A Hero in the Dark: 2nd Edition

Chapter 34: Dire Present

I stare at the phone in pure dread. I can't move. It's like I'm frozen in a block of ice. I'm tense, nervous, scared... My breath stays held. That's the worst kind of panic: when you can't make even the subtlest of movements, can't breathe the finest touch of air, and everything stops—just... stops, and still, you know what's coming. It's like you're dying; dying without really dying, dying without being physically hurt, inside to out. I only stare and swallow and even that's a struggle.

"Em," John says, and I know by the tone of his voice that it isn't the first time he's calling me. "We'll get them back. We'll find a way."

I shut my eyes, wanting more than anything to believe that this isn't real. Nothing but a dream. But when I look again, I know my efforts to rid the dire present were futile, and there's only one thing I can do, assuming it isn't too late: I grab the phone and type out a response with two shaky thumbs, and just before I hit send, John snatches my wrist. "Emily, what are you doing?"

"I don't have a choice, John," I tell him. "I just—I don't have a choice."

"We'll find another way."

"Maybe," I say, though I'm hardly looking at him anymore; I just can't. "Maybe we will. Maybe we'll all survive. But until then I have to do as they say."

John's inaudible. But I think he understands. He isn't one to tell me to do the unthinkable nor is he one to tell me not to do it. I read over the message that I've already typed: What do I do? It will have to suffice. I hit send.

It takes a while for the screen to fade from the messages to a phone call, a phone call from my brother. I inhale a burst of air before accepting and hitting speaker. "About time," says a voice I don't recognize, and my blood runs cold. I was hoping to hear my brother, innocently and as fine as I've left him; him, mom, and dad. But this... this is so much worse.

"Let them go," I stammer. "I'll do whatever you want, just let them go."

"Do nothing," the voice snarls. "Our people will come for you."

They hang up, and suddenly, I wish I asked for them to put my brother on the line, at least that way I'd know for sure. But that's it; they know where we are now. I gave away our location. That, too, is my fault, just like Adelina and Héctor's deaths. They'll track my phone and they'll be here any minute now. "Please tell me," I murmur, eyes down—because I hate what I've done. "Please tell me there was nothing else I could've done."

John takes hold of my hand. "There was nothing else you could've done, Emily," he says, almost exactly as I've asked him to say it, but the saddest part is I don't believe him. "We'll figure this out. C'mon. Let's find the others." It's guilt that slowly wraps its snake-like body around my throat, squeezing tighter and tighter with every second that passes. After everything Setrákus Ra has done, he got what he wanted. He knows where we are, and it's my frickin' fault.

***

"Everyone know the plan?" Crayton asks.

"I'll hide here and stay with Emily," Six recaps. "Then head down to the parking garage."

"And we'll wait for you," Marina adds, nodding.

John wraps an arm around me. "I hate the idea of letting them take you."

I don't look up at him. "I know, but I need to do this. Wherever they take me, whatever they do, please don't come for me unless you're sure it's safe."

"Alright, let's go everyone!" Henri shouts. "They'll be here any minute now and we don't want to be here when they are. Let's get down to the parking garage!"

Pixie shifts into a cricket and crawls up my wrist. I hide her in my pocket.

John's the last one in the elevator before the doors close. I can see the fear in his eyes, cheeks, jaw—in his heart. He's scared. But he shouldn't be. This is my fault. I never should've intervened. This is what I get for trying to change the future. Now I need to hope mine isn't gone, that mom and dad's lives aren't gone. I need them. I need to get them back.

Six puts a hand on my shoulder, whispers, "We won't be far behind. Whatever happens, focus on getting your folks out of there."

I can't focus on anything other than that. She resorts to invisibly almost as soon as something big lands on the roof; it shakes the place. Some of the roof caves in and I jump back, but when the dust clears, a Mogadorian is standing in my face. He's tall, like Setrákus, and he towers over me. His trench coat's long and sweeps the floor, and a cannon is strapped to his waist; I think he's showing it off on purpose. He reeks of death, blood, and war. I try not to flinch as he takes a step closer. I try not to run away or, hell, move. "Ready?" he asks.

I can't divert his stare even though I so badly want to. "Y—You have my mom and dad. You're not giving me much of a choice."

He holds out his hand. I take it, knowing that if I don't, mom, dad, and brother are as good as dead. Its hand is cold, and as soon as I take it, he jumps and drops me when we're outside. My knees hit the roof with a ragged outbreath. "Come. Beloved Leader is waiting."