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Ezra squeezes my hand. “Come, dear. It’s time to go home.”
He leads me away, and I don’t look back. I—
I
I
I
I opened my eyes.
Kelly was staring down at me, eyes wide and wet.
He said, “Robbie?”
I went for a smile, but it broke immediately. I tried to be strong, tried to let him know that all was well, that I remembered everything, remembered him, but instead of words, I started to cry.
It crashed over me, and before long my entire body was shaking as I sobbed.
He was there, right there, holding on to me like he was never going to let me go.
“It hurts, it hurts, Kelly, it hurts, I can’t breathe, I can’t—”
And he said, “I know, I know, oh, Robbie, oh, I know. But it’ll pass, I swear, it’ll pass, and I’ll still be here, we’ll still be here.”
But I couldn’t stop.
He said, “Ox! Oh my god, Ox, I can’t—”
And the door to our bedroom crashed open, and Ox was there, and without a word he scooped me up in his arms, whispering to me that they were going to take care of me, that they were going to make it all right again.
I couldn’t stop shaking as he carried me down the stairs, Kelly trailing after us.
The others were waiting for us in front of the blue house. Just when I thought I was getting under control, I saw Chris and Tanner and I remembered the way their blood had felt in my m
outh, I remembered how their skin and muscles had torn, their bones breaking as I bit down, I remembered their screams for me to stop, to please stop, please, please, please.
But they weren’t afraid of me.
They didn’t cower back.
No.
Instead they put their hands on me, on my face, in my hair, telling me they loved me, they loved me and they wouldn’t let anything happen to me again.
They followed us to the other house.
Joe opened the door, and Elizabeth led us to the living room. The furniture had been pushed out of the way, and there were blankets and pillows on the ground. Ox laid me down in the middle, and the others filled in the spaces around us, always touching.
Kelly was there, fierce and protective. He pulled me from Ox, and I collapsed against his chest. He ran his hands up and down my back, saying, “You’re okay. You’re okay. You’re okay. I’ve got you.”
I believed him.
I was safe.
I was warm.
A hand pressed against my leg. Another wrapped around my ankle. There was a kiss against the back of my neck and the scrape of fingernails against my side. Chris and Tanner shoved Ox out of the way and lay on the other side of me, wrapping themselves around me from behind, clutching me tightly. They whispered words of hope, of love and peace. I took everything they said and filled the emptiness of the void until it overflowed.
