The Perfect Outcast

by Melissa O. Hansen

  “We’re just friends!”

  Baylor coughed. “Right.”

  “I won’t tell him why I’m leaving,” she pressed. “I’ll just say goodbye.”

  “He’ll be able to tell something is wrong. Can you keep it from him?”

  She sighed. “Probably not.”

  “You’ll see him again,” Baylor said.

  “He asked me if he could come with us to Jaden. He wants to join the fight against Sampson. Do you think there will be something for him?”

  “I’m sure of it. We’re at war now, and we’ll need every able person to fight in order to win. And then—” he paused. “I hope it’s enough.”

  They approached the front gate. Two guards stood at the entrance, peering through a slit in the door. They turned to Baylor and Alina as they arrived.

  “You brought her,” said one of them. “Is this what was decided?”

  “Yes, it’s our only option. But I have a plan I hope will keep her safe until we come for her,” said Baylor in a low voice. “I must speak to Gerard. Alina will come with me.”

  The guard nodded. He opened the gate and led them outside, twenty feet from the wall.

  “Gerard!” Baylor called out. “I’m here with Alina. I want to speak with you. Alone.” Alina stiffened as a dark figure approached them from the forest.

  “Thank you, Hans,” Baylor whispered. “Please watch us from the gate.” Hans nodded and returned to his post.

  “I won’t pretend I’m happy to see you, but I’m not surprised,” Baylor said as the figure drew near.

  Gerard chuckled darkly. “I’ll always be around, whether you like to see me or not.”

  Baylor spoke in a steady voice. “I’ll hand Alina over on one condition.”

  Gerard’s rough features looked ghastly in the moonlight. “And what’s that?” he sneered.

  “You let me speak with Sampson.”

  Gerard threw back his head, his laugh echoing through the woods. Then he glowered at Baylor. “You’ve got a lotta gall, you know. Just like your father.”

  Baylor’s nostrils flared. “Let me speak with Sampson, or I’m not handing her over. Go right ahead and attack this town. She’d have a chance to run, and you know how fast she is. The people of Millflower would gladly give their lives for her.”

  Alina thought of the spiteful girls and how wrong Baylor’s statement was, but she squared her shoulders and looked Gerard straight in the eye.

  Gerard glared at her, then turned back to Baylor. “Fine. But just you. She stays here.”

  “She stays with me, or she goes back inside the gate with the guard,” Baylor demanded.

  “Call the guard, then,” Gerard snapped.

  As Hans came to get her, Alina clutched Baylor’s arm. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” she whispered.

  “I’ll be fine,” he whispered back. “I know what I’m doing.”

  He walked into the forest with Gerard. Hans took her arm gently and led her back to the gate.

  “Let’s stay here,” Alina begged. “I’m worried about him.”

  Hans drew his gun from its holster. “If anything happens, I want you to run to Jaden as fast as you can.” He pointed down the dirt road leading into the forest. “But I think he’s safe. You’re not in Gerard’s hands yet, so he won’t want to hurt Baylor.”

  Alina relaxed a little, and after several long minutes, Baylor appeared, striding back to the gate. Gerard marched after him, cursing from behind.

  Baylor’s voice carried through the trees. “I’m sorry you don’t like this arrangement. But you have Alina, so we expect you to be on your way and no longer threaten this town.” He reached Alina and Hans, and turned to face Gerard, who flashed him a rude gesture.

  “Come with me,” Gerard growled at Alina. “No running this time, or this hole of a town will be flattened the second we notice you’re gone.” He seized her arm. She looked desperately at Baylor.

  “Don’t worry,” he whispered. “You’ll be well treated.”

  “Wait,” she cried, reaching for him. She had questions now. How would she get away if her escape threatened Millflower? What should she do?

  “NO!” Gerard screamed. “No talking!” He yanked her away with him, clenching her wrists tighter as she tried to break free.

  “Go, Alina,” Baylor assured her. The calm in his voice surprised her. Then he put the light to his chin and moved his lips. He repeated the name twice before she caught it.

  “Stan,” he mouthed.

  Gerard yanked Alina into the trees, and one by one his men came out, leering at her. She scanned the group for Stan but didn’t see him.

  Although the men terrified her, the real fright came from the people standing in the darkness behind them. They carried lights, which cast shadows on their demonic features. Their eyes looked like dark holes and their skin shriveled on their cheekbones. Ratted hair hung from their heads, some touching the ground.

  “Listen up,” barked Gerard. “No one is to touch this girl or be left alone with her. Three men will guard her at all times. Under no condition is anyone to make love to her. Not even if she begs for it!” he yelled over their protests.

  “She won’t escape this time; stop worrying,” said one of them, “but three of us can guard her; we don’t mind.” They roared with laughter.

  “You want her all to yourself, is that it?” another jeered. Alina cringed, tears filling her eyes.

  “IT. WILL. NOT. HAPPEN!” Gerard hollered, silencing them at once. “Not by me. Not by any of you. She is to tell me if any of you disobey, which I’m sure she will. You’ll be thrown out of this company and dead in minutes. Do I make myself clear?”

  Alina’s mouth dropped, then she smirked as the men stammered their consent. Some glared at her as if this was her doing, and she glared back. Why would I allow them to do whatever they want with me?

  “We’ll walk as far as the stream and camp there,” Gerard ordered. “I’ll guard her first. Mick and Pete will be with me.”

  Gerard yanked her arms together and began tying her wrists. She rolled her eyes.

  “Come on, we’ve been through this. You know ropes can’t hold me. I agreed to come and I’m not going to run away. Let me keep my hands free.” Gerard glowered at her, then put the rope back in his pack and grabbed her arm so tightly, she was grateful she couldn’t feel pain.

  Mick and Pete walked behind them, and the Sad Cases followed, their eyes not straying from Gerard. They stopped when he stopped and moved when he moved. They listened when he spoke, but whether or not they understood, she couldn’t tell. It appeared Sampson had mastered the immortal mind. He put it through such torture that when the brain became mortal, no functioning part was left.

  Gerard hissed in her ear. “No funny business this time. We won’t bother going after you. We’ll head straight for Millflower and kill everything that breathes.”

  “I know, I heard you the first time,” she snapped. “But just so we’re clear, if you break your side of the deal and hurt anyone from Millflower, I’ll be gone faster than you can blink.”

  His lip curled. “I’m glad we understand each other.”

  “Yes. And I’m not complaining, but I’m curious about this sudden vow of chastity you’ve required from your men.”

  He stopped moving and yanked her arm, so she faced him. She had gone too far.

  “Don’t ever ask that again, or I might change my mind,” he threatened. She suspected he was bluffing but didn’t push it.

  “Are we going to the Blue Forest?” she asked.

  He hesitated. “Eventually, yes. You’ll come along and ask no questions. You’re forbidden from talking to anyone, especially the lunatics from Pria. Not that they’d understand you, anyway.”

  What could she learn from the Sad Cases that Gerard didn’t want her to know?

  She accepted the terms willingly. She’d obey, be silent, and learn a lot that way.

  After three days of traveling with no hint of being r
escued, Alina began to despair. She doubted if she read Baylor’s lips correctly when he mouthed Stan’s name because she’d seen no sign of him. Baylor heard an account of Stan from Rex, but was the description enough to recognize him?

  Although the men kept their distance, their company was far from pleasant. Resentful of Gerard’s decree, they harassed her with their words rather than their hands, and their comments became so explicit and personal, she felt almost as violated.

  The Sad Cases were not as frightening in the daylight, but like the man from the prairie, they looked sick and malnourished. Their clothes hung in tatters, and their pasty skin was stark against the wounds and bruises on their bodies. Alina worried they were being mistreated until she saw how strictly they obeyed Gerard. They scaled large boulders and plowed through thick brambles if it was the straightest course to his orders. They’d walk off a cliff if he asked them to.

  She looked for Miss Vivian among them but didn’t see her. Sampson said he might never release her. The memory of Miss Vivian, locked up and hysterical, haunted Alina, but she was grateful not to see her beloved teacher in this dismal group. The way their eyes clung to Gerard chilled her. They watched and waited for his next command, all of them.

  Except one.

  The woman’s sunken eyes disturbed Alina because they stalked her instead of Gerard. Whenever their eyes met, Alina shivered and look away. This woman looked as wild as the others, yet something in her face seemed lucid and terrible.

  What had Sampson done to these wretched beings? Was this the result of isolation in his dungeons, or something more? So far, Sampson’s experiments produced all his weapons of war—creatures, disease, and assassins. Now they produced an army.

  Alina shuddered, and turned her thoughts back to their usual place—to Rex, Jade, and Oliver in Millflower, to Zaiden in Stormport, and if he was still alive.

  Before long, Alina knew every man in Gerard’s company by name and face, so when the new figure appeared, she noticed at once.

  He kept his head and face covered, a peculiar thing in the heat of the day, and traveled several paces from them in the woods. Alina hadn’t seen him before because he kept himself hidden.

  Stan.

  She tried to meet his eyes, but he never looked at her. Three guards surrounded her at all times, but he never took a turn.

  Gerard didn’t want her to notice him.

  She stared at the ground, her mind racing, then peeked at the guards around her. It wouldn’t be easy, but she must speak with Stan. She had a plan. Now she needed the right moment.

  The next day, Gerard took them straight up a mountain, and as the path became more strenuous, the group stopped frequently to rest. By the time darkness fell and they made camp, the men dropped to the ground. Alina pursed her lips to hide a smile. Perfect.

  At night, Gerard allowed Alina’s guard number to drop to two. The men complained of the double night duty, but Gerard held firm, not trusting anyone to be alone with her. Alina didn’t know what Baylor had done, but every night when the men drank and became rowdy, she thanked him.

  She sat by the smoldering fire as the men settled down, weary from the day’s hike. The Sad Cases waited for Gerard to lie down, then followed him as they did every night—without blankets or pillows, and wherever they happened to be standing. One lay on a thorn bush, and Alina’s only comforting thought was they seemed oblivious to pain.

  The first guards of the night, Roy and Mick, sat on the ground with their backs against a log. Each night Alina stared into the dying embers as her guards chatted irreverently to keep themselves awake. Tonight, however, would be different.

  She’d tracked Stan all day, which wasn’t easy as he disappeared into the trees and remained unseen for hours at a time. Gerard sometimes met him in the woods and handed him a small canvas bag. At dinnertime he left again, and this time Alina followed his direction as he returned.

  “Wow, I’m beat,” groaned Roy, stretching his arms. “I hope I can make it tomorrow. Why Gerard is taking us straight over the blasted mountain, I’ll never know.” He swore under his breath.

  Mick mumbled agreement through a yawn.

  Alina had obeyed so far, never speaking to any of them, but Gerard’s snoring encouraged her. The men jumped when she spoke.

  “If you want to go to sleep, go ahead. I won’t tell.”

  They eyed her suspiciously. “Then you’ll take off and Gerard will leave us to the nightstalks,” Mick retorted.

  She tried to sound calm. “You know I’m not going to run away. Gerard is overreacting, that’s all. Take turns sleeping, if you’re worried.”

  “No way,” Roy said. “You’ll frame one of us.”

  She chuckled. “And how would that benefit me?”

  “I saw what happened to Hank. I won’t be alone with you.”

  “Oh yes, Hank. I haven’t seen him around. Did he recover?”

  They said nothing, but their silence revealed enough.

  “It’s too risky,” she heard Roy mutter, but he sank lower against the log and stared at the fire, his eyes growing heavy. Mick was already lying on the ground. She regretted saying anything—they would’ve fallen asleep anyway.

  They fought the drowsiness for a while before giving in, and once their breathing settled, Alina got up quietly and walked into the woods where she last saw Stan. Her eyes adjusted to the dark, and as she scanned the trees, she spied him several feet away, lying still on the ground.

  He woke with a start when her hand closed around his neck. She held his throat firmly, like the night Hank threatened her, and pulled the hood back from his eyes.

  “Tell me everything, Stan,” she demanded. “I’ll let go long enough for you to speak.” She let go of his neck but grabbed his hand and bent his fingers backward. Her other hand covered his mouth to stifle his scream. He tried, in vain, to pull her fingers from his mouth.

  “You’ve forgotten how powerful immortals are,” she hissed. “You’re fighting against someone who can’t feel pain. But you on the other hand,” she seized his throat again, “are very vulnerable. What are you doing for Sampson? How are you helping Gerard?” She twisted his hand again.

  Stan whimpered, “S-stop, please. I’ll tell you.” He waited for her to let go of his hand, but she didn’t. He winced as she tightened her grip.

  “I’m trying to free my lover. She’s locked in Sampson’s dungeons, but he promised to release her if I brought you back. I’m doing this for her. Not for Sampson, or Pria.” He paused, his eyes pleading. “I have to,” he whispered.

  He looked so desperate. Alina almost pitied him.

  “You care so much about this woman, you’re willing to betray all your friends and help Sampson just to get her back?”

  “My time with her is the only time I’ve been happy. In three hundred years.”

  “Did you stop to think Sampson might be using you? That he doesn’t intend to release her—and if he did, she’d be like one of these lunatics sleeping nearby?”

  Tears came to his eyes. “It doesn’t matter. If there’s the smallest chance I can free her, I’ll take it. I’d rather die without her, anyway.”

  “You’re pathetic,” Alina snapped. “The most useful puppet Sampson could find. Live for yourself and forget her.”

  Stan thrashed out at Alina, a sudden fire flaring inside him. She straddled his torso and pinned his arms to the ground.

  “Don’t you say a word about her,” he ordered through clenched teeth.

  “Tell me one more thing,” Alina demanded.

  “What?”

  “What protects you and Gerard? Is it something you carry?”

  Stan stared at her for a moment, then smirked. “You should think about who you’re fighting against. Sampson doesn’t lose.” Then without warning, he hollered at the top of his lungs.

  She grabbed his throat to silence him, but a rustle from camp sent her running back, worried she’d been missed.

  Gerard loomed over the fire, his eyes
hard as stone.

  “What were you doing back there?” he demanded. The men were awake now, staring at Alina. Mick and Roy exchanged worried looks.

  “N-nothing,” she stammered.

  “NOTHING?” he bellowed. She covered her ears as he fired a string of expletives at her. She’d never seen him so angry.

  He began kicking Mick and Roy on the ground. “OUT!” he screamed. “YOU’RE DONE! GONE! Finish them off, loonies!”

  At these words, Mick and Roy fled into the woods. A pack of the Sad Cases chased after them, clutching their knives and snarling.

  Gerard turned to the rest of his men, his eyes flashing. “This is what happens if you let me down. NONE OF YOU WILL KEEP ME FROM GETTING INTO PRIA!”

  He marched to Alina, and she coldly met his eyes. He raised his hand as if to strike her, then dropped it and stormed into the woods toward Stan. Her body trembled, but she didn’t shrink.

  She controlled these men. The only power they held was over the people of Millflower. But it was enough.

  The next morning the men were on edge, obeying Gerard promptly and refraining from their usual crude banter. Alina held her head high, more confident than she’d ever felt, but as they hiked farther up the mountain, she grew worried. Baylor hadn’t come for her. Should she go along with them all the way back to Pria? Was it better to risk Millflower than herself? She didn’t know what to do.

  After several hours of hiking, Gerard turned up a neglected trail with prickly weeds and old tire tracks. Alina wrinkled her brow. Why did they take this steep route over the mountain? From her memory of the guidebook map, it didn’t lead to the Blue Forest at all. She became more puzzled when Gerard stopped to tie her wrists.

  “Why are you doing this?” she demanded. “You know it can’t hold me.” He glared at her, nostrils flaring, and said nothing.

  Up they climbed, the men panting, the Sad Cases trudging through thorns without flinching but keeping their eyes fixed on Gerard.