Chapter Twenty-Five
Ididn’t know how long I slept, my body trying to recover, but when I woke the sun was peeking through the flaps of the tent. Part of me expected to wake up to Warner’s body next to mine, but I was alone in the tent. Voices swirled from right outside and I managed to crawl out, spotting Aiden, Warner, Stephanie, and Lucas.
Aiden was in the middle of speaking when he spotted me, his voice faltering. Rushing to the opening of the tent, he pulled me into his arms. “Fuck. It should have been me.”
Shaking my head, I met his gaze, pleading silently with him to not make a big deal out of this. It happened and now it was over. We didn’t need to frighten the twins.
My body was on fire as I moved, but I tried to hide my grimace, a tense smile on my closed lips. “What are we talking about?”
I attempted to stand with Warner and Aiden, but Aiden gently pushed me down to sit on the ground, both men following. Stephanie and Lucas slowly inched closer to me, both of their eyes scanning the bandages on my arms that were soaked in blood.
Lucas’ eyes were wide, fear in the brown depths that matched his father’s. Stephanie touched the bandage lightly, looking to me for an answer to her silent question.
“I’m okay,” I whispered, running a hand over her hair.
And I was okay. I could handle the physical pain, grit my teeth, and make it through. I wouldn’t have been able to handle the emotional pain if three of the people around me had been hurt because of something I said.
“Are you going to be able to start a fire?” Warner asked, his dark eyes trailing over my arms and legs.
By his tone, I knew he thought I couldn’t. And honestly, it was a fair assumption. On a normal day, I struggled to find the strength to get a spark going, and today I was in worse shape than I had ever been. But I was also more determined than ever to get away from here and that had to count for something.
“I can do it. What time is it?” As I asked, I glanced toward the building of horrors, catching sight of the large clock.
Ten minutes after three. We had less than two hours before we made our escape.
“Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?” I asked the two men.
Aiden cringed at my question, and Warner was the one to answer. “We tried. Thought you may have been dead for a second there.”
I glared at him, looking pointedly to the twins. Way to not scare them. However, neither Lucas nor Stephanie flinched. They were tougher than I gave them credit for.
Warner simply shrugged, obviously not caring about what he said in front of them. However, I remembered the anger in his voice from last night. He may act like he didn’t care about us, that his only focus was escaping, but the intensity in his words begged to differ.
“We’ve been talking about a change of plans. I’m going to go with you to start the fire. In case you can’t run on your own,” Aiden added, and I was already shaking my head in denial.
I had volunteered to light the fire on my own solely so I could guarantee Aiden made it out with the twins. I had even given him a rough idea of where to go once he was in the woods. But leaving them with Warner? He would leave them the second he made it past the guards.
I opened my mouth to argue, but continuing to surprise me, Warner was the one to speak up. “And I told you that was a bad idea. If she passes out from the exertion like she did last night, you won’t be able to carry her.”
That was true. Although Aiden was strong, he was only an inch or so taller than me and most likely wouldn’t be able to hold my entire dead weight.
Warner met my eyes, a silent message passing between us that I couldn’t decipher. “I’ll stay back with her.”
Aiden looked like he wanted to disagree, but I grabbed his arm until he was looking at me. “You need to get the twins out and to safety. That needs to be your only goal.”
I hadn’t had the opportunity to tell him about Emmanuel, but I hoped he heard the pleading in my voice. If the twins stayed here, it was only a matter of time before Vex or someone else figured out who they were. And I didn’t want to even think about what could happen to them if that came to be.
Aiden and I stared at each other until he finally broke, just as he had done a million times when we were kids. “Fine.”
“Come on then. Everyone try to act normal for the next couple hours. Alessia, I’ll meet you by the fence in an hour.”
Warner stood up, slinking away into the crowd, leaving the four of us. Aiden opened his mouth to speak, and I knew he wanted to talk about what happened last night. Unfortunately for him, I had no intention of ever speaking of it.
Grabbing the twins” hands, I inflected happiness into my tone. “Come on. Why don’t we go find some more flowers for your parents? The other ones wilted already.”
“Will we be able to give these ones to Mommy?” Stephanie asked as we stood together, Lucas at my other side.
“I’m hoping we will.”
The four of us walked through the camp in silence, avoiding others. The weight of eyes was on me as we walked, no doubt the guards checking to see that I was indeed alive and ready for more torture tonight. I ignored the stares as much as I could, but I couldn’t help the shiver that ran up my spine each time I caught a guard”s eye.
Once we reached the small area of flowers, I set Stephanie and Lucas on the lookout for the prettiest flowers they could find. My job was to find the perfect kindling for a fire, as well as sticks to create the initial spark.
Aiden and I wandered the area in silence, packing the sticks I needed into a bag so that they would be hidden from the watchful gazes that followed us. After I was finally content with the supplies we gathered, I called the twins over.
Both of them had bunches of flowers in their hand and I opened the bag for them to toss their finds inside. Then I sat them down, knowing we needed to have this conversation. So far, we hadn’t told them the plan for escaping. I didn’t think they would have told anyone, they barely spoke to us, but I also didn’t want to get their hopes up before everything was in motion.
“I need you both to listen very carefully.” Two sets of wide eyes stared up at me. “In a little bit, Aiden is going to take you to the back of the camp. There’s a fence there and the three of you are going to climb through it.”
“We’re leaving?” Lucas asked, his voice filled with so much hope it nearly broke my heart.
“We’re leaving. I’m going to get you back to your mom and dad.”
They shared a smile with each other, but I grabbed their attention once more. “This part is really important. No matter what happens, you do not leave Aiden’s side. You hold his hands as tightly as you can. You listen to everything he tells you to do. Can you do that?”
Two twin nods met me and I pulled both of them into a tight hug. “I’m going to keep you safe, okay?”
Stephanie pulled back, smiling so widely her cheeks stretched. “We know.”
She had so much faith in me. I only wished I had the same in myself.
***
It was time. Four fifty-two pm. In eight minutes, the guards would change spots. I had eight minutes to light this fire and distract all of them. Aiden and the twins were already waiting at the fence, ready to leave the second the coast was clear.
I had hugged the three of them fiercely before we parted, knowing it may well be my last chance. Aiden had refused to say goodbye, but I did so anyway. I hadn’t had a chance to say goodbye to the rest of my family; I wasn’t going to let that happen again.
Warner and I sat in the middle of a large cluster of tents, my hands fiddling with the kindling while he kept guard. We had double checked all the tents first, making sure there were no occupants inside. This was meant to be a distraction, and I didn’t want any innocent bystanders to get harmed.
Although, I knew plenty of people would be without a shelter tonight. That part of the plan had guilt mingling in my chest, but this wasn’t the place for that feeling. This was about surviving and you couldn’t think of others when that was on your mind.
“You know, I’m surprised you don’t know how to start a fire,” I said, making small talk as I set up the kindling in a teepee formation.
Warner seemed to be a man with many talents, although, the more I got to know the man, he didn’t have the same rugged personality as Rainer and Murphy.
“I can.” My eyes whipped up to him, wondering why I was doing this instead of him, when he smiled that sly grin. “With a lighter or matches.”
Shaking my head at him, I refocused on the task at hand. I was wasting time fiddling with the small sticks; I knew this. But I was terrified that I wouldn’t be able to ignite this spark and the idea held me back.
The clock now read four fifty-eight. I had run out of time; it was now or never. Taking a deep breath, I set up the large piece of wood I had found, gripping a smaller piece in my hands. Pressing deep, I put as much pressure as I could, twisting the stick in my hands over and over again.
Smoke billowed around my face, but there was no spark. Focusing my attention, I pressed harder, feeling the familiar strain in my muscles and the excruciating fire in my upper arms. But I didn’t stop, knowing I needed to get this.
Everything seemed to fade away as I focused, my hands moving fast. Please spark. Please spark. Finally, the lightest spark lit, and relief spilled through me. I had done it.
Being careful not to disrupt the spark, I brought it toward my kindling, setting it in the middle and leaning down to blow gently, stoking the flames. Within seconds, the kindling caught on fire, blossoming before me. I had specifically set it up on the edge of a tent, the canvas material flammable, and I was pleasantly surprised when the first tent flickered with red flames, ashes dropping to the ground.
The tents were close enough together, all of them basically touching, that it wouldn’t be long before they were all engulfed. I knew we didn’t have time, but I took a moment to admire my handiwork, pride soaring through me.
“Fuck, you actually did it.” The awe in Warner’s voice should have bothered me, obviously he didn’t have any confidence in my abilities, but I was too happy that the plan was working to care.
“Five o”clock. We need to move, Alessia.” Warner reached out to grab my hand, taking off in a run through the tents.
Like it was second nature, he kept us hidden behind most of the tents, not drawing any attention to our rushed movements. Quickly glancing behind me, I saw the uproar of flames at our backs, wondering how long before others noticed.
“Holy shit, there’s a fire!” A faraway voice called, and I smiled.
Footsteps began pounding on the ground and Warner pulled us behind a tent as we watched dozens of uniformed men and women rush toward the flames. It was working. Breaking out into a run once again, Warner put more distance between us and the fire.
My eyes were trained on the back of the camp, hoping Aiden and the twins were already making their escape, when my attention drew toward the main building. All the guards that usually surrounded it were long gone, chasing down my fire, and to my surprise, the locked door was wide open.
My mind spun with a plan. A reckless, idiotic plan. But something itched at the back of my brain, telling me that we needed answers before we left. That something important was in those rooms downstairs.
Knowing this may be the worst decision I ever made, I untangled my hand from Warner’s, shifting in the other direction. My body was already screaming at me to stop moving, to give up and rest, but I pushed past it, jogging toward the building.
“Alessia, what the fuck are you doing?” Warner seethed from behind me, but I didn’t turn to answer, knowing time was of the essence.
Running into the building, dozens of heads popped up at the noise of my feet against the wooden floors. These weren’t guards, they were desk lackeys, and yet in my harebrained plan, I hadn’t anticipated they would be here. I thought they would have gone to the fire with everyone else.
As all their eyes stared me down, one injured woman against way too many, I realized I was well and truly fucked.