The Passing

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The tension in the room is suffocating.

Tatum gulps, eyes wandering over each and every one of us before carefully taking the envelope in their hands. Their fingers shake as they try to hold it steadily. Time inches forward, moving in a desperate crawl as we all await the truth. The real truth. Sucking in a sudden sharp breath, they close their eyes, holding in the air as if it were the last breath they'd take, before breaking the seal from the off-white paper. Every sound is a thousand times louder as they cautiously unfold the paper stashed inside, dropping the envelope carelessly to the ground. Their eyes shift across the paper, their face shifting between emotions faster than any of us can keep up. Just as I am about to press them to speak, a gust of air bursts through their pressed lips.

"They're looking for a person." they utter in disbelief, finally glancing up from the paper as they let it slip from their grasp. I watch it float down to the table as the others proceed with their own burning questions.

"That can't be it." Azrael scuffs. "All this for one person?"

"It would make sense. Especially if you say they are going around and killing everyone but who they find value in." Jane adds. "But who are they looking for then?"

"The letter doesn't give a name, but I think I know who." Tatum says, pushing the hair from their face. Jane and Azrael both look up at them. "If the story my mother told me about my father is true, I-I think they're looking for me."

"What makes you say that?" Azrael asks. But I'm more focused on the immense relief, and guilt for it, I feel. If they said they are looking for someone, and didn't name Azrael, does that mean he's off the hook? Tatum helped us escape, and I refuse to even imagine what else Alondra had in store or Azrael and I. That relief is only temporary.

"They reference a man and his brother," Tatum says, pointing to and showing Jane and Azrael the line. "See, a recruiter and a scouter, looking for land to expand their camp. That's the same description my mom gave me of my father." Tatum answers and I stop. Of course there are a million other possibilities other than the one that suddenly rings throughout my head. But that ringing is louder than everything else in the world, like a constant invisible lull, pulling me along. Guiding me.

"Let me see," I say quietly, taking the paper in my hands. As my eyes dash across the paper, struggling to stay focused as I read, the others carry on in conversation.

Years ago, me and my people stumbled across a man and his brother. They claimed to be recruiters and scouters, searching for places to expand their own camp. My people were weak, ill, and needed more than I could provide. That man saved us from the hands of the unconsecrated, and brought us to the safe house he and his brother had been staying. After a couple days, he said they had to go, but my people were still sick and needed more time. I had asked if we could join them, be a part of whatever they were building. He promised he would return and grant us just that. It's been nineteen years. All of those people he promised to save are dead. Don't worry. We aren't interested in whatever safe haven you can provide. We want the head of the man that betrayed me and my people. However, as we've been waiting and watching, we know that the one we seek is no longer a dweller of this earth. So in place we seek his kin, only one of the three, a bargain really given the blood on his hands. Now we know Ruby is where we will find what we are longing for. An eye for an eye, and your debt will be settled. The suffering of all will finally cease.

"This doesn't have to mean she's been in communication with them. It seems like they sent this to her." The letter pulls at me, as if somewhere within the voice that wrote it speaks directly to me. Dropping the letter on the table, I cross my arms tightly over my chest, still uncertain.