Page 124 of Hell Breaks Loose

This is wrong.

So much so that I want to scream. I want to break something.

True, absolute disgust rises in my throat, burning acidic.

Before I can do more damage, or something worse, I storm from the room, running up the stairs, rushing into the first room I find, slamming the door behind me.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry,” I hear my voice pleading, wheezing.

And I see her face again, the bride in black.

Everything always comes back to her. A distant scream, begging me to find my way back and remember who she is.

It’s no use.

Because the Matron ordered me to forget. I cannot defy her.

I need her. And the medicine she provides for her children. It keeps us alive, keeps us true to the righteous path. Even if a voice deep inside me rages against those orders.

“Angel! Come to me.” I hear her cry from the other room.

She’s furious.

About more than the fact that the group of resistance fighters escaped. Her plans for the day fell apart. And it was her fault.

Gathering myself, clamping down on my panic and grief, I stagger from the tight confines of the bathroom into the offices of this house.

“We need to decide what our next attack should be,” the Herald announces, sitting behind the desk.

Her eyes track across the room, past me, seeing nothing.

I wait for more, but she just sits there, inhaling, exhaling.

Finally, I gather my courage, ask the question in my mind.

“Why did you kill that man, Herald? I thought we needed him.” Even if I hated him with all of my heart. Not that I can remember why.

Maybe it was the way the black lace bride looked.

The tears in her eyes as she walked down the aisle, clearly resigned to her fate.

Like me.

A slave to someone who knows what’s best for you when you have no idea what you should do. Perhaps he was like that for her. Still, I am glad he’s dead.

“It doesn’t concern you, my darling. But we got what we needed from him. More loyal soldiers. More vehicles. Supplies. And a lovely home to live in.”

“For a while.”

“No. I think we’ll stay this time.” Her smile is pasted on, false.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I hear her whisper in another voice.

“We took it. It belongs to us now.”

“It always did.”

“Suit yourselves. Now that we have it, I think we should find wherever they’ve holed up and take that too.”

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