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Black Veil Brides WATCH NOW!

The debut music video for our new single #FieldsofBone directed by @andyblack! Head to the @sumerianrecords YouTube or…

LINK IN BIO

LINK IN STORIES

okay bitches time to get excommunicated from the catholic church

here’s a lovely ballad complete with SCREAMING and a whole-ass ELECTRIC GUITAR

we are going to hell for sexy crimes (and also murder)

you know what’s fun? arson! you know what else is fun? blasphemy!

Again, incredibly sorry about the link, but this should work.

So, again, it will be long, but PLEASE read it! Me and @x0-emoidiot-x0​ worked really hard on it, and I don’t want to see it collect dust.

Here is the character reference sheet:

Left to Right: Heather, Abigail, Destroyer, Mourner, Prophet, Mystic, Savior

On with the story!

Prophet

“They’re coming for us. They’ll be here any minute now. They know where we are, and we must be prepared to fight,” I shout to everyone around me. I knew that FEAR would find us. They’ve been following us. Almost as if someone has been leading them right to the camp. I knew they would find us, it was just a matter of when. My shirt is torn up from racing through the spears. Wish it was a little less damaged. I wish my leather jacket still had its left arm. As I adjust the shirt and elbow length fishnet fingerless gloves, the shaved side of my head catches the breeze. The remaining black hair on my right side blows away from my eyes, which also leaves my shoulder exposed.  “Remember to stand your ground. Never give in, never back down. We will defeat them. I promise.” Destroyer and Deviant are listening to me and are simultaneously giving directions to the people they command. 

“Everyone, go to the south side. FEAR officials will likely store their materials there. Take as much as you can, use them to fight the officials.” Destroyer shouts, terror in his eyes. 

“Idiot, you know the officials keep their supplies on the north side!” Deviant calls back. I feel sick to my stomach. I always feel that way around him. I don’t know why. 

Destroyer looks annoyed, but concedes. “Okay. Guys, split up. Half of you go to the north, and half to the south.”

“Shouldn’t you put all of them on the north side? Use the full force of the army? God, you’re supposed to be the smart one. Can’t even accomplish basic army strategy.” 

Destroyer stops moving, stops trying to say anything, just stands there, shaking. I can see sweat escaping from the bandana he refuses to take off. He puts his hands over his hair, just shaking his head. Funny, we all have nearly the same hair length and color. Somehow, he’s only wearing a black t shirt in the wind, and his tan skin almost disappears in the sand.

Deviant looks nervous. I’m nervous too, I don’t blame him. The Destroyer looks like he doesn’t want to do this, and y’know what? I don’t blame him for that either. Mystic has already started giving directions to the people he is with. He doesn’t look as scared as Destroyer and Deviant. He’s definitely the most armed, long sleeve black shirt with thick pieces of armor around his shoulder, and black jeans. It doesn’t seem like much, but it’s all we have between us. His diamond makeup has the effect of making his left eye pop out, and the wind blowing through his hair makes it look longer than it is, usually around the middle of his neck. I wish I could be that confident. Mourner, however, is terrified.

He keeps looking over at Mystic. He starts muttering to himself. Or his mom. I can’t really tell, so I get closer. Destroyer notices him as well. Mourner’s sleeveless black jean jacket is already covered in dust, and his slightly-longer-than-shoulder-length hair is just as frizzy. He doesn’t seem to notice us, he’s just playing out the flashback. His pale skin sticks out like a sore thumb. Mystic and I are just as visible.

“Blood, blood, just so much blood. MOM. No, no, no. Don’t you dare leave me! I can’t make it on my own! No, no, don’t leave me alone! Please. If only for me, don’t go! No no MOM DON’T GO!!” His hands cover his mouth, tears start welling up in his eyes. Eventually his voice returns, barely a whisper. “Mom, don’t leave me.”

Mystic notices, and walks over.  

“Are you okay, Mourner?” 

Mourner instantly composes himself.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” His voice starts to get shaky. “If they have a better Arsenal, we don’t stand a chance. They’ll murder anyone they can. We’ve been fighting for so long. I can’t have you guys dying on me.”

“Mourner, we’ll be fine.” I say.

“How do you know?”

“Mourner, look at me. Listen to Prophet. We’ll get out of this alive.” 

“As long as you’re by my side, we’re unstoppable.” 

They look into each other’s eyes, me and Destroyer beg them to kiss. They stay like that for a good ten seconds. They separate, and start working. Of course. Those two are so stupidly in love, and yet neither knows about the other. It’s almost funny. I look out and see dust clouds moving towards us. 

“Let’s do this!” I hear Mystic shout, smile on his face.

They’re here…

Destroyer

I look out into the desert and see the cloud moving closer to us with every second. The closer it gets, the more my own fear grows. My stomach is in knots and my palms are starting to sweat. I can barely think straight. Right off the bat, I can tell that this is not going to go well. The cloud finally fades, revealing the members of FEAR to us. 

”You can’t leave, you know that, right? I’ll report you if I ever learn you left”

”You would have to explain what your role was! They will wonder how you know! You would need to out yourself as well!”

All of a sudden, I feel like I’m back in that kitchen. Fetal position, desperately trying to cover my head. Shards of plates litter my hair.

”I’ll just tell them I caught you with another man in an alley after curfew. They’ll always believe my word over yours. Never forget that”

I don’t want to do this. I feel sick. Everything around me feels like it is spinning. I hear people from both sides yelling. I don’t understand the words coming out of them. Suddenly, I hear Mourner yell. “Destroyer, look out!” I look ahead, and see them moving straight towards me. Barely thinking, I fall into a kneeling position and throw my fist onto the ground. I see them falling left and right in front of me as the wave of energy I sent out destroys everything in my path. I look out again and see something odd. The Deviant is off with someone in FEAR. 

“Destroyer, why are you just standing there?” I turn, and Mystic stares back at me

“Um, was Deviant sent to talk with FEAR officials?”

“What the-Deviant! What are you doing?”

Mystic starts running in that direction, his demons following, with Mourner trying to catch up. I stop him before he can go further.

“Mystic, is this really a good idea?” Mourner shouts, right arm outstretched. His messy, frizzy hair is moving everywhere, and I struggle not to laugh.

“Um, yes!”

“No. Mourner’s right. Go back. I can take care of Deviant.”

Mystic nods, and waits for Mourner to catch up.

“Come on. Let’s go.” Mourner says when he finally catches up.

Mystic doesn’t respond for a while, just stares at the sand on the ground.

“Mystic, Hey, follow Mourner.”

He eventually comes out of it. “Huh? Oh yeah. Follow Mourner. Got it”

As they go, I can hear a bit of a conversation.

“You ok?”

“Yeah.”

“Absence episode?”

“Yeah. Take control of the army if that happens again, okay? I won’t be any good then.”

“Absolutely.”

Something is very wrong here. We don’t talk with them. He looks suspicious, like he’s trying to keep it a secret. I look in front of me again and see those laying ahead of me, dead or wounded. Shame wells up within me as I turn away and look to see what other damage had been done. They are still going. I look back to the Deviant, and I see the other person he was speaking with walking away with a grin on their face and an envelope in their hands. Wait…what’s going on here? Deviant walks back over as if nothing happened. 

I block his path when he gets near.

“What was that?” I glare at him.

“Nothing.” He says, trying to get past me.

“I very clearly saw something. No Wild One just walks up to FEAR officials to ask how their grandmother’s doing.”

“Maybe I was.” Deviant snarls. “Why do *you* care?”

“Because you’re supposed to be on our side? Because if any of us got that close to a FEAR official, we’d be killed in two seconds?”

“You don’t know me.”

“Oh, was the official a girl? Is that what you mean?“

He almost looks hurt. I almost feel bad.

“Ouch.”

“Oh, I think now is the perfect time for insults, young man. 

“I’m six years older that you. Shut up. It was nothing.”

I want to believe that was nothing, but…Unless they were working as a spy, and Deviant is not. Wait…

Mourner

“Mourner, you and Mystic go to the north side. Some of the fighters haven’t returned!”

“Will do!” I scream to Prophet.

We start running, and the blood is unescapable. Everywhere. There’s a torn up hand on the ground. I think I saw a head in the bushes. I begin seeing the cobblestone streets of my hometown. And the blood…

No, don’t think of that now.

Mystic is ripping the FEAR officials apart, one by one, all energy and smiles. He waits until he senses their heartbeats, then he claps. They fall to the ground, bleeding from the inside.

This needs to end soon. I can’t take much more of this. My mind goes practically numb with worry. I keep fighting, but I know that I need to stop. I can barely focus on the battle at hand. My eyes keep sneaking glances at Mystic while we work. His black hair is somehow not filled with knots and tangles, although the diamond on his eye is starting to smudge. I know that if I could stand around and stare at him the entire time, I would. Now is not the time for that. Now is the time to start summoning ghosts. When I bring them back from the dead, I call them to our aid so they can go after our enemies. I stand back. “Mortuos suscitavit animos eosque haec arm.” Translation: “Let this raise the spirits of the dead and call them to arms”. They know that they’re needed to come to our aid. And of course, they rise straight from the ground. Spirits of all kinds coming up. 

This should be a good thing, however…this is when they cause problems of their own. “My era is the best because we fixed all the problems your era created!” “You didn’t solve anything! The problems got worse.” 

“Oh my God WE DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!” Mystic exclaims. The ghosts ignore him completely. 

I pat his shoulder. “Here, let me try.”

I walk over to where they are standing. “Guys, both generations have their strengths and weaknesses. We have a war to fight, let’s move along.” They ignore us, and keep bickering.

That is, until Mystic raises his eyebrow, and starts to lift his hands up. Their eyes widen, and they scurry along with the rest of the group.

My knees start to shake, and all breath escapes my body. My overwhelming urge to kiss him bubbles inside me.

“Thanks, Mystic.” I finally manage to say.

“No problem. Now, let’s show these motherfuckers who they’re dealing with.”

My hair keeps getting into my face. I wish it wasn’t as crazy as it is. My hair just looks matted all the time even though I comb it every single day. It’s covering my eyes all the time.

I can’t let Mystic get hurt, no matter what. I can’t lose him. I just can’t. Suddenly, I hear Destroyer yelling at me. “Get down, man!” I see something flying towards me, and I duck down before it can hit me. It then hits the ground behind me, and I get back up. At this point, Destroyer runs off again, and I know that I need to keep my eyes on FEAR. But I need to watch Mystic. But in order to get out of here alive, I have to pay attention. I look around and see that most of the FEAR members who are fighting here are down. 

“Left side, take these spears.” I start to hand them out. I watch as Mystic stands by himself. At first, I think he might be having another absence episode, and I almost walk over to help him. But then I hear him speak. 

“Tuo eeht tsacI!” He yells as the ground beneath him starts to shake. Ah yes, one of my favorite parts of this whole thing. Almost makes watching all of this worth it. Demons start to rise from Hell under us and come to his side. His eyes sparkle. He looks amazing, even in that clunky armor…snap out of it! I can’t be having these thoughts right now. 

I watch and order the ghosts I summoned take control of FEAR on one side, and as Mystic commands his demons. “All my demons, follow me!” Mystic says, running straight into battle, somehow simultaneously splitting the officials apart one by one, all energy and smiles, and ordering his demons around. “Now,” He whispers. The demons then possess FEAR’s nearby members, making them attack themselves. As the officials fall down, we both notice something unsettling. 

“Prophet!” I scream in his direction. He is currently spear fighting a FEAR official.

“Kind of busy here, Mourner!”

Mystic shoots his hand out, and instantly, the official falls down choking.

“You need to see this.”

Prophet comes running towards us.

“What is-oh.”

In front of us, at least half of the army has been slaughtered.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, Deviant’s officially an idiot for trying to get the whole army here.”

“Why would he do that?”

Prophet can only muster a shrug.

Our conversation is interrupted by FEAR officials attacking us from all sides. Prophet tries to help, but his voice is barely audible. I command our undead army as best I can, while Mystic is exploding the officials hearts open.

I take another glance at Mystic while I feel like I can. He’s still fighting, trying to get the three FEAR members surrounding him down. 

I can’t help but stare at him. He has this massive scar on his face.

“Mystic, there are officials to your right!” Prophet screams.

It’s near his stunningly blue eyes. 

“Got it. What are we going to do about our fallen comrades?” Mystic shouts.

I start to wonder how it would feel to kiss him, just his lips on mine. 

“We’ll try to get them buried as soon as we can!” Prophet calls back.

Or to be locked in his embrace on a cold night. 

“And when will that be?” Mystic replies.

Or how his hands would feel in mine. 

I then try to snap out of this mindset. He’s my best friend, nothing more, nothing less. But still…I keep staring, just playing different scenarios in my head. I get so caught up in my daydream that I don’t hear Prophet yelling. Suddenly, I feel a stabbing pain. I look down and see blood pouring from my left side. I don’t know how to go on, but I have to keep fighting. I look up to see who is responsible for this, and I find myself face-to-face with another FEAR member. I need to do something, but I just can’t physically bring myself to. My vision starts to blur and my body starts to feel limp. I look over at Mystic, and I see him looking over at me. The last thing I see before everything goes black is him running towards me…

Mystic

This battle has been true Hell, but it seems to be almost over. I swear, something is very wrong here. Deviant keeps going over and talking to some of the FEAR officials. 

“We’ll get them buried within the month, at least.” Prophet shouts.

“Thanks. Was Deviant supposed to talk with FEAR?”

“Not to my knowledge.” Prophet says, running off.

But that’s not my problem right now. My problem is working to get these guys down. 

“Really think you four can beat us, huh?”

Four?

“Yeah, I do.” I respond with a smirk on my face, raising my hands.

“No, you won’t.” The official says. The next thing I know, something hits my head, and I fall to the ground, and the sharp point of the spear is at my neck.

“You’re one of the demon possessed freaks, aren’t you?” He says, noticing the band around my wrist.

“Trust me on this, my episodes of flailing around are not demon possessions.”

“I’m in charge of your file. You’ve had too many exorcisms to rid you of this monstrosity. Oh how wonderful it will be to bring you to FEAR officials.”

Terror bubbles in my stomach. I can’t leave my friends. 

“If you don’t come willingly in two minutes, I’m putting this spear into your chest.”

I can’t calm myself down. I think of everything I can to get my mind off of it. Finally, the day I was introduced to Mourner pops in my head. 

My breathing slows down, and I’m able to concentrate on his heartbeat.

“Think you messed with the wrong Wild One.”

I click my tongue, and in an instant, he falls to the ground, and I see blood trickling through his mouth.

I’m able to calm down a bit until I hear a scream coming from the other side of the battlefield. I look over and see Mourner falling to the ground. We’re alone. Without even thinking, I run to him, and hold Mourner in my arms.

“Mourner. Mourner can you hear me?”

He’s unconscious and bleeding profusely from his left side. With that, anger grows within me. I hear the sound of the wind around me and start to focus on that as I try to find something, anything, that will help him stop bleeding. 

“C’mon, c’mon, there has to be something in this fucking desert!”

The sound of the wind soon becomes the only thing I hear. Soon enough, the remaining FEAR officials all fall down, thanks to Destroyer. Finally. I try to shake Mourner a bit in an attempt to wake up. 

“Mourner, wake up! Please, wake up!”

Nothing happens. Tears spring into my eyes as I get more frantic. 

“Mourner, can you hear me! Say something!”

Mom, come back! Please, it won’t happen again!

His eyes start to go blank.

“No no no no. Don’t you fucking die on me. Not today. Please.”

I fail to locate anything to bandage the wound, so I try to cover it with my hands. My powers activate, and his wound starts to get more severe. The best I can do is cradle his body in my arms.

“Prophet Destroyer HELP!” He can’t die. I can’t bear to lose him. I yell for anyone else to come over. 

“Someone HELP!” Prophet rushes over, picking him up and says

“He’ll be fine. We can get him stitched up and have him back in no time. Don’t worry.” I wipe the tears from my eyes. Don’t worry. That’s such a terrible thing to say to someone. What does it actually do besides invalidate my worries? Either way, we need to keep him safe. I hear Destroyer interrogating Deviant while Prophet finds the first aid kit.

“I can find it!” I call out.

“You have been through enough today.” Prophet responds.

“It’s really-“

“Stay with Mourner, Mystic. That’s an order from your commander.”

“Okay, you have serious explaining to do.” Destroyer said, cornering Deviant.

“What do you mean?” Deviant responds with puppy dog eyes.

“You know exactly what I mean. Half of the army was slaughtered by FEAR officials, and we have reason to believe they had been waiting there. I distinctly recall that you’re the one who persuaded me to send half the army in that direction. Care to explain?” 

“Why do you care? Sounds like you’re not willing to admit you made a mistake.”

“I sent them to the north at your insistence. You wanted me to send the *whole* army there, if I’m not mistaken.”

Deviant shrugs. “Simple error on my part. Don’t know why you’re so upset.”

“Because in addition to making a fatal error you have been seen by everyone talking with FEAR officials, and not getting killed.”

“It’s the last one that shocked all of us.” I chime in. Sounds of Prophet frantically searching fills the background.

“Mystic’s right. Talking with them is one thing. Talking with them and not getting killed is another matter entirely. What. Were. You. Doing?”

“None. Of. Your. Business.” Deviant says, flicking his fingers in front of Destroyer’s eyes. He goes off somewhere, Destroyer covers his eyes and starts hyperventilating.

“Look at this little weakling. Can’t handle small motions without going into a fit.”

Destroyer starts shaking, and Prophet returns with the First Aid kit.

“Deviant, just go. I don’t give a damn where. Just leave us alone.”

“Gladly.” Deviant says, storming off.

Prophet sits down on the left side of Mourner, opposite from me.

“So, tell me what happened.”

“I don’t know. I was fighting a FEAR official, and once he died, I heard a scream, and Mourner had fallen to the ground, bleeding profusely. I couldn’t find who did it.“

“Looks like he sustained a blunt force injury to his left side. Wait-it seems like the injury worsened after the initial blow. What happened?”

His earnest expression only makes it more painful. Tears start to form, but I push them back.

“I couldn’t find anything to bandage the wound, so I tried to cover it up myself.”

“Hey,” Prophet says, putting his arms on my shoulders. I push it off. “You did the absolute best you could do under the circumstances. Your powers activated. You’ve told me yourself: controlling your powers while stressed is hard.”

Destroyer walks over to us, wrapping me in his arms. “There there, Mystic. Prophet’s right. You did the best you could.”

“I’m fine, you guys. No need to worry about me.”

“He’s going to get out of this, if I have anything to do with it.” Prophet declares. I know he’ll do whatever he can.

“Let’s change the subject to what the hell was going on with Deviant.” 

“Is this the first time he’s talked to FEAR officials?” Prophet says. He looks scared.

“This is the first time he’s been caught talking to the officials, at least.” I jut in. My voice is still wobbling.

I can tell that we were all suspicious of why Deviant was talking to him. But that’s not what I’m worried about right now. Prophet finishes taking care of Mourner, and I sit by his side while Prophet addresses everyone else. I sneak his hand into mine. I so badly wish I could do that every day. I’m relieved that there’s a pulse.

“Can everyone living hear me?” Prophet calls out. Everyone in the tent listens. 

“I know the battle was disastrous, and I don’t think any of us saw the attack on the north side coming.” 

Everyone nods, solemnly. They’ve all lost someone special in the ambush. 

“But most of us are still here. And we’re going to continue to fight.”

I can see smiles on a few of the Wild One’s faces. Prophet just looks even more scared.

“Now, I’m sure you heard the argument that Deviant and Destroyer had. Does anyone know where he went?”

No one answers. The three of us exchange a look. Something tells me this will not end well…

Savior

I sigh as I look down at my sleeping daughter, Abigail. She spent all of today with her mother, my wife Heather. This would be great if it were under normal circumstances, but this is nothing normal. I’m running away, and I have to take her with me. I don’t have a choice. She might not make it if she stays with her mother. 

“She looks so peaceful.” My wife has tears in her eyes, falling onto her dark brown skin. Her curls fall to her chest. The jean jacket covering the graphic t-shirt she’s wearing is a little crumpled, but her long flowing pants are still in peak condition. She cleaned them last night.

I hug her tightly. It might be the last time.

One of us has to leave. It’s been getting more and more dangerous since our neighbors found out that Abigail was conceived before we married. 

”There she goes, the little slut.”

”Bet you’re real proud of that decision.”

”Whore.”

”Excuse me..”

”You’re the one that made her this way. Shut the hell up.”

”The dude can’t help it. That’s what happens, little miss, when you dress like you did.”

She wasn’t dressed in revealing clothes that night.

”Don’t cry now. You made your own bed. Lie. In. It.”

I had to watch as the woman I love more than anything else in the entire world hold back tears as these people tore into everything about her.

If they find all of us here, they’ll take us and brainwash us. I’d rather die. We’ve always lived on the outskirts of the city, we could never afford anything there because we don’t work for the government, and we don’t associate ourselves with anyone who does. 

”Let’s just try to get something in here one last time.” Heather said as we opened the door. “If they start hurting you, I’ll attack them.”

”Hello! Why are you here now?”

Me and Heather traded glances. This person didn’t recognize me. Perhaps..”

”Hi, Mr. Colder-son!”

The black robes were what we saw first. The staff, then the two massive horns materialized next.

Mr. Colder-son turned his back to us for a bit.

”Hide. There’s a broom closet in the hallway. RUN.” Heather whispered. I ran as quickly as I was able. Through a tiny crack in the wood, I could spy on the conversation.

”What was that noise?”

”Oh, nothing. My boyfriend just went to use the bathroom, that’s probably what you heard.”

”Hmph. In any case, tell your dad that the ballot measure is about to pass.”

”What ballot measure?” My girlfriend asked.

”He didn’t tell you? Just wait. You must place your trust in F.E.A.R. You must.”

He evaporated, and Mr. Colder-son went out of the office.

”We’re closed, by the way. If you still need help, please come in tomorrow.”

He left, and I rejoined my girlfriend.

”We can’t try and live here.” I said. “Listen, a friend of mine lives in a small apartment on the outside of town. There is a really good preschool for Abigail. It’s not much, but it will be safer.” She bobbed her head up and down in agreement. Our bags were packed the very next day.

Heather is going to run away to her parents and hide with them, but I have to take Abigail and run, and it has to be now, or else we won’t make it. She cries as she finishes writing a note to Abigail and putting it in our suitcase. 

“Here, let me do it.”

“Please promise me that you’ll take good care of her.” 

“I promise.”

She zips up the suitcase and hugs me before she says, 

“Remember, never give anyone your name at all. Never give anyone our last name, call Abigail only by her first name. Never get involved with FEAR, you don’t want to become one of them. And I wrote down instructions on how to do Abigail’s twist out. Please be safe.” 

“I will.” I start to cry as I have so many times thinking about this happening. I knew it would happen eventually, with how strict the city has started to get, they’ve started sweeping the outskirts for “non-believers”. To them, we are the scum of the Earth, and we either need to join their cult or die. We won’t do either of those things, we are going to hide. We have to. I cry as she hugs me again. 

“I love you.” 

“I love you too.” 

“My parents will be here before morning, you have to leave before they get here. Please, go.” I pick Abigail up, being careful not to drop her as I drag our suitcase behind me. I hold Abigail close to my chest as I start to walk out, hearing Heather’s cries behind me. I stop for a split second.

“Go just go.” Heather says, still crying. 

I wish I could go back and hold her tight and tell her that I could stay, that everything would be alright and that we would be able to live happily as a family again. But I can’t do that.

“Don’t cry don’t cry don’t wake Abigail up.” I mutter to myself.

I walk away and out towards what will soon start to be nothing but desert as my heart starts to feel like it is sinking into my stomach. I hate having to do this. I don’t want to leave Heather, but I have to if we want to keep Abigail safe. My dusty leather jacket is the only protection I have against the elements. It’s cold today, I can feel the wind on the right side of my head. The hair on my left tickles my pale jaw and neck.

”I see what you’re doing.”

”Ummm..I’m sorry, what?” Me and my wife said in unison

”Don’t play dumb. I know what you’re doing. Shame on you, feeding these awful ideas to your daughter. Poor thing” He said as the phone started to ring.

FEAR officials came to our door the next day. And that was the moment we knew it wasn’t safe for us to stay together.

If we all went with Heather’s parents, it would be easy for people to find out about Abigail, because they live in the city. And it would be easier for FEAR to find us if we all ran away to the desert. So we have to split up. I continue walking out, not stopping or looking back. I can’t. Any pause in my walking makes me want to turn around and run back. I can’t give into that urge, I have to keep going. As I walk, I start to slow down as my arms feel weak from carrying Abigail and our luggage with me. It’s a good thing Abigail is still small, otherwise my arms would have given out by now. Heather freshened up Abigail’s twist out last night, and her long hair is still damp. I insisted she wear a long sleeve shirt last night (she hates them) under her blue checkered dress, her winter boots and coat, and her thick light green pants. Anything to keep her warm. Her light brown skin matches the bracelet on her wrist. She just turned seven, old enough to understand what is happening to us, and it has been horrifying for her. Neither of us could bring ourselves to tell her what was going on, I remember Heather crying as she tucked Abigail into bed tonight. 

”Why do we have to do this?” I could barely see her through the tears in my eyes.

”There isn’t another way.” Her voice wobbled.

”There has to be.”

She shook her head sadly. “I checked. There is nowhere you or Abigail could hide safely. Believe me, I tried. I tried so hard.” Her last sentence was barely a whisper. We stood there for a while. Then she hugged me so tight, I could feel my ribs bend.

The thought alone makes me want to cry, but there’s no time for me to do that. I have to keep going.

“Daddy, where’s mom?” Abigail rubs her eyes awake.

I almost burst into tears.

“She’s…gone.”

“Gone where?”

Trying to answer that is too painful, so I don’t.

I stop for a few seconds before I continue to walk. I quickly glance behind me as I see that our home and the roads leading back to it are long gone. I look around me, and there’s nothing but desert. And yet, I still have to keep walking. It feels like I’ve been going on forever. And I have to continue for the rest of eternity if I want to keep Abigail and Heather truly safe from harm. After another eternity of walking, my legs almost start to give out as sunrise starts to creep up on us. And in the distance, I see what looks like some sort of makeshift camp set up. What could this possibly mean? Either way, I remember what Heather told me. Never give anyone my real name, never give anyone anything but Abigail’s first name, never associate with the government. This camp doesn’t look like anything that would be set up by the government, it looks exactly like what FEAR wants to exterminate. So could the people here help us? Or is this a trap? What would I be risking by looking? After all, the sun is barely coming up, I don’t really think anyone would be awake.

I sigh as I take a minute to sit down, holding Abigail in my arms. 

“Where’s mom? I want mom! Where is she!?”

She starts to cry. It takes everything inside of me to not do the same. 

Stay strong for your daughter

I start rocking her. “Shhh, Abby. Your mom is fine.”

I don’t even believe it myself.

Abigail starts to get sleepy.

“If I could be with you tonight, I would sing you to sleep, never let them take the light behind your eyes.”

I fear that light is almost gone.

“Sometimes we must, grow stronger and, you can’t be stronger in the dark. When 

I’m here, no longer, you must be stronger and if I…”

That’s when I see a tall figure walking towards me. Oh no. As they come up more, I see that they aren’t wearing the robes the men in FEAR tend to wear, this person just seems to be in tattered black clothing. Exactly the kind of person FEAR would speak against. He has long, torn gloves that reach his shoulders, what looks like some sort of tank top and jeans combination, and combat boots. Guess he must be used to the weather here. I hold Abigail tighter as he gets closer. I have no clue who he is or what he’s doing, all I know is to protect Abigail, whatever that may take.

I grab his wrist as he gets close, letting my powers turn deadly and I begin seeping poison into his skin.

“If you take her away from me, or harm her in any way, I swear to God I will murder you.”

He shakes my arm away. “Come with me. Our camp is safer.”