Page 60 of Darkness

Angry as hell.

Fucking furious.

The anger fuels me as I storm out the exit.

The rays of the late afternoon sun hit me as I make my way up the concrete ramp toward the giant gate. The funky smell of the bay causes me to turn up my nose as I reach the giant ten-foot wrought iron fence. The top of each blackened spike has barbed wire circles linking it to the next like rings of fucking death. There’s no way I could climb it, even if there weren’t barbed wire.

I stare at the brother sitting at his station while he assesses me curiously.

“You gonna open the gate or what?” I snarl at him.

“No can do, Eva. Not without permission from the pres.”

Groaning, I fold my arms over my chest. There must be another way out of this fucking hell hole. Making my way back down the concrete ramp, I rage as I traipse around the side of the bunker. It’s mainly concrete and shrubs out here. Every angle I take, the fence is impenetrable. My anger is starting to wear thin as I make my way to the rear of the bunker when I finally see an out. Excitement bubbles inside me as I rush up to the opening in the brush, pushing it to the sides.

This is it. I can finally break free and leave this godawful place.

Suddenly, a sign comes into view as I push another shrub out of the way.

Warning: Electric Fence Ahead

My throat closes up, and my chest tightens. My body shudders as my legs give out. I plummet to the ground and let out a harrowing sob, then another. All my pent-up emotions pour out of me as it all becomes too much.

My parents dead.

Nycto lied to me.

Ivy lied to me.

Why?

I don’t fully comprehend.

I can’t even imagine the motivation behind it.

Did Nycto want me to submit to him? Was this all a power play to see if I would fall into his arms?

The whole idea makes me sick.

I bury my head in my hands, and the tears flow into my palms as I rock back and forth on the ground. I’m losing my shit. It’s as if everything I thought was reality is all a fabrication. Am I going to wake up again in that godforsaken shipping container to find out none of this was real? That it was all a dream, and we’re on our way to a fate far worse than can be imagined?

Suddenly, ripped-jean-covered knees hit the dirt behind mine, and an arm slides around me.

“You’re going to be okay, hon,” a smooth, velvety voice says. “It’ll all be okay.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

EVA

Trixie. She’s beside me, holding and rocking me. As I look into her kind eyes, I feel like she’s the only friend I have right now. I sniffle and wipe my eyes and nose with my shirt. I must look a mess.

“I have no idea what’s going on, Trix. I don’t even know what’s been real the last however many weeks this ride has been.”

“Eva, there’s one thing I know for certain… the way Nycto feels about you is one-hundred-percent real. He adores you. That’s why all of this happened at the start.”

I sniffle. “I don’t understand?”

“Nycto’s job is to transport packages from the boat to wherever they need to go, right?” I shrug. “Since the moment you left the boat, Eva, he’s wanted you… needed you from the first moment he saw you. Everything he’s done since has been to make you happy and keep you and your sister safe.”

---