Hope

Chapter 6

I woke up with my alarm blaring in my ear. I groaned and looked at the time. 5:00 AM. Perfect. I thought, now I have 55 minutes to get to the rendezvous spot. I hop out of bed and have a quick shower. By the time I had finished my shower, packed my bag, and had some breakfast it was time to go. I quietly opened the door that led to Liz's room to see her peacefully asleep as she should; I walked towards her careful not to walk over the creaks, push her hair out of her face, kissed her on the cheek and whispered, "I'll be back soon, Lizzie." And with that I was gone, into the morning.

As I trekked to the rendezvous point which was a fair distance from my home, I thought about my dream that I had today. I wondered who the man was and how I knew him, even now he feels incredibly familiar, too familiar. I looked towards the fence, watched the sky throb and watched its rain flicker down through the black. Their refreshing drops padded onto my face as the drizzle slowly developed, urging me to walk ever faster. My eyes darted to where I would set foot once this whole thing was over, the billowing trees and their billowing leaves with their billowing trunks. It was so dark beneath the protective, low canopy that it almost felt like a dark mist to me, and its wondrous grasp almost convinced my legs to stop walking, but nothing could let me screw up on this. If I screwed up, the rest of my "team" would take the fall in my stead.

Walking, walking, and walking... my head lost track of my steps, and it almost was as if even one of those "FitBits" from Richville wouldn't be able to count them. I had walked so far, too far now, to turn back. And I wouldn't turn back now.

Because the barn was in view.

Its auburn-brown roof stared down at me, the peeling, slightly rotting planks creaking as the rain bounced off of its shoulders. The fading red of the walls looked more like a chewed-bubblegum colour, and I took a few moments to estimate how old this barn was. I feel like I looked stupid just standing outside of the barn, looking at its slowly decomposing structure until I spotted Bex's hand from between the two doors, gesturing to finally enter.

"Willow, stupid, get a move on, we don't have all day!" I heard her yell from inside the barn's confines, "Our lives are at stake! You're not frozen in place, after all!"

Her words snapped me back into my senses and slapped the plan back into my head. I trotted in, slightly embarrassed but still going strong, to find the rest of my "team" sitting there.

Except for Noah.

I felt panic rising inside of me as I frantically looked around for Noah's calming blue eyes.

"Wha- um, uh, where's Noah?" I said, my gaze gliding around the room.

Mace glanced once at the barn door, before speaking in her almost naturally at this point quiet voice. "We think he slept through his alarm, or forgot to set one." She gestured to Bex, who made a quiet spitting noise.

"The idiot."

I tilted my head in the slightest as my brain tried to comprehend what I was hearing. "No, no- no. Noah wouldn't do that! I happen to be the one who met him first, and consequently know the most about him."

Rose opened her mouth to speak, lifting a finger, but I silenced her with my hand. To me, that was an unnecessary action, as she looked away and was consumed in thought all the same.

"The question is," I started, "Do we wait for him to arrive, or do we start without him?"

Bex's eyes narrowed. "I hate to admit, but he's the one who riled us all up for something where he doesn't even turn up. I think," Mace smirked at her from across the room, "Hey, I'm not lazy!" She said, crossing her arms, "I just happen to think it'd be better if we waited for him to come."

"Exactly," I interjected, adjusting my position to feel more comfortable, "The whole reason we're here is because of him. It wouldn't make sense if we left him." I paused for a moment. "And I doubt he would forgive us.."

Rose uncharacteristically took part in the argument. "Well, yes, I care about him as much as you guys do, but wasn't the point of the whole plan to start before dawn? It's," she glanced down at her watch for a second, "Five forty-five. He has ten minutes to get here, and if he doesn't and we wait, we have to reserve this for another day."

Her face contorted into a pleading look.

"Willow? Even you would agree, it's now or never, right? ..Right?"

"Right," I said firmly, nodding and backing Rose up.

Bex looked skeptical. "Exactly what side are you taking, Willow?"

"I'm just saying that we can't wait all night in some," I shivered, "creepy old barn! But if he doesn't show up, I say we reschedule."

Rose stood, her arms crossed but still somehow looking like the caring softie I knew. I take it she tried to look intimidating and/or angry, but had failed- I thought it best to not point that out. "You just agreed it's now or never, Willow.. Exactly what goes on in your mind?"

Mace nodded and sighed, her voice louder than usual.

"You're the person second to Noah in terms of organizing this. If the amazing Willow can't even make a decision, oh, dear, my oh my, what are we to do?"

I'm shocked my face didn't swell with annoyance when I heard that. "Keep your voice down!" I snapped, "Yes, I am the person to Noah in terms of organizing this, but the reason we organized this is so he could run away! How are we supposed to run away if the person who's supposed to be running away isn't even here!?" I stated matter-of-factly.

Everyone was shunned into silence. Then, as if the world wanted to screw me over, Bex decided to talk.

"So he could run away? Just him? He's selfish. I'm starting to second-guess this operation. So he's rallied us all here today, at THIS hour, so we can fulfil his selfish needs?" Bex said, a little too loudly. Rose gently pressed a finger to her lip, making a "shhh" sound.

"No!" I snapped, rushing to Noah's defense, "It's not like that! If you listened a bit more, instead of casting your completely inaccurate opinion, you would understand it's not like that."

"So our opinions are inaccurate? So we, who have looked directly at this side of the story, are inaccurate now? Huh. You know what? I feel like he's screwing us over on purpose." Mace interjected, all quietness in her voice forgotten.

"He's not screwing us over." I stated.

"Yes, he is!" Bex and Mace said simultaneously.

"You're just too blind to see! Besides, how do you even know he hasn't?" Bex yelled, before slamming a hand onto her mouth.

I blurted out. "He's hypnotised, okay! He's hypnotised!"

I watched the truth slowly descend upon them.

Rose spoke, her voice shaking with worry, "Wha- what? How could that happen?"

Bex crossed her arms, not wanting to accept the fact she could be wrong. "How do you know?" She muttered audibly, out of the very corner of her mouth.

I thought for a while at that moment as the seconds seemed to lengthen. Should I lie or speak truthfully? Or should I tell an alternate version of... the truth? No, I thought to myself, lying would only make it worse. When they find out the truth, for this operation I'd have to be dug up from my grave.

So I told them the truth.

The whole truth.

From his tears, to the crimes he'd committed, to the unreasonable things that had taken place.

Rose looked devastated. Mace looked skeptical. Bex looked... startlingly unsurprised.

A moment's silence fell onto them as if it was Remembrance Day.

I glanced towards the barn door to find a silhouetted figure standing in the doorway.

Slowly moving closer.