Ashe
Clovella, Oakley, August and I used the shadow to enter an abandoned barn a couple of miles away from my cottage. It was still hidden deep in the woods and away from Wolf Creek. We cleared a spot on the dirt and hay covered floor to sit so that we could discuss what to do next.
"Just do what you normally do when you go back home from Ashe's," August suggested. I awkwardly cleared my throat and Oakley rubbed the back of her neck anxiously, "I usually pick Savanna up and then we hang out at my house, so I don't know if that's best since Clovella is coming with me."
August pursed his lips and after a moment of silence, an idea hit me. "What if you text her before heading home and tell her about needing to go out of state to visit your family, you could say Clovella is your cousin and she showed up suddenly because it's an emergency, she might even help you pack and get out quicker," I suggested with a shrug.
I didn't really feel bad about lying to Savanna anymore, especially after what I'd learned. "That's not a bad idea, although calling me your cousin might be awkward," Clovella said with a lighthearted chuckle. August nodded in agreement with a smile. "That could actually work, should I go ahead and text her now or do I need to wait a bit?" Oakley asked.
"Well, we need a backup plan encase this one doesn't work out," August said. "What can I do?" I asked eagerly. "You can stay right here in this barn and keep me company until I'm needed," August spoke matter-of-factly. I pouted and crossed my arms with a huff, "I'm not useless just because I'm a little unstable."
Oakley started to laugh, but quickly slapped her hand over her mouth as August shot her a stern look. I smacked his arm, "leave her alone, I'm funny." He rolled his eyes as Oakley and Clovella both started laughing. I turned my nose up with a proud grin and puffed my chest at him.
He smirked and shook his head with a sigh, "you are stubborn, but you aren't doing anything outside of this barn unless it's absolutely necessary, it's just not safe right now. Now if you all don't mind, we need to get plan B figured out." The three of us groaned at him, but nodded. "So, any ideas mister impatient?" I asked August. "If Savanna catches on to what any of us are or why Oakley is actually leaving, Clovella can take a short period of her memory which will give you two at least ten minutes to get back here before she realizes anything," he said confidently.
"Okay, but if she's a hunters daughter she may not be affected by my attempt," Clovella spoke hesitantly. "That's where plan C comes in, you contact me and I'll come take care of her while you two get out," August assured her.
Oakley and I furrowed our brows and cast each other a look of concern. Taking her memory was one thing, but I wasn't sure if I was okay with killing her if that's what he meant. As if reading our expressions he spoke up to clarify, "I'm not going to kill her, but I'm going to have to remove some memories and replace them with false ones, Clovella can't give humans false memories like gods and half-gods can."
We sighed with relief. She may have threatened our kind before, but I don't think she has the heart to actually kill someone so I didn't want to kill her either. I hoped she didn't anyways.
"I hate being left out, but the plans sound good and a third back-up plan is comforting. I guess you should text her now, if you're ready," I said, facing Oakley as I finished my suggestion. She nodded with a sigh and pulled her phone out, looking back up at us when she had sent the message. The four of us sat in silence for what felt like ages before she finally got a response.
Oakley let out another sigh, this one sounding more relaxed. "I'm guessing she took the bait?" I asked cheerfully. "Yeah, she basically said she's too busy with family stuff to help, but she wishes she could and she said good luck." Oakley said, her tone confirming the relief she had expressed with her sigh.
Something didn't feel right to me about it though, but I smiled anyways in the hopes that I was just working myself up like I usually do in intense situations. "Well I guess we better get going. The faster we get there, the faster we can get out," Clovella said, she appeared to still be nervous but more relaxed now that Oakley seemed to be as well. I pulled Oakley into a hug, "be careful." She smiled as she pulled away, "don't worry, we'll be back in no time."
"I'll take care of her," Clovella assured me with a warm smile and I pulled her into a hug too. "You be careful as well," I said to her and smiled back. The two women turned and left the barn, leaving August and I by ourselves.
For this place to be abandoned, it didn't really look it. The floor was just dirt with rolls of hay stacked towards the back and a bunch of loose hay was scattered on the ground, but other than that everything looked well taken care of. The brick-red and white painted wood even looked pretty fresh. I furrowed my brows in thought.
"What's wrong?" I heard August ask. I turned to see that he was giving me a look of concern. "I thought you said this barn was abandoned, it doesn't look abandoned to me," I said as I continued to look around. Even the metal latter that lead to the loft was still clean and shiny.
"It is abandoned, it just also happens to be sitting on land that I own so I keep up with it," he said sheepishly. I raised an eyebrow at him and put my hands on my hips, "so it's not abandoned, it's yours?"
He pursed his lips before taking a breath, "I wasn't supposed to get this section of land and didn't realize I even had it for several years so by the time I did, it was technically abandoned, so that's what I call it. It's pretty useless to me, besides aesthetic views and a back-up shelter."
I had to admit that made sense a little bit, so I just nodded my head. "Can we sit up there?" I asked, still eyeballing the latter and loft. "Sure," he said with a shrug and followed me as I began to climb up. Once I reached the loft floor I pulled myself up and stood out of August's way. The loft itself was pretty empty besides a big, fluffy rug covering the center of the floor and a couple boxes in one of the corners.
I settled on a spot on the rug furthest away from the ledge and laid down, crossing my arms behind my head. August slumped down next to me in a crisscross-sitting position, "so what was it you were wanting to talk about earlier?" He asked, attempting to sound casual, but I could still hear the anxiousness in his voice. I'd almost forgotten about that, my parents.
I used my arms to lean back on while sitting up and sighed, "you mentioned our parents a few days ago, I never knew mine, so how did you know them?" He seemed caught off guard, then a look of dread washed over his face and my heart sank. "I was too young to really know them, but my parents and Magna knew them. They were good people and they'd be proud of you Ashe." He spoke gently. A question sat on the tip of my tongue but I had a feeling I already knew the answer.
"Why did they leave me?" I asked slowly, his face giving away the answer almost immediately. He reached for me and I leaned into his shoulder. "I'm sorry sweetheart, they never intended to leave you, they loved you so much. They died to protect your life," he said softly. I shook my head, "but why? I don't understand, why don't I remember what happened?"
He caressed my hair lightly, "they likely had someone remove your memories of them in hopes that it'd help you move on." I looked up at him and searched his eyes momentarily. "I promise I'm not the one who did it, if that's what actually happened, my loyalty is and has been to you." He reassured me.
This was getting really weird, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned my parents at all, but for some reason I couldn't stop myself from asking questions. "What is that supposed to mean? We've only known each other since I was fifteen," I scooted away from him to get a better view of his face.
He shook his head, holding a sad expression in his glowing eyes, "our parents were best friends Ashe, we've always known each other, but when everything happened and you were sent away for safety, I was forced to stay behind. I wasn't allowed to seek you out because it could've put us all at risk, until everything settled down and almost everyone forgot about you except Magna and I. So, the year before you turned fifteen I started searching for you until I found you under that bridge. I told myself I'd make sure you stayed safe and I'm going to continue living up to that."
From what I could sense, everything he said was the truth. It felt like being punched in the chest once my mind took it all in, but it was the truth. "Why didn't you tell-"
I was cut off by the sudden expression of wide-eyed surprise on his face, "Ashe, I swear we'll continue this conversation the second we get back to Gateway but they need me, plan A and B failed. Stay here, please." He spoke quickly and I nodded as he called the shadow with a snap, but I wasn't sure I was taking in what he'd said completely.
All this time I thought my parents simply didn't want me, I'd spent all those nights as a child asking myself why I couldn't have been the child they wanted and it turns out I was the child they died for. Right as the pain in my chest began to feel overwhelmingly sickening, something in me snapped and all of my emotions were numbed out.
I felt nothing.
***
August
Fuck. I should've waited until we were back to safety to try asking her what she wanted to talk about. I didn't want to leave Ashe like that, but when the first two plans fail you can't risk anything. Guilt was eating me alive with each step I took through Oakley's front door.
I sniffed the air for signs of blood or a struggle. No blood, but I could feel the humidity of a fight in the air. The house was silent at the moment though, I whistled and waited for a response. Moments later, Clovella peaked out from a room on the right side of the hallway, "in here." As she disappeared back into the room, I followed.
Savanna was out cold on a bed that I assumed was Oakley's. "Okay you two can go, I'll take care of it from here," I spoke while looking from Clovella's eyes to Oakley's. Only then did I notice swelling in Oakley's left eye and bottom lip. I looked back to Savanna and noticed that she didn't have any visible marks on her. "Actually, I want to know what happened," I said eventually. I'd need to know what kind of memories I was pulling anyways.
"My front door was open when we got here, we didn't notice anything else until we started packing my things. That's when she attacked me, I assumed if we were leaving her behind and removing memories or whatever then leaving marks would give us away, so I didn't fight back," Oakley said quietly, she almost seemed ashamed. "I had to knock her out, she's going to have a bump on the back of her head so add a fall or something to the false memories," Clovella said, keeping her eyes on Oakley.
I nodded and thought for a moment, "you're brave for letting a hunter beat on you like that, but if she had intended to kill you she would've. This was a message. We'll figure it out later, finish getting your things and leave, I need silence to do this." Oakley lifted her eyes to mine and gave me a small smile of appreciation before Clovella turned her towards the door.
With a sigh I turned back around to examine the woman passed out in front of me. Upon getting closer, I noticed something dark slightly behind her left ear, as I turned her head I realized it was a small tattoo that said 'Hunter 318.' I shook my head with a scowl, she was barely out of her teenage years and already being used as a war tool. I felt sorry for the children of hunters, you either joined them or you died.
I placed my pointer and middle fingers on her temples and set both of my thumbs on her third eye. With a deep breath I began removing memories of the last hour from her mind, and with my exhale I replaced them with false ones. When she woke up, she'd think she fell and hit her head while walking through the woods behind Oakley's house.
Knowing she'd be passed out for a while, I grabbed her phone and used her thumb on the home button to unlock it so that I could delete the messages from Oakley about leaving. I only noticed three other people she'd been texting, someone named Sam and her parents, so I came to the conclusion that it was probably a burner phone. I decided to take it back with me, if anything she'll think she lost it on her walk. I carried her out to the woods but before leaving I used her thumb again to go ahead and remove the need for a thumb print or code at all. Once I was satisfied I snapped my fingers and traveled back to the barn to grab Ashe.
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