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I knock. No response. I knock a few more times, but no one opens up, so I push the door handle. It isn’t locked at all, and when I push it open, the entire hut looks to have been raided.
“Holly?” I mutter.
She isn’t there. In fact, no one’s here at all.
I turn around and look at all the other huts, wondering where I should go or who I can ask for help. Everyone’s too busy with themselves, and the entire community has turned into a sparring ground. There’s nowhere left that’s safe.
Except … maybe … the hut where we stayed when we were still all initiates.
Without thinking it over, I run to the hut. I came there so many times before, and I know the route by heart, so I bolt there as fast as I can. No knocking this time. I smash into the door and then come to a full halt.
Holly’s huddled in the corner near the beds with maybe a dozen, no more, children bundled closely together. She looks up in fear, her eyes widening when she sees it’s me.
Then a man appears from the kitchen area.
I hold up my hand, instinct telling me I can’t trust him, and I grab for the first thing in my grasp. A pair of scissors lying on the table next to the door.
“Wait! Don’t,” Holly says. “Please.”
I look at him and then her. He’s holding up his hands, backing away slowly.
“I’m just her husband,” the guy says.
“You can trust him,” Holly adds.
“Why?” I hiss. “Give me one good reason.”
“Because I love him!” she says.
My lips part as I look at her in surprise.
She loves him?
“He’s a good man. Please, he’s not like the others …” she says, rubbing her lips together as she looks at the children, and a pang of guilt strikes me hard.
I’m here looking for safety, and then I’m threatening a guy I don’t know … all because men in this community have taught me they can’t be trusted. This place has done something to me that I don’t like. I don’t want to fear every walking man. I want to believe there are good ones left.
So I lower the scissors and place them back onto the table.
The man visibly eases up and so do I.
“I won’t do anything,” he says. “I won’t harm you.” He glances at my robes. “Or your baby.”
I instinctively wrap myself up more, shielding her.
“You’re different from the others?” I ask, unsure if I can believe it.
“He never hurt me. Not once,” Holly says. “He’s a good guy. I swear.”
“Do you want to come in?” he asks.
I narrow my eyes and take a deep breath. “I just need a place to stay … for now.”
He beckons me. “C’mon. I’ve made tea. The kids were thirsty.”
I close the door behind me and look at all the kids who are gaping at me as if I’m the epitome of danger.
“Their parents are fighting, so I took them in,” Holly says. “I didn’t know where else to go. There were too many. Only this hut was big enough.”
I nod. “It’s my fault.”
She licks her lips. “I guess … it had to happen someday.”
“Will my mommy and daddy survive?” one of the kids asks as they look at her.
I approach them, and they all seem to cower in fear.
“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you, I promise,” I say.
“But you’re that lady, the one who made all the adults get angry,” one of the other older kids says, and it stings so badly it makes me want to smash my fist into the wall.
This is one thing I didn’t foresee, one thing I never took into account when my mother and I decided to start a revolution. No coup is without those who suffer.
And these kids won’t know if their parents survive until it’s too late.
I started this revolt with the best in mind … but did I make the right choice?
Noah
In one fell swoop, I punch my father in the nose so hard his face tilts back, and I twist his arm, causing it to snap. He growls in pain as I steal away the crossbow he just put an arrow in and I shoot.
BAM!
Right in the leg.
He howls out loud. “You son of a bitch! You shot me!”
I quickly reach for the last remaining arrow lying on the table and tuck it into the crossbow. Then I point it straight at his heart. “No one touches my kid!”
“You idiot! You think you can handle that bitch? That she’d listen to you? Bullshit! She’s just like your mother, an insufferable witch that doesn’t listen to her husband’s commands!” he growls. “I’m the only one who can ever take care of this family!”
My nostrils flare. “I should’ve done this a long time ago.”
BAM!
One more shot to put him out of his misery.
