Chapter XXIV

JOEY SWIFTLY SWUNG HERSELF around as Lucinda leaned against the door staring directly at her. Joey felt her heart racing as she took a few cautious steps backwards. She chanced a quick glimpse at David before back towards the witch. "Y-you lied."

Lucinda chuckled as she strode forward. "I do that."

Joey gulped and asked, "What do you want? I thought you were done talking."

Lucinda clasped her hands together in front of her. "Well, I was, but ... then I had a change of heart."

Joey's brow slightly furrowed. "About what?"

A wide smile spread from ear to ear, as she explained softly, "About your father."

Joey froze as she let the words sink in and a lump formed in her throat. "What?" she whispered, barely audible. "No, y-you're just lying again. You don't know my dad."

"Hmm." Lucinda pursed her lips together. "Jeremiah and I spent a lot of time together in the Dome. I, of course, was thrown in here many moons ago so I found your daddy when they dropped him off."

Joey shook her head. "No ... No, he would never hang around someone like you," she spat. "My father is good, and you're ... Well, you decide who gets to live and die around here." She stood up tall and defensive. "And on that note ..." She gestured down at David with her head. "Is he alive?"

Lucinda didn't acknowledge her question. Instead, she held her hand out in front of her, shoulder level, with a closed fist. Seconds later, a round piece of gold dropped from her grip on a chain, and she held it by the end. Joey eyed it curiously. "He would want you to have this."

Slowly, Joey took small steps towards Lucinda until she was able to reach out and cautiously snatch the gold medallion from her hand. Taking one big step back, she looked down at the item in her hand and brushed away some of the dirt that coated its top. She squinted, drawing the item closer to her face and found the letters J.R. etched into the gold metal. Her eyes slightly widened and she flipped the item over to reveal the face of a compass.

"He gave it to me right before he left," Lucinda continued.

Joey turned her gaze up at her, confusion etching her brow. "Left?"

"To find the next Dome," Lucinda replied. "He was here with me for four years until he decided that it was time to move on. He ..." She cleared her throat and averted her gaze. "He said he had to get back to his wife and kids." She looked back at Joey. "He used to talk about you twenty-four seven." She shrugged. "I made peace with the fact that I would never see my husband again, but Jeremiah ..." She re-folded her hands in front of her. "He did not."

"That's how you knew so much about me." Looking back down at the compass, Joey felt her heart drop in defeat. So, her dad wasn't here, assuming he found the exit. She gripped the compass tightly in her fist. "Why did he give it to you? Why didn't he just keep it?"

"Because he wanted me to give it to you." Lucinda took a step closer. "Joey ... I used to have dreams about you. Way before I was even put in the Dome, and the way your dad would describe you, well, I knew it was you the moment I laid eyes on you."

Joey took one final glance down at the compass. "What am I supposed to do with it?"

Lucinda shrugged. "Use it. Wear it. Do whatever you want with it. It's yours now." Softly, she continued, "I'm not a bad person, despite what you may think. Your father knew that."

Letting out a sigh through her nose, Joey gripped the chain in her fingers and slipped it around her neck. With her hand resting over the medal, she said, "Your hands glow magenta whenever you use your ability."

"Yes?" Lucinda confirmed in a puzzled voice.

"I saw my father's initials carved into a tree." She eyed Lucinda. "They were glowing magenta. Maybe somehow he was trying to lead me to you all along. A piece of the puzzle he wanted me to find."

Lucinda smiled. "It's a possibility. Your dad did trust me."

Joey's eyes ventured down to David and her throat tightened. "You never answered my question."

After a long pause, Lucinda answered, "It took a while to get every last drop of poison, it had spread throughout his entire body, but ... David will be fine. He's resting now, but I'm sure you'll want to be the first face he sees when he wakes."

Closing her eyes, Joey released the breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. Hearing those words gave her an overwhelming comfort. Opening her eyes, she turned towards David and knelt beside—he slept soundly on a thin blanket covering the dirt.

She stared at him, noticing his shirt had been removed and was draped across his back. Squinting, she shifted on the ground and criss-crossed her legs before slowly peeling the collar of the shirt away from his neck. She found a bandage wrapped around his abdomen, and her brow pulled together.

Glancing back up at Lucinda, she asked, "Did you do this?"

Lucinda crossed her arms. "Well, I did promise to heal him, didn't I?" She took a step closer. "Not that he needed it."

"What do you mean?"

"While I was healing him, his skin changed and a layer of, I guess, ice filled his wounds." She looked down at him perplexed. "It was quite amazing actually. Started healing him right up."

Joey's finger brushed against his skin and she jerked feeling the cold. Whirling her head around, she was surprised that she hadn't realized his change. His skin had turned to its pale color, his lips their light blue, and his hair was frosted with blonde. She let a smile escape. "He's getting stronger!"

"So it seems," Lucinda confirmed.

Joey looked down as a cool sensation met her legs, and she found David's familiar vapor rolling off his body. She shivered, but she had never been so happy to feel that breeze. She ran her fingers through his mangled hair and silently pleaded for him to awake.

"Whoa!" She twisted towards the door and watched as Thomas strode through the threshold. "That's David? He looks ... different."

"I thought I made it clear no one was to enter!" Lucinda shouted, her hands balled into fists and glowing their magenta.

Thomas shot a brief glance towards her hands before replying, "Yeah, well, you also said David was awake, but it looks like that was a lie. I'm not going to leave her alone with you."

"She's not alone!" Lucinda remarked, and his eyes drifted towards David.

"He's unconscious!" Thomas yelled.

"Please let him stay?" Joey pleaded, craning her neck to see Lucinda.

Lucinda huffed, and the color in her hands died away. "Alright, fine. I'll go tell the others the news, but I'll give you two some time first." She shot Joey one last glance, and said, "Our conversation isn't over. You owe me," before stepping through the door.

Thomas watched as she left before swinging on his heels towards Joey with a raised brow. "What was that about?"

"She just wanted to talk," Joey answered, with a shrug. She furrowed her brow and turned her gaze back down to David. She lowered her voice, and shook her head. "I don't think she's as bad as Michelle makes her out to be."

Thomas's eyes widened. "What? Didn't you see what she did to Nathan and Alex? She let Nathan's brother die!"

"But that's Michelle and Nathan's side of the story, though," she defended, looking up at him. "What if that's not the whole story?"

"But Lucinda didn't deny it either. In fact, she seemed pretty happy 'bout his death."

"But look what she did for David!" Joey gestured with her head towards David. "She didn't have to go this far. We only asked her to remove the poison."

"I don't know, Joey." He took another step closer. "I think these people are dangerous."

"So are you," she answered softly, and he pursed his lips going silent. "And yet, I trusted Lucinda to leave us alone."

Thomas's shoulders dropped. "But that's not ... That's not the same—"

"Isn't it?" Her voice heightened, and she lifted a hand to the bandage taped to her neck. He averted his gaze, and her hand dropped to her lap. "I'm just saying ... maybe she isn't all bad. Like, I'm not saying she's innocent, but just that maybe we shouldn't judge her before we know both sides. Michelle and the others could just be dramatizing the situation because they were his friend."

"But, wasn't she their friend too?"

"It's like I said," she paused, and her gaze ventured back to David. "We don't know what happened." Thomas never responded.

Joey gently rubbed David's shoulder as she stared at his restful face. The vision of him dying had been weighing heavily on her mind, and she was overwhelmed with relief knowing that he was going to make it, but it didn't stop the underlying dread of knowing there was something worse to come.

She jerked, startled from her thoughts, as Thomas sat down across from her on the other side of David, copying her position. "So ... He looks like he's going to pull through."

Giving him a smile, she nodded. She eyed him for a long moment as he watched David, and her smile slowly dropped. "Hey, uh ..." She tried searching for the right words. "I'm sorry about Caleb."

To her surprise, a tiny grin tugged at his lips and he eyed her. "I've made peace with him being gone," he whispered. "All Chase did was confirm something I already knew." He went quiet and his gaze drifted back down to David.

Joey breathed out a soft sigh. "I—" She cut herself off, unsure if she wanted to finish her thought, but when Thomas's eyes met hers she cleared her throat. "Losing someone close to you ... It's a pain I wish no one ever had to go through."

"Yeah." Thomas rubbed his hands together. "After Caleb was taken in Neoplin, my family—and Bellamy—left and made Qurdia our home. Bellamy and I tried making new friends, but when you witness someone close enough to be your brother get dragged off like that ..." He shrugged. "How do you come back from that?" She averted her gaze, looking down at her own hands. "But I forget you went through something similar." She furrowed her brow, and her eyes shifted to him. "Your dad?" he said with a raised brow.

An unexpected rage filled her. She sprang up to her knees, and energy surged in her hand as a dagger appeared lighting the surrounding hut in orange.

Thomas leaned back bracing himself with one hand against he floor as the other was across his face. "Joey, what are you—"

"How do you know about my dad?" she shouted.

Thomas slowly lowered the hand covering his face as he peered at her. "You ... mentioned him earlier."

"You're lying!" Her fists shook with her anger. "What happened to my dad isn't something I share to just anyone."

"Okay, okay!" Thomas sat up, holding both hands out defensively. "Will you just let me explain?" He eyed her hands. "Without that?"

She sat back on her heels and released her fingers, allowing the dagger to disappear. "Spill!" she demanded, her eyes narrowed.

He lowered his hands to his lap as he explained, "I know about your ability."

She felt her heart quicken, but she snorted. "Of course, you know."

Thomas swiftly shook his head. "No, not that one." He glanced down at David before continuing, "I know about the visions."

Her jaw dropped as she gawked at him, but quickly she composed herself. "Visions? I don't know what you're talking abo—"

He snorted. "Don't give me the same lie you tell the others." He smiled and said with a chuckle, "You can't hide it from me."

She let out a puff of air in aggravation. "How? I've known you for hours. How could you possibly—" She went silent as a thought rose to the forefront of her mind, and she shifted back to her criss-crossed position. "Unless ... are you like me too? Can you sense it?"

Thomas arched a brow. "Sense it?" He chuckled. "No. Honestly, sometimes I wish I had your ability. Your ability, no matter how much you may hate it and try to hide it, sounds like a dream compared to mine."

She gave him a puzzled look, no longer concerned with trying to hide her secret. "What are you talking about? You think having this ability is a walk in the park?" Her voice rose with her anger. "Do you think I enjoy watching people die, the people that I love die? I would never wish for someone to have this ability." She clenched her jaw. "It's a curse."

"At least your ability doesn't send you to the floor!" He raised a fist and the skin on his middle knuckle parted as an ice shard extended. "I have my shards, kinda like your daggers I suppose, but I also have an ability I wish I could get rid of." She furrowed her brow confused. "It allows me to see people I've yet to meet. Images of a person, sometimes more than one, pop in my mind with words that could easily make a small pamphlet of that person. It tells me a lot of different things about them." He sighed as he lowered his fist, his shard retracting. "And it's almost like my version of seeing the future. I meet that person anywhere between a few hours to a couple days later, but lately they've been changing. Now, instead of just seeing people, my mind plays out scenes seconds before they happen. They've been helpful to avoid Agcorp soldiers, but I don't understand why they all of a sudden in the past year started changing."

Joey crossed her arms, failing to see the big picture. "And this is better then my ability because ..."

Leaning in close, he said softly, "Because every time I feel it coming on, it feels like I'm being bashed in the head with a brick." She grimaced, almost feeling the pain. "And that pain doesn't go away until the image is gone, but then I'm left with a migraine." He averted his gaze and sat up straight. "Imagine trying to hide something like that from Agcorp when you literally drop to your knees. I'm lucky to have someone like Bellamy who's quick witted."

"I'm not hearing anything about how you know about my dad," Joey said, pretending like she could care less about his pain.

He scooted an inch closer, but Joey scooted just as far back. "About five months ago, I started getting images of this girl. It was always the same image, the same words, the same scenery. Nothing ever changed. Now, this girl had brown hair and eyes, and was surrounded by a forest. She was always wearing a black shirt and pants." He gestured with his hands as if trying to help her paint a mental picture. "A name popped up beside her in these ghost-like-letters just floating in the air." He winked. "Her name was Joey Richards. After that, the image faded and a bunch of words appeared—which somehow I can read within five seconds—and so I read about you. The words are usually a short summary about that persons life. It talked about how you've been running your whole life, and how the Underground, along with your mom, were doing what they could to keep you safe. I know that your older brother knows nothing about your visions, and you've been scared ever since you learned what you could do because ..." He trailed off, and her breath caught in her lungs. "Because of what ... what happened to Vincent. I know he's the reason your dad was taken, and why you fear losing control over your anger."

Joey's eyes widened as confusion swept through her. "The images told you all that?" He nodded, and she looked away, lowering her head. Part of her hated how much he already knew about her. She felt too vulnerable with him. Like she had no walls left up that he hadn't already knocked down. "I thought I had a chance to find him. My dad," she whispered. "I thought he was here, but apparently ..." She reached up and placed a hand over the compass dangling around her neck. "He's long gone."

"Is there a reason you don't want to tell anyone about what happened in Monasa?" Thomas pressed. "Or even about the visions?"

She clenched her jaw. "I can't," she said, sternly. She was angry feeling like she had to explain her reasons why to someone who shouldn't know so much about her. "They already hate me enough for knowing I have an ability. The last thing I want is for them to think I'm some ... some monster."

"Do they even know you've always had an ability?" Thomas asked. "It's just that, I can tell some of these guys haven't had their ability for long."

She pulled her legs up to her chest as tears pricked her eyes. She hadn't thought of it, but he was right. Alex, Kathleen, Heather, even Jenny. They had all gotten abilities from being in the Dome. Even if Heather had figured it out, the others might've just assumed her daggers came from the trauma of the Dome.

"Why do you choose to hide your visions but not your daggers?" She glanced up at him, and he apologized, "Sorry. I've had five months to think of all these questions. I should give you time to process."

"It's because they don't understand people like me," she answered softly. "Agcorp's told people for years that those with abilities are dangerous, and after what I did to Vincent ... what you tried to do to me ... I don't disagree."

"Oh, come on, Joey! That's not fair! I already explained—"

"David saw me use my daggers," she interrupted. "There was no chance I could hide anymore, and being in the Dome, well, I'm just thankful I have a way to protect myself." She paused, staring down at David's still body. "I've watched him die," she whispered barely audible, and she caught his glance from the corner of her eye. "Over and over again."

After a long pause, she added, "Did that pamphlet tell you what really happened with Vincent?" She looked up and eyed him, but he stayed silent. As she spoke, her voice rose with her anger, and she felt like she was reliving that day all over again. "Did it tell you how I tried to warn him about his death? About how someone would brutally murder him in an alleyway? Did it tell you how he turned on me, and thought that if I was gone then it wouldn't come true so he started yelling? In hopes that Agcorp's soldiers would come running." Her voice cracked, almost inaudible. "I lost it, angered by betrayal and hurt ... and so I killed him with an ability I didn't even know I had." She closed her eyes and looked away as a flashback of her dagger plunging into Vincent's chest filled her mind. Pushing it aside, she finished, "and so, he died exactly how I told him he would. Stabbed in an alley while running for his life." She turned to eye Thomas, aggravated. "So, tell me ... does that not make me a monster?"

Thomas leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and hands folded. "I think it makes you a girl who's experienced a lot of trauma that no young kid should have to." She snorted but didn't answer, and he stared at her for what felt like an eternity before he asked, "So why take your dad?"

Lowering her legs back into a criss-cross, she said, "I don't know. There's apparently a video of me." She heaved a sigh. "So why they took my dad instead of me ... I guess I'll never know." Looking down at David, her fingers wondered to her chest and brushed the bottom of the compass as she closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you," he said, softly. She looked up at him puzzled by the apology. "I was scared. In my mind, I had been fighting against a half dozen men just two seconds ago. I honestly had no intention of hurting you." He rubbed a hand through his hair. "I guess I just lost control of myself."

"Mm-hmm, use all the excuses you want." He looked over at her, and she felt a small grin tug at her lips. Feeling like someone else had control over her body, her hand flew up to the patch around her neck. It was still sore, but with everything that had happened, her brain had found a deeper pain to focus on. One hidden from sight. She dug her fingernails under the tap stuck to her flesh and peeled off the patch. She glanced down at the blood that had formed a perfect circle on the gauze before she shot a quick look at Thomas who blushed and stared at the pad in her hand. Swallowing, she shoved the gauze into her pants pocket.

Suddenly, Joey lurched as the silence was interrupted by a string of coughing. Her eyes widened as her head flung down at David and hot tears pricked her eyes. "David?"

David shifted his elbows out from underneath him as he propped himself up.

"Whoa, whoa! Take it easy!" Joey placed a hand on his back, but David continued to push himself up, and with a grimace, he roll over. His shirt fell beside him, and he glanced down at his bandaged abdomen.

Unable to contain her excitement, Joey flung her arms around his neck as tears spilled from her eyelashes. "I thought I was going to lose you," she whispered, her arms shaking.

David's cold embraced around her back was comforting even though it sent bumps along her skin. "I told you I would be fine," he croaked.

Reluctantly, she released him and sat back on her heels, staring at him with the biggest smile as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. She furrowed her brow, feeling the need to call Lucinda. "Should you really be sitting up like that? Doesn't it hurt?"

David creased his brow, seeming to be expecting pain, before shaking his head. "Honestly, no. I don't feel even the slightest bit of pain." He looked down and eyed his bandage before grabbing his shirt lying beside him.

He slipped it over his head as Joey said, "Lucinda did say that your healing gel had kicked in, even if she didn't know what it was."

David smiled. "It's times like these were I'm actually thankful for an ability, but uh ..." He furrowed his brow. "Who's Lucinda?" His gaze drifted to the young man that sat beside Joey.

Thomas chuckled and raised a hand. "No, no! Normal guy. Normal name." He extended a hand. "Thomas Walker." David cautiously accepted his hand shake. "Me and my friend, Bellamy, arrived earlier this morning, but uh ..." He scanned David. "Healing a man from poison is beyond our level of skills."

David nodded slowly. "Okay," he drew out. He clambered to his feet, and Joey jumped up, reaching out afraid that he might all of a sudden become weak and fall. He smiled and gently pushed her away. "Honestly, Joey. I'm fine."

Though, it didn't help to push her away because the moment he seemed steady, she pounced on him and embraced him tightly. He wrapped his cold arms around her and they stood there for what felt like several minutes before he finally let her go. "Come on!" Joey gripped his hand and pulled him towards the door. "I know Ella's dying to see you!"