The Wishing Well

Chapter 12

The world was crumbling. Where the day had been so much better earlier, she had felt just a little bit of hope in herself, now all of that was gone and the only thing she felt was misery. The sun had set along with her spirits, and now all Olivia had left were the tears that she could no longer hold back. She was so tired of crying, but that didn't make a difference—it was all she could do. Cry.

How come when she tried to stop crying and take action, everything just went wrong? It wasn't fair, but she could expect nothing different for herself. There was nothing she could do well but cry. Since leaving home, she was a miserable wreck with no achievements and nothing on her shoulders but sadness.

Ian was here, though. He didn't leave. For whatever reason, he didn't seem willing to give up on her and go—even though she had a chance to make things right again but ruined it. He held her close and let her sob brokenly into his shoulder, dampening his shirt like the miserable failure she was. For a long time he said nothing, as if giving her the chance to let go of the conflict within and feel some relief. But even when her sobs quieted, tears kept leaking from her eyes.

Instead of letting her go, he held her tighter and whispered, “You did as well as you could have.”

She shook her head. I can't do anything right.

Instead of speaking by thought, he used actual words, perhaps because they were more powerful that way. “Don't hate yourself.”

She didn't reply at all, but continued to tremble like a child.

“Don't cry, Olivia,” he continued softly. “It was a last moment wish. Don't cry.”

Olivia didn't want to cry anymore, but she couldn't seem to piece herself together again after her latest and greatest failure. She had done all that talking for George to let her have the wish, but in the end she couldn't solve the problem. Deep in her heart, she knew that it would only become worse. A problem like this needed a specific wish to get better, and that was something she just couldn't do. Maybe George should have done it after all—he wasn't strong, but he was stronger than her. Why did he give her that wish? He only let her ruin things more!

Neither of them spoke now. There was no point in it because Ian couldn't convince her, and she couldn't make him see that she failed. They listened to the chaos outside the window. People were angry, their voices rising as they argued over who had taken the good wish and what they used it on. Somebody kept repeating the words Waste of time! And then, there was Shanna's voice, soft but so unnerving. She did sound like she owned the well. It didn't sound like she was upset or even surprised at all by what had happened.

Olivia felt her curiosity roused a little, but remembered that she'd ruined everything; if there was a mystery in here at all to solve, it wasn't worth letting her try it. She would just ruin things further. She shut her eyes, letting the thought pass. There was no chance.

Somebody knocked at the door, making her jump. Ian kissed her hair and eased her onto the couch, where she hid her face in a pillow, as if it might possibly hide her from whoever it was at the door. At least it would hide her red, tear-stained face. She glanced up a little, watching as he grabbed what looked like a baseball bat before opening the door.

Olivia recognized Tess's voice, frantic and scared. “The—a forest—around the neighborhood—no way out—”

“Wait,” Ian interrupted, though Olivia had a feeling she already understood everything. He just didn't want to face that more had gone wrong. Because of me, she thought dully. “Breathe. Then tell me.” He stepped aside to admit her.

Tess stumbled inside the house and dropped into one of the armchairs, trembling. Olivia tried to rise and greet her, but barely moved. She knew something else had gone wrong, and frankly was not surprised.