The Prophet's Daughter (Black Army Sequel)

Chapter 42- It Was Supposed To Go Perfectly

Chapter 42- It Was Supposed To Go Perfectly

Throughout the week before they were scheduled to go live, Andy managed to accomplish a lot, even by his standards. He managed to find and convince Jess’s brothers, Angela, Iredessa, and all of the Centaurs, as well as a well-known show host to do the show, and rehearsed what was going to happen. The rest of Black Veil Brides, as well as Motionless in White, Sammi and The Relapse Symphony was also going to be on the show, which made Abbie feel safer about the whole thing. Andy had already told everyone participating what not to say and what to be sure to include, so even she was confident it would go along smoothly, if not perfectly.

Abbie’s cutting only got worse, but no one had noticed thanks to her healing abilities. She was glad, since she knew if Andy found out he’d be even more disappointed in her than if she let her fear out. She was starting to get addicted, longing for the cold metal to rip across her skin and for her blood to pour out. It was the only time she could find comfort now.

The car ride to the studio on the day of the show had to be the longest car ride Abbie’d ever been on. Ashley and Andy were in the front to make sure nothing went wrong, and Jinxx was next to Abbie in the back. When the car pulled into the studio’s oversized parking lot, Abbie’s whole body started to quiver. Jinxx wrapped his arm around Abbie comfortingly and flashed her a smile. She smiled back and took a deep breath. After what felt like ten minutes of driving around to try to find the studio, they finally found it and Andy pulled into a parking spot. Abbie was the last one to step out of the car. When she did, her face lit up when she saw that Jess and his brothers were already there. He was early, considering everyone else was scheduled to get there two hours later.

“Jess!” she exclaimed, running into his arms. Everyone looked at them smiling, except for Andy, who flashed a stern look at Jess. Abbie didn’t care. She pulled Jess’s face towards her and kissed him long and hard, something she’d been longing to do for a long time, but something felt off. They pulled away and looked at one another. Jess stiffened. He knew. She pretended not to notice and grabbed his hand, pulling him into the studio behind the others.

The long wait before they went live practically killed Abbie. She paced back and forth and bit her nails, anxiously waiting for her turn to go on. Finally, the show started and before she knew it, she was the last one to get interviewed. Andy and the show host, Mark Mandens, had just finished talking about what Andy had felt the day he found Abbie.

“Now it’s time for you to meet the girl herself, Abbie!” Mark introduced. Abbie straightened her black dress and took a deep breath, stepping out onto the stage. Nobody but camera crews were watching in the studio, but she couldn’t help but feel a thousand pairs of eyes peering at her. She smiled and sat down.

“Hi,” she said shyly. ‘Calm down,’ she told herself, ‘it’s just like Warped Tour, only less people.’

“Now, Abbie, we understand you’re a one of a kind?” Mark said, more like a question than a statement. She nodded.

“I was kidnapped from my planet at age five. I was forced to watch it blow up, along with everyone else on it, and at the age of seven I managed to escape my captors on Earth and here I am today!” she explained.

“And you shape shift?”

“Yeah, into a horse.”

“Would you like to show us?” Abbie nodded. She stood up and moved out of the way of Mark and Andy, and looked straight at the camera.

“I used to be bay,” she said, taking a deep breath. She grew into a horse, revealing her sleek black coat. “But then I was tortured at that horrible place. They didn’t feed me at all, and every day I went through hell. I shouldn’t have survived, but I only died once.”

“Died once? Can you please explain?”

“Andy?” Abbie looked to Andy. They both had worked it out. He nodded and took out a small knife. He slit the skin on her shoulder, and she moved so the cameras could see. The small wound glowed and disappeared. Abbie heard a few gasps from the crew and smiled. “I have special abilities that allow me to heal and regenerate myself. On the last day I was there, my torturer killed me, right in front of my father,” she glanced at Andy, who looked like he was trying not to cry. “When I woke up from that death, my human hair and my entire horse body turned black.”

“Interesting. Now, your torturer, can you elaborate on him?” Mark asked. This didn’t feel right to Abbie. He was hiding something. Andy could tell, too. He stiffened. She slowly nodded.

“I don’t know a whole lot about him, but I called him Brad, since he never told me his name,” she whispered.

“Well, Abbie, I have a surprise for you. His name isn’t Brad, it’s Gus, but you were close,” he said. Abbie’s head shot in Mark’s direction.

“No…” she whispered.

“He’s actually here tonight!” He walked out, his signature smirk lazily drawn across his face.

“But you’re supposed to be dead,” she said, taking a step back.

“Hello, Little Biersack,” he said tauntingly, passing the frightened horse. She shrank down to a human and looked at Andy, who looked just as shocked as her.

“What the fuck is going on, bub?” Andy screamed.  Everyone backstage ran out, ready to help. Abbie fell against the wall and slid down, gripping her hair. Her eyes were wide. Sammi and Jinxx raced over to her. Andy pinned Mark against the wall, screaming at him. Chris tackled Gus to the ground, spitting in his face.

“This is not ok. No girl should act like that just by looking at a man. This wasn’t done by some secret organization or alien species. This was done by the United States government. Our own leaders made thousands of poor, defenseless creatures that are only a little different suffer for no damn reason!” Ghost shouted into the camera. A few seconds later, a sound buzzed so everyone would know that they were off air, but nobody cared. A group of people walked Abbie back stage. She didn’t know who, but she was just glad to be out of the situation. Jess took her outside.

“I know,” he whispered, looking at her. She nodded.

“I’m sorry.” she looked down.

“He needs to know.

“He can’t! It’s the only way to prevent me from hurting him,” tears threatened to spill out of her eyes.

“By doing this you are hurting him, and everyone else!” Abbie sighed.

“Look, Jess… There’s something I need to tell you.” He looked straight into her eyes.

“I don’t think I can keep this up anymore. Us… this isn’t real.” Jess looked away and shook his head.

“No. Don’t say that. I love you.”

“But I don’t love you. I’ve never loved you. I like you, but that’s it,” she whispered. His hands balled up into fists. She closed her eyes and lowered her head. “I’m sorry.” He ran past her back into the studio. She sat on the curb and sighed, running her hand down her wrist. Since she healed them in time, none of her cuts ever left any visible scars, but she could still see the lines were her flesh had been split, even if no one else could. The door to the studio swung open. Abbie stood up and turned around. Andy’s eyes said it all. She’d betrayed him.