The Prophet's Daughter (Black Army Sequel)

Chapter 20- Framed

Chapter 20- Framed

The next morning, Ashley took Abbie out to a clearing in the woods so she could stretch her legs and keep in shape. Ella went with them to help him work on riding. Abbie was glad, because he seriously needed it.

“You aren’t going to throw me this time, right?” she shirtless rock star asked, his hands on her back.  It was smooth, long, and round. “The perfect bareback back,” Ella had said before to reassure Ashley. She was teaching both him and Abbie how to ride and be ridden properly, even though Ella knew for a fact Ashley needed more help than Abbie. In the distance, the pinging and banging sounds of roadies setting up the venue could be heard from their protected area. They were like fugitives, hiding away from the traveling city within its own walls.

“Oh, come on! Lighten up, Purdy Pants!” Abbie had managed to bury her fear back down into the deepest part of her body again. Being a horse helped. He eyed the ferocious beast wearily, worried that the other times he had rode her would repeat themselves.

“Just hurry up and ride already before you have to get on stage!” Ella said, ready to throw the man on. She had patience, but not enough to deal with a grown man complaining more than the five year old lesson kids at her barn.

“Fine,” he sighed, placing his firm, rough hands on Abbie’s velvety back and lifting himself up.

“Good,” Ella smiled, examining his posture. For the most part, he looked pretty good for a beginner. “Now, make sure your heels are down, nice and long, and sit up. You want to be sure that she can feel your weight,” Ella instructed. Ashley did what he was told, and Abbie felt his weight shift.

“You weigh more than you look,” Abbie remarked, turning back to look at him. He pouted and looked at Ella, almost begging for her to say something about it like a child.

“Good, she can feel you on her back,” Ella remarked with a smirk. “Now, gently nudge her with your heels to get her to walk.” Ashley did what he was told. Abbie lurched forward, happy to finally be moving.

“Now be sure to move your hips back and forth with the motion of her body as she moves,” Ella called out. Abbie felt him shift his weight back and forth, edging her on. Then, there was a sound, nothing more than the sharp point of a twig snapping that caused her to merely glance over, and send all the fear back into her eyes. Little did she know, it’d stay there for a long time. She saw the pinkish face, the bulging arm muscles, and then she knew, and she wasn’t about to just stand around. She whipped around in the opposite direction of the noise. He stood there, silently watching, observing, with a smirk. The big, bay beast, now shrunken down to nothing but a tiny, insignificant mouse being chased by a cat, raced away from the sound as fast as her long, thimble legs could carry her. Her passenger almost fell, and she certainly did feel his rough hands pull her mane, hanging on for dear life, but she wasn’t about to stop.

“What the hell Abbie? Stop! I’m going to die!” he shouted, along with various swears, but her horse instincts took over, and it would have control until her forever fighting until the shrivel amount of sanity she had left took over, but it was a big, long struggle that no one ever knew about, not even her. She was a zombie, a slave to her fear, but eventually, after a few miles of galloping as fast as her heart would allow her, she stopped dead, once again almost sending her passenger flying into a tree a few feet in front of the two.

“What are you trying to do, kill me?” Ashley screamed. Neither he nor Ella had heard the small twig snap, but she had.

“The man came back again. Second day in a row. It’s not even open yet, and he’s here, waiting for me,” she whispered, her voice emotionless. Ashley stopped talking and looked at the monotone horse.

“The man? He was here at Warped yesterday? Why didn’t you tell us?” he asked sincerely. He swung off her back and looked at her face, her eyes coated in shiny, clear fear, like the glass eyes dolls have.

“I… I didn’t want you to worry. I didn’t think anything of it, but now, two times in a row? Now I’m only putting everyone else in danger,” she whispered, looking at the ground. Ashley lifted her large head up.

“Hey, look at me,” he said softly. She sighed and looked at his chestnut brown eyes. He smiled, sweetly and sincerely. “We all knew what we were getting into when Andy adopted you. We love you, and we’d be willing to risk everything, everything, for you. You’re special. Not just because you’re Andy’s daughter, or because you can turn into a horse, you’re special because what you have in there,” he poked her heart, “is more sincere and beautiful than anything else we know.” Abbie’s ears pricked forward.

“Really?” she asked, trying to keep from crying.

“Really,” he smiled, making her smile as well. “Now, then. We should probably get back before they send out a search party,” he added. She nodded and lifted her head up high, trying to gulp down her fear again. It didn’t go away, but she was able to hide it from him and everyone else when they got back. Andy, like any father, was concerned the most.

“You just love giving me heart attacks, don’t you?” he started, his tone was full of thick, syrupy anger.

“Andy, can I talk to you?” Ashley whispered, cutting Andy off. Andy looked at his friend, concern in his eyes. The seriousness of the bassist’s tone was unusual and seemed urgent. He followed him into his room while Sammi and Ella sat next to Abbie.

“I saw him again,” she whispered to Sammi. She nodded, understanding immediately. Ella, however, had no idea what she was taking about.

“Saw who? What’s going on? Why did you spook?” She bombarded the girl with questions. She answered each question slowly and thoughtfully, not wanting a repeat of what had happened last time. Once she had finished explaining, Ella nodded and stopped asking questions. A few minutes later, Ashley and Andy walked back into the main area of the bus. Andy looked at Abbie as if trying to decide whether or not to believe his fellow band mate. She nodded and sighed.

“We have to get backstage,” he said. The other band members were already there, waiting for them. Abbie, Ella, and Sammi nodded.

“We should head out to the stage, too” Sammi said, getting up.

“You guys go on without me, I’ll catch up. I just need to use the bathroom first,” Abbie said. She walked into the small room and shut the door, locking it. She heard the others walk off the bus and shut the door behind them and took a deep breath. She looked at herself in  the mirror and splashed water onto her face, then, after drying it, she quickly lined her light blue eyes with eye liner. After giving herself a final nod, she walked out of the bathroom, greeted by an empty bus, and proceeded to make her way to the concert.

After a few songs, it was time for Abbie to come on stage. Andy smiled at the crowd and waited for them to quiet down as Jinxx came out with his acoustic guitar as usual.

“Many of you have a special someone in their life that you’d risk anything and everything for,” he started as usual, “It doesn’t matter the relationship, it could even be a stuffed bear, but there is always someone there. This next song,” he paused, smiling, “is about that someone. Now, here to sing Mortician’s Daughter with me, please welcome Abbie Biersack!” he finished, holding out his arm to backstage. The crowd roared to life, but nothing happened. Abbie turned to look backstage. CC, Ashley and Jake all stood there, confused. They shrugged and shook their heads. Andy’s bright smile started to dim as he looked across the crowd. No Abbie. The smile vanished and a wave of silence came over the crowd. Even Chris, waiting for his band to go on, looked around for the little girl and whispered to Ghost, who had no idea where she was either. No one knew that the small, fragile girl was sitting in the back of a car, the windows tinted and bared, the seats a hard plastic, and a small hole in the middle of the floor, with black tears dripping down her face and her arms binded behind her back with metal cuffs, going to a brick facility for no crime, nothing done wrong. Framed, for the pure purpose of evil, selfish acts.