Chapter 47 Scarlett #3
“Thanks, Ben.” He told the man. “She was born at the daycare,” he explained. “She never made it to a church, Azrael brought her here before that ever happened.” He held out a hand to me first. “Paul.”
I looked at it and frowned, keeping my hands to myself, my eyes quickly returning to that girl.
She was one of the ones he was transporting?
Where? How did he manage to save her? He once told me that he could only ever save one or two per load, so how did he make the choice if his van had been filled with boys and girls just like her?
“She doesn’t like to be touched,” Havoc explained, taking Paul’s hand instead. “Havoc.”
Paul shook it fiercely, glancing back at me, his smile warm and inviting, his green eyes just the same. “Azrael’s wife,” he said, shocking me. “We hear things, even from way up here. Come on, I’ll take you to my office.”
On our way back through the house, it was clear how loved he was. Everyone had to say hi, had to hug him, had to show him some new thing they had accomplished. It was no wonder Azrael let him be in charge of this place, he was good at it. Really good, and it seemed like he liked it very much.
His office was humble. Not large, but not small either.
Books were stuffed into bookshelves all around the room, half blocking off a giant window on the right side, and he had a wall lined in filing cabinets, along with files stacked on his desk.
Even through all that paperwork, I could still see little clay figurines and drawings clearly done by the hands of the children.
There were even a few small stuffed dolls lying around in varying places.
Paul took a seat behind the desk, gesturing for us to take a seat on the chairs. “Please, sit.”
Havoc fell into his, instantly getting comfortable, spreading his knees, resting his arms on the arm rests, but I had to pause, seeing a little stuffed rabbit lying right in the center of my chair.
I gently picked it up, the fur was nearly gone, the eyes replaced with black buttons, and it felt so fragile in my hand, barely the size of it. It must have been very old.
“That belonged to Lily,” Paul said, pulling my eyes up as I finally took a seat. “She graduated about a year ago. She was here when I first got here, only 9,” he explained, “but she took a liking to me. She’s turning 17 now,” he smiled proudly. “She’s on track to graduating high school.”
Paul had been here for six years, I realized. Azrael hadn’t told me much about his story, just that he decided he wanted to stay and help.
“6 years,” I said after setting the rabbit in my lap. “I was 15.”
When Havoc went to translate, Paul held up a hand. “No need, I understand. Is that significant to you?” he asked.
I shook my head, the confusion only growing. “I know you. I do, I remember your eyes.”
He nodded, his eyes shining suddenly, his smile now pained.
“And I remember you. I never made it off that stage that night, thanks to Azrael, but it was the second time I was up there for only being there a year. The person who bought me the first time didn’t appreciate the way I acted, so he put me up again.
So I know you were punished for looking up at that auction that night. Why did you do it?”
I swallowed, realization hitting me slowly and then all at once. It had me adjusting myself in the seat and straightening my spine. He was the boy on the stage. I remember him so clearly now. He had changed so much. “I had to see your faces. I had to know.”
Another small nod as if he completely understood what I was trying to say without hardly any words at all. “How are you handling this new world of yours, free of them?”
“How are you?” I countered, not wanting to reveal anything I shouldn’t.
He shrugged, looking around the room in such admiration, it caused my stomach to twist. “Good,” he finally said, finding my eyes again. “So, I know this isn’t a friendly visit. Azrael usually brings doughnuts when that happens. Am I to expect another batch?”
“Now that you mention it, how many more can you fit?” Havoc asked casually.
Paul considered the question. “Couple dozen,” he answered. “A few kids are graduating this year, finding their families, others are going off to college, so we’ve got room.”
“It’s a severe case,” Havoc explained. “These ones were in Absolution for an undetermined amount of time.”
Paul straightened, his expression suddenly serious. “Absolution? Nobody survives that.” His eyes widened. “You found it?”
“She did,” he nodded towards me, Paul’s eyes shifting. “Paid her price to do it, now we all need to pay what we can to make sure the people she saved make it through this transition.”
Paul studied me for a long time, suddenly unreadable. “How much time do I have?”
“I’d say a couple of hours to the end of the day maybe. My people are coming upon it here soon, but that’s not the only reason we’re here. A few months ago, you had some friends of Azrael’s drop off a van of kids.”
Paul was all business now, his mind working through whatever problems he would need to solve before this drop off happened. “I remember.”
“Among those friends was someone who betrayed us. She’s working for the man behind the church.”
His face paled, but his eyes darkened. “We’re compromised.”
“There is no chance that she didn’t tell someone, but I’ve already sent out a message, you’ll be seeing guards around the outside of the house, covert,” he assured him, “to protect this place while we finish off what we started. It won’t be long, but I’ll leave them here for a couple of weeks after this Sunday, just to be safe. Can the kids handle that?”
“No,” he answered truthfully, “but we’ll work through it. Why haven’t they come yet? I know the kind of people who attend that church, why wouldn’t they come here if they knew where we’re at?”
“You weren’t worth it,” I explained coldly. “Victims, useless, no fighting skills, no threat.”
“And now?”
I shrugged. “Now the war is at their doorstep and they’re going to do everything they can to get the upper hand.” Including killing a bunch of kids just to prove a point.
Zo had lost her hands and feet by Sunday night. They were dead now. Dead things connected to her arms and legs. It still didn’t seem like enough given everything she did.
Havoc’s phone suddenly sounded through the room, and he immediately dismissed himself to answer it, leaving Paul and I alone, my hand instantly nearing my knife.
I knew he was a survivor of that place, just like I was, but the door was only barely cracked, and I suddenly felt so very alone.
He didn’t seem to take notice, and if he did, he didn’t seem to care. “So, you got out and married Azrael,” he began, leaning back in his chair. “How did that happen?”
I studied him carefully, but just at the mention of Azrael again, my heart flipped.
I licked my lips and straightened. “He infiltrated the church deeply, earned their trust, bought me from Pastor Masters and started training me while we plotted against them. He gave me a voice, gave me freedom, and now we’re going to hurt everyone who ever laid their hands on us. ”
He shook his head, a light flickering in his eyes. “You’ve got it wrong, Mrs. Thorin, all he gave you were tools. You’re the one that fought for this. You fought to stay alive, you fought to speak, you fought to become this. That wasn’t him. That was all you.”
Shock filled me at his words, my mind working slowly to come up with a response.
But before I could, the door opened again.
“They found the building,” Havoc announced, walking in, immediately erasing every other thought I had.
“They’re taking care of it. You can expect the new arrivals in the next two hours, as well as my people to guard your doors. ”
Paul stood. “Then it looks like I’ve got work to do. It was good to meet both of you,” he rounded the desk, “stop by whenever you want. The kids love having guests, especially if you bring doughnuts with rainbow sprinkles,” he smiled brightly.
How many times had Azrael brought them doughnuts?
As soon as he left the room, Havoc spoke. “I like him,” he said, pulling my eyes over. “He’s a good man to be in charge of this place. Gentle.”
By the laughter I had heard, I had to agree, but it was hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that a place like this could heal someone.
I think I would have hated it. I think I would have run away, but, then again, I wasn’t the same person now as I had been when Azrael and I had first met. Maybe that me would have thrived here.
“Come on, it’s time for our next stop.”
I rolled my shoulders, relief filling me.
Finally. This trip was nice, but bloodshed is really what I wanted.
This place was beautiful, but I didn’t feel comfortable here at all.
Everyone was too…nice and cheery. It all seemed almost fake to me.
Like a mask. How could none of them feel any pain for what the church had done to them?
How could they not feel hatred or anger for what had happened?
It just seemed strange. I wanted to get back to where I was most comfortable.
I wanted to feel the blood dripping between my fingers, watch their lives drain from their eyes.
I wanted to inflict as much pain as they had inflicted on my family.
Sitting around and playing just seemed like a waste of time.
Then again…I don’t think I had ever felt as happy as Paul looked. Maybe with Azrael. I was always happy with Azrael, but Paul looked like he was weightless. As if he held not a single burden on his shoulders. As if all the bad things they had done to him had simply disappeared.
I couldn’t help but wonder what something like that would feel like.