Feathers That Won't Fly

Chapter III Breaking the Wall

"Who are you?" Tom asked.

"Oliver. I take it you're Tom?"

"Correct."

"Tom, where's Lisa?" asked Azlyn.

"How do you know about Lisa? I thought your parents kept you from us," Tom said.

"Where's Lisa?" Azlyn asked again.

"She's at the border, waiting for me," Tom replied.

"Alright then, let's pick her up," Haddix said.

"Look kid, we're not coming with you guys. First of all, you have a screaming toddler, which is impossible to travel with. Second of all, I hate this girl. She's a murderer," Tom said. His remark made Azlyn flinch.

"No, you're definitely coming. First off, you guys don't have a car. Second off, we know where to find the knife," Haddix told him.

"What knife?" Tom asked.

"The knife."

"That's a legend kid, get over your damned bedtime stories," Tom grumbled.

"It's not, Azlyn saw them. She saw the sisters. She said she was in the body of a man who saw Winona and Lillia. And in Winona's hand was the Knife. It's all the way in New York, you need a car. Therefore, you're coming with us. Plus, we need your hunting skills," Haddix said.

"How do I know you're not making this up?" Tom asked. He and Haddix were playing a game of mind chess.

"Do you have any other leads?" Haddix said with a smug look on his face. Check mate. He slid his last piece onto the perfect square, interfering with the opposing king's path.

"Fine, we'll go chase this fantasy knife of yours, but when half the group dies and you can't find anything, I'll simply say I told you so. Just know that I'm not protecting anyone but me and Lisa on this suicide run. The rest of you are on your own." The king fell, its body collided with the ground, banging on the cold squares of the chess board. It bounced slightly, then fell to the ground once more, rolling over to bow to its new king.

The car was nearly full now. There was only one more space left. After they had explained who this mystery man walking into the car was to Oliver's father, everyone got situated. Oliver had insisted on staying in the back with Azlyn and Lilly. Tom gladly took the shot gun, the furthest away from Azlyn as possible. The car steadily crawled to the town border.

"Azlyn, what was that?" Haddix whispered.

"What was what?" Acting dumb never got anyone anywhere my dear child. If I wasn't a narrator, I would insert my action as a "face-palm."

"The screaming, the jumping out of the car, why this guy hates you if you've never met him, the 'letting your family die', not to mention you being 'a murderer, '" Haddix responded. He grabbed the seat, white-knuckling it (literally).

"How should I know? Maybe my parents told him some things about me and he took the wrong meaning? I don't know." This child needs help. Again, acting dumb never got anyone anywhere, and anyone is a quite successful person.

"I'm not stupid. Okay, I get it, maybe it's something about your past that you don't want to dig up from the grave right now. But can you at least tell me about what happened in the car? Keeping quiet never got anyone anywhere." I love this child. He is my favorite. "Plus, don't you think it would help to be relieved of some burden in the middle of an internal crisis? Do not bulls--- me now."

"I saw my dad."

"Your what?"

"I saw my dad. My last one. He was in the car, but he probably wasn't real. I can't usually tell the difference in the moment."