Azkadellia sniffed. "Is it just me or does that fog have a weird odor to you?" she asked. Rodney paused. "You're right… it does…" she said. She raised her bow cautiously. "Smells like death…" she said. Julia lifted hers as well. "Let's keep moving, but be careful…" she said. The group huddled closer together, and began to move. Rodney thought she saw something move out of the corner of her eye. She fired her arrow, but only heard it clatter against a rock.
Julia looked over at her. "Julia…" came a voice. Julia spun around to look at Cain. "Did you say something?" she asked. Cain shook his head. Julia shook off the thoughts. "Wow…must be old age…" she said. "You're twenty five…" DG spoke up. Julia shot her an amused smile. "In four years, when you get to my age…you'll understand…" she said.
"If you're old. Where does that put a forty two year old man like me?" Cain asked. "Guess that makes you ancient…" Julia said, with a smile. Cain gave her a look. "You're only seventeen years older than me. You're not old…" Julia said, rolling her eyes. "Thanks…" Cain said. "Rodney…" a voice whispered. Rodney's smile disappeared.
"Which one of you said my name?" she asked. "No one did…" Jeb said. Aiden grabbed Glitch's hand. "I don't like this Mr. Zipper…" he whispered. "Julia…" Cain spoke up. Julia looked at him, before where he was pointing. Julia turned to see a small girl, at about the age of eight. She had shoulder length, curly blonde hair. "Mommy…" she said.
Julia lowered her bow. "Olivia…" she said. She looked up to see another figure emerge. His blue eyes met hers, his dark brown hair was cleanly combed back. "Neal…" Julia spoke up. Glitch looked around. "Who is she talking to?" he asked. "Its Olivia and Neal…" Rodney spoke up. "Where? I don't see them…" Glitch said. "Me either…" DG and Azkadellia spoke up.
"Rodney…" came another voice. Rodney turned to see a man with shoulder length dark hair. His gray eyes looked into hers. "Hugh…" she said. Glitch looked around confused. "Cain…Jeb…" came a woman's voice. Cain and Jeb turned to see Adora standing there. "Mom?" Jeb asked. The figures all stood about seven to ten feet away from the group.
"Who are you guys talking to?" Glitch asked. "Why can't we see anyone?" Azkadellia whispered to DG. DG shrugged and followed Rodney's eyes to see where she was looking at. "I have no idea…" she spoke up. Aiden looked up at Glitch. "Who is Olivia, Neal and Hugh?" he asked. Glitch looked down at the small boy. "No one…" he said.
Adora looked at Cain and Jeb. "Mom…" Jeb said, walking towards her. Cain held out his arm, stopping Jeb. "What are you doing?" Jeb asked. "That's not your mother, Jeb. Your mother died. Remember? You were with her when she did…" Cain said, looking at him. Jeb paused, and stepped back. "You're right. Then what is that?" he asked.
"I'm your mother…" Adora spoke up. Cain put his hand on his gun cautiously. "Adora is dead…." He said. "It's the fog. There must be something in the fog creating your deceased loved ones…" Glitch spoke up. Cain looked up at the Adora figure. "I don't know who or even what you are. But my wife is dead. You're not real…" he said. The Adora figure slowly began to fade.
Rodney was too preoccupied in Hugh's figure to hear the conversation between Cain and Glitch. "Hugh…" she said. "You could have stopped the Baguns, Rodney. I tried to save you. Thinking you would save me. You failed, Rodney. You killed me…" he said. Rodney shook her head. "No. I would of saved you. You know that…" Rodney continued.
"Rodney, he's not there…." Glitch spoke up. Rodney ignored him. "You didn't love me did you, Rodney? I was just another notch on the old belt…" Hugh said, shaking his head. "What are you talking about? Of course I loved you! We had such a passionate relationship. We wanted to start a family together…" Rodney continued. "Rodney…" Glitch paused to slide a hand up on her arm.
"Its not Hugh…." Glitch said. Rodney turned to look at him, before looking back at Hugh. "You think this guy would sacrifice his life for you…" he nodded over at Glitch. "Hugh…." Rodney began. "Rodney, fight it. I'm sorry, but that's not the real Hugh. Hugh died. Don't believe that its him…" Glitch spoke up. Rodney furrowed her brow in concern. "I did love Hugh. But you're not the real Hugh. You're just a vision…a memory. Hugh died eight years ago, so stop messing with me and bringing back memories I don't want brought back…" Rodney said. Rodney felt Glitch's hand ontop of hers. Rodney felt his hand squeeze hers. The vision of Hugh smirked wickedly, before fading.
Rodney turned to see Julia, watching the small figure of Olivia and then Neal. She looked over at Glitch and smiled in thanks. Glitch returned the smile, his eyes showing concern and care for her.
Julia watched the small figure of Olivia approach her. "Mommy…" she said. Julia knelt down and the small figure stopped infront of her. "Olivia…" Julia said. She reached her hand up to feel Olivia, but Olivia stepped back. "Don't touch me Mommy…." She said. Julia's face fell slightly. "Julia…" Cain's voice spoke, but Julia ignored him. Olivia stepped backwards. "You let me die, Mommy…" she said. "No Olivia. I tried to help you…" Julia said, standing up again.
Olivia took her place next to the vision of Neal. "You didn't fight the bad guys, Mommy…" she said. Julia dropped her bow and arrow. "Julia…" Rodney spoke up. Julia took a few steps forward, but Rodney grabbed her one arm, and Cain grabbed the other. "Let go of me!" Julia yelled. "Julia, its not them…" Cain said, trying to pull her back.
"Yes it is…" Julia said, aggravated. She turned back to see Neal. "I gave up my life for you. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" Neal asked. "Of course it does! How can you believe I would think otherwise?" Julia asked. "You couldn't even save the life of our child…" Neal said, his eyes boring into hers. "I tried!" Julia yelled.
DG and Azkadellia looked at each other, worriedly. "Why won't she see they aren't real?" DG asked. Azkadellia shook her head slowly. "I don't know. She just can't bear to let go…" Azkadellia said softly. "You failed miserably…" Neal said. "Neal…" Julia paused to look at Olivia. "Olivia…" she said. Olivia shook her head. "Some mommy you are…" Olivia spoke up.
A few tears sprung from Julia's eyes. "Julia! There is nothing there! Neal and Olivia are dead!" Rodney yelled, squeezing Julia's arm tighter. Julia began to breath heavily. She shook her head. The tears continued to spill. "Julia, let go…" Cain said. Julia closed her eyes. "You are nothing. Neal and Olivia are dead. I'll never see them again. Now…leave…" she said. Rodney watched as the two figures slowly faded.
Julia opened her eyes to see the two figures disappearing. More tears began to spill down her face. Julia buried her face in her hands, crying harder. Cain looked at Rodney, and Rodney released her sisters arm. Cain stepped infront of Julia, and wrapped his arms around her. He felt her cry into his chest. He put one hand on the back of her head, his other hand around her back. Rodney bent down and picked up her bow and arrow. She squeezed her eyes shut to keep more tears from falling.
Her attempt failed, and Glitch looked to see her blue eyes full of tears. Glitch put his arm around her shoulders, and pulled her into him. Rodney buried her face in his shoulder. Cain still held Julia, but looked over at Glitch. "The sooner we get out of this stuff, the better…" he said. He let go of Julia, and bent down slightly so he was looking her in the face. "Will you be okay?" he asked her. She turned away from him, and took her bow from Rodney. Neither she nor Rodney responded, but instead began to walk forward.
Cain motioned for the rest of the group to walk infront of him. He grabbed Glitch and pulled him back. "What?" Glitch whispered. "Nothing. We should just stay in the back…." Cain said. "But…why? Shouldn't we be with Julia and Rodney?" Glitch asked. Cain shook his head. "No. Give them some time. This fog doesn't look like its that much thicker. Just let them be…" Cain said.
Once the group emerged from the thick fog, they saw that it was getting darker. Julia and Rodney were already headed up the hill, despite the strong winds. Cain and Glitch looked at each other, and followed the rest of the group. After about fifteen more minutes of walking Julia and Rodney found a small cave entrance in the hillside. They each crawled in, and disappeared. The rest of the group reached the hole, and waited. Rodney's head reappeared. "There's a large cave in here, but it's a small entrance. You all should be able to fit…" Rodney said, before her head disappeared again.
It hurt Glitch to see such sadness and hurt in her eyes. Azkadellia went in next, followed by DG and then Jeb. Cain looked at Glitch. Cain nodded and Glitch crawled into the entrance. Cain felt a strong breeze, and put his hand ontop of his hat to keep it from blowing away. He crouched down, and began to crawl through the small tunnel that led to the cave.
He saw DG and Azkadellia sitting in-between Julia and Rodney. Azkadellia was trying to talk to Julia, while DG was trying to talk to Rodney. Each of them had their arms around their legs, their faces buried in their arms, knees up their chests. Jeb was talking to Aiden, across from them. Once Cain and Glitch entered, there was an awkward silence.
Azkadellia and DG shifted to the other side of the room, after many failed attempts to cheer up Julia and Rodney. Rodney lifted her head slowly, tears in her eyes. "I'll be back…I need some time to think…" she muttered. She stood up and slowly walked back to the entrance, and disappeared through the small space. Glitch looked at Cain. "I'm going to make sure she is okay…" he said. "Glitch…" Cain warned.
"No. I want to…" Glitch said, his face serious. He disappeared through the crawl space before Cain could respond. Cain looked over at Julia, and sat next to her with his back against the wall. She kept her face buried in her knees. He continued to look at her, before clearing his throat. "I'm really sorry…" he said. "For what?" Julia asked, her face still in her knees.
"I shouldn't have said to walk through the fog. We could of found another way around it…" Cain spoke up. Julia lifted her head up, but stared at the ground, refusing to let him see her cry. "You couldn't have known. We didn't know what to expect…" she said. Cain opened his mouth to protest, but he closed it almost right away. "Besides, it helped me finally let go of those painful memories…" Julia said, finally turning to look at him. Cain's forehead creased in worry as he looked at her now red and puffy eyes.
His gaze on her softened. "But…you shouldn't of had to face them. You shouldn't have been put in that position…" Cain said, his eyes lingering on her face. "Cain, the fault was not yours. Neal was right. I should have stopped….I should of saved Olivia…" Julia said, looking away.
"No. Hey, look at me…" Cain said, shifting to look at her better. Julia turned to face him. "Don't start thinking that. What happened, happened. Its in your past now. You did everything you could. Its not like you ran away and didn't try. You did your best. I'm sure they know that you did. Just don't place this on yourself…" Cain said.
Julia smiled slightly, and placed her chin on her knees. Cain reached over and took her hand in his. He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. She looked over at him, and saw the care in his eyes. She smiled slightly, and he returned the smile. The two sat in silence…