HEARING DAMAGE
TEEN NOLA - CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE !

ONCE THE OFFENDING BEN SCOTT was shoved away into the animal pen out of sight, that's when the conversation regarding his death sentence truly began. Some of them were for the execution of the man who had tried and failed to light them ablaze while others claimed that killing him just wasn't right.

One of those people was Natalie. "There's gotta be another way." The Scatorccio girl uttered with a shake of her head, a clear sign of her refusal to accept the facts laid out before her.

"Nothing else makes sense."
"We can't just keep him in the animal pen forever."

The dried leaves crunched beneath Lottie's feet as she stepped forward, her hand outstretched. "Travis drew this during the trail. I think it might be what It wants." She placed the drawing down upon the table.

            It was quickly picked up by Taissa who scanned the drawing before it was pried from her hands by her girlfriend. Van eyed up Travis's drawing with curiosity, trying her best to figure it out before giving up and handing it over to an awaiting Nola, who had been unaware of Travis's drawing until this very moment. She felt stupid for having completely failed to notice her friend engaging with the Wilderness during the trail. Perhaps if she hadn't been so involved, maybe she would have been able to take notice like a real friend would have. Like Lottie had.

            As Nola peered sadly down at the drawing held in her hands, Shauna scoffed and was quick to roll her eyes at the others. "My God, even if we keep talking around it, he's still gonna die. It'll just be of old age." She offhandedly commented with a shrug.

            When everyone didn't immediately jump to agree with her statement, a statement so wholeheartedly believed to be true, she continued, "We found him guilty, it's simple. I saw if Ben wanted to play with fire, then..." she fell quiet for but a single second before shrugging her shoulders once again. "We give him fire."

            Some of the others rightly looked over at her in disbelief. All Shauna had to say for herself was, "It's a fitting death."

            Mari's eyes widened. "You want to burn him at the stake like an old-timey witch?" Bewilderment laced her voice.

            "That's not justice, that's torture."

            Assuming her next words were what Nola would want to hear, Melissa was swift in her agreement with Shauna. "It's what he wanted for us." She almost looked a little smug as she said it, as if she would be praised for following along with Nola's beliefs.

            A look of understanding was exchanged between the blonde and Shauna, both of them believing they were doing what was right, that they were following the right person and that she would agree with them. She had to. Small smiles formed for both of them.

            "Burning him mightn't be the best option." Their smiles dropped in an instance as Nola uttered this earth-shaking sentence.

            The Rilke girl finally looked up from the drawing to see everyone looking over at her. Many of them were admittedly quite shocked that she wasn't all for burning their coach alive, especially after her intensity filled performance at the trail.

They figured she'd strike the match.

            Nola paid their looks no mind. "Think about it. If we do that then we're no better than him." She explained. She didn't want any of them doing something they couldn't come back from. Everything they had done up until this point had been for their own good, for their survival and for the Wilderness.

"Firing squad." Natalie declared with a firm nod after a silent moment of deliberation. "It'll be quick. Humane."

With a sense of unease, Van asked, "Who's going to shoot him?"

            "Nat, you're the best shot. Maybe it should be you." Shauna smugly pointed out, her lips twisted into a snide smirk.

            Though she desired the chance to snap back at the Shipman girl, Natalie bit her tongue. "It'll be at close range. Anyone can do it." A faint shuddering breath left her as she collected her thoughts. Then she continued, "We'll do a draw. Just like with everything else. Whoever gets the—"

           "King of hearts." Van interrupted, her voice dragging everyone's eyes in her direction. She looked somber. "That's the suicide king."

With everyone jonesing to get the whole thing over and done with, it wasn't long after the initial conversation before the group found themselves gathered up once more, this time in a wide circle as the fateful deck of cards was passed around. Together they stood, awaiting the moment the deck's arrival before them, a mix of eagerness and anxiety thick in the air. One-by-one, each and every one of them drew from the deck held out by Van, anticipation swirling in their stomaches.

Natalie's gaze was despondent. She cleared her throat once everyone held a card. "All right, on the count of three, look at your card and then show it to the group." She announced with a fearful frown. She really hoped that it wasn't her. She wouldn't be able to bring herself to commit the act. "One, two...three."

Card after card in the circle was turned around. Eyes scanned the cards of their friends, searching for the foreboding card. When the card was nowhere in sight, they all took notice of Taissa's slow movements and the lack of her card. Hesitation consumed the Turner girl as she spun the card around for all to see.

There it was. The King of Hearts.

That was that. With the name of Coach Scott's executioner known, the group began to disperse though some of the girls at least gave Taissa a glance of sympathy as they passed by her.

Nola couldn't just walk away though. "Hey, Tai." She greeted with a small half smile. She knew this couldn't be easy. The responsibility wasn't something to be taken lightly. "It's shitty you got the card. I know it's a lot of pressure on you now. I'm sorry."

Taissa looked unwilling to talk. She just met Nola's gaze before shrugging her shoulders. "I'll be fine. Thanks though." She quietly

Without hesitation, Nola reached out and gripped onto Taissa's hand. "It's okay if you're not, you know." She stated comfortingly. Then she decided to make a little suggestion. "Why don't you take Van and get some practice in with the gun?"

Out of nowhere Van appeared from behind the Rilke girl. Her hands flopped down onto Nola's shoulders before quickly giving the girl a little shake that caused her to emit a laugh. "What a great idea, Nola." She complimented with a wide, toothy grin.

"Why thank you, Van." Nola smiled back at the redhead. Her grip broke away from Taissa's hand as she spun around to face the Palmer girl. "It's been known to happen from time to time."

The humorous quips shared between the two girls caused the Taissa's frown to falter. "Both of you shut up." She said with zero bite behind her words, her eyes rolling at their antics.

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THE RILKE GIRL STOOD inside of her hut, hands perched on her hips as she glanced around the small living space, eying up some of the flowers that had been placed inside the little crevices, no doubt by Akilah, with a small smile. From behind her she could hear Shauna used her knife to sharpen the ends of some long pieces of wood, fashioning them into spikes.

Suddenly the scrap of the knife against the woods grain stopped and was replaced by quiet inside the hut and the giant chatter of the others stationed outside by the table.

"You did it." Shauna uttered quietly.

Right away, Nola spun on her heel, confusion gracing the features of her face. "Did what?" She inquired while staring down at the brunette.

Shauna's eyes shone with pride. "You got them all to change their vote. It was fucking incredible. I've never felt prouder." The Shipman girl declared. Her bottom lip became trapped between her teeth, her pointed canines nipping at the skin as she leisurely scanned the girl stood before her. She was hit with a rush of endorphins at the sight of Nola.

Nola's cheeks grew warm as she chuckled. "Really?" She moved to the ground, sitting herself directly in front of Shauna, their knees touching. She grinned as she questioned, "Not even that time when I managed to shove all those marshmallows in my mouth and was still able to sing most of Buddy Holly?"

Shauna set aside her knife as remembered the moment is clearly. "Okay, that was pretty cool too." She jokingly agreed. The image of a chipmunk cheeked Nola flashed in her mind caused her to widely smile.

Nola mocked squaring her shoulders in an act of faux pride. "Thank you."

Just as quickly as she got distracted by the past, Shauna swiftly pulled back the prior conversation. Her left hand reached out until her fingers met with Nola's hand that lay in her lap. With the gentlest smile she could manage, Shauna intertwined their fingers. "But I mean it. You really took charge back there. It was like you got possessed or something."

"I think years of Jackie bossing us all around on the field really make an impact." Nola quipped fondly. She remembered the way Jackie would constantly talk about whipping the team into shape, threatening to make them run laps despite having no actual power to do so.

After all, if there was anyone who could get her way and do it with a sweet smile, it was Jackie Taylor.

"Yeah." The Shipman girl breathed out. As another memory hit her, she snorted in amusement. "You remember that time she got you to prank call Randy's mom and had you pretend to be the school nurse?"

The two girls broke into fits of laughter. "Of course I do. Telling Randy's mom he had the clap was genius of her." Nola recalled, her teeth bared into a hearty smile that began to fade once reality set back in. "I swear he knew it was me. He literally glared over at me at Jackson Wang's party a couple nights later."

Nola then chuckled again, this time much more melancholy. "Only Jackie."

"I miss her." Shauna breathed out, her shoulders falling.

"I know you do." Nola uttered sadly while leaning forward. Shauna preemptively tilted closer, the girl foreseeing the comforting gesture of Nola's lips coming into contact with her forehead. "So do I."

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NOLA EXITED HER HUT feeling happy and with a smile. A smile that quickly dropped from her face when her wandering gaze locked upon Travis, who stood a little bit aways near the edge of the village, shoving some things into a backpack and carrying a unlit wooden torch. Her face scrunched up in confusion at the sight.

            Without hesitation, she headed over to the boy. "Why do you have your backpack?" She questioned curiously. Travis jumped at the sound of her voice, the boy having clearly not expected her presence. "Are you going somewhere?"

            "...no." Travis replied, drawing out the word as he avoided her gaze.

            Nola looked unimpressed. He was a shitty liar and an even bigger fool if he truly believed she would fall for such an obvious lie. "Travis." She uttered his name, her voice reminding very much of when his mom would scold him for not doing his homework on schedule.

            Travis's shoulders fell as he sighed in defeat. He then admitted, "We're taking Akilah back to the caves. Me and Lottie." He weakly gestured over towards the two girls stood off to the side, talking quietly to each other.

            "Why?"

The Martinez boy looked conflicted, almost like he didn't want to tell her. He then sighed. "Her visions. She thinks there's something happening so she told Lottie and she thinks it would be good to go back to strengthen Akilah's connection with the Wilderness." He explained quietly, shooting glances over at the two girls.

            Nola's eyes flickered over at Akilah. "She really connected with it?" She asked, eying the girl with curiosity.

            If what she said was true, if Akilah was also attached to it then it only proved the point even more. The Wilderness hadn't hurt Akilah, the girl who was admittedly the sweetest amongst them all. It wanted to help her, not harm her.

            He could have lied. Told her the same lie about Akilah that he told Lottie but he just couldn't. He'd only told that lie to get Lottie off his back, to get her to stop pushing him to take the mushrooms and connect with the Wilderness. He hated it, he didn't want it. But Nola hadn't done that. In fact, she had even suggested Lottie focusing on her to shift her attention from him.

            She was his friend, he couldn't lie to her. So instead he just shrugged. "She said she did."

            Suddenly Lottie's voice picked up volume, allowing Nola and Travis to hear her comforting words to Akilah. "I'll be right there with you. Travis, too."

            "Can I come too?" Nola inquired with a hopefully smile as she and Travis edged closer to the two girls. "I think I need to go, you know, to speak to It better. It's always reaching out to me, maybe I should do the same every now and again."

            Lottie appeared moved by her newfound desire to strength herself to the Wilderness. Right away, the Matthews girl nodded with a sweet smile. "Of course."

            Though Akilah still felt apprehensive about the whole thing, knowing that they would all be there did give her some semblance of relief. Finally, she stated, "Okay, let's do it."

            And so the group made their way back to the cave where they had found Coach Scott seeking refuge. They traversed through the woods as leaves crunched beneath their feet and the faint trill of birds singing filled their ears. They were luckier this time around, staring their trek to the caves early in the day than near the late afternoon like the other day when they had been led by Mari.

            As they came to a stop just outside the cave's entrance, Akilah spoke up. "Isn't this kind of dumb?" She asked. She was beginning to freak out now that she was here. There was no backing out once she went inside. "I mean, we're just getting high off gas and seeing things. Doesn't mean it's true."

            "I think the gas is a conduit. Like the Oracle of Delphi." Lottie commented calmly. She then proceeded to elaborate on just exactly who the Oracle of Delphi was. "The gas opened her up to the truth, like Travis and the mushrooms. They allowed him to hear and see things that he wouldn't have been open to otherwise."

            Sensing that Akilah would need some more comforting words, Lottie shot her a faint smile as she stepped closer, keeping her voice low for only herself and Akilah to hear. Nola and Travis stood off to the side, both of them lost in their own thoughts. Travis thought of how much he was regretting this and Nola on how she was going to best approach speaking to It.

            The sound of Lottie's footsteps managed to pull the pair from their musings. With a small jut of her chin over at Akilah, who looked like she was giving herself a pep talk by the caves entrance, Nola asked, "How's she doing?"

            "She's just nervous."

            This information only seemed to fuel Travis's trepidation. "Maybe we call it off." He suggested to the two girls. He appeared quite on edge now.

            A crease formed on Lottie's forehead as her eyebrows cinched together. "Why? You saw her in your vision, didn't you?"

            There was a pause. Once again, Travis appeared to be holding back the truth, not that either girl noticed. "Yeah, yeah." He quietly agreed, taking a step back and his head hanging low.

            "Then reassure her." Lottie told him.

            While Travis reluctantly and slowly walked away from the pair and over towards the worrying Akilah, Nola turned to face the brunette that stood beside her. "I'm gonna hang back towards the entrance, okay?"

             A justified expression of perplexity etched itself to Lottie's face at the Rilke girl's words. "I thought you wanted to—"

            Her voice was swiftly brought to a stop by Nola whose head shook. "I do. But the Wilderness has always communicated with me through sound, not sight. A vision isn't guaranteed. Sound is all around us." To prove her point, her arms flew out and she gestured broadly around the forest.

            Birds were singing, leaves crunched beneath their feet, the very earth crackled with every breath it took. This was all she needed to communicate with the Wilderness. The sounds that already existed had long since been It's favourite way to speak with her, to relay exactly what It needed from her.

            "Good luck, Akilah." Nola then called out in support. This was enough for the others to begin their journey inside of the cave, leaving the Rilke girl behind to partake on her own journey.

            Her feet took her a little ways away from the entrance to the cave. She moved through the tall grass, her hands outstretched and brushing along the tops as it tickled her palms. After a few minutes, Nola found herself standing before a tree that bore the symbol. There etched into the bark was the symbol, proudly beckoning her closer. Her left hand reached out, the tips of her fingers caressing along the aged wood, dipping into the grooves of the carving.

            "Is there something you want to say to me?" Her voice was faint, like a whisper, as if her words were for only the Wilderness to hear. Her eyes slipped closed as she carried on speaking. "What should I listening out for?"

            Nothing came. No response. Her breath picked up, transitioning into shallow gasps as she now pleaded with It. "Please, say something. Anything." She begged. Her fingertips now dug deep into the carving, as if pressing harder would rouse a reply from the Wilderness.

            Suddenly a strong gust of wind appeared from nowhere, whistling as it blew past her ears. It practically moved through her, grazing against the exposed flesh of her soccer shorts clad legs. Her eyes shot back open and her gaze fell to the bustling leaves that were quickly being pulled along by the wind. They were move almost in a straight line, heading along the path she had taken before, right back towards the entrance of the caves.

Without even thinking about it, Nola began to follow. She quickly made her way back towards the cave, arriving just in time to hear both Lottie and Travis's voices echoing from inside. Together the pair cried out, "Akilah!"

"Is she okay?" That was the first thing Nola asked after she hurriedly ran inside the cave after hearing the desperation in their voices. She fell to her knees next to Travis who could only shake his head as tears began to prick his eyes.

            Lottie sat over the unconscious Akilah, leaning down over her body as her hands lay upon her shoulders. "Bring her back to us, bring her back to us, bring her back to us." She repeated over and over, whispering to the Wilderness, pleading for Akilah's return.

A glare from Travis was fixed upon Lottie. "I told you that this was a fucking bad idea." He snapped at the girl, not holding back his belief that this was all her fault.

             Lottie didn't appear phased by his harsh words. All she did was focus on the flutter of Akilah's eyelids. "Her eyes. Her eyes." She pointed out, gesturing down. Both Travis and Nola looked down to see Akilah's eyelids shaking a.

            Quickly Akilah's breathing began to pick up as her eyes continued to desperately move about behind her eyelids. Then out of nowhere, a sudden, sharp gasp for oxygen erupted from Akilah as her upper body lifted up from the ground. The other three let out haggard breaths of relief as Akilah's hand rose to push down on her beating chest.

            Lottie was swift in rubbing Akilah's back, reassuring the girl. "Hey, hey, you're okay, you're safe."

            "Thank God." The Martinez boy breathed out. That awful weight that been pressing down on his chest, the guilt that had come from lying about his vision, lifted away as Akilah continued to take deeper and deeper breaths. She was okay.

            While still trying to get her rapid breathing under control, Akilah began to explain. "I saw something." She huffed and puffed. "I was on a cliff and I, I couldn't see anything below me. But then I saw something in front of me. So I stepped out and it was—"

            Her eyes were wide, blown open. "Coach Scott. Or his-his body, I guess." She was struggling to explain, she wanted to make sense of what she had seen. "It was like he was suspended in air but I could feel him breathing."

            Then her lips broke into a small smile. "He kept me from falling so I could get to the other side."

            "Could you see beyond him?" Lottie inquired.

             Akilah shook her head. The smile she had vanished and was replaced by a pensive frown. "It was just darkness. But..." her voice trailed off, fading away until all they could hear was the faint drips of water from the caves ceiling in the distance.

            Nola's brows cinched together in curiosity. "How did you feel?"

A long forgotten spark of excitement flickered in Akilah's eye. "It was weird cause I-I thought that I should feel scared, but I didn't. I just felt...I felt hope." Her teeth began to show, shining brightly in the darkened cave.

             Travis moved to aid the girl as she stumbled to her feet while Nola's head spun around to face the Matthews girl across from her. "Do you know what this means?"

             "He's the bridge." Lottie claimed as the ghost of a smile appeared. She stared ahead, the girl looking far away. "He's how we'll get home."

            "Which means we can't let him die." Nola pointed out. Reality crashed into her all of a sudden, knocking the wind out of her. The pitch of her voice reached the highest of volumes as she scrambled to her feet. "Shit, the execution!"

The four teenagers quickly hurried back to the village. They ran as fast as their legs could carry them, their muscles burning with each desperate long stride they took, their hearts thumping wildly against their rib cages with each haggard, shallow breath they took.

They had just barely gotten back in time to see Coach Scott slumped up against a tree, a bag thrown over his head, and the rest of the group gathered like a peanut gallery, watching on as Taissa aimed the rifle at the man.

By some divine intervention, just as Taissa's finger pulled the trigger, Lottie rushed forward, her hands outstretched towards the barrel of the gun, coming into contact with it just as the bullet departed. She shoved the gun up towards the blue sky above them, effectively saving Coach Scott's life.

"What the fuck, Lottie?" Taissa bellowed as she went stumbling back from the abrupt and sudden impact.

"We can't kill him. Not yet." Lottie uttered breathlessly. She seemed entirely unfazed that if she had gotten there a second too late, her brain matter would have been splattered over the forest floor.

As Lottie had been diverting the bullet on its path, Travis had bravely jumped in front of the man, grabbing hold of him and crashing to the ground to get him out of harms way. Nola hurried forward to help him to his feet before they both gripped onto the coach's jacket and hauled him to his one good foot, all the while Travis whipped the bag off of his head.

"He has a purpose." The Matthews girl insisted before spinning her head back around and gesturing towards Akilah. "He has a purpose. Akilah saw it."

            "He's...He's our bridge home." Akilah confirmed with a growing smile. Her body shook as she panted, leaning her body into the thick tree trunk. She looked so incredibly hopeful as her gaze panned over toward the rattled looking man. "He's the bridge."

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LOUD, AGONISING SCREAMS ECHOED throughout the darkened woods, rattling the group something serious as they cut through the tense silence. They had decided that they would keep Coach Scott alive, keep him tied up in with the animals until his purpose was completed. But they couldn't risk the man getting away again, not when they needed him to get back home.

So as a group they came to the decision that he would be rendered unable to escape. Not now, not ever.

Just moments ago, Shauna and Melissa had headed into the animal pen, hunting knife in hand. Everyone else sat gathered mutely around the village, waiting for the moment they learned what the pair decided to do to Coach Scott. They were jolted from their own sense of acceptance when the man's wails of agony bellowed through the trees.

            The two girls came out from the pen barely a minute after the screams began, both looking quite proud of themselves.

            Shauna slid the knife back into her handmade knife holder that slung across her body, her lips twitching as she fought off a smile of self satisfaction. "He won't be going anywhere." She declared assuredly as she and the blonde approached the group.

            Natalie's nose scrunched up in anger. She was quick to bite back, "You don't have to enjoy it this much."

            "And you don't have to act like such a fucking saint." Shauna fought back. She refused to be judged for something they all chose, something they all had a hand in deciding. She wouldn't bear all the responsibility simply because she swung the knife, so to speak.

            Ben screamed out once again, the sound stopping the two girls from snapping at one another. Stevie glanced over towards the pit, concern causing her brows to furrow. "Should we do something for him? Knock him out or something?"

            Before anyone could speak out or suggest something else to aid the injured man, Nola spoke up. "Let him scream. He'll tire out eventually. We have to keep him alive to get home but he still deserves punishment for what he did." She reminded them all with a tight-lipped smile. Then she rose to her feet. "I'm going to bed."

            She sidestepped away from the tree stump she sat on, venturing past Robin and Britt who sat nearby by, and making her way over to Shauna. "Come on, you." She beckoned with a smile as she held out her hand.

            As Shauna accepted the offer, Nola glanced down to see blood dripping from Melissa's hand. Her eyes flickered back up and met Melissa's. "Good work, Melissa." She complimented with a nod before dragging Shauna away from the group and into her hut for the night.

            Many of the group followed their lead, slowly making their way to their huts to retire for the night ahead. All the while, Coach Scott's screams continued to echo through the night, haggard and exhausted as his blood poured from his wound.

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author's thoughts.
chapter fifty five, not proofread
It's been so funny seeing people say they hate Nola lol I did give you an option when season 3 began airing to decide if she should be a good person or not. You all wanted this lol also kpop fans peep the jackson mention Anyway I hope you enjoyed :)