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“Move,” Willa barked. Amy stepped out of the way and Willa pointed the gun at the man Tristan was wrestling with. Tristan shoved the man away from him and Willa shot the mercenary twice in the chest and once in the head.
“Get in a room!” Willa ordered. Tristan and Amy dove into one of the side rooms as another man emerged from the area where Willa suspected Max was being held. He held a pistol in his hand, but he was a goon. Willa was a trained soldier.
He was down before he could twitch his trigger finger.
“Willa!” Tristan shouted, but she ignored him. She kept moving, pausing only to investigate each room for a second to clear it of potential threats. Every room had at least one child, cowering in a corner or under a bed. There was not even one over the age of ten, and with each pair of eyes she gazed into, her rage grew. It had been tempered for years. Painstaking days and nights were devoted to purging herself of emotion, yet here it was, about to erupt like a dormant volcano.
Tristan and Amy watched in shock. They let her carry out her savage work, and they dared not get in the way.
When Willa was satisfied with her search, she took a right by the stairs and towards the kitchen where Max could be. She made a note of the front door behind her as she proceeded. She came upon the entrance to the kitchen and looked around. Max, Rups and Scout were tied and gagged in the far-left corner. Max was wide-eyed, stretching his neck out towards her. She spun her gun around and saw a large man approaching her from the right. There was another hallway to search after she disposed of him.
She raised her gun at his head and fired, but she missed.
Her mouth opened partially in shock as he tackled her to the floor. The back of her head hit the edge of the table and she saw darkness starting to cloud her vision. She grit her teeth and kneed him in the stomach as he closed his massive hands over her throat. The gun had flown out of her hands at some point.
Willa instinctively grabbed one of the man’s fingers and broke it before it became too tight. He howled and she continued breaking until he let go of her. He sat up and she pulled her leg out from under him. She kicked him in the stomach and then again in the chin. He groaned and leaned back enough for her to feel safe. She took her eyes off him for a second. She identified the gun, grabbed it, and put three bullets in him. As he fell, she checked the clip and chamber. One bullet left. She would need to make it count.
The man fell hard onto the kitchen floor, and she stood to her feet. Tristan and Amy were already untying Max and his men. Willa turned back towards the hallway just as a child ran into her stomach.
“Thank you! Thank you!” she cried. Willa felt the rage subside. She fell to her knees and hugged the little girl tight. For a second, she allowed herself to feel a sliver of joy, but a moment more would be too much. It could send her careening down a path she had abandoned.
She started breaking off the embrace when another child began hugging her from behind. Then another. And another. She was overcome.
She was not well.
She began to swoon as she saw Desmond step into the kitchen. Her feelings were all over the place. She was such a mess that she didn’t even care that he had disobeyed orders and left his post. She tried to smile at him, but she broke down in tears instead.
“Is she okay?” Tristan asked.
“Unfortunately,” Desmond said softly. “Not all slavery is of the body.”
* * *
“YOU CAME,” WILLA WHISPERED. Her hands gripped the edge of the trolley to the point they trembled. The body of Jacob lay under the white sheet, unmoving, cold. Carolyn was on the trolley beside him, dressed in a ghost’s uniform like her brother.
Desmond stepped behind her and looked down at Jacob from over her shoulder. “Are you sure that—”
“—I already checked,” Willa said.
“Is that...Carolyn?”
“Yes.”
“Oh...” Desmond’s voice warbled. He walked over to his daughter and pulled the sheet away from her face. He quickly put it back.
“Did you look into it like I asked?” Willa said.
“Yes...it wasn’t easy, but I pulled a couple favors.”
“And?”
“It looks legitimate. Carolyn was on a hunting trip with her foster family. One of the boys holding a rifle was too young. He would carry the rifle with caution, but he didn’t keep it pointing away from others. It was an accident.”
“And Jacob?”
“He was there to witness it.”
“They put him in the same foster family as they promised,” Willa muttered
“They did. I, uh, also talked to the parents.”
“The parents?”
“You know what I mean, Willa.”
“Go on.”
“They said that Jacob and Carolyn were happy to be reunited, and all they kept talking about was biding their time until they became of age, and then they would find us. They were happy, Willa.”
“Jacob couldn’t bear what happened,” Willa said.
“No,” Desmond said.
“He had a gentle soul...it’s what I loved about him. It’s what I feared about him.”
“I know. He was not of this world.”
“You are satisfied with the report then?”
“I am,” Desmond said, taking a deep breath. “But that doesn’t make this situation any less terrible.”
“You believe them?” Willa winced. “Really?”
“Nothing was strange about the accounts.”
“Why didn’t they tell us about Carolyn when it happened?”
“They were investigating, making sure it wasn’t a murder.”
“Who says it isn’t?” Willa clenched her jaw and looked at Desmond. “Both of our children die like this? So close to each other?”
“You’re trying to find enemies where there are none. What’s the motive? Why would they take our children from us over a little spat? They understand why you were angry when they came to our house.”
“Is that what they told you?”
“It’s conjecture, based on the fact that crime, let alone murder, is very rare in Musgrave.”
“For sure,” Willa said. “They send you to another community before the murder occurs.”
“I want someone to blame as much as you do, but we can’t act irrationally.”
“Being rational is all I ever am,” Willa said. She slammed a fist on the edge of the trolley in anger and roared at the pain that exploded in her hand. Desmond rushed over to console her, but she held up a hand in the air to stop him. “I’m tired of this life, Desmond,” she whispered.
“Don’t let this ruin us,” he pleaded, but she shook her head profusely, as if she were trying to shake a nightmare.
“It was ruined a long time ago, not that you ever noticed.”
“We can work through this.”
“OUR CHILDREN ARE GONE!” Willa shouted at the top of her lungs. “Whether it was an accident, or it’s murder, or it’s the will of the Ancients, it doesn’t matter! The fact is that they’re gone, and you’re standing there as if you’re ready to perform the autopsy. There is no emotion with you!”
“I’m trying to process it all,” he said. “I’m sorry that this is the way I’m wired.”
“Yeah, and that’s my problem,” Willa said, nursing her hand. “I’m wired all wrong. Desmond, I want a divorce. I’m leaving.”
“Willa,” Desmond suddenly broken into tears.
“No! No, you do not get to do this to me! Not now!”
“I’m sorry, I—”
“I’m going to Hearth,” she shouted at him, even as her eyes watered too. “I thought about this a long time ago, and I think it’s finally time. I’m shredding everything I’ve known. I will become a soldier, so...so I don’t have to feel anymore.”
“Willa, please, one more time, stay with me. I’ll quit my job! I’ll be by your side. Just stay with me! Please!”
Willa wiped the tears from her eyes violently and stormed past him. She refused to look back.
“Willa, please!”
“This is no time for your feelings,” she shouted at him. She continued marching forward. “This is about what I want for once.”
When she was clear of the morgue completely, and the door closed behind her, she considered walking back to him and hugging him tight. She knew that he didn’t mean to be distant. He was a sweet man, just not expressive. He reminded her of Jacob.
And that was just one more reason that she had to go.
She waved her hand in the air and eventually, a horse drawn carriage stopped. The driver leapt down and extended his hands out in confusion.
“No luggage?” he asked.
“No,” Willa said. “Take me to Hearth.”
“Hearth?” he scoffed, opening the door open for her. “What do you want with a place like that? You’re not thinking of becoming a soldier, are you?”
“I am.”
“Why? There’s nothing but death there.”
“In fact,” she smiled at him. “I’m going to go see my children.”
“Oh, well, that’s nice,” he said. “Family is important.”
* * *
“WE FOUND PENELOPE UPSTAIRS!” Max shouted down.
“Any trouble?” Tristan asked. He wanted to assist them with the upstairs clean-up, but he was concerned about Willa’s state. She hadn’t moved since the children hugged her.
“Only a few guards. Scout got them though. We’re all done up here!”
“Good,” Tristan said.
Amy folded her arms as she watched Desmond rub Willa’s back. “I hope she’ll be okay.”
“We’re all detoxing,” Tristan chuckled. “This may not be a vacation, but we’re pretty far removed from home. Makes you re-evaluate things.”
“Got something on your mind?”
“A few things. Nothing worth mentioning. You?”
“Just one. They’re done upstairs, right? So, where’s Rose, their leader?”
The front door creaked open, and Willa snapped to reality. She pushed Desmond and the children away one by one, shushing them and telling them to go hide. She pointed her gun at the door, but no one came inside. The door flapped against the wind, and she relaxed her aim.
“Behind you!” Amy shouted.
Willa spun around towards the uncleared hallway and took aim at the woman in the way.
The woman who also had a pistol in her hand.
Willa fired her last bullet, but the trajectory was all off. The woman hadn’t even dodged either. How could she have—
Willa’s legs buckled against her will, and she slumped to the floor. She felt numb and there was a strange pinch in her stomach. She looked down at the source.
She had been shot first.
“Willa!” Desmond cried, rushing to her side.
Max entered the kitchen and his mouth dropped when he saw the strange woman with the pink colored hair and the thin rectangular glasses. “Rose!” he said. “You’re alive!”
“Someone help her!” Desmond shouted.
Rose raised her gun and pointed it at Willa’s chest. “Is she the one that’s been shooting up the place?”
“Yeah,” Max said. “But she’s a friend. She helped me get you back.”
“We can’t leave someone like that alive,” Rose said. “She’s a threat.”
“I wouldn’t have gotten you without her!”
“I didn’t want to be found,” Rose said. “This was an infiltration. I almost found out who the Mercenary leader is and where they’re hiding.”
“I didn’t know.”
“Telling you would defeat the whole purpose, but this still doesn’t change anything. A woman like that? I’ve never seen anything like it. I thought I was going to die back there.”
“But you didn’t,” Max said.
“It doesn’t change a thing,” Rose said. “Sorry, lady.”
Rose fired the gun.
FANTASY WORLD: THE EXPLORERS
VOL 5 – Utopia
Willa Kinsler is dying.
And with no medicine and no doctors in the vicinity, her fate is sealed.
Until Balin makes a suggestion.
He knows of a city with the technology and knowledge to save her, but it will require more than his freedom to ensure his cooperation. Expedition One travels to this utopian city and finds a living, breathing paradise full of miracles and wonders. Tristan and Cameron, however, are wary. What lies beneath the surface of his marvelous land?
To save their teammate, they may have to find out the hard way.
