Traveler - The Price (Book 3)

CHAPTER 10

"It's her!" I heard voices shouting.

I opened my eyes, and I saw people running at me. I woke up, and I started running. I didn't know what they had planned to do to me, but I wasn't going to find out. I remembered what Joana had told me, that all those I've killed were looking for me. In the crowd, I recognized Alicia, and I knew they wanted revenge. 

They had their sense, but what I had done I didn't do because I liked, but from obligation. I needed to save my friends, and I had no regrets, as long as they had had their chance at peace and they had refused it. I ran on the road Joana had taken me, through the narrow streets. I had to get to the house where I had been the first time I arrived down there. There I would have been safe. 

The wounds were gone, a thing that made me feel better. I was running among the distant people, who were barely turning their heads to see what was happening. They seemed like some lost souls, and I believed that was what they were. I was wondering how they had got that way and I was hoping Aaron wasn't one of them. Some souls were lost. Others, like the ones who were following me, were vengeful, and I knew there was at least one more category, the one my friends were part of. Kate had been at peace, and I was hoping Aaron was going to be the same. 

I arrived in front of the cabin. I heard the screams of my chasers, so I rushed inside. I looked out the window, and I realized they didn't see the house. They were looking around confused, and I wasn't sure what they were seeing.

"I knew it wasn't a good idea to leave this place too soon!" I hear Joana behind me.

"Joana!" I say shocked by her presence there.

"Josephine," she says.

Next was an awkward moment of silence, and then she started talking.

"When I heard that Aaron arrived here, I had a feeling you won't continue your mission, so I decided to stay here a little longer."

"Have you seen him? Where is he?"

"I have protected him from the vengeful souls, but before I tell you where he is, I want to know why you're here. The real reason."

I looked at her lost. I didn't know what to tell her because I didn't know how she was going to react.

"Joana... I..."

"Do you want to see him for the last time?" she asks me.

"I want to know if there's any chance I could bring him with me back in our world," I said without moving my head from the ground.

"Jo, it's not a good idea to think about this! Do you think you can come in here and take souls back with you? Well, this is madness! I had the chance to save someone once, but I didn't do it! I have focused on my mission because it was a price for that."

"Joana, I'm nothing like you! I want to do this and to finish the mission too! The question is: Can I bring him back? What is the price? Anyway, it doesn't matter!"

"This is the thing. You can't know the price until you face it. It is said that it's a huge price..."

"I think I can handle it!" I said convinced. "Why haven't you told me this the first time we met?"

"Because I knew it was a price! One that you don't have to pay! It's not worth it! There is no way I can talk you out of this and to take you to him just to say goodbye?"

"It's worth it. Whatever it is, it's worth it. You know damn well you can't change my mind. Or maybe you can, but this means we reestablish the balance and you send him back instead of me. He is not supposed to be here! If you had told me I was going to lose my memory when I get up there, probably he wouldn't have been here!"