Lucid Sanctum

Chapter One

On that night, Sanctum burned.

Everything was wrong. The things she thought she knew, things that should be real and tangible and normal, were all completely and terribly wrong.

It was only what Sanctum wanted her to think.

Emotions were reintroducing themselves into her system, draining her soul, and weren't getting any easier to manage despite daily practice.

If it had been anything other than fear and anxiety, maybe she wouldn't have lost her stomach on the street. But that was the hell that came with emotions. They did what they wanted, took advantage of her inability to hold them back. To manage their effects. Which, she could only assume, was why Sanctum took them away in the first place.

"I'll get them. I'll be right back." Vince called, bringing her back to the world around her. He looked back before shutting the door. "Stay here."

Where the fuck was she going to go? Her legs were like jelly and her hands hadn't stopped trembling since the first hum of helicopters hit her ears. All she could think about was her daughter, all she could hear was the screaming of her boys in the back and those same helicopters circling overhead. Only now, it wasn't a foreboding hum. It was a promise to take everything she held dear.

She was still trying to control herself, failing at it in some aspects and excelling in others. She could put a mask on with the best of them, going blank and empty. Alone, her hands trembled, and her mind raced with so many things she could hardly put a sentence together.

Detoxing from Sanctum was a bitch.

With her shirt, she wiped the vomit from her mouth and turned in her seat to pat Jacob on the thigh. "It's going to be okay, baby. Daddy will be right back."

Her five year old held his arms out to her, his face red and wet from crying. It broke her heart, but she couldn't get him out and hold him. They didn't have time and it wasn't safe. Once they were all on the other side, once she could breathe again, she'd make everything okay.

Jesse was just a baby. He was scared and all he knew was that mommy wasn't making it better. There wasn't much she could do to calm him down at the moment, and that tore her up even more. He wouldn't be able to understand her words. Jacob could and they still weren't calming him in the least.

At least Jesse wouldn't remember.

The empty seat between the boys haunted her, and Cory looked back to the dark house. Her daughter. Vince was going to get her and it was going to be okay. He'd get her in the vehicle, and they could all leave together. That was the plan. The plan was solid.

But, it wasn't the original plan. The original plan had Leena home where it was safe. The original plan wasn't supposed to be happening that night. But it was. And Leena wasn't. And they had to adapt.

The front door stood open, and two forms appeared from the shadows. Vince and Sandra. That was it. Where the fuck was Leena? Or Dexon? Cory's heart clenched and her stomach churned. The door opened and Sandra crawled into the very back, her face as red and morose as Jacob's. Cory snapped her head back to the front when Vince crawled into the driver's seat with no explanation on his lips.

"Where's Leena?"

Vince pushed the break and put the vehicle in gear. "Not in the house. We need to go."

"What?" Cory unbuckled her seat belt and shook her head, disbelief running through her in waves. Her attention went to Sandra, her best friend, then back to her husband. "What the hell do you mean she wasn't in the house? I can't leave without her, Vince. Where's Dexon?"

Sandra sobbed from the back. "I'm sorry! She wanted to play over at the Henderson's." Her voice was broken by more sobs, but all the sympathy Cory had for her was banished by her friend's admission. "We didn't know this was going to happen. Dexon went to find her, but he hasn't made it back yet."

"Vince wait please!"

"We don't have time for this Cory! We have to get out." Vince shook his head, but the look on his face told her more than it should. He was serious. He was going to leave Leena behind. "I'm sure she and Dexon will meet us on the other side."

"How can you say that to me with a straight face? I'm begging you!"

Vince shook his head again.

Cory whipped open the car door and climbed out. "I won't leave without her."

"Cory what are you doing?"

"I'll meet you on the other side. Get the boys out. I love you." With a trembling hand, she slammed the car door, the now muffled screams of Vince and her boys stealing the heart from her chest. "Mommy loves you." She pressed her hand briefly to the window, and bit back a sob before running around the SUV Vince had stolen from the local enforcer station. It was key in getting them out safely and from under the boot of Sanctum.

And Vince would get them out safely.

He promised.

Cory swayed on her feet. She blinked a few times to clear her eyes and get her bearings, but her body was too overwhelmed. It was a terrible idea, but there was no way she could leave without Leena. The thought of her three-year-old without her mother was too much to bear. It was all she could do to stay on her feet as her mind swirled inside her skull.

It wasn't the time to break down, but her worst fears were coming true. Leena was out there, without her.

Cory tried to remain as calm as her frantic mind would allow her. Her daughter was supposed to be in her arms. Shit wasn't supposed to go down tonight. They were supposed to have one more month, but things don't always go as planned, and her daughter and Dexon were out there in all of it.

The stomach dropping, dark pit feeling came back at full force.

All she had to do now was find Leena...andsurvive as the city burned around them.