Page 72 of The Order

“That makes two of us.”

Chapter twenty-three

Forest

Thedrynessinmythroat is unbearable, finally forcing me to blink away my exhaustion. I feel my soft sheets beneath me, unsure how I ended up in my bed in the first place. After a few glances around my room, I see Kai's note on my side table, scribed with his perfect handwriting.

I figured you didn't want me to change you.

I told Mom and Dad you had a long day after what happened at school and needed some rest.

I won't push you on why you were asleep outside Dad's study, but I need answers.

I love you.

-Kai

I drop the note, feeling great appreciation for my brother and his desire to always try his best to do what’s best for me. With a swing of my legs, I am out of bed. I yank open my door to peer down the dark hallway. Darkness engulfs the space around me. Everyone's rooms are silent, my father’s study now fully closed, trapping the horrors I saw earlier within it. I expect my parents' door to fly open when the floorboards creak under my feet outside their room. Seconds pass and the house remains silent.

Slowly, I work through the house, feeling relieved when I reach the kitchen. After three glasses of water, I finally feel refreshed. I have to shake away the images of all the malnourished children in the Unfortunate sector. I think of the boy from school who had stolen the food. All of those Officials knew about his living conditions, yet still chose to punish him. Given his security detail duties, even Xavier knows the horrors lying beyond the fence to their sector.

Is what I saw the “burden” he spoke of yesterday, or does he know more than I think?

The air begins to feel heavier in my lungs, and it takes more effort to breathe in than it does to let it all out. The outside world beckons for me, only a sliding glass door away. With a quick scan of the yard, I silently slip outside, snagging my father’s ID from the counter to grant myself access outside this late at night. The house doesn’t stir, no alarms sounding off at my presence, allowing me to quietly slip out. Finally, I allow myself to take a full breath, leaning against the side of my house. My arms are wrapped around my front, working to warm my cool exterior.

I glance up toward the side of the house, expecting to see the camera only a few feet away from my face. It’s the same one that always watches our backyard.

It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dark, only to see the fragmented glass pieces of the lens shattered on the ground around my feet. It looks just like the one that Xavier pummeled with rocks on the other side of the house. The camera wires poke out, and I can tell the security camera is completely broken and definitely incapable of detecting any motion around this part of the yard. I poke the pieces of glass with my toe, listening to it scrape against the wooden deck.

“What the fuck?” I question, hearing the rattle of leaves in the tree line behind me.

Like the night of the screening, I get a feeling, sensing something sinister lurking in the shadows, watching me from a distance. Even from here, I hear the rasp breathing of its lungs, listening to its nails tap the side of the tree like it's impatiently waiting on something. I spot a foreboding outline behind the trunk of one of the largest trees in our yard. It’s still in the blanket of darkness. I’m unnerved by the fact that I can’t figure out what it is. My body fills with chills, unable to move as fear paralyzes me.

“Who’s there-”

A gloved hand grabs my neck, slamming me hard into the side of my house, being sure to cover my mouth before I can get a scream out. My feet drag across the balcony, nearly cut by the glass scattered around the area. A pair of unfamiliar brown eyes look over me, watching me flail in their grasp as they lift me off of my feet by my neck and slam me against the side of my house. I claw my hands against their arms, trying to get away from them. This person is strong, power threading through their movements. Untouchables don’t have strength like this. I do my best to reach into my mind, screaming out into the void of my head.

"Help me!”I yell in my mind, feeling the pressure around my neck intensify. My legs grow weaker with each attempt to kick myself away from the masked deviant.

“How many valuable things can I nab off a pretty Untouchable like you?” the man questions, his face hidden by a black mask.

Unfortunate muggers. Damn.

“G-Go to hell-” I try to say, feeling him slam me once more into my house, knocking me back harder than he had the first time.

My thoughts linger and I let my head stay against the wall as all the ways in which this scenario could play out slam into my head all at once.

“Get the fuck off of her!” his voice says, shoving the man away from me and sending me to my knees. I grasp violently at my throat, trying to drag the air back to me in strained breaths.

Even without a mirror, I know my neck is bruised, possibly swollen. I continue to gasp, unable to take a full breath.

“I was getting somewhere-”

“Go find another fucking house, Aaron,” Fallan says, shoving his finger into the man’s chest, pushing him several steps back. “This one's mine,” Fallan finishes, looking over the man sternly.

I clutch my neck, listening to their exchange with wide eyes. I hear my shallow breaths pick up, watching Aaron give me one look before sneering at Fallan’s brooding figure.

“I’m not stopping for you next time,” Aaron says, pointing to Fallan before slipping back into the night. I look again at the tree line, unsure if there was anything there to begin with.

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