Silent Screams

Chapter 8: Let me live...

Adjusting my bag, I take a final glance at the Phoenix sculpture on my way out of the design building. It's a mess of broken bulbs and shattered glass on the floor, the whole thing marred and wrecked, yet somehow... It looks different. The fragments reflect the dim light, casting strange, ghostly glows across the room, like embers clinging to life in the ashes. A breeze whispers through the cracked windows, brushing over me.

My hand tightens around my bag strap. "You were right, Theora... It is beautiful."

I take a deep inhale as a breeze settles on me, fragile but serene. I close my eyes, letting the quiet wash over the ache in my chest.

Oh shit!" A voice cuts through the silence, jarring me back. "You made it out!"

I turn my head and glance at the cause of the noise.

I turn my head, and there he is—Casey. He stands there, all wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

"I was worried about you all! When everything went down, I was able to duck off into a locker." His face disgusts me. "I hoped you three would follow my lead but I guess you guys got distracted." A pity. He scratches the back of his head.

I scan him up and down, noting the pristine state of his clothes, not a scratch, not a bruise, nothing.

"Wasn't so bad, though." He gestures to the generator he's dragged along with him, neatly packed and ready. "Look what I managed to snag!" My end of this con is officially over. His smile is smug, almost triumphant.

I clench my teeth.

He glances around, rubbing his hands together as he surveys my face. "Where's the others? Theora?" There's a flicker of something in his eyes—curiosity, or maybe the satisfaction of a job well done.

I don't answer, avoiding his gaze. My hands stay tight on my bag strap.

He makes his expression falter. "Oh... Not good then." Casey lets out a sigh and takes a seat on the generator. "I'm sorry, Simon. You two seemed to have something... unspoken together." Good shit. James did well then.

A tremor runs through my hand.

"So... where did James get off to?" He cranes his neck, looking past me as if James might be hovering behind my shoulder. "I can't imagine he'd go far." Probably meeting with Vanessa at the Rendezvous to debrief before the welcome home pity party.

"He gave me space to say goodbye." I speak plainly. "Said he'd meet me back here after he surveyed an area..." I pretend to search my mind, glancing up as though wracking my memory. "What was it?"

"The Observatory?" He asks. Don't tell me he told this guy where the meeting place was.

"Exactly." My hands come together in a clap.

Casey takes an exhale. I guess I need to keep him here until James comes back. "That place isn't that far. Plus, it's pretty small. He's probably on his way back at this point." He leans forward. "We should wait for him here. Collect ourselves before moving forward."

"Right." I murmur, turning back to the Phoenix sculpture. I circle it slowly, taking in the shattered bulbs, the twisted metal. I lower my bag to the ground and slip a hand into the front pouch, feeling the cool steel under my fingers.

A draft blows by me and I give my bag a few pats in response.

"This whole thing was a bust, huh?" Casey's voice is casual, careless. "I mean, we got the generator, but losing Theora like that... was it worth it?"

I rise to my feet, turning to face him, keeping my voice steady. "Not at all."

"Yeah..." He shrugs slightly. Except it totally was worth it. This generator is such a cheat code. Vanessa was able to have a fully charged phone the other day in just one hour. We can literally have a replacement for that GPS losing its signal with the offline version of the Route Map App.