Page 64 of Us Dark Few

“I am onApollo’sside. I serve this city and its people with loyalty. It’s not my place to make my opinions known on the Governor’s or the Council’s decisions. But you and I both know that any move against the Governor, real or perceived, means your death. Don’t do anything stupid up there.”

The weight of his words gripped her. Her senses sharpened to the point where she could almost feel the air molecules brushing against the surface of her skin.

Takeshi’s eyes narrowed as if he were aware of her motives and plans of hostility against the Governor. He saw too much.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She whirled around.

Takeshi was across the circle in a flash. He gripped her arms and turned her to face him. He leaned down, and she had nowhere to look but into his fierce gaze.

“Don’tlie to me. I know what happened to your parents. I know what they did to you the night they died,” he hissed.

His words bounced off the walls, and her breath froze, as if a cold breeze rushed through the room.

She felt like a bug flipped on its back, waiting to be trampled.

Vulnerable. Defenseless.

How did he know that?

“Is this really necessary, sir?” the mortician asked the guard who dragged eight-year-old Khalani into the eerie room.

Bright-white lights hung over the ceiling. The room was frigid. It wasn’t just the temperature. It was the energy. As if all life had been sucked out of the cold space. Khalani’s attention was fixated on the bodies lying on the silver table.

The bodies had grey plastic bags wrapped over them, but their faces were exposed.

“I suggest you not interfere, doctor, unless you want to join them?” the bulky guard responded, with a rough hand on her collar.

The mortician’s eyes fell on her and were filled with guilt, but he backed away and let the guard pull her closer to the bodies.

Khalani started to shake.Tears ran down her face. Through her blurred vision, she could see their faces. Her lips trembled and her sobs became more pronounced as her chest rose up and down with panicked breaths. Khalani put her head in her hands, a breath away from keening over.

“Open your eyes,” the guard said.

She shook her head and cried harder. Snot was dripping out of her nose.

“Look at them.”

“I-I, c-c-caaan’t,” she sobbed.

Stiff fingers shoved under her face and lifted her chin. “Look at them!” the guard demanded.

Her eyes opened, and her knees nearly buckled under her. Her brain could barely comprehend what she was seeing. It was her mother and father.

Their faces held no warmth or life. They were pale. So pale that their skin was almost translucent. Her father’s eyes were closed, but her mother’s were half-open, staring unseeing into the distance, her lips slightly agape.

No. No. No.

Her mouth hung open, but her parents didn’t rise from the table to hug her and tell her it was only a nightmare. They lay there stiff and silent. Dead.

Her wails filled the room, and she heard the mortician leave as if he couldn’t bear the sight any longer.

“Study them well.” The guard wrapped his hand around the nape of her neck. “Your parents were traitors. And these are the consequences of betraying Apollo. They got what they deserved. If you follow in their footsteps, this is what will happen to you. Do you understand?” the guard yelled, shaking her.

Khalani’s whole body trembled, and she shook her head. She became hysterical and tried to lunge forward so she could hug them and lay down next to their bodies.

So she could die too.

But the guard picked her up and pulled her away.

---