In the Name of Order

Chapter 10: The Purus

"Mum." Topaz's eyes follow his mother as she walks closer to us.

His expression is neutral, but I feel he wants to say more. Perhaps he's mentally thanking the higher power for bringing his mother to him. He must've been worried when he didn't see her in the tunnel with us. I even thought the men from the Gifted Program would've killed her.

Regardless of Topaz's possible thoughts, he says nothing else, and when Ankah finally reaches her son, Topaz nods at his mum.

"You're all soaking wet." Ankah scans over Topaz's clothes then looks at the rest of us before speaking, "What happened?"

"You had no clue we could have died?" My mother moves Topaz aside to shout at her older sister.

"Zarah, you knew about the flooding. All you needed to do was reach the exit on time."

"Where was the exit? Where was the exit, Ank!" my mother then grabs Ankah by the arm and begins walking towards Mathea and me.

However, Ankah swats her arm up to hit my mother in the face and pushes my mother to the ground.

"Look at my child!"

Ankah turns to look at Thea and me now sitting awkwardly on the floor.

"She almost drowned looking for a bloody door. There was a hatch, Ankah. The hatch kept my child in too long, because she was looking for your door."

My mother turns away from Ankah who's still looking at Thea and me. I look at Thea as she mouths 'it's alright' to Aunt Ankah. Ankah smiles a small, but grateful, smile as she stares down at Thea with apologetic blue eyes. I now look into my sister's eyes and bring my hand to her face to squeeze her cheeks, but Thea groans and begins to stand up.

"If hatches were built in then they're new developments. This place was supposed to be abandoned for years, and the last time I was here, there were doors you'd simply push open and the water would drain away. You should have been led to a room with stairs that would lead you up here." Ankah avoids my mother's eyes, but my aunt's body is turned towards my mum.

"Zarah, if someone has been developing this place over the past few years, we should be expecting company. We need to leave."

Ankah doesn't wait for us as she walks in the direction she came in from. Topaz is the first to follow her. Kane looks at me then motions for me to follow them before he turns away to follow Topaz. Mathea pulls me up from the floor, and I walk with her to wherever Ankah is leading us. Mother follows closely behind Mathea and I.

I stop in my tracks and look at my mother before placing a kiss on her head. She smiles sadly at me, and Mathea throws her arm around my mother, pulling mum to walk with us.

Ankah stands at the door she entered and holds the door open as all of us pass through. My mother is the last to pass through the door, and I see Ankah gently squeeze my mother's arm. I can't tell if mother is trying to force herself to smile or stop herself from smiling at Aunt Ankah. Maybe she has mixed emotions.

I look around this new room we've entered. It's small, and there are a flight of stairs to the left of me. My eyes follow the stairs to the top of the stairwell. We have a bit of a climb to get to our next destination. Ankah is the first to climb a step, and she gently pulls my mother behind her.

"Marcus?" Mum tugs on her sister's shirt a little too hard, causing Ankah to stumble backwards and hold onto the railings to prevent herself from falling down these stairs.

"Marcus decided it was best he stayed," Ankah says, looking up to see how much further we'll have to climb. "I advised otherwise, but you know your husband. He said he would keep things calm and offer us help where necessary."