Page 16 of Iron Roses

The cold air stings my eyes. I feel the scream building behind my ribs, but it doesn’t come out.

Allegra moves to help me. Her hand rests at my back as I climb into the trunk. The lining is padded, strangely warm.

She meets my eyes as she grips the lid.

“I’ll get us there fast,” she says, quieter now. “I promise.”

I nod again, unable to speak.

Then the lid closes with a heavy click and the world goes dark.

The engine hums to life. The tires crunch gravel. The car begins to move.

And in the silence, boxed in by metal and grief, I finally break.

The tears come hot—wracking, silent sobs that shudder through my limbs. I bite down on my knuckle to muffle the sound, but it’s too much.

I curl into myself, fists clenched against my ribs, the scarf wrapped tight around my shoulders like a shield.

*****

The darkness sways around me like water. My body aches in places I didn’t know could hurt. My knees are tucked to my chest, and the metal shell of the trunk is warm now, wrapped around me like a coffin lined in silence.

Sleep comes in fits. Not rest, not peace—just flashes of half-dreams. The scent of lilies. Blood on marble. A shadow reaching for me and vanishing when I blink.

My eyes snap open at the sound of gravel shifting.

The car has stopped.

My breath clutches.

For a long second, I don’t move. My ears strain for sound—voices, footsteps, gunfire. Anything. I think of Allegra. I think—Did they find her? Did they find me?

Footsteps crunch outside. Then a pause.

A key turns.

The trunk lifts with a soft groan of hinges and the morning light—soft, grey-blue—slips over my face.

Allegra’s face appears above me, backlit by a sky still shaking off the stars.

“Come,” she murmurs, reaching down.

I let her pull me up. My limbs protest, stiff from being folded too long. The cold air kisses my skin, and I blink against the ache behind my eyes. She hands me a bottle of water.

“Drink. Slowly.”

I twist the cap and gulp. The first sip burns. The second feels like salvation. My throat moves greedily and only when the bottle’s half empty do I stop, breathless.

I glance around.

We’re standing on a quiet road, flanked by high hedges and iron gates tall enough to block the sky. Behind them, a mansion sprawls out—massive, old, and unnervingly silent. Its pale stone walls gleam softly in the dawn. Ivy curls around the fencing. Birds call in the distance, as if unaware the world has ended.

The gate creaks. Opens inward. I swallow the last mouthful of water and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand.

Allegra steps forward.

“Let’s go.”

---