Beyond the Border | ✔

9 | rule 42

RULE 42: BORDERLANDERS MUST ALWAYS STICK TOGETHER

✷ C H A P T E R      N I N E ✷

"Pa!" I exclaimed loudly, almost in disbelief.

Without realizing it, I had made my way into Pa's tight embrace, his arms welcoming me home; I squeezed him as hard as I could, afraid he would vanish if my grip wavered.

Involuntarily, I exhaled deeply, the pain in my wrist suddenly absent from my mind, as I was now safe. I was now home — with Pa. A dull trace of anxiety remained, however, but I brushed it off from the traumatic events that had occurred recently.

The nightmares Pa used to tell me as a child became a reality in the past day, and, while I was safe now, I think some anxiety was justified. I just hoped it would settle soon, and I could soon shake the thought of Theo out of my mind.

I wasn't quite convinced that he was not doing something... supernatural to keep him in my thoughts. While I was focused on Pa and our reunion, thoughts of Theo were lurking in the very back of my mind. Soon, I was squeezing Pa even tighter, trying hard to empty my brain of any unnatural thoughts.

"Sage," Pa sighed into the top of my head; the relief in his voice washing over me as well. "I thought I had lost you."

I could feel the sorrow in his words; his words carried the same hurt that overcame him when he told me Ma was gone. Loss was no stranger to him, but he did not appear to be a veteran of loss.

"Never," I said with tears starting to ebb their way into my vision.

My face was smashed up against Pa's chest, my tears soaking into the coarse linen of his shirt. I inhaled deeply. Pa smelled like fire and soot, a scent that usually had me begging Pa to bathe, but right now, I couldn't mind any less that Pa smelled like his forge.

Swept up in the reunion with Pa, I did not take a chance to check my surroundings. After Memphis picked me up, he went down a long, winding road that made my head spin. At any point, I couldn't tell if we had managed to escape or if we had instead made our way back to Theo's compound.

My heart was racing the entire time, regardless, and I had to push away a strange feeling of regret. A part of me was nudging me to go back. I chalked it up to the glamor and curiosity the Outside world provided.

As Pa and I reluctantly ended our embrace, I could see that I was underground — not inside the Borderlands. What was going on?

"Pa?" I questioned, and suddenly, in the presence of Pa, it was like I was a little girl again, confused about my surroundings, looking to Pa for guidance.

He scratched at his chin and cleared his throat. My breath stilled — Pa was many things, but a liar was not one of them. He normally had a hard time keeping a secret; he just naturally did not have a filter and would say whatever he was thinking. This hardly ever got him into any predicaments, surprisingly, but it did make it easy to tell when he was lying.

Or when he was withholding information, at the very least.

I didn't want to press further. My birthday had taken an unfortunate turn, and I just wanted to put Theo and his... weird way of life behind me.

"I'll answer your questions soon, Sage, but for now let's get your wrist looked at," Pa half smiled, and guided me along with his arm placed on my back.