Page 133 of A Silence So Divine

“Run,”she signs.

That’s the only warning I get before the tiny force of a woman launches herself forward, dropping her bound hands in front of AJ’s face. He only manages a yelp before she’s crushing his windpipe. The driver slams on the brakes, and without my hands, I settle for the next best thing. Bringing my legs up, I slam both feet into the headrest of the seat and knock the man forward.

He shouts wildly, reaching for his gun. A crash hits from behind, one of the other vehicles slamming into us.

AJ squirms in the seat, smacking behind his head blindly. One of his fists catches in Sylvie’s hair and he tugs until her face smashes into the headrest. Determination unwavering, with one final growl, one final jerk, the sickening snap of a neck sounds. AJ falls limp in his seat.

Gun in hand, the driver turns it on us. Sat the way he is, he’s unable to turn and aim properly, and a bullet zings straight out the back window. Sylvie grabs for the weapon, and another bullet flies. She grunts in pain, another shot sounds, and a hole appears in the man’s forehead. I don’t compute his death until Sylvie reaches over his slack body and hits the unlock button. The boys in the back make quick work of fleeing the vehicle.

“Go!” She shouts, throwing her own door open. Dust billows into the vehicle, scratching at my eyes. It takes a few tries to get my own door open, but once it does, I race into the abyss that the storm offers.

Shouts surround me, and without any vision, it's disorienting. Something slams into my back, and I whirl around. Sylvie shoves at my chest. Blood trails down her shoulder, painting the bare skin of her bicep. Her eyes are wild. I’ve never seen her so desperate.

“Run!” She urges me in an unknown direction. Spinning in place, I try to make sense of my surroundings. It reminds me so much of being underwater that night with Eden. There’s no up or down, no left or right. Just infinite darkness that swallows you whole. And you’d be lucky if it spits you back out.

The moment of hesitation is all it takes for a Brother to stumble upon the two of us. Sylvie tries to hit him, but he’s quicker, swinging a blade towards her face. She ducks, but barely, and then he’s slashing at her again. Shoulder first, I bulldoze the man, taking both of us to the ground. Pain radiates throughout the right side of my body, the air knocked from my lungs.

Sylvie screams. I see traces of her through the whipping grit and grime. The man and I wrestle as best I can with bound wrists until he inevitably comes out on top. His flying fist sends sparks throughout my vision.

“Go!” I bark, my words garbled through blood. “Find them!”

“Cecil!” Sylvie’s voice is panicked, searching.

“Go!” Another hit flickers my vision like a blown light bulb. “Please!”

The man above me snarls. “You’re lucky he wants you alive.”

Before I’m able to tell him that I don’t feel lucky, one more strike plummets me into the abyss.

Fifty Five

Creed

The agony in my chest is indescribable.

Each breath is a spasm, quick and unsatisfying to starving lungs. That’s not the root of my pain, though. It’s a hole, an absence. No tears will fall, though I choke on sobs.

The press of a palm might as well be a striking cattle prod. I yank myself away from the perpetrator, baring my teeth at a wide eyed Veda. Despair has been misplaced, choler filling the void.

We stand in the empty lot of the campsite. It’s been an hour since Eden was taken, but only thirty minutes since Veda and the other’s let me out of the bedroom. They didn’t want to, either, but after enough screaming and throwing stuff around, the mother of the child begged them to open the door.

“You need to calm down,”Veda signs slowly.

Without a place to aim the blame, I lash out at the closest target.“You let them take her!”

She looks remorseful, lips twisting to the side as she bites back her own guilt.“I understand how you’re feeling—”

“No, you don’t understand! Your best friend is dead!”

Veda blinks at me in surprise, her cheeks reddening. I’m too angry to care. Turning on my heel, I make my way toward one of the vehicles sitting in the lot. Unsure who it belongs to, I rationalize that if they didn’t want anyone using it, they shouldn’t have left the keys in it.

Veda steps into my path.

“You don’t know where you’re going,”she reminds me.

I shrug my shoulders.

“Wait for your brother to come back. We’ll all go together.”