Page 17 of Savage Hope

I don’t bother to look in his direction as a hand curls around my upper arm. I know it’s S, probably with a disapproving look on her face, but when I peer at her out of the corner of my eye, it's a soft smile of comfort that I receive instead.

Weird.

“So, supernatural, huh?” S’s boyfriend, B, says with his eyebrows raised. They’re so high, they almost touch his hairline.

I shrug. “It doesn't seem possible.” The words fall flat. There’s no wonder, no curiosity, no anything. Right now, I need to figure out what’s going on instead of believing such dramatics from a woman who has done nothing but cause mayhem in my life.

T scoffs from the other side of B, forcing himself back into the conversation once again. “It looks pretty possible to me,” he states all matter of factly, and this time I can’t hide the eye roll.

“For Mrs. Stephens, sure, but us…” My words trail off as I shake my head.

“She’s right, wouldn't we know something like that by now?” S asks, and I internally thank her for seeing the same level of sense as I do.

If we thought we were in the midst of the unknown before, that is nothing compared to what we face now. The uncertaintyis scary, and the feeling of being lost in a deep, dark forest without a ray of sunlight feels very daunting.

As I glance back out the window, all I can think is that the concrete is gone, the plain halls and four walls are gone, and all that lies before us are rolling hills, winding roads, and an uncertain future.

I don’t know what’s more daunting: the surety that Mrs. Stephens was going to comprise the entirety of my memories of my time on this planet, or the promise of an unknown future stretching before me like a great, dark cave with no end in sight.

“I’m scared, P,” S murmurs, leaning into me as she whispers.

“We’re going to be fine,” I promise, attempting to comfort her with a small squeeze in return. I don’t think we've ever been this close before, and I’m not usually the consoling type, but it looks like she needs it. There's a part of me that understands that she needs some form of comfort, I guess we all do, but the last thing I want is for anyone to start overreacting and making this situation spiral into something bigger.

We have to remain level headed and focused, otherwise we're never going to be able to help ourselves.

I gasp as I consider my own thoughts.

Was that…hope?

No.

I wipe a hand down my face, hiding my scoff. Definitely not hope. Not from me—neverfrom me.

“It doesn't feel like it's gonna be fine, P,” S murmurs, resting her cheek on my shoulder.

“I know it doesn’t,” I murmur in an attempt to soothe her. “But we will be. We have to be,” I insist, the positive words foreign on my tongue.

B leans across the aisle, running his hand over her thigh in comfort as he tries to encourage her too. “We’ve made it this far.”

S scoffs, bolting upright in her seat as she turns to glare at him.

“That’s because they were protecting us,” she bites as I gape at her.

Her outburst is a surprise, one that I would expect from myself more than her, but it seems there’s a side of this girl that we haven’t seen yet—a side that might actually be interesting.

She’s right, though. They were protecting us. Not for us, but forthem. The buyers. But the reality is, we have no recollection of our time before Florentine’s. Whatever we’re rolling into, we don’t have the upper hand. Not even a little.

Pursing my lips, I face the window as the murmurs grow louder, running up and down the bus. I go to stand, but my butt is practically welded to the seat. Even though I can move freely while I’m seated, that’s about all the freedom I have. As the ability to stand seems to fail me, I shift from side to side, trying to see what's going on, but I come up just as empty as ever, until I hear someone shouting from the front of the bus.

“The sign. Look at the sign!”

I turn to the window so fast that I almost snap my neck, but it’s worth it when a giant wooden carved sign comes into view a moment later. The engraved words leave a sinking feeling in my gut.

Trinity Falls Academy.

Fuck.

We're going from one hell hole to another?

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