The Ocean’s City

Dalton said nothing else for the rest of the trip. Neither did I. I had too much to think about and had no time to contemplate it until now. We roamed through the forest, and I had yet to learn how long we would be out there. 

I first thought about Hutson's silly campfire story. It seemed like that happened lifetimes ago, but it was only a few nights ago. Unless time moved differently through realities? I thought how weird it would be to be back home again and all my friends being in retirement homes and wheelchairs while I hadn't aged a single bit. What if Dannie had aged since the last time I had seen her? The plummeting thought rotted my stomach.

What had he even talked about? There was a man wrongfully killed by a bounty hunter. Was Dalton that bounty hunter? There was a family with a bastard son, and he fell in love with a girl who was sent away, but… I couldn't remember. Was she sent away? Who was she? Was it just a babbling story to keep me entertained while Dalton went and got his arm carved into for a second time?

I lifted my head again to see his bare arms; the veins showed bright blue from the cold weather. There were no signs of any marks on his arms now. So he heals. What would happen if I were to have stabbed him?

Then there was the old man. The same old man I had seen on the beach that shot Dannie. He said Dalton was a creator. So he makes things. Hutson's story had nothing about making things. Sometimes, the environment changes his emotions, but lately, he seems to lose that control more and more. Is that what was meant by being a creator? Because he could create changes? Or… Did he create realms? Unless they already existed, and he was just popping into them?

Everyone who dies doesn't die. They just end up in a new place. Lost to those who are looking for them. Like Dannie. So, is this heaven? Some form of afterlife? I saw the irony of Dalton creating the heavens while putting me through hell. Could it be possible to be miserable in heaven?

But could it be possible for me to enjoy it like Dannie had been with Hutson? I couldn't help but think about how Dalton was in bed. The blood rushed to my cheeks. But… the man said I was just a tool. He mocked me for having any feelings for Dalton. What role did I play in this? Why was I so important that I was kidnapped and forced to be with him? Dalton obsessed over me. He was a control freak with anger issues that even made his family tread carefully.

My mind felt more open to the realization. It doesn't matter that much what he is. What purpose I serve in all of this matters more. And why me?

"What are you thinking back there?" Dalton asked, reminding me I was on his back, freezing to death.

"I'm not allowed to say," I responded with as much spark as my shivering body would allow.

"Good girl," he purred before stopping and letting me down. "Hutson, you scope ahead. Ian, go scavenging." His brothers gave him the okays and head nods before parting ways.

Dalton turned to me, leading me to the trunk of a tree. "Please rest. We will be in the warmth soon." My teeth smacked against each other as I fell into the cold snow. He chuckled. "I bet you wish you were with my mom about now."

I shook my head. "I'd do anything to be here right now." He nodded before crouching and clearing the snow off the ground.

"All you have to do is be loyal to me, and I'll give you the world." He spoke as if it was meant to be romantic and spoken from the bottom of his heart. I Laughed. "What?'

"Nothing… Just I have the option of the world or the truth." Dalton stopped pushing snow, waiting for me to elaborate. "The man that killed Dannie said something similar, but in return, I would get the truth."

Dalton angrily turned his attention back to clearing the snow. Before I could ask what, he was already patting the snow with frustration. "I know you won't listen to me, but I hope you wait to hear the truth from me. When it's safe."

"Do you even know how ridiculous that sounds?" I snapped.

I met his glaring gaze as he reeled in his anger. "I. am. Aware." He turned his focus back to the snow, piling it up high enough it would provide some reprieve from the wind.

"Who is he?"

"A hunter."

"Do you know his name?"

"Hunters don't share their names. If you can ever get a name out of them, let me know immediately." His muscles danced at his efforts. My eyes shyly darted back to his face before I asked.

"Why?"

"So I can hunt them down."

I darted my frustrated attention to a twig that stood up from the snow and focused on how cold and miserable I was. I wasn't even aware of me drifting off to sleep or being picked up and moved from my freezing spot. My eyes opened once to see the ice on the floor moving as someone carried me off somewhere. An unknown source of warmth warmed me. I was placed on the floor that was nowhere near as cold as where I was before. The pressure was placed over my arms and legs. I was being cuddled but too tired to worry about who it was. I knew only one person would be allowed near me like that, and it was him.