On The Other Side

Chapter 009: Plan

Eli's eyes widened in shock as he looked at the woman in the photo. He immediately recognized the curly red hair, olive complection, and forest green eyes. It was Olivia. "I'm sorry, but I can't help you." Eli said, turning around and beginning to walk away. "Wait! Please, I'm begging you!" the man pleaded, grabbing Eli'sm arm. "I'm surprised she's even still alive..." Eli hadn't meant to say that aloud. "W-what... What are you talking about?" The man's eyes widened in shock. "Your daughter's name is Olivia, correct?" "Yes. So you have met her, then. Wait, what did you mean when you said that your're surprised that she's still alive?" the man asked. "Your daughter, Olivia, tried to kill the two people whom I told you I was traveling with. She was also traveling with us at one point, but I made her leave when I found out what she tried to do." "And what, exactly, did she try to do? What caused you to think that she tried to kill your friends, I mean." Eli could tell that Olivia's father was a reasonable man. Most parents would have been outraged and would have immediately said something like, 'How dare you accuse my perfect angel of doing something so preposterous?!' or some other stupid thing like that. "She made a deal with the monsters. In exchange for her life, she promised that she would lure people into a trap for them. My group were those people. But, she messed up. She decided that she wanted to keep me alive, because she had developed feelings for me. But, I found out what she had done, and told her to leave. That's why I can't help her. No, that's why I won't help her. I refuse to put anyone in danger by trying to help her. I'm sorry." Eli told him. The man looked grieved, although Eli could tell that the man understood his decision. "I understand why you don't want to help her, but she's a good kid, really. She just made a bad decision, thinking it was the right thing to do in the moment. So please, bring her back." Olivia's father pleaded once more. "If a stranger were to try to kill someone whom you loved, your daughter, for example, then come to you saying they had a lapse in judgement when faced with the choice to either be killed or kill your daughter, and even asked you not to press charges, would you no longer be angry? Would you let them walk away without pressing charges, without paying for what they had tried to do?" Eli asked. "Of course not-" "Then you understand where I'm coming from, and why I refuse to help Olivia." Eli didn't wait for a response after that, slimply turning and walking away. 

                Eli knew that he needed to find and talk to some of the people who had been on the other side, but he didn't know how he would find them, considering that any personal details were kept private, and many of them had refused to even reveal their names to the press. To be completely honest, he knew it would probably be easier to just find and ask him how to get back, frankly, he would probably transport Mi-Ok and Hyun-Ki here if Eli were to ask him, but he didn't want to. He didn't want to be anywhere near him for a while, if ever. Plus, even though he would probably do as Eli asked, there would be one particular request that always came up whenever they were together. "Help me. Just help me finish my plan, and I won't bother you anymore. If you do this one thing for me, I'll bring you all back." Eli could already hear the familiar voice, and the words he wished had never been said. Truth be told, that wouldn't be the first time that he had said that, and Eli knew that it wouldn't go as smoothly as it had last time. He might not have as much power here as he did there, but he was still far from powerless.

                Eli began gathering any information he could find on people who had gotten back from the other side, although there wasn't much to find. Some people wanted to keep their identities secret, while many others refused to speak with the press at all, anonymously or otherwise. Despite how few of them gave so little as a name, Eli still had a plan that would allow him to find them, but it would require him to tell Luna everything.