Eternal

Chapter V - Apotelesm

Apotelesm – (n) The effect, or influence, of star on human destiny.

Origin – Greek

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"Why did you come here?" Oliver sharply asked the woman seated before him. Her icy blue eyes locked on his dark hazel ones as she continued to struggle in her seat.

He has been trying to find out the reason of her sudden appearance on his territory, but all he's managed to find out was that she stumbled there. He knew that there was something more and that she was hiding something, but he couldn't get her to talk. It was as though she swore an oath not to utter a word and she was keeping her promise by exactly doing that.

"I already told you. I didn't mean to trespass your territory. It was an accident." Jessica answered exasperatedly. She couldn't find a reason as to why they won't believe her. Okay, maybe she does, but that doesn't make her the evil person. She was a hunter, the daughter of a hunter more like, but that didn't mean that she agreed with her father's twisted beliefs. She couldn't understand why they would be hesitant to set her free and let her go on her way, but at the same time, they also needed to realise that she was not a threat. She's as much of a victim as they are to her father's sick game. He took her and killed her mother, all to execute that absurd plan of his. Nobody can blame her for wanting to escape his clutches!

"I somehow find that hard to believe." Oliver retorted with a wry smile. His eyes were still meeting hers, head-on, trying to analyse every emotion that passed through them. He was attempting to fit the pieces of her puzzle together, yet, he was still struggling to find out who Jessica Throndsen was.

Jessica could feel her frustration rising, and before she could control her tongue, she blurted out, "What do you want me to say then? That I'm trying to escape from my father, who has some sick plan to rule the kingdoms himself? Or that I was tortured daily, and I couldn't take it anymore, so I escaped?"

Her eyes widened once she realised what she professed, and regret clawed heavily at her heart. She didn't want to say anything of what she did, but her panic and dread clouded her mind, and she was no longer aware of what came out of her mouth. Her only thoughts were that she had to get away from here and away from her monster of a father.

She needed to be free.

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"They wouldn't tell me anything," Jessica murmured, looking down at her feet. "I was locked up all day and only released to eat with the others. Even then, I was chained." She continued.

She thought back to her time in that cell. The silver-coated bars surrounded her on three sides; left, right and front. The wall was to her back with only a tiny opening at the very top to allow a bit of air and sunlight. She remembered the nights she slept shivering in cold due to that opening. Jessica tried to tell her father about it once. The answer was a slap with the back of his hand. It was safe to say that she never tried again.

It was the first time he hit her. It upgraded into more intense beatings as time went on, and the only time she was lucky enough to escape it was when he was too busy to come down and punish her. Jessica never knew why she was beaten. Maybe it was because of her presence. She knew that was it. Andrew was only letting off some steam, and who better to lay it on than the bane of his existence?

She never understood why he killed her mother in the first place, or why he took her in only to leave her in a dungeon underground. He didn't want her. He made that perfectly clear when he threw her in for the daily life of torture. She didn't even know that he was her father for the first two years he tormented her. She only thought of him as the man who murdered her mother and took her as a hostage. Even now, she doesn't acknowledge the fact that he is her father. He was merely a sperm donor that helped in her birth; nothing more and nothing less. She was an orphan with both parents considered dead.

"So," Oliver started, "You're not aware of his plan to take over the kingdom?"

He still had his suspicions about her, but he could tell that some of what she said was true. The frail body she carried was enough proof. The scars that covered her told the story of abuse and torture she went through. Some of them seemed recent; very recent. He felt sorry for the girl. He truly did. But she was a hunter. The tattoo imprinted on her skin proved that. He couldn't trust her, no matter how much he pitied her.

"No, I'm not," Jessica replied, shaking her head. "I-I mean he never told me what he wanted to do. Only that he wanted to be the king of all."

She wasn't interested in his plans; she never was. Her only hope was to be free. She wanted to escape the hell she's known for five years. And now, she fled a prison, only to be captured in another. She suddenly had the urge to run through the forest and let loose of the beast she kept trapped inside her for a long while. To feel the wind run through her fur as she raced with the breeze that surrounded her.

She raised her head to look at her capture in the eyes before she said, "Let me go, please." Her pleading eyes gazed at him as they filled with tears. She didn't know what else to do. She had to find a way to leave, to be free. No other pack would take her in as a member. Her mark ensured that, but she had to try to evade the clutches she found herself caught in. It was the least she could do for herself.

"Not a chance, sweetheart." Oliver retorted. He can't risk having her run off to tell the hunters anything, not even the shapes of their tents. Besides, if she were being honest and really hiding from her father, his camp would be the safest place she could stay. "No hunter has ever left these grounds alive. You won't be the exception."