Chapter Twenty-eight

**OLIVER**

My eyes fluttered open and I groaned. The steady throbbing in my head made coherent thought impossible. I closed my eyes and lay still, waiting patiently for the headache to subside.
“I was beginning to think you wouldn’t wake up…” A soft voice said.
My eyes snapped open and I shot up, my eyes surveyed the room and landed on the petite figure of Shanice standing still in the corner of the room. I swore under my breath and pushed myself up against the headboard. Her eyes fixated on me and followed my movement.
“If you’re looking for Gabriel, he’s not here,” I said.
She laughed, and came towards me, her cane tapping against the wooden floor. She hovered over me and then sank herself next to me on the bed.
I sighed and rubbed my eyes. “What are you doing here, Shanice?” I asked.
She smiled, and lifted her legs onto the bed, leaning against the headboard so we sat next to each other. “The goddess sure heals her vessels quite fast.”
My ears perked up at her words, and my headache suddenly disappeared. I sat up and stared at this mysterious woman, who sat still as a ghost and stared ahead.
“You know about the goddess?” I asked.
She laughed. “Of course, I do. I have been her custodian in these parts for decades,” her face dropped and her tone turned sour. “There’s not much of us left…”
“Much of who?” I asked, confused.
“Much of her worshippers.”
“Why not?” I asked.
She lowered her gaze, and a long tear rolled down her cheek. She smiled wistfully and wiped it away, her gray eyes dropping in sadness.
“It was the wolves. A lot of them thought the moon goddess superior to all other gods and goddesses,” she began. “A lot of people embraced the worship of the moon goddess, and they began to see that as a threat. And they began to attack us…kill us.”
She paused and her lips quivered as she took a deep breath. My kind strayed to Gabriel’s father and how Gabriel had told me that he had rescued her from his father’s pack.
“Was it Gabriel’s father? The one who…”
She nodded. “Yes, but he was just one of the many, and he was one of the ones who agreed in the total annihilation of the river goddess’ worshippers, their partners, and their children.”
My breath caught in my throat. “My goodness…”
“Gabriel…you see, he’s not like his father. He couldn’t stand to see people being mistreated,” she let out a chuckle. “A sweet kid, that boy. He opened the pack doors after almost killing his father. I and the few worshippers left with him. We’ve been here ever since.”
“And what about others?” I asked.
Shanice shrugged. “Very few are scattered across the world…most are dead.”
Silence reigned in the room, the only sounds to be heard were those of the children playing outside and the occasional call of the bird. Shanice sat with her grief, and I sat with my thoughts. Deep inside me, guilt reared its ugly head, if I had been here on time, I would have saved more lives, even though I wasn’t quite sure what my purpose here was.
“We’ve been waiting for you,” she said finally.
I opened my mouth to speak, however, words failed me so I shut it. I watched as she slowly climbed out of my bed, and headed for the window, she took in a deep breath, breathing in the fresh morning air, and then turned to me smiling.
“It’s a beautiful morning today, is it not?” She asked.
I looked askance at her. “Are you sure you can’t see?” I asked.
Shanice threw back her head and laughed, her voice reverberating through the whole room. “You don’t need eyes to see the beautiful things of life, Oliver.”
She headed for the door, her cane supporting her weight and her feet guiding her expertly away from the table and the chairs. Just as she turned the doorknob, she turned around to look at me. “Get dressed. I want to show you something.”
My brows furrowed in confusion. “What…”
I looked down and gasped as I saw that my blanket was draped over my knees, and I had sat there in my underwear the whole time. Color rushed to my cheeks as she laughed and exited my room. I chuckled and pushed myself out of bed, threw on a pair of shorts, and a tee shirt, and met Shanice in the backyard.
“Why are we here?” I asked.
“Follow me.”
Shanice led me through the same footpath that Gabriel had. We walked into the forest, my hair catching on cobwebs and birds chirping in the trees. I smiled to myself as I thought of how I had never had to fear natural predators as I lived among them. We finally arrived at the river and took a left turn for the cabin that stood in the distance. As we got closer, I could hear the sounds of a steady chorus being sung, and goosebumps rose on my skin.
“What is this place?” I asked as we reached the cabin.
It sat on the bank of the river and faced the water such that you couldn’t enter without first dipping your feet into the river, the tall trees of the forest cast shadows over it, providing it with shade from the sun.
Shanice turned to me, her gray eyes found mine and she smiled. “Take off your shoes and come in.”
I stood hesitantly and watched as she kicked off her shoes, and entered into the cabin, and almost immediately I could hear her voice joining in the singing. I fought the urge to turn around and leave, rather I swore under my breath and followed Shanice. I wiggled my toes against the coldness of the water and stepped into the cabin.
As soon as I stepped into the cabin, my eyes opened in shock and an immediate sense of déjà vu overcame me. The wooden floor was wet from the feet of the worshippers. Overhead, sea shells of different shapes and sizes hung, the white paint of the cabin was shipped and there were holes in the wood from where termites had made their meal. At the end of the cabin stood an altar set up with a rock shaved down into an hourglass figure having long, white hair. The depiction of the river goddess. Five other women knelt around the altar, more or less oblivious to my presence.
I smiled as realization dawned on me. This was the same place the goddess had shown me before.
I reached for the figurine that sat on the altar, and as soon as my skin made contact with the rock figure, a strange surge shot up through my hand. I blinked and I was alone in the cabin. I felt a hand crawl up my back, and a soft voice whispered in my ear. “Finally…welcome…”