Brave (Healer) Read Free Page B

look so happy today. He gained a daughter  and I’m not going to rip another away from him.
                  I look into Oliver’s hazel eyes and am reminded of Gabe. The same longing to help and be helped can be found in his eyes but I see a huge difference in my two kidnappers. Gabe was stoic, a martyr, whilst Oliver’s whole face is lit up with compassion.
                  ‘You don’t understand,’ I say weakly. I thought things were better. I genuinely felt like Maurice was going to leave me alone or that Arrow could protect me from him. I should have known my luck would run out. I’ve been lucky to have so many months of a reasonably normal life; I shouldn’t have expected anything more than that.
                  Oliver places one of his expansive hands on my shoulder and says, ‘Trust me, Cassie, I understand and it breaks my heart to see a girl like you looking so sad but you gotta come with me because it would make me much sadder to see you killed.’
                  What does he mean by ‘a girl like me?’ I grit my teeth. ‘I can’t go.’
                  ‘Well, I’ll have to make you then,’ he sighs and he walks towards me, wraps one of his arms around my knees and throws me over his shoulder.
                  I start to scream as he walks out of my room and jaunts down the stairs. ‘Put me down! Put me down! I really don’t think this is necessary, Oliver. I can walk!’
                  He doesn’t reply. He walks out of my house. There is no car parked outside. He just keeps walking with me swung over his shoulder, passing the familiar suburban houses that paint the backdrop of my everyday life. As usual, Mrs Chan is watering her plants in the front garden. There is enough rain in Scotland to render this completely futile but I reckon she just likes to keep a judgmental eye over the neighbourhood. She must be lonely. If I make it out of this alive, I’m going to buy her a cat.
                  ‘You! What you doing?’ she yells at us. This story will certainly make interesting gossip for the whole of Ayrin. I’m seen slung across a strange man’s shoulders like a rag doll. They already watch me with sceptical gazes. At first, I was an outcast, a freak, because of all the horrific accidents I survived unscathed then I disappeared for a month - completely vanished into thin air - before returning like I’d undergone a lobotomy. I made friends, I even got a lovely boyfriend but it was all too strange for the citizens of Ayrin to swallow. How could I be happy? There is no way I could behave like a normal teenager. No, this incident is exactly what the town wants to hear about and precisely what my dad and Shannon try to avoid.
                  ‘Oh, it’s just a game,’ Oliver waves jollily with his spare hand. ‘Don’t worry! Just between friends.’
                  ‘You alright, Miss Mueller?’ she asks me with a disapproving frown on her tiny face.
                  I give her a thumbs up and a lame smile, ‘I’m fine Mrs Chan.’ Then I growl in his ear, ‘Put me down. I do not need to attract attention to myself right now.’
                  He whistles a happy tune and keeps walking. I eventually stop fighting and submit myself to the dread. I guess I shouldn’t complain too much. I’ve had six months to enjoy life. Yes, thoughts of Gabe, Rose and Maurice all existed and the memories of my time in Toulouse were still alive within me and most nights it was difficult to deal with them but I could do the things I love and be with people who made me laugh. I could see my family every day, I learned to drive, I could run every day and make friends. I even got to enjoy the day baby Lily was born. At least Maurice hasn’t stolen that from me. As long as my family remain untouched, I should just be grateful that I had six months to live, void