Paying the Price

Chapter 10: Oliver

I was really worried about June. 

As I was holding her I could see how uncomfortable she was and the guilt for not being able to help her was killing me. 

She would get shivers and then start sweating.

Her face would tense up like she was in pain.

Her eyes would flutter open and she would try a look around and then fall back asleep.

 So you can imagine that when we made it to our stop for the night we were all relieved. 

Oakley had led us to an abandoned farmhouse in the countryside. 

How he knew about this place was beyond me. In the few days before we left, Oakley had stayed up super late and woken up super early every day to plan. 

I would always ask him if he wanted my help but he always declined and would never tell me what he was doing. 

"Come on, I bet there is a bed in her for June." He led us into the house. 

"Uh, Oakley? Are we sure this place is safe? I mean this place must have been abandoned for some reason?" Janae said worriedly as she went and took Oakley's hand. 

"Of course, it's safe Janae, I would never put any of you in danger. This place was abandoned a few months ago because the farmer was killed and he had no family who would take the land." 

"How did he die?" You could tell Janae still wasn't 100% sure about this.

"Didn't say" Oakley told her.

That made her even more scared and she went and hid her face in Oakley's chest.

Not going to lie. This place was a little freaky and it didn't help that it was super late and so the place was pitch black inside. 

Oakley, now holding Janae, lit a match to help lead the way. 

Janae kept her face in Oakley as the two of them walked with me following close behind. 

I'm not surprised Janae is scared. She is terrified of the dark. She has been since we were little kids.

"Here we go," Oakley said as he walked into a room and lit a candle with his match. 

"Janae you can open your eyes now, it's okay, I'm not gonna let you go." 

She did and saw the room had been lit up so she was ok and so she let him go. 

There was a bed in the room and so Oakley and Janae helped to brush the dust off before I gently placed June down.

"Are you ok Oliver?" Oakley pulled me outside of the room and into the hallway and asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?" 

"Well you were carrying June all day, I have to make sure my favorite baby brother isn't sore," he said half serious half joking. 

He can be so annoying sometimes. 

"Oakley you are 6 minutes older than me, don't call me your baby brother" I rolled my eyes at him. 

"Hey I'm just saying, that's what you are, you'll always be my baby brother" he mocked with a smile.

"Oh yeah? How about you shut your mouth before you get your ass kicked by your so-called 'baby brother'"  I joked back. 

"Let's go, you know I'm going to win. Your twig arms and invisible abs really scare me." He rolled his eyes and smiled. 

"Please! You wish your abs were as toned as mine" 

We were both smiling and laughing now.

"Fine, let's ask Janae what she thinks." He said. 

"Fine. Janae! We need you!" I yelled into the room with a bed where my sisters were. 

She walked out and whisper-yelled at us "What do you idiots need, you are going to wake June up with all your screaming." 

"Janae will you please tell Oakley that I have nicer abs than him!" I said. 

She rolled her eyes and walked away "I can't believe the two of you are this dumb" 

Oakley and I laugh at her as we all head back into the bedroom and are surprised at what we see. 

"June!" Oakley and I say at the same time as we rush to her.

She was awake and sitting up but you could still tell she was pretty out of it. 

"Hi guys," she said in a really weak voice as we each took turns giving her a hug. 

"June how are you feeling?" Oakley sat next to her and asked.

"I'm feeling better, just really tired and hungry," She said. 

"Well we're all hungry so let's eat and I want to talk," Oakley tells us as he passes out food to everyone. 

 We all sat on June's bed and ate while Oakley talked. 

"Okay guys, our next stop is going to be in a village where we can restock on supplies and food and anything else we need. We have enough food that if we wanted to we could stay here tonight and tomorrow night, get well-rested and then travel to the village in one day. The other option would be we sleep here tonight and leave later tomorrow and travel to the village in two days instead of one." 

"Well, I think we should stay here tomorrow and keep an eye on June. I know she's awake now which is great but I would feel better if we waited another day before traveling." Janae says. 

"Well if we do that we're gonna have to make it to the village in one day. We would have to leave well before sunrise and we wouldn't get there until super late in the night." Oakley reminds us.

"Well, I'm sure that in the morning I will be doing better and that we could leave tomorrow and do the two-day trip. I think it would be easier that way." June tells us. 

"I agree, I mean I carried June all day today and if I need to do that tomorrow I can but I think that getting to the village asap would be best and maybe if we tried hard enough we could make it to the village tomorrow," I said.

I was ready to find a more stable place to sleep in a village and stop sleeping in creepy places like this. 

"Ok guys, here is what we will do since we can't agree right now. In the morning we will see how June is doing and if she's able to walk on her own without being in pain or having any fevers then we will try and leave tomorrow. If not we will stay here an extra night. Sound good?" Oakley asked. 

We all nodded in agreeance and then got ready for bed.

AN: Hey guys! Surprise update because I highly doubt I will get another chapter published during the week and I feel bad for leaving yall hanging last week. 

I also have a new goal, I hope to write 25 chapters and get 2,500 reads by the end of the year so please help me in any way by voting, commenting, and sharing my story and shoutout to you guys who already do!

LOVE YOU <3