UPSIDE DOWN

~ 40 ~

Sylvie 

I didn't even realize I was screaming until my throat burned.

"Do you think I want to be in this?" My voice cracked, sharp, wild. "Do you think I enjoy hearing every single one of you argue about whether I'm worth protecting or worth keeping in the dark like I'm some goddamn porcelain doll?"

Their faces blurred together, Andrea's clenched jaw, Aurelio's flaring nostrils, Papa's tense shoulders, the twins hovering like they weren't sure if they should step closer or run.

"You talk about plans and secrets and alliances like that makes me safer. Like keeping me in the dark ever worked. You have no idea how terrified I've been."

I was shaking, the words pouring out faster than I could control. "When I saw my stepfather, someone I trusted, someone I thought was dead, standing in front of me with a gun, I thought I was going to die. I thought this is it, and I didn't know why"

My breath hitched, but I couldn't stop. "When I saw mama, with rope marks around her neck, her wrists, she was already cold. And you all think I should've been protected from the truth? I saw it."

I saw Aurelio's expression shift, but I didn't let him speak. "And the woods, God, the woods. The bomb went off and all I could hear was ringing in my ears and screaming, and I couldn't move. I couldn't run. I couldn't do anything but sit there and hope someone found me before the next blast."

By now my voice was breaking, but the anger kept it alive. "And then," my breath trembled, the words cutting deep even as I said them, "seven hours. Seven hours of pain, and I didn't even know why or who or what I'd done to deserve it. Seven hours where I thought, if I die right now, no one will ever know where I am. No one will come."

The room was silent. I felt my nails dig into my palms, my body trembling so violently it hurt.

"And you know what all of that taught me?" I looked between them, my voice dropping to something raw and broken. "That I don't know how to protect myself. That if it happens again, I can't walk, I can't run, I can't fight back. And all I've got is the hope that someone will get to me in time, because I never learned how to save myself."

No one spoke. Not Andrea. Not Aurelio. Not even Papa.

Aurelio 

Sylvie's chest rose and fell like she'd just run a marathon, even though she hadn't moved an inch. Her eyes glassy, furious, broken, scanned the room one last time.

Then she shook her head, a bitter, humorless laugh escaping. "You all love to play savior, but you never actually save me in time."

No one tried to stop her when she turned her wheelchair around and left. The sound of her uneven wheels echoed down the hall, every sound hitting like a hammer to my ribs.

I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Her words hung in the air like smoke after an explosion, thick, choking, impossible to ignore.

Seven hours.

Seven hours, and I hadn't been there.

All I could hear right now was silence. 

Not the kind of silence you get when a conversation ends. The kind that feels like the air's been sucked out of the room, like the walls themselves are holding their breath.

I glanced around. Matteo was standing with his jaw clenched so tight, I thought his teeth might crack. His fists were balled at his sides, but his eyes, God, his eyes weren't angry, they were wet.