Page 31 of Shattered Home

Letting out a humorless chuckle, he continued, “I should have lied. Should have known something was off when they killed our parents. But I’m a dumbass and told them my name was Aiden Accardi. Next thing I know, I’m being dragged inside that building.”

“What did they do to you?” I asked on a whisper, scared of the answer.

“They beat the shit out of me. And they continue to do so.”

“But why? Because you tried to escape? You can’t be the only one.”

Shaking his head, he agreed. “No, we weren’t the only ones. But that wasn’t why. They started asking questions about Dad, about his work at the college, about his colleagues. I had no clue what they were talking about, and I told them so. But they didn’t believe me, figured if they beat me up some I’d finally tell them what they wanted to hear.”

“Dad’s work at the college? Why would they care about that, he teaches students about space rocks.”

I knew he taught more than that, but it mostly went over my head. Our entire family was in the medical field except for Dad, and his scientific jargon often was met with confused stares whenever he talked about work.

“Fuck if I know. But they don’t care about that. Nearly every night, for two months, they’ve taken me into that building and beaten the shit out of me. I have a feeling it's not going to end.” Swallowing roughly, Aiden finally met my stare. “And I’m worried that it’s now going to happen to you.”

This time, it was my turn to swallow roughly. I had given them a fake name. They had no idea who I was. But then I had been the dumbass and ran up to Aiden amid a group full of guards. It wouldn’t take a genius to piece the puzzle together, we looked too similar to be anything but related.

“Aiden, I don’t know anything.” I knew it didn’t matter based on what he said, but I was grasping on to straws. I wasn’t strong like my brother, I couldn’t handle months of abuse.

“I know you don’t, but they won’t care.”

My mind was reeling, trying to decipher how the happiness from this morning could vanish so quickly. In the span of a few minutes, I learned the rest of my family was dead, my brother was getting beat for information, and I may be next.

The thoughts were a hurricane in my mind, but only one thing mattered. This information only solidified my plan that we needed to escape. And sooner rather than later.

“We need to make a plan. To get out of here,” I hurriedly whispered, but Aiden was already shaking his head.

“You don’t think I’ve tried? That dozens of people have tried? There’s no way out.”

Refusing to believe this, I clenched my fists against my sides. “We’ll find a way.” My eyes darted toward the tent where two tiny humans were relying on me. “Whatever we have to do, we’re making it out of here.”

Chapter Twenty

The rest of the day we spent among ourselves, trying to avoid others as much as possible. Luckily, there was a small smattering of flowers near the right side of the camp, dusting along the fence line that we took the twins to.

Lucas and Stephanie spent hours picking flowers, whispering to each other with small smiles. I was positive they were talking about their parents and I still didn’t have the heart to break it to them that I had no plan to get us out of here.

During dinner, while we gathered our food, a few guards glanced at us. Aiden tried to stand in front of me, but we were surrounded by uniformed men and women and it was impossible for me to hide. Once we collected our food, we rushed back to our tent.

I sat in there now, tucking the twins in while Aiden went back to his tent to grab the few things he had. We both decided it would be safest for us to stick together since the guards obviously knew who I was now, or at least knew I had some sort of relation to Aiden.

“Alessia, do you think Mom and Dad miss us?” Lucas asked timidly, curled up into his sister’s side.

Pulling the sleeping bag up to their chins, I nodded enthusiastically. “I know for a fact that they miss you. But I also know they wouldn’t want you to worry about them.”

I didn’t know that, but it seemed like the sort of thing parents would think. It was their job to worry about their kids, not the other way around.

“Do you think they’ll come and get us?” This whisper was from Stephanie, her eyes wide with hope.

“I’m sure they will try their best.” It wasn’t the answer she wanted, but it was the only answer I could give without flat out lying to them. I didn’t want to deceive them, but they were young and I had an urge to protect them from what was happening around us.

“But I’m very lucky I get to spend time with you two. I had a lot of fun picking flowers today.”

They both smiled, their grins so alike even though they both took after one parent. Stephanie looked exactly like her mom, with green eyes and long lashes, whereas Lucas had Emmanuel’s thick brows and brown eyes.

Aiden ducked inside the tent then, carrying a small bag and a sleeping bag. Dropping the sleeping bag into the opposite corner of the tent, I realized how tight of a fit this night was about to be.

Clapping my hands, I looked to the twins once again. “Alright, I’ll be right outside for a little bit. You two get to sleep, okay?”

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