Finding Lily

42- Alex

"Dad." I cried, my voice breaking. I grabbed his hand, immediately dropping it once I felt the lack of warmth they once held. I stared at his eyes, at the empty blue orbs that were directed at the sky. "You fucking asshole."

I was mad at him. He should have talked to me in the cage. He should have never come here if it meant he was going to die. He should have at least let me say goodbye. Most of all, he should have never stopped being my father. Then none of this would have happened.

I curled up into child's pose, my fists digging into the dirt as fresh tears attacked my vision. Sobs shook my body as I let a year's worth of pain come to the surface. Anger, sadness, despair, I didn't know what it was. I felt hands on my back, attempting to comfort me, to absorb some of the pain that left me broken.

Eventually, the emotions combined into the one that was most powerful. Anger.

"Where is he?" Rage filled my voice as I stood up, my eyes scanning the clearing for any signs of Ray Malone. He killed my father. He took him from me before we had the chance to make up and be a family again.

"Lily, it's over." Luke spoke softly to me, as if that would somehow calm me down.

A noise came from the northeast tip. That's where the dock was. Ray was fleeing.

I sprinted in that direction, leaving Luke behind. I couldn't let him get away with this. I stopped just as I hit the end of the treeline and peered out. The dock jutted out over some rocks, tall, made of cement. The waves were calmer here on the southeast side, calm enough that a forty foot yacht could safely be tied up to the cleats without banging against the pilings. Ray's men were moving boxes onto it from a pile that only had a few left. They would be leaving soon.

I stepped out from cover and stormed onto the dock. A couple of heads turned to watch me but no one made a move for their guns. Ray was standing at the end of it, watching the ocean before he turned to face me.

"You killed him." I yelled. I wasn't going to stop until my hands were around his neck, choking the life out of him. Instead, a pair of arms wrapped around me and I was stopped ten feet away. I fought back until I heard Luke's voice whisper in my ear.

"Lily, it's okay."

"No it's not! He killed my father. I'm not leaving until you're dead." I shouted to Ray. I knew Luke was struggling to contain me. He was already having a hard enough time standing. I stopped fighting against him and let his arms stay where they were planted on my waist. His touch soothed me, but not enough.

"He sacrificed himself for you. He wanted to end this war so you could finally be free of it." Ray spoke with a gentle voice.

"I don't care. He was my father."

"And he killed my brother. Neither of them were good people. They were murderers."

He was right. I knew he was right. This was the natural conclusion to the feud, one that I should accept. Another tear ran down my cheek as I gritted my teeth in frustration. I didn't know how I was supposed to feel.

"Don't make the same mistakes he did, Lily." Luke whispered. "It's not too late to walk away from this."

I couldn't forgive my father for the years of shit he'd put me through. It had given me more issues than I could count. But this, the island, Daniel had saved my life twice to make up for it. The second time involved taking his own life. It was a sacrifice I couldn't ignore. One that proved he must have cared for me much more than I ever knew.

If I ignored all of that and continued to fight a pointless blood feud, it would never end. I would be just like him, and would only find peace in death.