Page 23 of The Outsider
“But when we learned you were alive, he had a Vision that told him the reason the Cleansing hadn’t worked—why he hadn’t Ascended and gained his full powers. It was incomplete because you escaped him. He realized why he’d been so taken with you; you were the Vessel.”
“The Vessel?”
“Yes,” Holly said, and her expression was suddenly reverent. “The Vessel for his ultimate self-actualization, the true key to harnessing the power of our goddess, Odessa—she, with her Eye of Truth, that observes all things, all places, all times. You, the sole survivor, are his ultimate test.”
She said all this with the enthusiasm of a true convert, and I couldn’t hide my disbelief. She was fucking nuts. The apple didn’t fall too far from the tree on that one. How Claire had come from this stock was beyond me.
Claire’s hands shook, but she took a deep breath. “So, he just wants to kill me.”
Holly shrugged. “Among other things. In his Vision, Odessa’s Eye showed Jim J your ascent to the Altar of Sight.”
I thought of the altar that the cult leader stood at with the golden eye emblem and wondered if it was the same one.
“At the Altar, he’d lay claim to his Vessel, for from her body, she quenches all thirst. When he is sated, his Dagger of Truth will pierce her heart, and from her, he will take the core of the rebellious spirit—the heart of the sole survivor—and eat of her flesh, absorbing her power and becoming one with her, so as to complete his most sacred Ascension. All the world will be awash in his Vision, and all words of defiance will turn to ash in the mouths of the unworthy.”
Holy fucking shit. Claire’s face was pale, but her mouth was hard. I couldn’t even guess what she was thinking.
“Over my dead body,” I spat.
Holly smiled a grim, twisted little smile. “You read my mind.”
I took a deep breath to stop my thoughts racing. I was ashamed to admit it, but fear had crept in—for Claire and for myself. Luckily, Claire interrupted my train of thought before it ran away.
“How does Jim J perform that trick of stabbing himself?” she asked. “We saw him do it on stage.”
Holly frowned. “He stabbed himself?”
“Yeah, during the freakshow,” I cut in. “Doesn’t he normally do that?”
Her lips twisted into a smirk. “He’s achieved it. Odessa’s gift of Immortality. A gift he’ll bestow on his followers—in time.”
Well, that answers exactly nothing.Asha finally chimed in.
“This is the craziest, most unsettling shit I’ve ever heard,” she said, and I couldn’t help but chuckle darkly. “But there’s one problem with your little prophesy: Claire’s not the sole survivor. Still alive over here.”
Holly rolled her eyes. “You think they give a shit about you? You disappeared off the security system, and I doubt they’ve been looking out for you. You aren’t a member of the Holy Family, like me, Mom, and Claire.”
Disappeared?
“Hold up,” I said sharply. “You mean that these trackers—they have a range?”
She clapped her hands sarcastically. “Very good, Wastelander. Gold star.”
I ignored her, my thoughts racing ahead.
“How far can these things track?” I asked.
She shrugged slowly and deliberately, obviously trying to piss me off. Unfortunately, it was working.
I glanced at Claire, trying to gauge how she was doing. To my surprise, her expression was now cool and controlled. I could practically see the wheels in her head turning.
“What happened to your hair, Holly?” she asked, eyeing the odd, choppy blonde hair cropped close to her head. “I’ve never seen it that short before. I didn’t think you liked it.”
Holly bit her lip, and her eyes filled with sudden tears that she fought to hide.
“This was my punishment!” she exclaimed. “Because of you. When they found out you survived, they knew I must’ve helped. They cut off all my hair because they knew I loved it. Mom laughed when she saw itand told me to take it in stride. I did, along with all the other shitty jobs that suddenly, I was stuck doing. Why do you think I was in a fucking utility closet when you turned up, instead of at the Gathering?”
Holly’s glare could kill.
