be blind to the faults of their children.”
Vince was quiet for a while. Like he was pondering things. Mulling things over. “I want revenge,” he said. “I want it so badly. It’s all I think of when I go to sleep at night. But I know… I know it won’t bring me any peace
. So all I can do is look after myself. Look after Heather. Stay out of the way of people like Robert. Stay out of the way of people in general. Because—because that’s how anyone survives, isn’t it?”
Aoife nodded. She didn’t know where this was going. But she heard what Vince was saying. “I want to wish you both luck,” she said. “You’ve done a good thing, helping me. But time’s of the essence. And—”
“But,” Vince said, interrupted like he couldn’t even hear Aoife. “On the other hand… I’m sick of just surviving. I’m sick of just darting around from one place to another. I’m sick of avoiding people. I’m sick of avoiding groups. And I’m sick of living in fear of what might happen.”
Aoife frowned. Heather looked over, the first thing that had caught her curiosity in a long time.
Vince looked charged up. He looked focused.
He looked alive again.
He looked right into Aoife’s eyes.
“When I saw that helicopter falling from the sky, you know what my first thought was? Hope. Hope that it meant something. That it meant someone else was out there. Someone who could help. A group. A place, maybe. And then I remembered thinking about me and Heather and how it’s just the two of us, how it’s all about each other, about how none of that matters anymore. Especially not when I found out Robert had him.”
“Vince?” Heather said.
“But,” Vince said, “I’m sick of living this way. I’m sick of just… just surviving. Because there has to be more out there. And meeting you. Meeting you and seeing your purpose, seeing your drive, it’s made me realise something. It’s made me realise something I’ve been trying to resist all along.”
“What?” Aoife asked.
“It’s made me realise that I don’t have to be scared. None of us have to live like this. It’s made me realise there’s more to live for. That there’s things—that there’s people—worth fighting for.”
He stood there, looking right into Aoife’s eyes, and she felt her heart racing. She felt how charged up he was. She felt it radiating, right to her.
“I’m sick of running,” Vince said. “So today’s the day I stop. Today’s the day we both stop, Heather,” he said. “We’re going to join you. We’re going to help you find Thomas. We’re going to help you find your friend. We’re not going to let Robert win. Not again.”
