Chapter XXVII

NIGHT HAD ALREADY BEGUN to set, and the moon had settled into its position in the sky high above the clouds. It was hard to believe a day had already come and gone. Now out of the jungle and amongst spruce trees once more, snow fell from the sky and accumulated on the ground and trees quickly. Nearly everyone in the group had already thrown their jackets back on.

Joey stumbled over her own feet as they dragged in the ankle deep snow. Her eyelids grew heavy and her body begged for sleep, but still she pressed on. She shook her head, trying to clear her blurring vision and the thought of sleep from her mind.

Her heart raced rapidly against her breasts as a sudden whisper filled her ears. She couldn't quite make out the words, but the voice fluttered around her in the air refusing to leave. After a minute, the voice became clearer and it began spouting off the names of those around her.

"She thinks your weak," it said, and her eyes darted towards Ella.

"He doesn't trust you," came another whisper, overlapping the previous voice. "You should wiped him from the board before he turns on you." Her gaze shifted towards Alex and she shivered. Clenching her hands into fists, listening to the voice inside her head was tempting. After all, she knew it was only speaking the truth. Alex was a threat. They all were.

"You alright?"

She snapped her head around to find Chase walking behind her with his arms pressed tight against his chest, frozen from the cold.

Instantly, the voices vanished and the thoughts disappeared. Clearing her throat, she gripped the edges of her jacket and pulled them in closer. She then responded, "I'm fine." Gazing down, she could no longer see her boots as they vanished beneath the white powder, and she had to make high steps to even budge through the tall snow. It had definitely gotten worse since the night before.

"Her eyes were red again." Her ears perked hearing one of the twins small voices. "What are we going to do?"

"Shh, shh!" Someone cleared their throat from behind. "I gather that you don't sleep much."

She raised a brow and once again looked back at Chase. "What?" She wasn't sure what had brought up his remark. "What gave you that idea?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure really. Maybe just the fact that I don't think you've slept at all since being in the Dome. What is that ..." He looked up as if to think. "Three nights? Four days?"

She rolled her eyes. "So? Weren't you sleeping during those times? Who's to say I didn't go to sleep after you and wake up before you?"

Chase held up his hands defensively. "Alright, alright! Maybe so. My bad! It's just that ... sleep is important for your body. If you don't get enough, it could eventually kill you." His face softened. "You do ... know that, right? It's not like that's something—"

"So, does having doctors as parents automatically make you an expert?" she snapped, and Chase arched a brow. "Or do you always just randomly diagnose people?"

He looked at her shocked by her response. "I was just making conversation," he said, harshly.

"Well, how about you go blabber your knowledge to someone who cares," she hissed. "Because you know nothing about me." By this time, most of the group had stopped to see what was going on.

"Hey, Joey ..." From the corner of her eye, she found Thomas staring at her. "Maybe you should just walk away. Give yourself some space."

Her head slowly rotated his way until she shot him a fiery glare. She wanted to pummel him for interrupting her, but as she stared at him, her face softened and she realized he was trying to help her from going too far. Her eyes ventured back to Chase, who stared at her angrily. She turned around and continued on her trudge through the snow when a soft 'tsk' rang through her ears, and she instantly knew who it was.

A sudden rage consumed her and she gritted her teeth. She swirled around, kicking up mounds of snow, and without giving it a single thought, she thrust an arm forward with a shout.

Chase flew backwards a couple feet until his back collided with a tree only he didn't fall to the ground. Instead, he stayed in mid-air pinned to the bark that had cracked under the pressure of the blow. "Joey, what ... are you doing?" he squeezed out through choking sounds, his heels scraping the bark as he struggled to move.

Joey, in her anger, continued to watch him flail until something unexpectedly knocked her off her feet. She landed face first in the freezing snow, all amounts of anger leaving her body from the abrupt cold splash. Rough, yet small, hands gripped her shoulder and rolled her over. She blinked snow from her lashes and gazed up into Brianna's wrath.

Joey's ears rung and the world around her was silent. As if she had just come out of a long daze. Brianna's mouth opened wide though Joey couldn't hear a sound. She watched as the blonde girl reared back her fist, but she was too slow to react. A second later, Brianna's fist flew across her cheek, whipping her head to the side and Joey shouted. Before there was a second blow, Nathan ripped Brianna from her saddled position over Joey's torso, and someone helped Joey up into a sitting position. Looking up, she found David with a horrified look buried deep in his eyes.

Slowly, she raised a hand to her cheek and the touch made her wince. Her head turned to the right where she found Brianna and Rufus hunched over Chase as he gasped for air and rubbed his neck. It was then that the sounds of the world returned and her mouth dropped in disbelief. Her heart fluttered as Chase glared up at her, still panting strong. "Chase," she began, fumbling for words. "I'm ... so sor—"

"Shut up!" Brianna screamed. She thrust a finger in Joey's direction. "You don't get to apologize! You're the one who chose to wear the stupid thing!" Chase stood to his feet, Brianna and Rufus at his sides. With his gaze still fixated on Joey, he stormed past her.

"You stay away from him," Brianna commanded as she followed after her cousin. "Or next time I'll really give you something to cry about."

David gripped her under her arm and pulled her to her feet. He grasped both her biceps and gazed into her eyes. "Joey, what happened? Your eyes ..." His voice shook with a fright she had never heard. "They were red."

She stared at the snow, her mind scrambled. "I-I-I ..."

"It's the darkness. Mixed with the fact that you have a hard time controlling your temper." She jerked her head to the side as Lucinda stalked towards her. Placing her hands on her hips, she said, "You have a hard time controlling your anger. You were easy prey, vulnerable. I told you, Joey. That ability will consume you if you let it."

"No, you didn't tell her that," Michelle spoke up, pulling back on Lucinda's shoulder. "You told her that after she already had it on."

Lucinda shrugged and she dropped her hands to her hips. "And? She knows now, right? She could take it off if that is what she wanted."

"Joey, you have to take it off." David held out his hand in front of her once again. "Please!" His hand shook in urgency. She glanced from his hand to his eyes, and David shot her an astonished look. "Seriously? After what you just did, you still won't give it to me?"

"Alright, alright!" Joey screamed, holding up her hands to silence those around her. "I get it." She eyed David, and slowly reached for the chain around her neck. As she gripped her, the chain instantly seared her palms and she shouted, letting it hit her chest. She dropped to her knees and shoved her hands under the snow. She grimaced as the cooling liquid burned her skin, and a hand rested on her back.

"What happened?" came David's nervous tone. She looked up into his eyes, tears filling her own, and she shook her head before letting a silent sob escape.

David knelt down in front of her and lifted her hands from the snow. She caught a glimpse of her red, bubbled flesh before he laid his hands over hers. A bright glow of white-blue poured out from the cracks between their hands, and immediately she felt relief.

"This thing is getting too dangerous," David nearly whispered, drawing her teary gaze. "We have to get it off."

She blinked and a few tears dripped down her cheeks. "How?" she whispered back. "You tried earlier and couldn't." She glanced down at the compass giving off a gentle pink glow. "And now I can't either."

"Maybe we can cut it off," Michelle impute, and Joey gave her a silent plea not to destroy it. "You've seen what it can do. I can't let you put anyone else's life at risk."

"Oh, nonsense!" Lucinda protest, and Joey looked up to meet her. "It'll just take some time and practice. Eventually, she'll feel like it's a piece of her."

"A piece of her?" David asked, his brow pulling together. He released Joey's hands and stood up. "The compass needs to come off of her, not become a part of her!"

Lucinda snickered. "The fact is, lad, that the compass isn't coming off."

"Yeah, we'll see about that," Michelle argued.

"Stop it! Stop!" Joey covered her ears with her hands to block out their opinions. She jumped up and marched away, intending to ignore all of them, when Lucinda's melodic voice called out.

"I can help you, you know?" Joey stopped, reluctantly allowing herself to listen. "Help you control the darkness."

"Don't listen to her, Joey!" Michelle's shriek pierced the quiet. "She's playing you."

Lucinda laughed. "And you're not? Why don't you tell her what your plan is, Michelle?" Joey craned her neck to eye the two behind her.

Michelle glanced between her and Lucinda before balling her hands into fists. "My plan is to get out of here alive. Which none of us will do if we don't keep moving."

"Can you really help me?" Joey asked, eyeing Lucinda intently. She watched as David's brows lifted in shock. "You can help me learn to control it?"

Lucinda grinned as she plodded forward. "I helped your dad, my dear. Having no ability, Agcorp gave him the compass so he had some form of defending himself, but it took him almost a year to control its power."

Joey's shoulders sagged. "A year?" She shook her head. "That's too long. I could hurt someone ..." Her tongue caught in her throat as she averted her gaze. "Or ... kill someone." She looked back up at Lucinda. "I need to master it quicker than that."

"Control the darkness?" David asked. He chuckled. "You're joking, right? After what happened to Chase? This isn't about control. We're going to find some way to cut that thing from around your neck."

"What choice do I have, David?" Her voice came out sounding more broken and afraid then she meant it to. Cautiously, she reached up and grasped the compass. Feeling an unusual rush of anger, she glared at him sternly, and asked, "What happened to you being by my side every step of the way?"

"Joey, David's right," Michelle said before David could speak. "Have you ever heard of a man-made ability?"

"Look around you, Michelle." She held her hands out to the side. "Everything here, including the animals, including the poisons, was all made my Agcorp."

"But something just doesn't seem right here," Michelle said, taking a step towards Joey closing in the gap. "You need to be careful who you trust."

Joey narrowed her eyes. "Right now, the only person I feel like I can trust is Lucinda." Catching a glimpse of the back of Thomas's head, she sped up until she reached him.

They continued their walk for a couple more hours in the dark when Kathleen suddenly dropped to her hands and knees off to the side, away from the others, and vomited bile. Alex was beside her in a heartbeat, rubbing her back. She pressed the back of her hand against her mouth as she sat back on her heels. "I'm sorry," she said with a sniff. "I just don't think I'm getting use to the slack of food." She chuckled.

Joey snorted and said softly, "Middle levels." Raising her voice, she continued. "It's a good thing you didn't live in the Slums. You know how many times we had to go days without food?"

"We're not in the Slums now, Joey," Michelle said from the front of the group. "I've grown accustom to going a few days without food, but not everyone has."

She raised her bow and pulled out an arrow, nocking it on the string. She aimed the arrow towards the trees and closed her eyes. A few of the other flinched as her arms made a quick sweep from left to right, and she let the arrow fly. Almost immediately, something loud squealed in agony and two squirrels, both pierced from the same arrow, dropped dead from the trees. She lowered her bow and pointed. "If someone wants to skin them, Alex can roast them. It's not a lot, but will put something on your empty stomach."

"Are they safe to eat?" Ella asked, eyeing the creatures. "I mean ... how do we know if they're mutated or not?"

Michelle smirked. "If they were, they would've already tried to eat us."

"Beside the fact that the squirrels, rabbits, and birds don't seem to be "mutated," as Ella put it," Brutus clarified.

"I'll skin them for you." Rufus was the first to reach the small critters. "Won't take me but a minute."

"Let me help," Brutus said, pulling his arm off of Ella's shoulders—who had been helping since she was roughly his height. He winced as he took a step forward and nearly collapsed, but Ella gripped his bicep keeping him upright. Anyone could see that he was already doing much better from David's gel, but even the gel could only heal so deep.

"It's alright," Rufus said with an uneasy smile. "I can handle it." Through his fake smile, Joey could tell that he was still hurting for his brother.

A few minutes passed before he returned with the raw creatures dangling from a vine on a stick in his hand, and held he it up to Alex. Alex cringed at the sight before placing a hand under the dangling critters. His skin cracked as a fire ignited in his palm almost instantly roasting the squirrels.

"Whoa, hey!" Rufus jerked the stick back as the vine snapped, and Alex caught the now-roasted squirrels in his hand as his fire extinguished, and Rufus threw the burning stick into the snow.

"Watch it next time, will ya?" Rufus said, snatching the animals from Alex's palm.

Alex blushed. "Sorry. Still figuring things out."

Rufus headed back towards Kathleen, who shivered beside Ella and Brutus, with the rodent and tore some meat off before handing it to Kathleen who quickly began to gobble it.

Rufus passed out small portions of the meat, but when it was Joey's turn to accept her fragment she refused. "I'll be alright. Give it to someone else who needs it more."

He arched a brow, looking at her like she had lost her mind, but he shrugged and moved on.

Joey watched as the others swiftly munched on their food and passed around a single canteen of water taking only a swig. Her attention was drawn to Michelle, who stood with her arms crossed and gaze toward the sky. "Everything alright?"

Michelle lowered her gaze, and scanned the group. "No," she stated plainly. Joey thought that was all the answer she was going to get, but as Michelle uncrossed her arms, she continued. "I hate traveling in the dark." Raising her voice, she shouted, "We need to keep moving!" 

* * *

MICHELLE WAITED FOR THE others to pass her by, following Nathan's lead. She listened and waited. By now, she had learned the difference in footsteps. Staring at the snow, she paid attention to the changes, and when the crunching became light and distanced by long strides, she reached to her left and grabbed Lucinda's tricep in a tight fist. "We need to talk," she stated through gritted teeth.

Lucinda sighed, and side-eyed the group that continued forward. The only two who had stopped was Jacob and Evangeline, but Lucinda gave them a nod a reassurance and the two moved on. "What do you want now, Michelle?"

"What did you do to the compass?" Michelle asked hurriedly, tightening her grip on Lucinda's, and digging her uneven, chipped nails into her flesh.

Lucinda grabbed Michelle's arm with her free hand trying to pry her fingers off. "Michelle, please. Why do you always think I had something to do wi—"

"I can hear it," Michelle answered plainly.

Lucinda's hand ease, and with a roll of her eyes, her hand slapped her thigh. "Of course you would be the one."

"Do you realize what you're doing?" Michelle's voice was low and in a whisper, but her anger and hatred showed brightly through the spit flying through her teeth. "You are doing exactly what Claire did! You are no better than her!" She shoved Lucinda away roughly, and the redhead landed on her backside in the snow with a huff.

Glaring at Michelle, Lucinda responded, "I am nothing like her!"

Michelle snorted. "Right." She took a step closer and leaned forward. "Pumping the virus through her blood is nothing like Claire."

"You understand nothing!" Lucinda shouted, pushing herself up to her feet. "You can't even begin to comprehend the power that girl possess."

"I don't care," Michelle said, plainly. "Whatever you did, whatever spell you put on that compass, you need to undo and let her go before she gets hurt."

Lucinda snickered. "Ignisha can't hurt her, Michelle. You know that as well as I do."

"Then what about the rest of us?" Michelle screamed thrusting her hands out to the side. "You're putting all of us in danger having that much of the virus even near us!"

"Please, I'm not that stupid, Michelle." Lucinda crossed her arms. "The virus is contained in the compass. Only the person who wears it is infected." She shrugged. "If Joey's strong enough, she can beat it. The virus and its darkness won't have any effect on her, but if she's not ..." She grinned. "It'll consume her."

"You mean kill her." Michelle's hands balled into fists.

Again, Lucinda shrugged. "Seems like a win win situation to me. Either she's devoured by the darkness and her friends take her out, or it'll consume her and she'll die." Her expression quickly hardened. "It's what she deserves after all."

"I won't let you do this," Michelle stated, rage flooding her veins. "I'll stop you." She took a few steps forward. "I'll get the compass off before it has the chance to—" She was cut off as a sharp pain erupted through her stomach and she doubled over in a grimace with an arm laying against her stomach.

Lucinda bent forward, and her words met Michelle's ear in a whisper, "How are you going to do that with Madilyn on my side?" She stood up and walked away, trudging through the snow.

Michelle placed her hands on her knees as the pain subsided, and out of anger, she kicked at the powdery snow sending up a white cloud. Everything in her body wanted to plant an arrow in Lucinda's back.

She stood straight, released a huff, and her eyes wondered to find Joey at the front of the group way out in the distance. Her heart dropped when she realized that her mission would fail. If she couldn't figure out how to out think Madilyn and get the compass off then she was going to lose Joey. Then whatever chance she had at gaining her freedom would be gone.