Molly (1/10)

Chapter 40 - FINAL

He'd arrived at their camp just as they had settled for the day.

"I don't want to hurt anyone," the stranger said. He wore rags and while he might have just been another vagrant but Jolie didn't think so.

"Well what the hell were you doing sneaking around?" asked Bill, a few more farmers waiting around him.

The stranger stared at Molly, eyes faded.

"I came to talk to you."

Bill glanced at Molly and sniffed. "Okay. What about?"

"I want to keep it a secret."

Bill looked the stranger up and down.

"It's your call," Molly told him. "I have no opinion. I don't know this man or what he wants."

"It is vital that I speak to you," said the stranger. "The fate of the world depends on it."

Bill chuckled. "All right, well...are you staying? How'd you get out here all by yourself?"

The stranger did not answer.

"Good luck," Bill told Molly as he made his leave.

Jolie didn't trust the stranger. She didn't like his stink and she didn't like the way he kept watching Molly.

"It must only be you," the stranger said.

"I trust them," Molly replied, nodding at Teddy, Jolie waiting off to the side. "I do not know you. Maybe you want to kill me. I'd like protection."

"I..." the stranger sighed. "Fine."

"I also want to see your face."

Jolie hadn't even noticed that the stranger's mouth was covered. That was a given, considering the times.

"Ridiculous," muttered the stranger.

"Do it."

For a second Jolie thought the stranger might yell at Molly, his eyes pinching together and the body going even more rigid--instead, the stranger lowered his head, pale arms running out of his coat and lowering the mask.

A man. Nothing extraordinary, a sort of cut on his chin.

The stranger looked down the street. "There is a presence here. You can feel it, can't you?"

"I feel everything all at once," Molly replied. "Is that what you wanted me to say?"

The stranger did not blink; Jolie watched for it.

"You seem fed-up," the stranger said.

Molly shook her head slightly. "I'm tired of secrets. What do you want?"

The stranger tucked his pale hands into his coat, exhaling mist. "A door will open on a particular street corner. Go into it. There, you will find answers. I was told not to tell you everything."

Jolie snorted. "This is a joke."

"I don't trust you," Molly told the stranger.

"It doesn't matter if you trust me. It will happen. Then, well...tell the voices in your head this is the only way you'll find what you're looking for."

Molly's eyes narrowed.

"That can't be answered."

The stranger took a step back and threw up a hand. "I've said what I needed to. I will ask the farmers to protect me, and wait for your return."

"I don't think they want you."

"Then I'll sleep out here, in the city."

He went over and slunk to the floor, staring at the ground.