The Goddess Crystal

Chapter 6: Run

Celia and I catch up that evening, sniffling and crying tears—but whether their happy ones for reuniting or sad because of what we've lost, I don't know. Maybe I'll never know.

Skye leaves quickly, probably sensing that it's a private conversation. Guilt crashes over me at his put-out expression, but it's soon washed away with the excitement of seeing Celia and finally finding out why she did what she did.

Every time I ask her what she's been up to fir the past months, she turns the questions on me, insisting that that part of her life is past, behind her, better left forgotten.

Time passes. Our conversation lengthens. Skye isn't back yet, though the bunks in the room are filling up. I tell Celia that I should probably go look for him, apologizing.

"That's fine," she says, laughing, settling into her own bed, issued to her when she came to the base. "I feel bad for him; he must have felt left out of our conversation."

I nod, already suspecting as much, before heading towards and out the door, weaving between beds and people.

I run into Jack. Literally. While I rub my forehead, complaining that he should stop working out so much, he laughs and musses my bangs. "No can do, cousin."

"Have you seen Skye?"

Jack looks surprised as he shakes his head, frowning. "No, can't say I have. Why? Did you guys have a fight?"

"Not quite. He left a while ago while I was talking with Celia."

"Who?"

I laugh and shake my head. "Never mind. You haven't met her."

Jack grins and wishes me luck with finding Skye. I smiles back, thanking him, before wishing the same.

The moment I find Skye, standing at the edge of the Goddess Pond, I breathe a sigh of relief before calling out to him. He starts and turns around, but relaxes when he realizes it's me.

"Hey," he says, smiling, before returning his gaze to a point on the other side of the Pond.

"Hey. What're you looking at?"

Skye shakes his head, like you do when you come up out water, before laughing. "Nothing. Just thinking, Jill."

I frown, remembering our earlier conversation. That's what I told him as an excuse. "Speaking of," I say, biting my lip. "You were telling me something before..."

He sits down, startling me with the sudden movement. "Jill..."

I sit next to him, determined not to let the matter drop. "Skye, we have to trust each other."

He looks up at me suddenly, eyes wider than usual. "You know I do, Jill."

My heart rips at the familiar words.

Don't you trust me? You know what? Forget it. Just forget it!

Jill, you know I trust you...

Doesn't seem like it.

The similarities in our two conversations make me stop, eyes watering. Why didn't I learn my lesson? I know it hurt him when he did end up telling me, and yet...

Why do I ask again for a secret he clearly wants to keep under lock and key?

Skye's features soften, but I restrain the tears that threaten to spill over. I shouldn't be causing him so much pain.

I hide my eyes, biting my lip hard. "Never mind. It's nothing."

"Jill, why are you crying?" he asks, taking my hands. I pull free, hoping he can't feel me shaking. "Jill, please, don't cry."

I hold my breath, trying to stifle the sob that threatens to come, but my shoulders shake with a hiccup. "I'm f-fine, Skye." I scramble to my feet, pressing the heels of my hands to my eyes. The stress of the past couple weeks comes rushing in and a sob breaks free.

Skye gets up after me, hugging me to his chest. "Jill, what's wrong?"

I try pulling away, hitting him weakly with my arms, crying harder. "Let go of me!"

He grabs me by the shoulders, forcing me to look at him in the eye. "Not until you tell me what's wrong." His eyes soften. "Please."

His kind expression makes my heart ache, as I recall all the times he played comforter. But I'm always the one to hurt him. "Skye—"

"Please."

My already irregular breathing hitches with a sob. "It's fine. It's nothing. It's—" My voice cracks. "—Bad. I don't know, Skye."

"What's bad?"

I break down. "You! You know I hurt you all the time, and yet you keep comforting me, and—and it's so backwards! Whenever I ask you something, something you don't want to talk about, I always insist like an idiot, and you do end up telling me, and I-I know it hurts you!" I hiccup, dropping my head to my chest. "Go ahead. Yell at me like you're supposed to!"

He hugs me again. "Jill, you know I won't do that."

I let go, breaking free, still crying and confused. "But you're supposed to! Get angry for once, damn it!" I swallow, staring at him with my mouth open. "And here I am yelling at you."

"Jill, I'm fine," he says, enfolding me in his arms again, voice soft. "You can stop being angry at yourself. I'm fine. Really. If you want to know, I'll tell you."

I hiccup. After what just happened, he shouldn't be so nice. "No, Skye. I don't want to hurt—"

"I wouldn't be telling you if I didn't want to, Jill. Please, just listen."

"You're actually going to tell me? Why would you? After what just happened..."

"I'm even more sure that I should tell you."

I sigh, knowing I'm not going to win this battle. "Fine. I'm still very sorry, you know, Skye?"

"Don't be." He takes a deep breath, as if preparing for something, and I feel his chest rise and fall. "Now, I hope you don't react badly."

I bite my lip, but don't say anything.

"You know I never told you about why I was there that night, right?"

I nod slowly, wiping my eyes. "Yeah."

"Well, I've told you part of the reason, back on Starry Night."

My mouth feels dry, so I clear my throat and swallow hard. "That it all comes back to your dad, yeah, but how does that..."

"He told me," he stops, and I'm guessing he might be rethinking his choice of telling me. "He told me...he needed help to get your parents. I assumed he wanted them hanged or something."

My mouth tastes bitter. Even after what they did, do I really want to see them dead? Gemima's face appears in my mind, then Leith's. I shudder.

"He wanted me to get to you, to trick you either into to telling me about your parents, or, if that failed, which it did, into a trap." His finger traces a faint scar from my ordeal on my arm. "Obviously, it worked."

Tears prick my arms again. He couldn't have been working with that monster on that level. But, if what he says is true...has he ever been telling the truth?

Memories rush to mind, unbidden. Our first meeting, Skye giving me those cookies, that time he stole from the Bar, Beach Day, the time at the dig site, the Fireworks Festival, everything...was it all just a lie?

"At first, I did what he wanted me to do. It didn't make a difference to me back then," he says, and my heart cracks, but it doesn't quite break. "He wanted me to use any method necessary. He suggested making you get a...a crush on me, to put it the way he did."

I gasp when I realize my suspicions are real. My heart doesn't break.

It shatters.

Ice-cold glass digs into my chest. He doesn't...he doesn't...Sobs seem a plausible way of your throat going raw.

Skye's arms loosen. "Jill, I'm so sor—"

I push hard on his chest, backing up. "Shut up! Just shut up!"

He grabs my arm. "Jill, I didn't—"

I jerk free, almost losing my balance, and gravel skitters in all directions. "Don't touch me, you—you—"

Skye stops, staring at me, eyes wide. I take the opportunity to back up even further.

"You lied to me! You never even liked me, did you?" I snarl, voice cracking. "You used me!"

"Jill, yes, I did, but you have to realize—"

"Realize what? That I shouldn't trust a thief like you?" Brief satisfaction makes me smirk at the pain on his face. "Leith was right."

"You shouldn't trust him, Jill." Skye's eyes desperate—shining and wide.

"I shouldn't trust him?" I snort, tears fresher than ever. "Look who's talking!"

"Jill—"

"Shut up!" is the last thing I say before tearing down the path.

Away. Away from him, his lies. And I swear I hear the Goddess' voice, nearly hidden by Skye's calls.

Run.