Chapter 19

Amaris sat alone in the fire lit room and stared around. She had a lot to think about, and not much over the last few days was good. She was hiding out here, but she felt she needed to get back. She needed to find Gran. She needed to stop more people from dying. Lyle had told Sheriff Clifton that they would be at his house if they needed him but they were not there now, how was he going to contact them if he had any questions or new information?

Lyle had said that he was responsible for all the people in town since he was their leader, but here they were hiding out in the wilderness somewhere and he abandoned them when they needed him most. What was he thinking? They definitely needed to go back. At the very least to help the very people that he was supposed to be protecting. If she was putting them in danger, then she would go back down the mountain and turn herself into the sheriff. He would be able to protect her and know what to do. However, the sheriff did not have all the answers that she needed. Gran had said that she and Lyle were working together, and Amaris had the feeling that she needed to stay to get her answers before she could do anything else.

Amaris decided to try and get some sleep while Lyle was away and settled down into the blanket roll that she had made in front of the fire. She dozed off and a short time later was awakened by the creeping of foot steps. They were not coming from the area of the entryway where Lyle had left from but back from the area of the hatch where they had come in through when they arrived.

Amaris did not think that Lyle would be coming back that way, and could only think that the men that had been chasing her had some how found out where they were. She quickly grabbed a log from the pile for the fire and hid in a corner behind a tall curio cabinet. A dark figure poked its head out of the door that led back into the sewing room. The silhouette looked familiar. Amaris froze not sure.

“Lyle”. The shadow whispered into the darkness. The figure moved towards the blankets on the other side of the couch near the fire. As it moved closer to the firelight Amaris could see that it was Adam, Lyle’s brother. She let her arm drop with the log and stepped out from behind the curio. “He’s not here Adam.” The figure jumped and spun to look at her. There was a sudden but brief fierce look on his face and he looked as if ready to take on an attacker. Adam dropped his hands and stood up.

“Hey I did not expect you to be awake. Where is Lyle?” Adam moved closer to Amaris now. Amaris had an odd sense of unease suddenly. Adam had snuck in unannounced and scared her it was only natural after what has happened in the last few days to be jumpy.

Adam must have seen the emotion cross her face because he held out his hand and pulled her toward the couch while motioning for her to sit. “I am sorry. I did not mean to frighten you. I was trying to be quiet because I thought you two would be asleep.”

Amaris sat on the couch on one side while Adam came and sat near her on the middle seat. He reached and took her hand again, and this time looked into her face and asked “How are you doing with all this? I know it must be very hard to take all this in. I must admit that Lyle is the one in the family that is very big on all the old legends and honestly I am not sure that I believe them myself, but after what has happened here last night and yesterday at your village, there are definitely more people than just my brother who believe those old stories.” Shaking his head he rubs Amaris’s hand in both of his. Feeling rather uncomfortable at the contact Amaris pulled her hand back and adjusted herself on the couch to face Adam more directly. “What do you know about all this?” Clearly here was someone else who knew more about what was going on than she did. Maybe she could get some of her answers from him. Adam looked down at his now empty hands and sighed. “Its just like I’m sure Lyle told you. Many of these mountain tribes up here believe the legends and obviously since they are chasing you they think it is you who it talks about. We need to keep you safe and away from everyone else until we can talk some sense into these people. Unless of course you can really do all the things that the legend says and then well, I say lets go get them.” He ended this revelation with a big beaming smile.

Amaris was not sure if she was understanding him right. “So wait, Your telling me all these people have died and I have been chase all around town and clear up the mountain, they burned an entire village because they believe in some old story?!!” Amaris was incredulous.

Adam suddenly looked like they kid who accidentally incriminated himself by sharing the cookies he stole from the cookie jar.

“Well yeah. Lyle didn’t tell you did he? I thought by now that your Grandmother would have told you at least. If not all, maybe some of it to prepare you?’

“Look I honestly have no idea what is going on here. I have watched my friend and my teachers get murdered in front of me. I came home to find my house ransacked and the closest thing I have ever had to a father murdered. Lyle whisked my away up here to keep me safe only to reveal that he and Gran have been in cahoots my whole life and so was Grover. Keeping me safe from some mysterious threat. I escape under the cover of night as these people burn a whole town to the ground and you tell me that it is over a village legend. You are all out of your minds! I was right they were part of a cult and apparently so is half the damn mountain! I need to find Sheriff Clifton. The police will have more sense than the lot of you and he can put a stop to this. We can call the FBI or Homeland Security”

Adam could see she was loosing it. Tears were pouring down her face and she was no longer sitting but pacing back and forth in front of the fire.

“Lyle will keep you safe. That is his job. Trust him. My Mom always said the one best suited to keep you safe is the one who loves you.” Adam looked at her earnestly.

Amaris stopped her pacing and swung round to look at Adam. The shock on her face said it all. She could not have been more dumbfounded if he had hit her in the head with a bat.

Adam suddenly looked confused. “Then you are not the one?” He said. “But Lyle said you were. That was why they made him your guard. He said you were the one.”

“I don’t know what everyone else thinks that I am supposed to be but I am most definitely not “the one””. She said making air quotes with her fingers. At that, she went around the couch to the chair where she had left the sweatshirt she had been wearing, and grabbed it up. She walked to the entryway as she was pulling the sweatshirt over her head and walked out the door without saying another word to Adam.

He sat still on the couch for another moment watching her go and then got up and walked back to the hatch and left.