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SIXTEEN

ASTER

For a brief moment, I felt the very thing I had longed to have for so long. I felt at peace. But like everything else in my life, it was short lived and taken from me.

“Rosie,” someone sang my name. “Rosie, it’s time to wake up.” My body ached, and my eyelids struggled to open. “Time to get up, Rosie.” Someone slapped my face, and my eyes shot open.

Bright light burned my eyes and a soft ringing pierced my ears.

I looked around at my surroundings, and the pieces all began to fall in place.

I wasn’t dead. I was very much alive, and I was in the cavern from which The Ancient One grew.

“What?” I stared up and screamed at what I saw.

“No!” Everyone who died, Solomon, Wolfe, Rodney, Sandy, Kaila, and Doug.

All of them were here. They were each hanging from a branch of The Ancient One.

The branch pierced through their bodies and impaled them as their blood dripped down into its roots, feeding it.

I was too late. The Order had succeeded and killed all six of them.

My stomach churned, and I felt sick. No, I hated myself.

I had failed every single one of them. Tears and screams shot from my body as I crumbled into myself.

So much pain and despair flowed from my being and out into the cave.

I wanted to no longer exist and forget all of this.

To erase the pain I felt. I wanted to fucking die.

“Rosie.”

I snapped my head and looked straight at Sabbath.

He was still dressed in his robes, but unlike the others, he didn’t wear a mask.

“You.” I struggled to my feet and tried to charge at him.

“ You! ” My throat burned with anger as I ran at him.

The others tried to stop me, but I was too fast. I swung my arm and slapped him across the face with all my rage.

“You did this! You killed them!” Two plague doctors rushed after me and tried to hold me back, but I was furious.

“Why couldn't you kill me? You were supposed to let me go!” He held his head low in shame.

“I thought you loved me!” I shouted and kicked.

Sabbath’s eyes faintly rose. “I do. Which is why I couldn't do it.” I screamed and tried to claw my way to him, but I was thrown back onto the ground. The impact made my body ache.

“Enough!” The female plague doctor with the black and brass mask stepped from around The Ancient One.

She walked directly in front of me and stopped.

“You should be more grateful, Rosie.” The woman slowly removed her mask, and I gasped.

Staring back at me was the very woman who drove me into this nightmare.

The woman I thought I could trust, but in reality, was controlling everything from the beginning.

“Thisbe.”

Sabbath’s mother smiled, but I didn’t. “You should be grateful Sabbath did not kill you, even if I personally wished he had.” She shot him a look.

“Nonetheless, now that the ritual is complete, we have no need to worry about you. You are free to go, Rosie Batista.” She hissed my last name.

“But in ten years, when The Redwood calls us, you will answer. And just like the rest of us, you will partake in the hunt.”

I slowly stood to my feet. “No, I won’t.”

Thisbe cocked her head. “Excuse me?” She seemed amused. “Oh, my dear, you do not have a choice. As a member of The Order, you must serve The Redwood, in every way.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” I stepped closer. The other members moved in our direction, but Thisbe stopped them from interfering. “I’m not one of you.” I spat at her feet. “And I don’t serve a fucking tree.”

Thisbe glared at me. “Willie? Why don’t you take care of this for me?” She motioned to my entire body.

Willie?

Thisbe turned away from me. “I do not wish to dirty my hands with trash.”

The plague doctor with the broken eye glass stepped from the others and walked towards me.

He ripped his mask off, and I looked right at him.

“Willie?” He stomped closer, and all I could focus on were his blue eyes.

“Wait.” I looked at Sabbath, and it all made sense.

Willie wasn’t just another member of this damn cult. He was Foster’s father.

Willie pulled out a weird looking knife and grabbed my arm.

I tried to run, but he was too quick. Willie pierced the knife into my abdomen, and my body jolted.

He twisted the blade and ripped it from me.

I stared at him and stumbled back. Black blood stained my shirt and I fell forward to my knees.

My eyes slowly raised and met Sabbath’s.

Willie gripped my hair and held the blade to my throat.

I looked up at him. “What a waste of sacred blood.”

So this is it. This is how I die.

With a deep and struggling breath, I raised my head and accepted my fate.

Fate. How funny. Even in the end, it still plays a part.

Hands wrapped around Willie’s face, and within the blink of an eye, his neck snapped. Willie’s body hit the floor, and I saw Sabbath standing there. He was staring down at me, breathing heavily. “Rosie,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry for everything.”

Thisbe screamed at the sight of Willie dead before her. “How could you?” she shouted at Sabbath. “You have betrayed us! All of us.”

Sabbath picked up the knife from Willie’s hand and turned to face her. “No, I betrayed you , Mother.”

She stepped back towards The Ancient One. “Think of your brother, Sabbath. Think of Foster! You already killed his father. What do you think he will do if you kill his mother? Your mother.”

Sabbath stopped and laughed. “I lost my own father when I was half his age. He’ll live.

But I’ve already protected him more than you ever have for either of us.

And you will never see him again. I couldn't save Ozzy, but I saved him. Foster is safe.” Sabbath threw the knife at Thisbe’s feet.

“I’m done with The Redwood. And I’m done with you. ”

He turned and walked back towards me with a smile. I smiled back at him, but it quickly faded.

“No.” Thisbe stabbed Sabbath in the back with the same knife. “We are done with you! Sacred or not, your blood is a waste.”

“Sabbath!” I screamed as he fell to his knees.

Thisbe looked up and ripped the blade from his body. “Both of you!” She began to walk towards me. “I should’ve killed you years ago!”

My bloodied hands fumbled around my pockets, searching for anything to protect myself with, when I felt Willie’s Sapling figure.

I quickly pulled it out as Thisbe moved closer.

“Please work,” I whispered. “Please!” My fingers snapped the arm of the Sapling, and almost instantly, I watched as one of the ashen roots of The Ancient One popped from the cavern floor.

It rose and shot forward as it wrapped around her arm.

Thisbe screamed as the root constricted like a snake.

She dropped the knife and clawed at the ashen root like an animal.

I then snapped the leg of the Sapling and a second ashen root rose to wrap around her leg, making her fall to one knee.

Thisbe’s eyes glared at me as I slowly crawled to my feet.

She noticed the blood stained figure in my hand.

“How dare you!” I limped towards her while I bled all down my leg.

“You are not a member of The Order! You cannot use that!” I snapped the other leg of the Sapling and watched as another root took hold of her, forcing her down to both knees.

She was struggling to break free from the roots, but it was pointless.

I stopped directly in front of her and smiled. “You’re right, I’m not.” I held the Sapling in my hand. “But I carry sacred blood. His blood.” Thisbe’s eyes followed mine, and she saw Sabbath standing behind her. He stepped to my side, and I handed him the Sapling.

“Time to pay for your sins, Mother.” Sabbath took the Sapling and plucked a single twig from it.

He then began to weave and sew the twig through the small figure.

The Ancient One’s roots began to rise from the floor of the cave and mimic his actions.

They branched towards Thisbe and pierced her body, mirroring his movements.

The roots then shot through her flesh and ripped through her body like it was paper.

Thisbe remained still, with wide eyes, as Sabbath then pierced the twig through the top of the figure.

A large, ashen root rose directly behind Thisbe and within the blink of an eye, it shot through the back of her skull and forced its way through her open mouth.

She remained there, wheezing as her black blood poured down from her gaped mouth and many wounds.

Sabbath then reached into my pocket and retrieved my lighter.

He walked closer to Thisbe and flicked it.

“Let’s see your Redwood save you now.” He snapped the Sapling in half.

The ashen roots curled around Thisbe’s body and snapped it back, and I flinched at the sounds of her bones breaking.

Her body fell back onto the floor. Sabbath then set the Sapling on fire and tossed it onto her corpse.

The smell of burnt flesh entered my nostrils, and soon, she was fully engulfed.

The ashen roots around her limbs and body quickly ignited and burned like a candle wick, only instead of a candle, this wick led straight to The Ancient One.

Sabbath stepped in front of me to shield me from the gruesome sight, but I pushed him away. “Rosie.”

“No. I want to see.”

The fire from Thisbe’s body had quickly spread from her body, to the roots, and now The Ancient One.

The Redwood within screeched, and the ground shook as the fire engulfed The Ancient One.

The other members of The Order panicked and began to flee as the tree quickly began to burn.

I remained still and watched the bodies of my friends ignite. Only then did I finally turn away.

Sabbath tried to comfort me, but I fell down in pain and grabbed Thisbe’s knife. “Rosie!” My hand tightened around the hilt. “Let me help you.”

I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead against his.

“You already have. I’m sorry, Sabbath.” I pierced the blade into his chest. “But this has to end, before we both die.” Sabbath stared at me with wide eyes.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry.

” I kissed him and gently laid him back. “Forgive me.”

The cave ruptured into a great fire, and I stumbled to my feet. I slowly made my way out of the cave and watched as leaves from The Ancient One rained from the sky. They were on fire and burning the surrounding woods. Everything was slowly dying.

“Ring around the Rosie, a pocket full of posies.” I looked back at The Ancient One and smiled as tears streamed down my face. “Ashes. Ashes. We all fall down.”