Page Turners - Chapter 10 [Page 34] - Breaking Point
The following six months went by without incident, as the trio made their way across the freshly created path Charlize had made with her explosive attack. They were all relieved to be out of the hollow-grass, away from the dangers of poachers and deadly butterflies.
Charlize had refused to talk to Od while they ventured across the recently smoothed path. She told him she would need at least the rest of the hollow-grass field to cool off. Considering her tone and the look on her face when she said it, Od made sure not to contest her. The girl, however, didn’t hold the same grudge. She would still leave Charlize's side every few days to catch up to Od and talk with him. He treated her more like a child than Charlize ever did. Although she was learning from Charlize and maturing in the process, she was still a kid, and the urge to be treated as one clearly still existed. She needed more than just simple protection; she also needed love. Charlize was missing that. Her feelings toward the girl had grown, and their relationship had become something tangible. She felt a connection with the girl, a bond that frankly scared her. She had never frozen up like she did with the poachers, not for thousands of years. The way Charlize thought about it, the way she was trained to think, was that her bond with the girl was a weakness.
Conversely, Od seemed to have a tremendous amount of love to give. In fact, it seemed obvious to Charlize that he was trying to hold back. His familiarity with the girl was sometimes sweet and, at the same time, unnerving—almost obsessive.
What's his game? Charlize thought as Od chased the girl ahead, threatening her with tickles. Does he know something I don't? Was the girl a part of his plan all along? No, that can't be. He had given up, defeated. No way had he planned for a girl from Page 5. She's as much a mystery to him as she is to me. But he can't be trusted. He's keeping too many cards close to his chest.
They finally broke through the field of hollow-grass and returned to the blue lawn. Od and the girl were shocked to see the crater still stretched on for a few hundred meters before finally ending. They pressed Charlize for answers about her destructive ability, but she refused.
After another two weeks of walking, the hollow-grass was finally out of sight, lost behind the horizon. The trio took a synchronized sigh of relief, finally letting their accumulated fatigue run through them.
“Let’s take a break,” said Charlize. The girl immediately flopped to the floor at her words, as if she'd been waiting for them. “Od. Let's have a talk.”
They walked a few meters from the girl, leaving her to lie there flat on her back, gazing at the sky.
“How long left?” asked Charlize.
“Three weeks, five days,” Od answered, not looking at her.
“Good. We should make it in two. You see the Page's edge, yes?”
“Yup, I see it. Shimmering landscape, just like the others.”
“How do you feel?”
“Weird question. It's not like I'm dying of old age, is it? Feel fine. I either die, or I don't. Not much to feel about it.”
“I told you not to leave my sight,” she said, evidently done with small talk.
“You did.”
“So why did you, Od? How did that help your mission?”
“You know how.”
“The final test? ‘If she's as good as they say, three poachers will be nothing,’ is that it?”
“Pretty much.”
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“You stepped in. So, I guess I failed?”
“I guess you did.”
“How did you go undetected by the butterflies?”
“Can’t say.”
“What’s your deal with the girl?”
“Can’t say.”
“You need to start giving me some answers, Od. You put us in danger. You got the girl scarred!” Charlize's eyes narrowed, and Od saw her fists clenched so hard he thought her knuckles might burst through the skin.
“Hold on a second. Why am I being interrogated? Shouldn’t you be answering my questions? Aren’t I paying you? Don't you work for me?” he said, refusing to back down from her fierce stance.
Charlize kicked him in the liver so fast, he didn’t even see her leg move. He buckled. Keeling over, he flopped to the floor and clutched the spot she’d just kicked, dropping his bag. She stepped over him, put out her hands, and clenched them into fists. Both his hands and feet clasped together in an instant, bound by her String.
“So far, you're paying me with a promise. And you're not proving to be someone to be trusted. That puts me in an awkward position.”
“And you think I trust you? You’re a Bookwyrm, I’m a client, that’s it. Just take me to Iglesias King, and I’ll gift you your Creation. You have my word!”
“Not good enough. I need some truth to seal the deal. How did you get your Creation?”
“I ain’t tellin' you shit! Just unbind me, so we can turn the damn Page.”
Charlize cracked him in the jaw with a swift punch. “Not good enough! I need answers. Some sort of assurance, Od. Just something that tells me this isn’t some sick game from a man who's lost the will to live. I want to help you, Od, but I need some truth,” she said, gripping him by the collar.
The girl ran over, startled by the commotion, and grabbed Charlize by the arm. “Charlize, what are you doing? Stop it!” she cried, tears exploding from her eyes.
Charlize thrust her arm and shoved the girl away without even looking at her. She stumbled backward and fell with a thud, switching her tears of anguish into ones of pain.
At the sight of her pain, Od snapped. His eyes changed, and Charlize saw in them a volcano ready to erupt. His binds shattered, severed by his String, and he leaped to his feet in one swift motion. His hands wrapped around Charlize's throat as he forced her to the ground. Pinning her, he pushed down on her throat with all his weight. She looked up at him, face red, eyes bulging—a maniacal smile strewn across her face. Her hands stretched out to the side, fingers twitching wildly.
“Don’t hurt my daughter!!” he screamed, spit spraying from his foaming mouth.
Before his spit could even reach her, Charlize tied a String around his feet and head, then pulled. His head wrenched backward as his feet curled up to try and meet it, creating enough force to launch him off Charlize like a spring. Screams of agony echoed out as Od’s spine was bent back to its limits.
“You need to stop! Please, stop!” cried the girl as she watched the only two people she knew hurt each other.
“He needs to learn a lesson. This isn’t a game!” Charlize answered reflexively. Her heart was pounding in her ears, all the frustration bubbling up, spilling over. She tried to think, tried to repeat her mantra, but she couldn’t. Rage had taken control.
Then her mind caught up, and she heard the girl's words again like an echo. But this time she truly heard them, the pain behind them, the hell she was experiencing. Prioritize and execute, flashed through her mind in that brief moment of clarity. What am I doing? she thought and snapped her fingers to release Od.
“I went too far,” she said, eyes pointed at the floor.
“So did I. I’m sorry. I—I lost myself,” Od replied, grabbing his bag and standing to his feet, clutching his back with his free hand.
“Your daughter?”
“Like I said, I lost myself. Sorry for the confusion, little one.”
“It’s OK, I know you're not my daddy. 'Cause you're my favorite uncle!” the girl said as she ran over to give him a hug.
“What does that make me then?”
“My big sister, obviously,” she said with a smile so honest that Charlize almost believed her.
“Let’s turn this Page, shall we? Page 35 will be a fresh start,” said Charlize as she reached out a hand for Od to shake.
“Wait, wait, stop!” the girl yelled.
“Woah there, kid, it’s all good. We’re done fighting,” Od said with a smile.
“No, I mean they’re here. The one that was watching us, they’re here.”
The three of them naturally looked toward the end of the Page. Just a brief moment before, there was no one there. Now, in the distant horizon, right on the Page’s edge, there was a small silhouette. It was impossible to make out any details from that distance, but they could all at least see it was the shape of a man. Only one of them knew what that man was.
“We were so close,” said Charlize. “I couldn’t account for this. Not a Quillia.”