Hope of the Future

by Ariana Browning

  When he released her, he stood pressed against her side. Hope had to step back, giving way to him, giving him the control, which she hated. “You are stupid,” he said.

  Gideon left the room. Hope’s body grew moist with the heat raging through her. She exploded at his back. “Still doesn’t make you any less impotent.”

  It was a futile attempt, considering Gideon was out the door by the time she said it, but she had to try. Without turning back around, he slammed the door against her scream.

  The rusty lock screeched into place in the same second Hope ran at the door, throwing her full weight into it. She yelped as the pain flashed through her shoulder. The door held strong, even after all this time. Rubbing her shoulders, she meandered into a corner and slumped to the floor.

  She could hear him chuckle as he walked away, knowing he’d won the argument.

  FIFTEEN

  IT TOOK A FEW days before Gideon came back. Hope’s stomach grumbled in protest over and over to where it hit nausea, they gave her little food and water. She could barely stand without her world threatening to topple. She swallowed against the sandpaper in her throat and rubbed her gritty eyes.

  Gideon sauntered in while the man with him stayed behind at the doorway. The man held a small plate and cup as usual. Gideon knelt down next to Hope. “So how are you feeling today? Cooperative?”

  Hope narrowed her eyes. “I still want to know why you’re here. And don’t give me that, ‘because you can,’ like last time.”

  “So you’re not hungry.” He motioned for the man to leave. Hope made a move to stop it, but caught herself. Not quick enough. “Hold on, Kaden.” The guard at the door came back. “Does this mean you are?” Gideon asked.

  Hope ground her teeth, her nostrils flared. She took a deep breath, calmed herself down, and tried to find some decency inside of him. “Why are you so mean?”

  Gideon’s eyebrows rose in question. He turned to Kaden and gave him a look that said did she just ask that? Kaden shook his head and shrugged. “Why are you so mean, Gideon?” he teased.

  Gideon scrubbed his fingers over his lips as if he could wipe his smile away. “You’re kidding, right?”

  Hope stared at the wall. She closed her eyes and forced herself to stay calm. When she knew the anger wouldn’t swell back up, she turned back to Gideon. “And once more, you don’t answer my question. Why bother to keep me alive? I’ll keep asking questions. But fine, you don’t want to answer those? What about the old man? Jake.” She motioned toward the door. “How is he?”

  Gideon tilted his head to regard her. “Why do you care?”

  “Someone has to.”

  “You work so hard to care for a man who’s gonna die. I don’t understand you.”

  Hope shook her head. “I won’t waste my breath, you wouldn’t get it. That food you enjoy? Not yours, is it? It’s ours.” By the look in his eyes, she didn’t need a confirmation. “I hope you haven’t kept it from them,” Hope said, erasing Gideon’s amusement.

  “You think you can tell me what to do?”

  Hope stood up and crossed her arms, which made him stand. Her and the others in the church had spent so much time gathering the food. Days spent where Hope and the others could have died at the hands of people who didn’t want them to have that food.

  The audacity of the man, believing he had any right to come in and take over their food then ration it out to his men as he saw fit.

  “Do you have any idea how much work it took to get that food and water?”

  Gideon stiffened. She took a step back. He advanced. “I’d be careful what you say.”

  “Or what?” Hope mocked. “I demand you to let them have food.” She stepped away as he stormed forward, but she’d already reached the limit. Her back thumped into the wall. Gideon struck her. Not enough to knock her down, but hard enough to reopen the cut on her lip. Keep hitting me and I’ll stop worrying about the others and kill you.

  Hope raised her chin and glared at him. Gideon wrapped his hand around her neck and smacked her head back into the wall. The dizziness swept through her worse than before.

  “Don’t ever tell me what to do,” Gideon said. “Why does it matter to you? This from someone who those people wouldn’t hesitate to throw under the bus.” He paused and allowed the words to really soak in when he said them, “They already have.”

  He wanted to bait her. Hope knew it. She shouldn’t give in to it. That she knew too, but all rationale left. “Think I believe that?”

  Gideon released her, but he didn’t back away. “Fearing your actions would get them harmed, they made sure to let me know you weren’t with them.” He studied her a moment and added, “Told me I should keep a close eye on you. Things are off about you.”

  Her heart raced, filling her with heat. Her cheeks burned. She didn’t like the way he said, things are off about you. Was that how they saw her? That she was off?

  Hope forced it down. He was trying to get a rise out of her. He wasn’t lying, but his reason for telling her was to make her dissolve under the admission. Good luck with that.

  “Every one of us have worked our asses off to get that food and water. I demand you to give them some of it. Don’t hog it.”

  “Even though they think you’re abnormal? That they said you weren’t a part of their group?” He turned and looked at Kaden, then Hope again, and raised an eyebrow. “They sold you out and want me to punish you, instead of them, yet you want to help them. Interesting.”

  “Bullshit.”

  The hold she had on her anger slipped. Hope had to keep better control of it, but something in his words infected her and slipped through her defenses. Being hungry and thirsty lowered her guard, which worked against her. She struggled to think, but she knew she couldn’t react how she wanted. Not now.

  “Excuse me?” he asked, the anger rose under his calm.

  “You heard me. Your goal is to goad me and piss me off. Well boo for you: it’s working.”

  “You admit it?” He chuckled.

  “Stop saying that,” Hope said in exasperation. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. “You think you’re special, don’t you? Because you have a gun and you can knock me around, that what, you’re better than I am? Please.” Her sarcasm struck a nerve. She saw the flash of anger rush through him. Momentary triumph flitted through her as it did the day before, but that’s all it was. A brief triumph.

  “Amazing that you know you shouldn’t say those things, but yet you do. Amazing still that you’re stuck in a corner—literally—and yet you still fight. Why?”

  Hope was shocked that he’d confront her. She stared at him. “Why ask why?” She crossed her arms, trying to make a point. At this point she was being childish, but more so, she was hoping for space between them.

  It didn’t work.

  Gideon remained where he stood to glare down at her with the same contempt as before. Hope shrunk inside herself. She tried to keep meeting his gaze with defiance. She never stood for someone bullying her. Ever. That didn’t keep her from wanting to shrink into nothing.

  Gideon raised a hand and Hope flinched. Instead of hitting her, he rubbed his neck. The muscle in his neck twitched in rhythm with his annoyance. Hope trailed her gaze back up to his face, a little too aware of how good he smelled. Couldn’t he smell as bad as everyone else? Obnoxious.

  She couldn’t risk using any other methods of killing him. For now. For now, she had to rein it in.

  To save the others.

  It was a standoff between the two of them. Who would cave first?

  “I should kill you. It would solve a lot of my problems,” Gideon said in such a nonchalant tone that Hope reacted, maybe he wanted her to.

  Hope slammed her hands into his chest and shoved him away. It would piss him off, but that was the point, wasn’t it? To get under his skin too? To keep him mad at her? “It would. But you won’t. We both know it.”

  Gideon stormed forward and knocked her bac
k against the wall, grabbing her neck and squeezing it until she couldn’t breathe. Hope’s hand flew up to grab at his wrist, trying to wrench him off. Gideon positioned himself against her body so she couldn’t use her legs against him.

  She struggled to breathe while she tugged at his arm, using more force than she normally would to get him to release her. Gideon looked at her hands just before he let her go. It wasn’t lost on him she was stronger than most.

  Hope fell to the ground, coughing and sputtering, trying to regain her strength. At first, the air betrayed her and refused to come. Until at last it came in icy, razor sharp wheezes. Hope gulped the air in, focusing more on breathing than on Gideon. She couldn't find any words. His shoes circled her and stopped under her nose.

  “Let this be a lesson. Nothing keeps me from killing you. I admit there is a reason to keep a close eye on you, but you hold no value to me dead or alive. Keep it up and I will kill you. A dead body is easier to deal with than a live one.”

  The cold tone Gideon delivered those words with, shook her to her core. His quiet footsteps leaving the room, echoed in her ears. Tears fell and she continued trying to gain air, hoping the spinning room would hold still for one second. Kaden dropped the cup and plate on the way out. Beans and water scattered everywhere.

  It took a week more for them to release her back into the main area of the church. Hope wasn’t sure why Gideon allowed it, but she didn’t argue. Kaden, the man who guarded her the entire time, led her out in the evening.

  As Kaden and Hope entered the main part of the church, a man burst through the front doors of the church. Kaden stiffened. He went to release her and grab for his weapon until he saw it was one of their own.

  The man stumbled and struggled to stay upright, clutching his chest. Blood poured through his fingers and down his chest, down to the floor, splattering wherever he went like a beacon to his whereabouts.

  Gideon rushed over with a few others to help the man. They held the man up and led him to a nearby empty space where they lowered him to the floor. Kaden dragged Hope over to the group of prisoners and shoved her down, telling her to stay put.

  One of the prisoners, Patty, leaned over to Hope and whispered, “You can help him, Hope. Do it. Maybe they’ll ease up.”

  Kaden went to help the others, but froze and grinned at Hope when he caught what Patty said. Hope gave him a dark look, don’t even think about it.

  Kaden kept his attention on her and spoke through the side of his mouth. He raised his voice to be heard over the clanging and clinking as the men rushed about to help the injured man. “Hey Gideon, this girl wants to help.”

  Hope’s eyes widened. “No, I don’t.”

  Gideon came over. “You a doctor?”

  Hope shook her head. “No. I’ll kill him.”

  Patty, who sat to the side of Hope, said, “N-no, she’s g-good at healing people. She takes care of everyone’s wounds. She can help. T-trust me.”

  Hope spun to glare at the woman. Patty shrank back as if hit. Thanks for the help. She wasn’t interested in helping Gideon’s men. Hope turned back and spoke through clenched teeth, “I can’t.”

  Gideon started at Patty, then Hope. “You mean you won’t.” He spun on his heel and raged back to the injured man. He shouted the order over his shoulder, “Bring her, Kaden.”

  Kaden grabbed Hope’s arm and hauled her to her feet. Hope tried to pull away, but Kaden tightened his grip.

  “I’m not helping,” Hope said.

  When they were close enough, Kaden hurled Hope forward. Hope fell to her knees at the injured man’s side. Gideon’s legs were right next to her. She had every intention on telling Gideon the man could die for all she cared. Then she caught sight of the pain contorting the injured man’s face and her resolve crumbled. She never liked to see anyone hurt, and if she could do something about it, she would try.

  His hands clutched his chest, blood slid from the side of his mouth. No good. He tried to watch her, but his lids kept drooping shut, then jerking back open. His gaze pleaded with her for help. A coughing fit overtook him and he writhed to the side to cough up blood and phlegm. When he slid back down, he gritted his teeth.

  He was bleeding out. Hope would have to work a little harder than normal to save this man's life. Electricity swirled inside her, coming to life. She could save this guy. Night was settling in over the place and the dim light would cover her for the most part, but if Gideon and the rest of his men didn’t leave, she couldn’t help the man.

  They couldn’t see.

  SIXTEEN

  HOPE STUDIED THE MEN, then turned to find the muzzle of a gun in her face. Hope focused on Gideon’s face instead of the weapon he held, and sighed. “I’ll help him because he needs help, not because I’m forced. Move your gun or I’ll let him die.”

  Gideon cocked his head to the side. After thinking it through, he holstered the weapon. “Why would you help him if you hate us so much? He is one of us.”

  Hope leaned over the man and moved his hand. He had suffered two gunshot wounds to the chest, which was bad. Really bad. For him and for her. She grabbed a cloth and pressed it against the wound, before replacing his hand. When he turned to the side, she’d seen no exit wounds. The bullets were still inside.

  “As I said, he needs my help. I need alcohol, a knife, something sterile—if you can find it—to pull the bullets out, and a bunch of cloths. I’ll also need a needle and thread to stitch the wound.”

  Bullet wounds weren’t a pleasant experience for her. She took a deep breath to brace herself. Knives she could handle, but having to dig inside someone’s body for a bullet, set her nerves on edge. She felt their suffering, a curse she suffered.

  Gideon set about ordering his men to find the supplies. They impressed her by finding everything she needed, save for the item to pull the bullets from his chest. Never once giving argument. The men catered to her and even asked what they could do to help.

  “If he dies, you die. Understood?” Gideon had to interrupt her nice thoughts.

  Hope’s hands shook when she leaned over the wound to work. Like she needed that when she was busy trying to save the man’s life.

  After some exhausting time later, and working on the wounds Hope examined the man. He wouldn’t make it without extra help. She closed her eyes and hid the fact that she was finished.

  All of Gideon’s men—including Gideon—were keeping too close an eye on her. Hope had to get them away . . . and fast. If she didn’t, her patient would die.

  “I need more water for. . . .” Hope began.

  “Frank,” Kaden finished.

  “I need more water for Frank. As clean as you can find.” She turned to Gideon. “There should be an old priest’s robe in the back office. I need the fabric. It’s in a clear bag and nobody has ever touched it so it’s clean. Clean enough. Should be in the small closet. Go get it.”

  Gideon stared at her. “You want me to retrieve it.”

  Hope sighed. “Yes. Hurry up.” She glanced around, then back to Gideon because he hadn’t moved. “Please?”

  For a second, Hope didn’t think Gideon would oblige, then he gave her a curt nod and told the others to get the water. He motioned them to get going and he too, turned and left.

  Hope waited until the men disappeared. Gideon was the one she wanted most out of sight. It wouldn’t be long before he came back.

  Hope closed her eyes. The energy of the earth swept through her body, gathering beneath her legs against the wooden boards of the church floor, and swelled upward. The electricity sizzled through her body with the familiar tingling, trickling upward through her stomach, chest, then her arms, until it filled her entire body.

  The whispering within her soul grew louder and louder, clearer and clearer until Frank’s body pleaded with her, pleaseeee.

  --vvvvooooommm--

  Something fell in the back of the church. The lights of the church whooshed out. She opened her eyes. The men focused on the back of the church, a
distraction she needed.

  Blackness enveloped the church and someone cursed, others tripped and stumbled over buckets. From the back Gideon’s angry voice shouted, “Get the candles lit! Secure the prisoners, goddammit.”

  One candle lit up the back room and a gunshot echoed in the back of the church. Hope didn’t focus on the ruckus. They were trying to make sure the prisoners knew if anyone moved, they would die. Nobody would dare move because they couldn’t see.

  Unlike her.

  Hope placed her hands over the man’s chest. His heart rate slowed to a dangerous level.

  A violet glow spread out to engulf the entire church, too bright for anyone to pinpoint a location. Hope’s body grew hot, her skin clammy. The entire church grew so bright that people had to cover their eyes.

  Hope’s gaze burned. It was far too bright for anything to be seen. Temporary blindness overwhelmed everyone, long enough for the violet glow to settle around the man and then disappear within Frank’s wounds. The wounds momentarily glowed, before the healing Earth’s energy disappeared within him.

  A loud boom echoed through the church, shaking the building on its very foundation. People stumbled and the men who came back to Hope, tumbled backward. The one light in the back part of the church went out and once more things grew black.

  The walls rattled and shook. Plaster and dirt rained down through the rafters, clattering along the floor like the soft pelting of rain against a tin roof at night.

  Gideon cursed in the back as he regained his footing. He ordered everyone to get the lights back on. Hope covered the man’s body with her own to keep the debris from striking him.

  All the candles swooshed back into flame. The church was still and silent for a long tense time. Hope closed her eyes. Her body ached. She may as well have gone a few rounds with a T-Rex.

  The church remained frozen in time.

  Seconds ticked by.