Page 97 of A Light in the Darkness
There isn’t time to coax him out, so I just drop down so that he can see my face, and hopefully the sincerity, when I tell him, “We aren’t here to hurt you.”
I don’t stick around to see if he tries to say anything, running to the next, repeating the process. There’s an older boy—maybe twelve—standing in front of two girls in one of the rooms with his arms out protectively.
“There’s a woman out there.” I tell them. “She’ll take care of you. You can trust her.”
It’s as I’m checking the last room, opposite Kent in this thankfully empty hall, when I hear his sob. I’m at his side in seconds, gun at the ready, but he’s dropped his at his side.
Standing against the wall with her hands over her face, is a woman. Her hands obscure most of her features, but I can tell she’s an adult, and by the way Kent’s staring at her like he’s seeing a ghost, I’m guessing this is the woman we’re here for.
“Libby?” His voice breaks after her name, and he dissolves into tears as he steps toward her.
Dressed in a nightgown, there’s nowhere for a weapon, but I don’t trust her implicitly, so I train my scope on her head as Kent gets closer, unable to ignore the sudden twist in my gut. I feel the strangest sense of déjà vu and realize this must be how he felt when I was chasing who I thought was Claire up the steps.
“Libs,” he tries again, drawing up in front of her.
I watch as her hands slip an inch, allowing her to see him, and allowing me to see the tears streaking her face.
“It’s okay,” Kent promises, holding a hand out for her to take. But she doesn’t move… not when he steps in front of her, not when he places a tentative hand on her shoulder, and not even when he grabs her in his arms and holds her so tight that I wonder if he’s trying to keep her from breaking, or himself.
I want to allow him this moment, and I want to allow her a chance to acclimate to her husband, but we don’t know what the fuck is going on here. “We gotta go.”
Kent nods, tucking her under his arm without a second of hesitation and leading her to the door. She doesn’t look up as she passes, but my gut twists again as they brush by me, and I get the sense that danger is near.
A little girl comes running full-speed at them, attaching herself to Libby’s calves, but even that doesn’t make her look up. Desperation hangs in the air, which has decidedly calmed down since the initial shot, and Rich sprints toward them, mouth open in shock. “You got her?”
“Come here,” Rook says softly, taking the hand of the small girl and pulling her off of Kent’s wife, who she still reaches for.
“The place is clear, other than them.” Rich nods at the children, most of which are sticking to the walls, keeping a safe distance away from us, watching with curious, and scared eyes. “What do we do?”
What do we do?
I have no fucking clue. I don’t know how many of them there are, but I know it’s more than the jet can accommodate, even if allof the adults stayed behind and I simply told Simon to take them somewhere. Even if the jet would fit them all, where the hell do we go? I don’t know who these kids are—they look too clean and wellcared for to be captives, and the fact that Libby over there isn’t interacting with them makes me wonder why the fuck she’s here.
I scrub a hand over my face, wishing Kent was capable of rational thought right now. None of us know the first thing about children… the closest we can get is that we all were one, at some point.
Rook’s eyes meet mine over the shoulder of the girl he picked up, desperate for a command. But I have none to give. It’s Claire who breaks the drone of sniffling and whispering.
“They brought these kids here somehow. There’s got to be a car or something.”
“A car?” Michael repeats. “A car isn’t going to fit them all.”
“We’ll have to take trips.”
“It’s three hours by car to a town with more. There’s not enough room on the jet.” I work through my thoughts as I speak them. “Even if we havemultiplecars, I don’t think we have enough space. I don’t know how to get to the next town. Kent?”
Kent turns to take me in, as if he forgot I was even here. And then he nods, turning to his wife.
“Do you know a way out of here?”
Libby’s nod is quick, but she seems to pull herself together enough to lead him out the way we came. Something uneasy flickers at the base of my consciousness, but I can’t pinpoint what the source is. We’re in an underground bunker in a remote part of the country with children who were clearly brought here so that they could be sold. Everything about it feels wrong.
“Stay with the children and her.” I tell Rook and Rich, whose arms are crossed nervously over his chest as though he’s scared one of them might come bite him. And to be fair, they might. There’s a few on the smaller side, the ones in Claire’s arms, who very much look like they could still be cutting teeth.
“If anyone shows up who isn’t one of us, take them out.”
They both nod, and Michael joins my side.
“Something feels off.” I tell him, earning a grunt of agreement.
