We drove in silence. The moons sat, and the sun began to rise, by the time we left the tundra and entered the woods. The roads were bumpy, and I found myself nearly falling over. I was still tired. Very tired. I glared at Liam the entire way there. If I had known that he would do something like this, I wouldn’t have taken that stupid heart. I reached for my gun; also in the back. Perhaps I could kill him and escape...

And then what?

And then anything I want. Who was he to tell me what to do?

I picked up my pistol and swung it over to him. Without even glancing my way he reached over, pulled it out of my hands, and punched me hard in the face, then tossed the pistol into the bed of the jeep. It rattled to a stop.

“You’re a real piece of shit, you know that?” He said through a grimace, “I regret inviting you to our group.”

“And I regret accepting it.” I sneered.

“Nothing we can do. Once the connection is made, it’s good until your contract expires. So until then, just stay somewhere quiet and die, or not. I don’t care.”

As we passed by a small wall, the road got significantly worse: more ragged and pocked. More animals fled at the sound of our approaching engine. The landscape was hilly. Mountains stretched up in the distance, and bright green grasses bent and swayed off the side of the road. Hills rose and fell in the distance, and strange wooded areas of trees of various colors: blues and green, and reds and purples, lay scattered off the road, and equally strange animals ran alongside the jeep; curious, eyes looking at the two of us.

“We’re out of White Company territory. Don’t worry, I won’t drop you off in the middle of nowhere.” He said, “I will drop you off in a location where you’ll at least have a chance at surviving.”

I didn’t say a word in response. What would could I say? Nothing but anger, anxiety, and tiredness. We turned off the road, drove through the countryside, and parked near some ruins. The sound of a creek sang nearby past the oak and willow trees that surrounded it. The ruin itself sat on top of a small hill and was a two-story thing made of stone covered in thick vines that snaked their way up to the flat roof. Hollow windows looked out over the stony, ancient walls that had at once encircled this property.

“This is it.” He said. “Get your stuff out of the jeep, and I will leave, understand?”

“Fuck you.”

“You are still required to do your one job a week, or I will personally come here to terminate your contract. Scumbag.”

“What did I do that was so wrong, huh? People get drunk all the time, what’s wrong with getting a little high?”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“ ‘A little high,’ did you know that the man you fought the other day lost an eye? Did you know that the people you screamed at and menaced left the White Company lands to join the Landskentch to the west? You sullied the name of not only the Secondary Assault Platoon but the White Company as a whole.”

“Yeah, so? I didn’t kill anyone.”

Liam got out of the jeep, and without another word began tossing my stuff on the ground in front of the ruins.

“Hey, what the fuck are you doing! Be careful!”

“Why, I’m not breaking anything, am I?”

“Fuck you, bastard.”

HE let go of my bag and landed a solid blow across my face, and I fell to the grass. He whispered something, and the blades of grass rose up and wrapped around my arms and legs.

“You will stay like that until I’m gone. I can’t trust you not to shoot me.” He tossed the bags of things that his company had bought for me into the grass haphazardly.

I pulled at the grass, but the more I tore, the more bonds grew over me.

“I’ll fucking kill you.” I pulled up my head, as the grass grew over my forehead and throat, “Fucking hypocritical bastard. Fucking liar. Fucking ret—“

The grass grew over my mouth so all I could do was scream into those emerald blades as Liam finished emptying the jeep. He climbed up to the driver’s seat and started the engine.

“Remember. When the expedition comes, you’re required to participate.” Liam said. As the vehicle began pulling away he snapped his fingers, and the grass around me shrank.

I was left there, by myself. Hundreds of miles away from civilization accompanied by nothing but the howling wind, and the rushing of a nearby river, and the calling of strange animals.

Fuck. It’s just not fair. Fuck.

These are the consequences of your own actions.

No, it’s not.

Think of it like this: you’ll have time to get over your addiction.

“I’m not addicted,” I muttered as I sank my head into my knees.

My head hurt. My body ached, I just wanted to sleep. A cold wind howling by sent shivers down my spine, and chased the idea of falling asleep right there out of my mind. I grumbled as I pushed myself out of the grass and walked wearily over to the last bit of overhanging roof on the second floor; picking up my primary bag and sleeping pad.

I set the sleeping pad up on the cold ground, and fish around in my bag for my sleeping bag. After that, I brought up all the rest of my bags and formed a kind of wind-breaking wall around them, took off my boots and socks, and crawled into my sleeping bag. It wasn’t comfortable. Not at all, but it would do.

As I tossed and turned, the moons rose: now it was the purple moon that hung full in the sky, and the pale moon that was waning. The drive here had taken nearly all day it seems. The purple light of the moon caught the glimmer of the pistol that I had set up just in case something snuck up on me during the night. Should I just put this in my mouth? My life was over anyway. Sleep came while I debated with myself about the ethics of suicide.

----------------------------------------

“Was it really that necessary to be that rough?” Jack asked as he, Clara, Liam, and Aurora sat around a table in the middle of the Cat and the Fiddle. “I mean, I know he messed up.”

Liam, the enigmatic leader of the secondary platoon took a long drink from a cup of hot tea seated in front of him.

“It was.” He said putting it down, “Kyle messed up bad.”

“He didn’t kill anyone, and I see fights break out all the time down the canal,” Jack argued.

“No. Not with that.” Aurora corrected, “Fights are normal when you bring a lot of rough people together.”

“Then what?”

“He indulged in his addiction,” Liam said, as he leaned back and stroked at the bit of stubble on his face. “This is necessary for him to get that particular monkey off his back.”

Aurora chuckled.

“Did you take him to the farmhouse?”

“Farmhouse?” Jack asked.

“No. I took him to the old tower.” Liam responded. “It’s near, though.”

“What farmhouse?”

“Ah. When I first came here, I was like him.” Aurora said as she took a bit of her potato stew, “Heroin and Fent was my, ‘monkey.’ When I slipped back into it here, Liam pulled the same shtick with me.”

Liam once again took a long sip from his cup of tea.

“Did you have to be so violent, though?” Clara asked, “And why couldn’t I heal him?”

“Ah, that’s the other part of this exercise: he needs to get stronger, or he will die.” Liam said, “It also happened with Miss Seraph's blood here.” He motioned to Aurora. “If he doesn’t strengthen up his body, his death is certain.”

“And so you did that by beating him up?”

“Partially.”

“Partially?”

“He was also being a complete asshole.” Liam answered, “And I just really wanted to hit him.”