Chapter Text
NOW
She wakes to a soft hum of the engine as the vehicle hits a gentle bump in the road, making it shake softly. The moon is still bright, casting its light on her pale face, flickering through the window in the roof.
Her throat is sore, dry and it feels like sandpaper with every intake of breath, vision so blurry that it takes her few minutes to adjust to the new surroundings. OA realizes that she’s lying in the back of a moving car, but doesn't remember how she got here. Who is driving and why does it feel so... familiar?
The last thing she recalls is lying on the dirt in the forest, looking at the stars above as sleep slowly claimed her. The heavy fever knocked her out and her determination alone was not enough to fight it. She’d been betrayed by her own body, the same body once capable of performing the magical movements with an immaculate precision. There was only one thing on her mind, relentlessly pushing her forward, making her disregard everything, even her own safety.
“Homer?” she exhales, parting her dry lips and turning to the side, hoping to make out the blurry silhouette in the driver’s seat. A sharp sting of pain reminds her of the splitting headache that’s been accompanying her for what feels like forever.
“ No, it’s me...”
The familiar low, raspy voice rings in her ears.
No, it can’t be. It’s just another dream, like the one back in the hospital. He was gone, he left her and promised to never come back. It’s just a dream… a nightmare. Wake up, wake up…!
“You passed out, you have a fever. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.”
OA lifts her burning eyes in his direction and her heart picks up the pace. Focused on the road, he sits still, almost motionless, hands firmly on the wheel. She can’t see his face, but his voice is soft and calm; making her wonder why it feels almost soothing - like a forgotten favorite song one hears for the first time in ages. It should not feel this way...
She really wants to speak, but the words refuse to come out anymore, the sound stuck deep in her throat where she just can’t reach it. Her pulsating headache makes it harder and harder to stay focused. Finally, rolling her eyes back, consciousness leaves her and she’s consumed by the darkness once again.
THEN
The days in the hospital were bleak and long, hours felt like days, days felt like weeks. That room was just another prison, another small, confining space she had to accept. Between visits from Nancy and Abel and occasional reporters nagging the staff to let them interview her, she’d spend her time staring at the ceiling and thinking about that day.
She didn’t travel, stayed exactly where she was. Crestwood, in the same dimension she tried so desperately to escape. Still here, still away from Homer…
They performed the movements just right. Why didn't it work?
So much happened since then and yet, nothing seemed to be resolved… The shooter was arrested and the kids were safe, but the man who tackled him disappeared without a trace and no one was able to identify him. Steve was sent to Ashville and BBA left the state after being fired from the school. Jesse, Buck and French barely visited anymore, focused on their own personal problems.
It felt like this reality was crumbling before her eyes...
*
She woke up from a nap one gray afternoon. Still foggy and somewhere between sleep and awake, she blinked few times setting her eyes straight across the room.
That’s when she saw him. At least she thought she did. He flashed behind the small square window in her door, distinct dark hair and glasses. Why did she still see his face everywhere? Why was his image still plaguing her mind even though she tried so hard to forget him? Why couldn't she get him out of her brain?
OA thought of running to the door, but she could not force herself to get up. It was pointless; he was just a hallucination, a sleepy vision that her brain made up to torment her like it always had.
She sighed, closed her eyes and placed one palm on her chest. The wound was healing and didn't really hurt anymore, but she never minded the pain. It reminded her that she was alive. The sleep started to creep its way back and soon, she was gone again.
Then it happened.
An empty road, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees. Black, rainy sky, heavy with dark clouds…
She recognized the place, because she’d been there before. That’s where, after days of wandering aimlessly in her strange trance, she had been picked up by an old lady and driven to St. Louis, where she’d jumped off the bridge in attempt to cross over.
Wisconsin… Stockholm, Wisconsin… Right outside the town...
Then suddenly, the presence.
She didn’t see or hear him. He didn’t have a face or a voice, but she felt him. She felt him standing there, looking at her and though he was invisible, she knew.
The man she loved.
She could feel that love, an overwhelming flood of pure feeling that struck her to the core. An emotion so strong and so raw, nothing she had ever felt could even compare to it.
Is that where he is?
“Homer!”
OA violently sprung up, sitting up straight in her bed. Tears flooded down her cheeks as she tried to grasp for air. She covered her mouth to muffle the scream that escaped her lips, only to discover that her hand was covered in blood. She knew what she had to do now.
He’s still here…
Washing her face over the sink, she gave the reflection in the mirror a hard stare. Her blue, lately tired eyes were now sharp and focused, even though they were red and irritated.
She ran back into the room and straight to the nightstand. Inside, there was her backpack and some clothes that Nancy had left her, in case she wanted to go out to the garden. OA had not touched the items in months, but she was so grateful to have them now.
She quickly put on a pair of leggings and a gray sweatshirt. As she pulled her now grown-out hair out of it, a brief thought of the wolf hoodie crossed her mind. After lacing her sneakers, she threw on the backpack and approached the door, hand lingering on the knob as she stopped to think.
They’re gonna worry…
After a few seconds of contemplation, she went back to her nightstand and grabbed a notebook, ripping out a single page. She scribbled a quick note and placed it on the pillow.
“Mom and Dad,
I know where he is, I have to find him.
Please don’t look for me, I will come back soon.
I promise I will.
Love, OA"
The last time she had left a note like this, she did not, in fact, come back. Taken, stolen, robbed of her freedom, she would not see her parents for 7 long years. OA could never really decide if she truly loved Nancy and Abel, but her disappearance had hurt them so much and she knew it…it was painful to think she could cause them pain like that again...
This time, it would be different, though. This time, there was no Angel Hunter, only Homer. This time, she’d come back…with him.
Sprinting out of the room, she made her way down the hallway to the main door and didn’t look back when one of the nurses yelled after her.
“Prairie! Where are you going?! Prairie!”
Outside, for the first time in months, OA breathed in the fresh, crisp air of the spring day. She always loved the feeling of the wind on her face and in her hair; it was like a taste of freedom, even in the hardest of times. She allowed herself to enjoy the moment for few seconds before running up to the bus station down the street.
With just enough money for a one-way ticket, she had only relaxed when finally rested in the seat, though the ten hour drive felt like an eternity. She finally arrived in the early morning, the sun was just rising on the horizon as she got off.
Stockholm was a small town, so it didn’t take her long to ask everyone she met about Homer. No one had seen him, and she got more and more desperate as the day went by with no progress. She forgot to eat, didn’t rest or drink water. Her mind could only focus on finding Homer. Nothing else mattered. Nothing.
It was the same wild determination that had made her walk for days after she had been abandoned at the side of the road. It was fueling her right now, pushing her to the limit, the limit she’d reach sooner than she thought.
She wandered out of the town and into the neighbouring woods. She didn’t know what to do anymore, it felt like she was losing her mind. Maybe it was irrational to just go by herself like that, but she was so sure. Her visions were always unclear, but she trusted them more than she trusted her own intuition or common sense.
It began to rain, harder and harder with every minute. Soon, OA found herself soaking wet. The hours went by so quickly, she completely lost track of time. Night caught her by surprise, but she knew the darkness so well, it was like a visit from an old friend. There was a strange feeling of peace that came with it, and she couldn’t quite understand why.
Lost, hungry, and wet, she propped herself against a tree. The itch in her throat grew and her legs began to shake, making it hard to stand up.
"Homer, where are you?”
It felt like every step she took cost her more energy, than hours of performing the movements. She was growing weaker with every second. Finally, she stopped at the edge of the forest, near the same empty road she’d come from.
She looked up at the starry sky. There was a full moon now and its light was so bright that she could see everything around her as as clear as day. The tall, still-naked trees looked like monsters, but she wasn’t scared. There was something so... enticing about monsters, the dark was always so dazzling...
OA closed her eyes. Losing the rest of control over her body, she collapsed to the ground and onto the soft carpet of moss.
It felt like she was dying again. Maybe it’s for the best , she thought. Maybe she’ll get to see him now, maybe he’s already waiting there for her...
She had experienced death more times then she could count, but it had never felt like this. The fever was something else, a whole new way to hurt.
The cold though…the cold was familiar.
She remembered the day Papa had taken her to the lake and made her go into the freezing water. It had made her stronger, braver, helped her deal with the pain of her horrible dreams. All thanks to him…
That day, she promised herself to always be brave for his sake. And now? She was weak, felt like she was disappointing him.
Is this how she goes...?
Will she meet Khatun again? Get to see Papa, even if for the last time?
“Papa…”
Time passed and OA didn’t know if she was alive or dead anymore. Reality blended with the hazy world of feverish dream, and everything went gray and dark and bleak. Her breath became shallow, her throat closed-up.
It was over. Finally over...
Images, faces of people she used to know flashed before her eyes. Homer, Rachel, Scott, Renata. The Angel Hunter…
“Angel Hunter…”
In the last moment of semi-consciousness, she looked up and inhaled with a painful sting to her lungs.
He was standing right there, towering above her. Was she dreaming again? She barely registered when he kneeled and picked her up.
“I’ve got you, Prairie. You’re gonna be alright, I’ve got you.”
Without realizing, OA clung to him instinctively, pressing her face against his chest. His arms were strong and he held her closely and securely. She could smell the familiar scent of his spicy, earthy aftershave. The same scent she would smell every time he was standing all too close to her back upstairs. She could not be making it up, could she? It felt so real...
"Angel Hunter...”
The last thought echoed in her mind as she finally drifted off to sleep.