Human Nature (Book 4): Human Nature IV by Borthwick, Finlay (book recommendations website .TXT) 📗

only want the truth from Tanika, not her head.”

Kieran groaned angrily, “Naomi and Worm could be dead, their killer in that very room, and you’d let her walk?”

“Keep your voice down!” Mac insisted. “If she figures out what we’re gonna do, she’ll find a way to counteract it.”

“Well then, it’s settled.” Cora clapped her hands together. “We’ll interrogate her for the truth, but we won’t--”

“Cora!” Aoife desperately cried out from the living room.

“Aoife!” She shouted back as the group all rushed through the cottage.

“Oh god!” Cora remarked as she swung open the living room door and saw Aoife lying on the ground with a gash across her cheek. Instantly, she dropped down to her friend’s side and produced a cloth from her pocket, using it to clean the wound.

“Dammit!” Kieran cursed upon seeing an empty chair on the other side of the living room with cut ropes surrounding it.

Aoife was shaking, pretending to be terrified, “S-she attacked me…”

“It’s okay, I’ve got you!” Cora continued wiping away the blood. “Mac, get some alcohol or something! A needle too! We’re gonna need to stitch this up…”

Now, Kieran’s eyes softened, as he began to accept the possibility that his accusations of foul play about Aoife were incorrect.

Chapter 4: You’ll Find It

Gwen stood at the very edge of the cliff and gawked at the deep blue ocean ahead of her. Her lungs were refreshed by the salty sea air, and her soul was healed by the feeling of freedom.

Silently, Annabelle took her mother’s hand and then stood by her mother’s side.

Then, her other hand was met by another; Elliot’s.

The three of them all breathed in deeply as they felt surges of wind rush through their hair, bringing them a sense of peace.

“I know what you’re looking for,” Annabelle mumbled.

“But you’re looking in the wrong place.” Elliot completed her sentence.

Gwen looked from one of them to the other, breaking the trance of surrealism.

“You’re trying to prove yourself to us,” Annabelle said mystically, as though she could read her mother’s mind.

“And you’re trying too hard in doing so.” Elliot’s follow-up was no less eerie.

The siblings continued to speak in this ‘one-two’ pattern as Gwen looked between the two of them.

“You went away for almost a year,”

“And then we found you in Prague.”

“Elliot lost his sight,”

“Annabelle lost her mind.”

“Was it worth it?”

“Was it worth it?”

Gwen stuttered out of both confusion and regret.

“Reed died and you were elsewhere.”

“Zach and Celeste died, and you were elsewhere.”

Gwen let go of their hands and instead used hers to cover her face. “Stop it. We’ve been through this.”

“But it’s okay!” Annabelle’s voice turned gentle.

“We don’t begrudge you for that.” As did Elliot’s.

“You want to make up for all the time you were away,”

“You blame what happened to us on yourself, but it’s not your fault I lost my sight.”

Gwen turned around and began storming away from the cliff.

“I know what you’re looking for,” Annabelle repeated herself.

“But you won’t find redemption through revenge.” Elliot became stern.

Finally, Gwen snapped, and turned back around, “It wasn’t about revenge dammit!”

Both her daughter and her friend-turned-stepson fell silent.

“It was about protecting you! Both of you!” She explained. “Whatever they did to you, Annabelle… I didn’t go after Jaxon to get revenge, I did it to make sure he couldn’t hurt you again… That’s why!” She stomped as she shouted.

Annabelle smirked.

Then, Gwen turned to Elliot, “If I’d have just stayed… Sonia wouldn’t have won. She wouldn’t have hurt you the way she did. I’m so sorry Elliot.”

But he too smirked. “And then I never would’ve let Sonia go. I never would’ve been able to be better than who I was. I may have lost my sight, but I found something so much more valuable.” He began walking towards her.

“And me,” Annabelle step towards her as well, “I’ll be far stronger now. However long I live, what J.V.’s family did to me, it’ll harden me.”

Elliot offered his hand out to his stepmother, “Come.” His smirk turned into a welcoming smile. “Take a step back, just for a while…”

Back at the town, everybody had gathered in the church, which was farther down towards the end of the riverside. It was quite small and medieval, comprised primarily of stone.

Erica and Tina stood in the pulpit, addressing those gathered in front of them. The congregation had been prompted by the sighting of the fighter jets in the skies above them.

“We all know what we saw!” Adela called out. “Five fighter jets! Clear as day!”

Erica nodded, “That’s right!” She responded in kind. “Make no mistake, we’re not going to try and cover this up to you. No doubt about it, something rather bizarre happened earlier today.”

“So why are we still standing here?” Oliver criticised with his arms crossed. “They headed East! There’s not much more of this country in that direction. One scouting party wouldn’t hurt!”

Tina shook her head, “We’re standing here for that very reason: Nobody is to go and investigate what we saw.”

They all began to mumble in confusion with each other.

“That’s a joke, right?” Adela asked.

“Nope. Not a joke.” Tina asserted seriously.

A younger girl emerged from behind Adela; it was her sister, Tia. “But the soldiers can help us!”

Tina and Erica looked to each other awkwardly; they had encountered evil militias before, but how were they supposed to explain this to a child?

“It isn’t…” Tina stuttered. “It isn’t like that, Tia.”

“Why?”

“Some people…” She swallowed hard. “Some people just don’t want to help others.”

An awkward silence then encumbered the church.

Elliot and Annabelle guided Gwen to an open area within a forest.

“Do you remember this place?” Elliot asked his mother.

She looked around at the dying Autumn trees