The City Of Death

Chapter Twenty-Three- Macy

"No," he finally says. "She's not buried here."

"Then where is she?" I ask, tears filling my eyes. I'm so tired of not knowing things. Even when I remembered everything else, the night Skye disappeared still eludes me. I just want the full story, and I want it now. I know I don't want to go back to the City. But how can I live in the Outside without knowing the truth? How can I live my life when not knowing what happened to Skye will haunt me for the rest of my days?

"I don't know. I don't know where she is," Atlas admits, and I suck in a breath through my teeth. How do I know that isn't another lie? Another secret he's not ready to reveal? 

"Don't lie to me, Atlas! What did you do to her?" I ask, and his eyes go wide. 

"Is that what you think?" he asks, his entire face awash with shock. "What, you think I murdered her because I wanted to be the leader?"

"I don't know what to think anymore. Even after my Mark disappeared, I still don't know what happened to Skye." 

"But how can you not know? You were there!" he exclaims, and this time, my eyes go wide. What does he mean, I was there? Did I witness whatever happened to my sister? But if he knows that I was there, does that mean he was there, too? If he was there, then why doesn't he just tell me? Why is he keeping it such a big secret? "Then again, maybe that's exactly why you can't remember. It must have been so traumatic. I wish I didn't remember it." 

"Why can't you just tell me what you did?" I ask. 

"I didn't do anything to her!" he screams, and I take a step back. He seems so insistent, it's hard not to believe him. But until I know the truth about what happened, I'm going to take everything he says with a grain of salt. "I may have carved her name into this tree, but that doesn't mean I killed her." For so long, I'd allowed myself a smidgen of hope. Hope that she was still alive somewhere. But now, that hope is gone. 

"If you didn't do anything to her... then how do you know she's dead?" I ask, and Atlas thinks for a moment, before sighing. 

"I guess I don't. But, if she were alive, don't you think she would have come back by now? But I've never met a person that faced what she did and came back alive," Atlas tells me. I'm ready to scream in frustration. He keeps leading me around in circles, and for a split second, I have an overwhelming to choke him. Maybe that would get him talking. 

"Atlas," I sigh, looking at Skye's name carved into the tree. "Please. If you didn't do anything... why are you so hesitant to talk about it? Instead of telling me what happened, you just keep deflecting. You can sit here and throw a pity party all you want, but just be honest with me first. What are you running from? What is so horrible that you can't face it?" 

"It was my fault," he whispers. I ask him to repeat himself, and he looks up at me, new tears running down his cheeks. "It was my fault. If she is dead... it's because of me." 

"But wait. You said you didn't do anything, and now you're saying it was your fault? How does that work?" 

"It's my fault because I didn't stop it. I should have known... I should have known what was going to happen. I should have found a way to stop it. But I didn't, and now I'm here and she's not. She told me to run. I shouldn't have listened. I should have stayed with her or dragged her along with me, but I didn't. And then I didn't even keep the promise I made to her," he explains. 

"Which was what? What was this promise that you failed to keep? This promise that eats at you so much?" I question. 

"I promised her that you would never go back to the City. I promised her that I would keep you safe and out of the Vulture's hands. And two weeks later, I broke that promise," he answers, and my heart twinges. That wasn't fair of Skye. I understand where she must have been coming from- if those were going to be her final moments, she wanted to make sure I was protected. But now Atlas is riddled with guilt over a promise he shouldn't have had to make. Skye should have known that if the Vultures really wanted me, they would get me. Atlas is lucky that the Vultures even let him live when they came for me.