Page 17 (1/2)
"Riley, it’s going to be okay," she says Her eyes are wide and fearful, but there’s pity in her voice "I pro but stare at her and growl
Her hand goes to her throat and she quickly backs away
"Yeah, stay back, Nyx," the "
In the next instant, a small dark woman is suddenly there She bends over at the waist and looks at rained into her skin I try to lunge, but I’m trapped beneath the huonna git you right," she says, shakes a bony finger at me, then looks at the it loose an’ we’ll be in trouble"
"Yes, ather all of th, buck hard and screah hold that I barely move an inch
The dark woman smiles and nods "Good I’ll be back"
"Riley!" another ?"
"No, Seth," another says, this time a small, petite woman No, not a woman She’s pulseless There are tithout pulses in this room With low
"Get away froer es closer
"Riley, no," he says quietly His face is pinched in pain, and I can’t understand why
"She doesn’t recognize you, Seth," the young pulseless female says "You’d better step back"
"No," he says, unbending "She’s my sister" This he says so soft only I can hear
Not that I understand it
The dark wo spins out of control at that point I’, like I’m more thirsty than I’ve ever been in er and thirst co co is forced down h I thrash back and forth, I’ hands holdsis jah, spit, but those sarip my jaw closed I have to s I hear yells, cries, and what I can only assuoes limp Feet shuffle aroundmore I can’t understand any words I can’t see faces I see only darkness, hear only whispers They’re frightening me now, the whispers, and I try to hide but my body won’t move They’re after h, the voices, whispers, shuffling feet, all become muffled Then, they disappear
I am now in total silent darkness
Part Five
CARPATHIANS
I’ve never seen Riley like this I was so little when she wasI do re in at four in the ed her life Now? To see her like this again? It makes my stomach hurt to watch her She’s like a wild ani as simple as crack or cocaine scares the hell out ofsister, who’s always taken care of ht not be so worried if Preacher and Mr Dupré weren’t so worried But they are So, I a to her works It’s tortuous to watch--orse than Da Isle and Gullah cleansing I feel helpless I…loveI want her back And I’ll do anything to get that
--Seth Poe
The voices They’re back So I’m not dead after all Or, maybe I am and this is what Hell is like at first A load of weird scary shit to make you really think hard about what you did to land yourself a place here That’s the thing I don’t know
I try to s are tethered I try to crack openbut darkness Yet…I feel movement Hear whispers Air brushes htly accented voice says in my ear "Can you hear me?"
I’m not sure if I’m who they think I am, but I try to respond Mycorave;re," the voice says, and I feel a lukewarht here and I’ noises infiltrateAl to see, and just fall back into the shadows
I awaken to a jerking motion This ti in so A car? A train? Feels more like a train, and I can hear that constant clack-clack of the tracks Where the hell am I? I stretch my eyes open farther, and I can barely see out of thenext to y And just as I look, we disappear into a tunnel bored straight into the ain, exhaustion overwhelms me, and I drift back to sleep with the clack-clack of the train as a lullaby
When next I awaken, I know nothing except pain Pain and starvation Why won’t someone feed me? I want to cry, and no tears will coy I have to thrash against bonds still holding ht, but it feels like a long damn time Hands hold me down Then, a scent washes over ht leaveit hatever accoh, I tire I give up The scent disappears as fast as it came upon me
More whispers One voice in particular whispers close to e I don’t understand This one, whoever he is, is pulseless And he never leavesThen, as suddenly as I had awakened, I fall back into a deep, deep sleep
"Jake, hold her steady," the accented voice commands