Chapter 39

• I close my eyes as the tears begin to fall silently down my cheeks, warm unwelcome rivulets of remembrance. I shudder as I push them away, inhaling heavily as my shoulders start to tremble with the effort of not falling apart. The pain is returning once more, and I can’t stop myself. My heart fills up and strains to contain it as images I don’t want to relive swamp my mind. The horrors of how I last saw them all trying so hard to invade my brain and cut me down all over again.
• I nestle back into Colton as his arm comes up around my body and across my neck as he cuddles me. His comfort because he can feel my pain, my body trembling as I cry, squeezing my eyes shut to gain control. His touch is what I need more than anything, and I stay here in the darkness of my own doing, listening and silently weeping while held tight in his comforting embrace.
• “We think it was a test, for this device we found in the orphanage,” Juan carries on, and my eyes rip open at his words, shoving my despair aside as I squirm, wriggling out of Colton’s arms to see what everyone is craning their necks to look at. Catching a gap as the ones in front move sideways to look where I am.