Chapter Three

Hope dies last

Hope

It’d been about sixteen hours since we’d been taken hostage by the followers of the Reunification cult. I knew that because the smartwatch on Lewis’s wrist had vibrated at eight in the morning–the alarm to wake up. Thanks to Ranita, the overseers hadn’t noticed it, or he’d have been already dead. I wished we’d been basking in our soft bed instead of a sleepless night on the hard floor of the university assembly hall under the supervision of the armed terrorists.

All of the survivors had been taken to the stage and seated around it to be in full view.

“Let the Sacrifice Night begin,” the leader of the cult announced rapturously in the middle of the hostages and I cringed.

The Sacrifice Night.

I’d grown up in an orphanage and had no possibility to read normal books out of the absence of eyes, and the nurses hadn’t been educated enough to teach me to read ones with embossed patterns on pages instead of ink letters, not to mention the price of them, so I’d only listened to the lessons, but not that carefully, though that history lecture I would remember till the end of my life.

The United Provinces of Freedom had been living and flourishing for thousands of circles. But after the war, which would be named The Red Waterfall for the battles had washed the earth with flows of blood, it was divided into the five settlements: Dagmarantha in the south, Clodissea in the west, Ranita in the east, Michaline in the north. The fifth settlement–Medastar–was located right in the middle of four others.

The self-proclaimed chieftain of one of the clans of the United Provinces waged The Red Waterfall, being sick and tired of occupation and usurpation of the Voice of Truth–the leaders of the United Provinces of Freedom, worshiping the Divine Quintet–heretic deities. Ranita the Initiatoress spearheaded the army of young men and women who were eager to free the place they called home. Inspired by the action of the Initiatoress, Clodissea the Invisible, Dagmarantha the Piercing, Michaline the Ice-hearted, and Medastar the Moonlight gathered their powers to free their lands. Though the forces of the Five Emancipatoresses breached the walls of Proovilax–the capital of the United Provinces of Freedom –the influence of the Voice of Truth was more powerful than the Emancipatoresses could imagine, and when They announced the attack of the Infidels (Ranita, Clodissea, Dagmarantha, Michaline, and Medastar), the peoples rebelled against each other, provoking the civil wars here and there. The Emancipatoresses were captured and taken to the notorious prison of the Light Tower dungeons.

Clodissea, Dagmarantha, Michaline, and Medastar, being tortured for dozens of days, betrayed Ranita and her plans against The Voice of Truth in exchange for their lives. They accused the Initiatoress of forcing them to follow her under the fear of their families’ deaths, and the four, having no other choice, had obeyed. The leaders of the United Provinces of Freedom publicly hanged Ranita the Initiatoress. Four Traitorresses were forced to watch the execution of Ranita right in front of the scaffold, after which they were butchered on the spots where they stood for the edification of the rebels.

However, the folks of the United Provinces of Freedom, even ones who supported the Voice of Truth, took the deaths of Ranita and Four Traitorresses, which became an eye-opening event, as a dishonest way to maintain their power and suppress the inevitable revolution. Peoples of the United Provinces of Freedom united to fight back the Voice of Truth. The Red Waterfall lasted forty-four seasons and forty-four days.

When the last descendant of the members of the Voice of Truth was buried alive on the square where they’d hanged Ranita the Initiatoress, the power of the United Provinces of Freedom officially fell. But the troubles were not over.

The folks of Four Traitorresses denied the fact of the betrayal by their self-proclaimed chieftains, which almost unleashed another war that no one was ready for. The New Chieftains made a decision to divide the United Provinces of Freedom into five sovereign settlements, named in honor of the Five Emancipatoresses. The high and thick marble walls on the borders were built as a reminder of the union that would never happen again.

The Voice of Truth worshiped the Divine Quintet–five gods and goddesses in the flesh that were controlling the lives of mortals on the earth. Yarotare–a goddess of earth, fertility, and blossoming, Volodarish–a god of waters, rains, and fogs, Penulary–a goddess of fire, heat, and a home hearth, Svaroveles–a god of air, winds, and frost. The last one was the god of death, mold, and changing of seasons, which stood over others–Moribillius.

According to the Union mythology, Yarotare, Volodarish, Penulary, and Svaroveles were dependent on the powers of Moribillius, who ruled the times of the circle, and were named after relevant gods. He allowed the others to prevail on the earth, yielding every ninety-one days for brothers and sisters to continue the Circle of Life, which included three hundred sixty-four days. But everything had its price. So did Moribillius's powers.

In addition to the three hundred sixty-four days, he added an extra one that happened every four full Circles of Life to be worshiped by the mortals. That day was named the Sacrifice Night because being a god of death meant it required death.

Every four full Circles of Life on the final day of Svaroveles’ reign each of the twelve clans of The United Provinces of Freedom had to sacrifice the youngest soul for it was pure and innocent. The twelve chosen infants were brought to the top of the Smoking Colossus–now a dormant volcano in the east of Dagmarantha. People threw newborns into the mouth of the volcano with boiling lava to eulogize Moribillius–the all-powerful god.

When another Sacrifice Night came, the youngest member of the November clan was Daulton–a two-day-old son of Ranita. The settlers forcibly took the little boy from his mother’s arms. She was drained and exhausted after the difficult birth, but her grip on Daulton weakened only when the settlers beat her to unconsciousness. The sorrow and grief that the future Initiatoress had experienced didn’t break her but encouraged her to plan the day of her unlimited revenge on The United Provinces of Freedom and the Voice of Truth for taking her only son.

After the Red Waterfall, all the seasons were renamed: Svaroveles into Fierce for the fierce frosts and coldness, Yarotare into Subtle for the subtle scents of blossoms, Penulary into Sultry for sultry days before a thunderstorm, and Penulary into Motley for the motley defoliation. The extra day of Fierce– the Sacrifice Night–that was to happen every four full Circles of Life became the Day of Grief to remain as a reminder of boys and girls who would never see the sunrise and sunset again.

Today was the ninety-second of Fierce.

How could I forget?

One of the senior officials that’d come to the solemn ceremony of a new academic semester was brought to somewhere behind the hall doors by two huge terrorists. Their steps were booming and intimidating. Instead of infants, they decided to sacrifice the closest to the Authority people.

“Cleanse the world from evil! Ave Unio!”

“Moribillius Vult!”

“Please,” the official begged between the exclamations, “please, don–” he didn’t finish. I guessed one of his bringers knocked the man with the stock of the machine gun. I was scared, no doubt. But what happened next forced me to get terrified. I wouldn’t ever be able to forget the horrific cries from what the cult followers were doing with the officials outside. I couldn’t conceive how loony they should be to torture men to scream so stridently. My trembling body clung to Lewis in an attempt to keep myself calm, though the official’s cries would dwell in my memory forever.

We were exhausted and dehydrated. The tongue in my mouth was as dry and sharp as sandpaper. My head was so foggy and tired that the odd hissing in my ears started bothering me. Lewis and Ralody had been holding my shaking hands for all this time. I was scared even to open my mouth after what Brady’d done to the innocent student’s prayer. I wasn’t sure whether the Protectors knew about hundreds of hostages at Nordery University. If they did, why hadn’t they freed us yet? At least, they could have started negotiations with the sectarians.

I couldn’t say how much time had passed. The followers of the Reunification cult had taken more than three of the officials from the hall and never let them come back. The screams and pleas didn’t bother me that much anymore, as if my entire organism refused to acknowledge the hell on the earth around us.

It was unbearably stuffy here. They’d wired all the windows and several of the main doors with explosives in case the Authority dispatched snipers to the roofs of the neighboring buildings. The smell of blood, urine, and decomposition of corpses was in the air, making my empty stomach hurt from spasms of the gag reflex I was suppressing hard.

“Hope, wake up. Love, please.” The fear with which he said these words scared the shit out of me, making my pulse uneven. I couldn’t understand why he’d said that. Had I been shot and hadn’t noticed it? But there was no pain or moisture from blood on my body. Seemed like I might have passed out because after recovering consciousness I found myself lying on my husband’s lap, albeit my back had been up against the cold concrete wall a moment ago. Lewis was slightly shaking me by my shoulders, provoking acid reflux.

“Stop,” I uttered weakly.

“What happened?” the leader of the town asked. Only now I realized she was still holding my hand.

“How are you feeling?” Lewis pushed me slowly toward Ralody to seat me back. They both supported me because I felt so dizzy and couldn’t focus on anything. The burning acid in my empty stomach was about to find its way out of me.

“Lewis.”

“Yes, love,” my husband said, stroking my back.

“I’m gonna vomit.”

His hand lingered on my lower back, “Fuck.”

His muscled but weakened after a day without food, water, and sleep hands embraced me and lifted my disobedient body off the floor. Seemed like we were sitting next to the stage edge because Lewis put me on my knees, wrapping his arm around my waist. The heavy massive boots of the nearest to us follower hit the wooden floor, coming closer to where we were with each step, but when I started spitting my internal organs out, the moves stopped.

Another spasm in my stomach pushed the gastric acid which burnt my throat going outside. My hands couldn’t withstand the weight of mine, and if the love of my life hadn’t been gripping me, they would’ve buckled, and I would have probably choked to death in a puddle of my own puke.

“Look, brothers,” the familiar nasal voice of the crazy cult leader laughed, “Cleansing has started! Saint Moribillius will purify your soul and body, sister!” He addressed me and it caused another acid fountain from my mouth. Finally, there was nothing to vomit with, and I collapsed on my side, supported by Lewis.

“Give her some water, Brady.”

When I heard the word ‘water’ my overdried lips felt the phantom moisture on them. But it wasn’t fair.

“Please,” I coughed, “please, give water to everyone.”

“Hope, shh–”

“What did you say?” the leader asked.

“Hope, shut up,” Lewis squeezed the skin on my ribs under the chiffon dress to pain.

But I didn’t. “I asked to give some water to everyone here,” I gasped, spitting the remains of the acid and sour saliva out, “They need to be purified too, don’t they? Water will help them do it quicker. What do you think?”

It was stupid. I knew that. But I wanted to help the people around me no less than to quench the thirst. They would probably shoot me down, but, at least, I’d tried.

The prolonged silence was pierced by a martyred cry from behind the plastic door.

“Give them water. Sister’s right.”

Thank you, Ranita. Thank you very much.

“But,” he went on, “don’t give it to the infidels. They’ll be suffering till the end. If any of you decided to share with these filthy brats, you would be sacrificed with them.”

It meant, that…

“Ralody,” I whispered to Lewis’s ear when he helped me stand up.

“We’ll manage it, love.”

My ass took its place between my husband and the leader of Calire again.

“How are you?” Ralody Brine asked.

“I’d say for the current situation I’m pretty fine.”

“Good girl,” Ralody tugged a loose strand of the hair behind my ear.

The door slammed shut, and the stamping of four heavy booted feet thundered in the assembly hall, accompanied by cracking of plastic and splashing.

Water.

They’d brought bottled water from the cafeteria on the second floor.

One of the overseers came to us and threw bottles on the floor. Only two.

“There’s no water for you, Authority whore,” I heard a quite young male voice. “Suffer for sins you’ve done for your filthy govt.” He spat on Ralody. “Ave Unio!”

My husband flinched, and I took his forearm to prevent any stupidity he was going to commit.

“Ral?”

“I’m fine, Lewis. Drink the water, you’re thirsty.”

“You too, Ralody. You’re parched. We’ll work something out.”

Ralody Brine merely snorted, “I’m gonna die anyway. What’s the point?”

Neither me nor Lewis was courageous enough to disagree with her slowly said words because we both knew she was right. His hand squashed mine immensely tight.

“Don’t tell that, please,” I almost begged, “we’ll survive. As Lewis said, we’ll figure out something.”

The weight of her palm warmed my shoulder. “You’re right, Hope, we’ll get out of here,” the leader of the town promised, even so, it sounded more like a reassuring speech for me, not an assertion.

My fingers fumbled for the bottle's gritty cap and turned it clockwise to open it and failed. I had no power even for such a simple task. Lewis, seemingly, caught sight of my fruitless tries and resolved the problem with a quick movement of his wrist. My hero. When the celestial moisture reached my parched mouth, it struck me. I would have finished that half-liter bottle up in a gulp, but my mind alerted me to slow down. Ralody needed so much as a third of the bottle to recover from the horrors we’d been forced to endure. And yet, Saints, either I’d never known that water had such a delicious taste, or I was that dehydrated to make it up.

Time was passing, cries were loud. Ranita the Initiatoress, where the hell were the fucking Protectors? How many people should have died to be finally rescued? The hissing in my ears became stronger. The innervated muscles of my emaciated body subsided. I caved in and fell on my husband’s shoulder, fighting the drowsiness, although I was losing.

“Take a nap, love. I’ll watch you,” Lewis said and removed me from his lap. I was willing to withstand that, but my entire organism pressed the button ‘turn off.’

I couldn’t say how much time the semblance of sleeping on love’s thighs instead of a soft down pillow had taken when my ears captured the fragments of the conversation between Lewis and Ralody.

“–hind Hope’s back. Band slowly down and drink. They won’t see if we shield you.”

So, Lewis was trying to give the remains of the water we hadn’t drunk up to his friend.

“I’m not gonna risk your lives just for several sips.”

“Stop it and take fucking water.”

My husband’s tone was irritated and exasperated. It’d been a while of convincing.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m gonna be dead in a matter of hours.”

“Ral, don’t–”

“Lewis,” she interrupted my husband, “I’m the leader of the Calire town. They’ve left me for last as a small tidbit.”

Lewis remained silent. He had no word to answer this. Me too. Really, I didn’t know what kind of words could suit there. Another man fainted and the floor, piercing the silence in the assembly hall with a muffled sound of falling.

“You know where it is, Lewis,” Ralody lowered her voice to a new low, and I realized I wasn’t supposed to listen to her. She didn’t know that my hearing had become sharper because of the loss of vision. “If you survive, let them know.”

“We’ll all survive, Ralody. Don’t you dare think differently.”

She snorted, “You’ve always been such an optimistic man.”

My lips twitched to vocalize the question ‘What the fuck are you talking about?’, but the words got stuck in my throat. Ralody didn’t intend the words for my ears, whatever they meant, and I made a decision to pretend to wake up.

Getting up, I felt severe pain in my neck and left side from lying in a crooked pose. Lewis patted my back. His movements became slower. He was drained. I knew he wouldn’t agree to fall asleep when his wife and his friend’s lives were jeopardized. Anyway, I could try.

“Lewis,” I began, “love, you nee–”

I hadn’t noticed the thundering steps of heavy booted feet approaching the wall near the stage edge. “Stand up, Authority bitch,” this nasal frightening voice, “your turn has come.”

No, no, no. Please, not Ralody. Not now.

“As I said,” she murmured with an unhappy smile, that was clearly audible in her too-low-to-be-female voice. I thought she was ready to die.

My brain didn’t function well. I wanted to take her hand but had no time to search for it, so I gripped her rather wide forearm and pulled her to me.

“Hope, let me go, please. Don’t give them a reason to kill you too.”

“Ralody…”

“Lewis, take her,” she asked my husband, who all of a sudden obeyed and removed my hand from the warm and silky skin of the leader.

I was trembling. Lewis too. My reason was fear. His one was helplessness. He embraced me, and his increased heartbeat pounded into my chest. It took him a good deal of effort not to run after his friend. My suggestion was that he didn’t do anything not to get in cult followers’ sight because of me.

“Shh, Hope,” he kissed my temple, “It’ll be okay. We’ll get outta this. All of us,” I wanted to believe him. But I didn’t.

Ralody Brine was going to die in agony. And we were supposed to listen to her cries of suffering until she was silent forever.

Saint Ranita, help her.

The dizziness engulfed me, and I blacked out one more time, but this time when I started feeling again, Lewis wasn’t shaking my shoulders. He was lying on my left unconsciously. I lifted on my weakened arms and crawled to him. Groping my husband’s jawline, I cupped it, and my thumb brushed his one-day face growth.

“Lewis.”

No reaction.

“Love.”

Still nothing.

I slapped him slightly, and he mumbled something inexplicable.

“Lewis?”

“Love… your nose.”

My hand flew to my nose and detected a warm viscous liquid under it. Blood. Looked like I’d fainted face first and had injured myself against the old wooden floor. Only now the throbbing pain in the nose became tangible.

“Don’t touch it, love. The last thing we need is infection,” I heard a thud that sounded as if someone was tearing out a piece of fabric from one’s clothes. “Let me look,” he said word-weary.

Ranita, when the hell was it going to stop?

A touch of cotton wiped out some blood. Lewis’s shirt.

Then it happened.

The door that had been mined exploded. Lewis jumped on me and pinned me to the wall behind my back, shielding me from any shards. The deafening ringing in my ears stunned me and I needed some time to grasp what was going on.

Panic.

People were screaming. The followers of the Reunification Cult started shooting. Someone was shooting back, because the sound of bullets, flying out from guns, was distinct from the ones I’d been listening to for the last hours. The Protectors had finally come, but the relief didn’t fulfill me.

I suppressed a spasm in my stomach and overwhelming fear. We couldn’t afford panic to cloud our minds if we wanted to survive.

“Hope,” Lewis had to raise his hoarse voice in the cacophony of doomsday around us to attract my attention. “Hope, we need to run. Now.”

I nodded.

“Put your arms around my neck.”

“Lewis, you’re exhaust–”

“No time for denials. Do it.”

He was right. We had to get out of it as fast as we were able to. I did what was necessary. Lewis picked me up, and my legs enlaced his waist. I held him extremely tight.

“Whatever happens,” the love of my life breathed, “just know that I’m genuinely happy to be your husband.”

My heart skipped a beat. I realized that there was a huge chance to get shot. And yet, I wasn’t ready for it.

“No fucking farewells, Hill.”

Lewis found my lips and kissed me so hard. “Just know, Hope Nataly Hill, that I love you and will always do.”

Our foreheads met, “I love you too, Lewis Branon Hill.”

“Get ready.”

He took off so promptly that my teeth clenched to pain. My husband was a sporty man, but being drained and having a dead weight in the form of a fifty-five-kilogram blind worthless woman slowed him down. I was about to jump off him so he could save himself, but the grip on my upper body was tighter than ever. Lewis won’t let it happen. He’d rather shield me from bullets to give me a chance for living, my beloved stupid hero.

I heard his rapid heartbeat through the cries and shots, and it was the only thing that was keeping me sane.

Before the extreme pain pervaded my entire tired-out body.

I couldn’t keep that cry inside and let it out. It stunned Lewis, and we fell on the floor. My turquoise dress got wet from sweat and… blood. The hole from the lead bullet was bleeding. I wanted to call his name, to say ‘I love you’, to hug him for the last time. I didn’t do anything. I was paralyzed by terror and pain. My heart was beating faster and faster with each sharp inhale, which gave the impression of greedily swallowing air, and it became the reason why I was losing blood faster and faster. The dress Lewis had chosen for me to support him on the crucial and grand day of his career turned into a soaked piece of expensive chiffon. I would be dead out of blood loss before the Protectors rescued us.

I’m so sorry, dear. I’ll be waiting for you at Ranita’s castle when your time comes. I love you, Lewis Branon Hill.

I wish my lips didn’t remain motionless. But they did. Just like my entire body on that solid, cold floor of the assembly hall where we should have celebrated promotion with his colleagues.

I got goosebumps all over my almost lifeless body. Was it what death felt like? The world’s sounds went quiet, and the blackness I’d been watching since I’d been six became even more black.