Page 69 of Sins of the Son

This isn’t happening.

He couldn’t be so cruel.

We are friends.

Why would he do this to me?

I had to get out of here.

I launched myself in the door's direction. Two pairs of hands grabbed at me as I screamed and kicked. “Help! Help! Let me go! Help!”

I was thrown to the floor. My head bounced against the hard surface. Sparks burst before my eyes.

“Fuck! I didn’t sign up for this shit.”

I blinked as bile rose in the back of my throat. I struggled to remain conscious, their voices becoming muddled and indistinct.

The door opened.

My heart surged. Someone had heard me. I was saved.

There was a burst of bright light. I couldn’t see who it was but could tell from the voice it was a female. I didn’t quite recognize it, but it sounded familiar, like a song you couldn’t quite remember the name of or the words to but knew you had heard before.

The female yelled at the boys. “Where is the other one? You were supposed to get them both.”

The other one?

I panicked. Please don’t let them mean Amara.

The first boy spoke up defensively. “We left the note with her art supplies like you told us.”

Art supplies.

Amara didn’t take art. They weren’t talking about her.

I fought nausea and darkness as my vision blurred. I couldn’t hold on for much longer.

I could hear them arguing, but it was like they were down a long tunnel.

Finally, the female said, “Just leave the trash. Maybe she’ll die and solve the problem for us.”

With that, the door slammed shut.

Trapping me alone in the stifling darkness.

* * *

I had been banging on the padded walls and yelling for hours until I was hoarse, but no one heard.

It was late Friday afternoon.

No one would be in the school until Monday.

I slid down the wall to the floor.

My breathing was shallow. Sweat poured between my shoulder blades.

There were no windows or vents in the room. It was pitch black since the light switch was on the outside of the room. The air was hot and stale. The padding seemed to suck up what little oxygen there was in the space. I lay down, pressing my ear to the floor, pushing my mouth as close to the bottom of the door as possible, to catch the barest hint of air that was coming into the room.

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