"Hurry!!"
"I'm coming as fast as I can. Mom gifted you with long legs and not me; remember?"
"Yes, I remember vividly. Now get in here with me."
"Why did we stop?"
"I just want to make sure you're ok. Are you hurt? How do you feel? Can you still….sis, I'm fine. Wh….where are we?"
"You like it?"
"Like it!! Ha, Adalyn, this place is amazing. Whoever made all of this must have been one cool dude."
"Dude? Girls can't build?"
"Wait a sec!! You built all of this. That's not possible."
"Yep, I built all of…well the structure was already out here in the woods so the only thing I did was give it a polish, a homemaker, redecorate here and there and then…..walaa!! Welcome to my hideout. I started making this as a kid and kept coming back to it every year since. Here is where I would go to escape life and just be alone."
"Hold on a minute. This is the top secret hideout that you would never share with anyone and everytime I asked where you were going and if I could come; you always said no. Why? I thought that you found my company peaceful? We always hung out together and you said there is no place you'd rather be then here in my ams. Was that…..was that all a lie?"
"Dandellion, don't say that. I always loved you and still do. How could you ever think opposite?"
"Then why were you away so much?"
"Uhhh!"
"Adalyn? I know you don't like confrontations but please…. tell me the truth. I need to know."
"Okay. Here goes nothing. Have you ever heard of a good witch?"
"What's that got to do with anything."
"Well, all the girls in our family have gotten hit by evil spirits, but only one of them was ever strong enough to resist the urge and not give in."
"Mom!! She's a Hopegiver now; Sixth Star said so herself. She said she has seen her and is very fond of her."
"Exactly. The reason why mom overcame it is because she found out what true love was."
"Maurice!! But how?"
"I don't know but what I do know is that instead of struggling with my spirit when it came or giving in; I tried to do the one thing very few people have done. I tried to use what nature intended for evil and use it for good. I didn't want to just love the spirit and be content with that or only love one other person because they have to love the spirit out of you and you can't do it alone. I wanted to use my spirit to help spread love and peace with everybody but when you are already raised up with a label over your head….it's hard to make people think differently….especially the Christians who are after us. They take one look at me and just because Shadow told them that I am a witch and could be more powerful than him; then their first instinct is to eliminate me; but they haven't even gotten to know me for…..me!! They judge me off of bad stories that they heard and from a 'factual report' spoken by someone whose true intentions are way worse than mine. It's just too much at times. So it's just that sometimes when you need to be alone….you need to be alone!!"
"The world is quick to voice their opinions nowadays especially when everyone thinks that they have their own personal say and whatever they say they think others HAVE TO know it."
"These past few days however and all that has gone on; I'm glad that I was able to have you by my side again. With you here; it feels like all my problems are set aside and it's only….peace….and quiet!!"
"Knock, knock!"
"So much for peace and quiet. I thought no one knew about this place."
"They don't but obviously someone found out. Who is it?"
"It's me. Let me in."
"Me who?"
"Dandellion, go see who it is. Wait, I forgot you have no powers so take this bat with you just in case. I'll stay here by the table."
"What's under the cloth in front of you?"
"Hopefully we don't have to find out, but remember when I said that sometimes I just need to be alone because the world is as hectic as it is? Well, whoever is at the door probably has not come for tea, so I might need to be alone. So this is an escape if I really need it. Now go."
"Hey, it's not nice to leave guests waiting on the front porch. Your place was really hard to find because it is so far back here, but I'd hate to just have to turn around and walk back now without saying hi. I just want to talk. Please."
"Okay! My sister is gonna open the door for you and let you in. I'll be right over."
"Thank you. God has sent me to bless your house this very day."
"Wait a second. That voice!! It sounds so familiar. Where did I….."
*WACK*
"Ouch. Dandellion, it's me Sixth Star. I've come to….*WACK*"
"That's for making a fool out of me."
"Dandellion, I…..*WACK*"
"And that's for taking my spirit and removing my powers."
"Dandellion, I did what was best for you. Please understand."
"Sister, I caught us a slithering snake. She cannot be trusted. She's only here for your soul and nothing more. Should I toss her outside with all the other trash?"
"Wait!! Let us hear what she has to say first and why she had to come this great a distance to say it? Bring her to me and I'll judge her myself to see whether she be pure or if she indeed comes with evil intent."
"You heard the lady. MARCH!!"
"Hello Sixth Star. You know you banged up my sister pretty bad out there so give me one good reason why I shouldn't go over there and bang you up as well? What business do you have that it requires to be brought to my table?"
"I have a message for you, Adalyn."
"If that's all then I don't want to hear it. You already make your messages as clear as day whenever you send them so no one can interpret them wrong. Whatever your message is; here is my answer. If you want my soul then you can forget it. Pack your bags and go find another Pure someplace else."
" Adalyn, you misinterpret my coming. I am not the one who wants your soul, but Him. God came to me and told me to tell you that you're needed. You have one last mission you need to do before He calls you home. Wait, why is your hand hovering over that cloth? What's under it?"
"Tell Him I don't want it. Why doesn't He go and choose someone else? I'm done serving underneath Him. I have done all He has asked of me and more. God says if a Gentile asks you to carry his load one mile then offer to take it two. If he tells you to carry it five miles then offer to take it ten. I've doubled everything He has told me to do and look where it's gotten me. My mom died when Dandellion and I were young. She thought that if only she could love Maurice and Maurice then love her in return; the spirit would be released; but instead; he tricked her all along. He was the one who shot the final blow into my mother and killer her.``
"He killed her only because he didn't want her to kill others. You have to understand. He did it only to protect you two from harm"
"Yes, maybe he did and maybe he didn't. This morning though, Maurice showed that he wanted to protect us…and protect us he did....with his life. The only reason he had to protect me was because I'm starting to not be able to control my spirit and now it has lashed out on Dandellion and almost killed her as well. I just don't know how much longer I can take this, Sixth Star. I try to love but the only thing I've gotten in return….is death. Instead of a thank you; all I receive from people is their fantasies of wanting to mount my head on a pole….and most of these people are ones I personally helped and showed love to. I don't think that is how I should be repaid for all that I have done. Have I not shown you that I am good and yet you still label me as evil? I try to help them and as a thank you; instead of one of the lepers out of the ten turning back, running to Jesus and thanking Him; they instead turn around and run to me because they want to hunt me down like a wild pig ready for the slaughter. If that be my life then I want no part of it."
" You make a pretty good point, I'll give you that. The Bible does say though that the path is narrow and crooked. Very few find the path and even few are able to stay on; with fewer being able to cross the creek to the other side. He says the life of a Christian embodies pain, hardships, turmoil, rejection, sacrifice, persecussion, and the list goes on and on and on. Nowhere does it say that life will become easier and your burden lifted. No! It says that your life will now be harder, but your burden and worries will be lighter. Please, listen to me. God wants to use you to proclaim His name by defeating the Christians and showing them that they are in the wrong."
"God wants me to proclaim His name by punishing the Christians? Did you forget that the world sees me as the bad guy in this scenario?"
"I did not forget, but did not God use the Babylonians and others to persecute His chosen nation because they fell?"
"Yes. Shadow reminded me of that several times."
"Then you must also know that He rose up a hero everytime that no one expected so that he could be used to help proclaim His name and bring the nation back to Him."
"What's your point?"
"Please. We need you to do this one last job for us; then you can go home. Woo! Woo!! Adalyn, let's think about this for a minute. Put the gun down and give it to me. I'm on your side."
"It's amazing how one's voice changes once disaster starts. They seem like their own miserable self but then when the person has a gun to their head; the person instantly acts as though they are reading a script. They say I am on your side. No one is going to get hurt. I can feel what you feel. Put the gun down and give it to me so that we can talk. I am on your side. Oh wait, I already said that one."
"Adalyn, I'm speaking the truth here. I am truly on your side and do not want you to kill yourself."
"Side!! I wasn't aware that there were any. I was under the impression that I was on one divide and everyone was on the other. Even my family….my own family; had to choose the wrong side. Now don't you stand there and comfort me by saying you're on my side and know exactly how I feel, because you don't and you never will. I know what your true intentions are and I've seen what you can do. I've done my servitude to the Lord and now I am done. Love and punishment are separate. One minute you tell me to love my neighbor without judgment, and then the next; You tell me to punish them so that the fear of the Lord may be instilled in them. Oh wait, my bad. You want us to make them tremble so that a 'healthy' fear is instilled in them. Almost forgot that part for a minute. What do you want me to do God? Do you want me to love or do you want me to punish, because I can't do both. There is no balance!"
"Adalyn, you're wrong. There is a balance between the two and every Christian has to find it. You can't love without punishing, and you can't punish without love. Don't you see? Adalyn, I can't do this alone. I need you just as much as you need me."
"That's not true. I've seen how powerful you are. You don't need me, but I do know some people that need me."
"Adalyn!!"
"Noooooooo!!!"
"IF YOU WON'T KILL ME THEN I'LL DO IT MYSELF"
*CLICK*
"Adalyn, don't!! If you shoot yourself then you will not be found worthy of being pure. When temptation comes and you have hit your low and feel like giving up; you have to rise above it. Only then will you be one step closer to a Hopegiver. If you give in then you will be no different than any other millions of Mists that walk the ocean floor. Please! Find it in your soul to do the right thing. I had such high hopes for you."
"I'm truly sorry to let you down, Sixth Star. You may be able to take my soul, but you won't take ME!!"
"Adalyn!!!!!"
*BANG*"
" TIME FREEZE!! UNFREEZE!!"
"AAaaghh!! What happened to the table? The tabletop is all over; chairs are pushed out, and all the plates and silverware are in complete disa...Adalyn!!!"
"You saved me! H..how? Why? You should've let me die. I don't deserve this."
"Adalyn, no one deserves a second chance but that's the thing about them. They are never earned. They are freely given and if people tried to rationalize why people give them then they wouldn't be able to. None are deserved. If I sat here counting all the times I was at my lowest and willing to give up then heck, I could build my own planet just like Shadow did."
"So…..you don't hate me?"
"Adalyn, I could never hate you. In fact, I'm glad that you had a meltdown."
"You are!!"
"Yes, Dandelion. If your sister didn't have a meltdown then none of us would've ever known what she was truly feeling inside. We would've kept thinking you were just tired or overslept but in reality you were always way different. This has only made you stronger and brought us closer together."
"Sixth Star!"
"Yes, Dandelion?"
"I have a personal question that might not be perfect for right now but….ummm."
"I'm listening."
"If it's not much of a hassle….could you stay with us only till the night? You can leave in the morning if you want too, but this will be the longest I've gone without my dad or any adult, and the night will only get worse."
"This is not how I was picturing my day to go or this meeting, but if it's okay with Adalyn then I'd love to stay and keep you company."
"Please!"
"Addy, I already said yes. Now go get changed and meet me outside. We don't want to waste any more idle minutes of light because no one knows the day nor the hour that He'll return or when you give your last breath. Once you come down here then I'll show you what low really looks like."