Forsaken An American Sasquatch Tale - By Christine Conder Page 0,37
all at once. “The hell we are. You.” She poked his chest for emphasis. “Maybe. But not me. Since when do you think you can disregard my Pardon?” She called his bluff and tried to keep a steady expression on her face, though she panicked inside.
“Hmm, let’s see.” He tipped his head from side to side like it was a scale truly weighing matters out. Then stopped and looked back at her. “Since you’ve gone…become unstable.”
She was about to, she really was. Nathaniel had pushed the button, the one he’d always steered clear of before, because he knew it was painful for her, but mostly because it was untrue. He didn’t believe she was unstable, he couldn’t possibly, but he had to feel out of control and so he tried to hurt her. Maybe slow her up a bit.
“You don’t mean it,” she said. “I know you don’t.”
“Actually, you don’t know what I’m thinking.”
Liberty tried to diffuse the situation, hoped there was a way to keep him from crossing a line he couldn’t uncross. “Aren’t you going to ask me what happened?” She reached up and touched the bandage he’d put on her wound.
He shrugged. “Does it matter?”
“It does if you care about me. If you love me.”
He didn’t blink, but she saw a shift in his eyes. It was either that or wishful thinking on her part.
When he didn’t respond, she continued, “The other day when Katie, Gabriel and Adrian left, and I went to sleep in the guest chamber?”
He crossed his arms. A wall. She was talking to a wall of Nathaniel.
“Well, Adrian had been looking at Sage’s album, and he left it on the cot. I found a note from him inside. Addressed to me. He said he needed to talk to me, to tell me more about Sage.” She felt tears well up, her vision got blurry. “He said he might know more concerning the day she disappeared.”
“I’ve reached my breaking point,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Why?” she swiped her eyes, “It’s like you’re so determined to be right, that you’d refuse to recognize your own daughter if she walked in this second.” She sat up, “Nathaniel, listen to me.” She reached for his hand. “I went to meet Adrian but he wasn’t there. I found a trail camera mounted nearby, though. I broke it up and buried it.”
He nodded. “I think we’re leaving at the right time, then. This area isn’t safe anym—”
“I don’t get you,” she snapped. “Stop being a bull and listen to me.” She tore off the blanket and sat on the edge of the bed, a little wobbly. “It’s too late. Weird stuff has happened. Someone took the clothes out of the rendezvous and the area was disturbed.” She took a deep breath. “And I’m afraid Adrian might be in serious trouble.”
She stood and started to walk away when Nathaniel grabbed a hold of her wrists and yelled, “Where do you think you’re going?”
Right as she believed the situation was going to get ugly, bloody, the hatch slammed and they heard a thud as somebody dropped down into the vestibule. Liberty hoped for Adrian, but the noise said this person wasn’t as slight of build. They froze mid-argument.
As the person began to run down the corridor, toward them, Nathaniel put his hand to her mouth to signal quiet. He quickly crept to the doorway, his chest expanding as he took in a deep breath ready to pound the intruder the moment they came into sight. A familiar voice called out.
“Nate? Liberty?”
Gabriel.
Liberty saw Nathaniel relax with relief and, in the span of a second, saw him tense again with worry as he stepped into the corridor. “Gabe? What’s wrong?”
“Are they here?”
“Who?”
Gabriel reached the doorway, pushed past Nathaniel, and stopped short when he saw her. “What happened to you? Tell me you’ve seen Adrian.”
Liberty recounted her night, repeating herself and then getting further than Nathaniel had let her. Gabriel sat on the bed with a towel from the vestibule around his waist, a mixture of desperation and despair on his face. Her heart went out to him. He looked a lot like she felt.
As nonchalant as possible, she said, “Have you heard Adrian wail lately?”
“Wail? Why?”
“The truth is, there happened to be a lot going on when the four-wheeler showed up, but I heard a call. And I know I’m not wrong because I heard it twice.”
Gabriel’s eye widened. Nathaniel looked unsure, but at least he hadn’t brushed her off as unstable for