Secrets and Sins Part 2: Finding Mary

Chapter 6

~Beatrice~

Ava was struggling and had been for several days, everyone could see it. Beatrice constantly fielded questions from worried OCS operatives and the recruits about the Halo bearer’s state of mind whenever the sister warrior was caught alone. She understood their concerns, when Ava was emotionally fragile the risk of the Halo doing something unexpected and normally destructive increased substantially.

The Halo bearer had been acting unusually quiet, distracted and quick to anger. Beatrice had tried talking to the younger woman about it, but always received either a guarded or flippant response.

The sister warrior knew that the stress of trying to come to grips with the new Halo powers and the intensive training weren’t helping Ava work through whatever was going on in her mind. Beatrice had a feeling that Mary’s well-being had a lot to do with the Halo bearer’s agitation, but also wondered if Ava had actually allowed herself to process what happened in the battle with Reya.

One way or another, the younger woman was heading towards a nervous breakdown.


~


It was the early hours of the morning when Beatrice woke, stirring from a deep and, for once, dreamless sleep. She lay there for a moment, eyes shut, listening to the soft pattering of rain against the window.

Why am I awake?

Often when the sister warrior awakened there was a reason, usually Ava having a nightmare, but tonight there was not a sound to be heard other than the rain.

Wait a second, I should be able to hear Ava’s breathing…

Beatrice’s eyes flew open adjusting to the darkness slowly as she peered across the bed. It was empty, reaching out a hand to where Ava normally slept, the sister warrior could feel the sheets were still slightly warm from the Halo bearer’s body heat. Beatrice’s heart sped up but she clamped down on the fear that surged through her.

I’m sure there is a rational explanation. She’s probably just in the bathroom.

Sitting up, she pulled one of Ava's many oversized hoodies over her head. The nights were getting colder and the air had a bite to it. Rising from the bed, Beatrice padded over to the ensuite, knocking softly on the door.

“Ava?” She murmured, not wanting to scare the other woman.

There was no reply, the sister warrior pushed open the door. The bathroom was empty. The little voice in the back of her head telling her something was wrong, was getting harder to ignore.
Beatrice grabbed her phone from her bedside table and rang Ava, growling in frustration when the Halo bearer’s phone vibrated on the nightstand opposite. Hanging up, the sister warrior instead called Camilla.

“Bea…? It’s like 2am.” A sleepy voice answered her call.

“I know Cam, I’m sorry to wake you, but Ava is gone. You haven’t seen her at all have you?” Beatrice couldn't stop the desperation starting to color her tone.

"She hasn't been to see me? Have you checked the training rooms? Or the kitchen? There were marshmallows on the shopping list, so maybe she’s having a midnight snack? Do you want me to help you look?" Camilla offered, sounding more awake.

"No, that's okay, you go back to sleep. She's probably just training…"

At 2am, without telling me where she was going or leaving a note...

Camilla wished her luck and hung up. Beatrice pulled on a pair of jeans and some boots before leaving the Halo bearer's quarters. She exercised all of her self control not to run.

With every place Beatrice checked to find no Ava, the more frantic she became. The sister warrior had inspected their small private training room, the strategizing room, even the kitchen (knowing how much Ava liked her food) and still nothing, not even a single small sign that the Halo bearer had been there at all tonight.
Arriving in the main training hall, she gritted her teeth when there was still no Ava to be found.

Beatrice immediately pulled out her phone, this time calling Mother Superior.

It didn't take long until the entire hall was filled with sister warriors preparing to mount a full scale search. She stood in the corner, fiddling with one of the draw strings of the hoodie she was wearing, unable to stop the dark little voice whispering to her that Ava was gone and she wasn’t coming back, that Beatrice had failed to protect her once again.

"Don't worry Bea, I'm sure she's fine. We will find her!" Camilla’s chirpy voice made her jump, the sister warrior had been staring into space, stuck in her head.

"Mmhmm." Beatrice hummed her acknowledgement, she was barely keeping a lid on her panic.

What if Reya found her? What if she’s taken Ava away, back to the other side?

She shook her head, no use dwelling on those thoughts, Beatrice needed to work, to do something other than standing around, to help find her missing Ava.

"Squads A, B, C search the top floor, D, E, F search second floor and so on. Once we have swept the inside of the convent, we will start on the grounds. Understood?" Mother Superior commanded, gazing around at the faces of the OCS operatives.
"We don't know what state the Halo bearer is in, so please exercise caution. If you find her immediately report back, do not approach if the Halo is glowing."

Beatrice grimaced, it was a fair warning after what they had all experienced when Reya had taken over Ava but it still made her uncomfortable that they were talking about the younger woman like she was the enemy.

There was a loud bang at the end of the hall, the huge double doors that led to the courtyard blowing open as someone stumbled inside. The sister warriors collectively jumped, pulling their weapons on the intruder. The crowd parted slightly so Beatrice could get a glimpse, she staggered forward, barely feeling Camilla shove a woolen blanket into her hands, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Ahhh…What did I miss?" Ava asked through chattering teeth, arms wrapped around herself. The younger woman looked like a drowned rat, her pajamas dripping from the rain.

~Ava~

Ava cried out as she woke with a start, flat on her back. A sickening wave of nausea swelled in her stomach, she rolled and propped herself up on her hands and knees, only just managing to drag her hair away from her face just as she threw up onto the grass. Groaning, Ava sat back on her haunches, just realizing now that she was outside, on her knees in the wet grass, and it was raining.

Where am I?

“Outside.”

Helpful…

The Halo bearer took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. The nightmare that Ava had been torn out of wasn’t one she had had for awhile.

It started with the extremely uncomfortable experience of  phasing through 20 ft of stone into Adriel’s tomb, only to have the evil bastard try and take the Halo from her by sticking his hand through her chest. Ava shuddered, still having the ghost of the feeling of his hand buried in her sternum.

Getting carefully to her feet, she realized that she wasn't wearing any shoes. Actually, Ava wasn't wearing much of anything, just her loose fitting pajama shirt and boxer shorts.

She shivered, rubbing her goosebumps covered arms with her hands as she looked down at her bare feet.

Fuck it's cold.
Why am I outside?

"I don't know? I agree it doesn't seem very smart, even for you. Sleepwalk?"

Ava rolled her eyes at the insult.

No way would I have been able to sleep walk out of the room and not wake Bea.
Wait, do you think I teleported? In my sleep?

"Sleep teleportation…explains the vomiting."

"Ugh don't tell me sleep teleporting is a thing now!" Ava grumbled, throwing her head back and staring up into the night sky.

The cold rain stung her rapidly numbing cheeks. Tilting her head back down, Ava glanced around spotting the lights of the Cradle in the distance. She set off in the direction of her home with slightly unsteady steps, her feet already so cold she couldn't feel the ground beneath them.

"Stupid Halo, stupid nightmare, stupid teleporting…" Ava muttered repeatedly as she walked, hugging herself to try and keep warm.

"Not my fault…"

I don't want to hear it.

The Halo wisely chose to remain silent for the rest of the walk.

By the time Ava reached the doors to the training hall, she was dangerously cold, luckily for her the Halo kept her from going hypothermic. The Halo bearer was surprised to see what looked like most of the OCS gathered together inside.

Putting her hand on the door handle she turned it only to have it ripped from her hand by a random gust of wind causing a loud bang as the doors smashed against the walls. Ava froze as lots of very sharp weapons were pointed in her direction.

"Ahhh…" Ava blinked in the harsh light, "...What did I miss?"

No one answered her. Her speech was a little inhibited by her chattering teeth so maybe they couldn't understand her. Then Ava spotted Bea in the crowd rushing towards her, blanket in hand, the sister warrior looked pale and drawn but also very relieved. Bea wrapped her up in the blanket and a tight hug, breathing a warm whisper into her ear.

"I swear to God Ava, you've got to stop doing this shit to me or I'm going to put a tracker on you…"

Fair enough.