Beyond The Sea Blue Light

Like A Bullet Through A Flock Of Doves

Frank's team leaves first thing in the morning, before the sun has even risen. By the time I'm awake, they're already long gone, disappeared into the morning mist that shrouds the mountain tops.

The house seems so much more quiet without the four of them, a haunting emptiness settling over the once bustling floors. We're down to five now. Four, not counting Andy, who Jack knocked out last night. Turns out they still had some of the tranquiliser they used on Vic. It was quite fast, the way that Jack and Alex managed to put him under and chain him up, leaving him in one of the now empty bedrooms. There wasn't even a struggle which makes me wonder exactly how many times they've done this. Andy is going to be furious when he wakes up, so hopefully that won't happen for a while. We should be good for the next few days, at least until Frank's team gets back. Just until the meeting is over, then we can decide what to do with Andy. Alex is keeping watch right now, stationed outside Andy's door in case he manages to wake.

I want to relax and take a breath, but I can only feel like there's more to come. Another wave looming just beyond, ready to smash down, dragging me away. There's only more to come and I know that.

I let out a frustrated sigh, kicking in my legs back and forth from where I'm sitting on the stone wall. From here I can see the jagged stone marking Craig's grave. It's a painful reminder of all that we've lost. All that could go wrong. And the more I think about it, the more afraid I am of seeing another stone right beside it. How many people have we lost? How many graves will we have scattered across from safe house to safe house before this is all done?

"You okay?" I hear Vic ask. I look over to see him sit down next to me, watching me carefully.

"Do you think we will ever be truly free?" I ask, letting the frustration bleed into my voice.

"I hope so," Vic says.

"It just feels like every time we fight, something bad happens. We keep losing people." I blink away tears of frustration. "First you, then Craig, and now Gerard's gone too. Will we ever actually be safe?"

"Don't think like that," Vic says. "Everything is going to be okay." But I'm not sure if I can believe him, not after everything. The last time he made that promise, my entire world fell apart. "You told me that. If we think like that, then we've lost already."

I nod, staring at the ground. But what if we've already lost? It's like Oli told me. There really will never be peace until there is only one of us left. Fear and anger will always control people. They will always look for a scapegoat. Someone to blame for any mistakes. And we just happen to be the scapegoat for the humans. The target to blame for anything that goes wrong. Something I hate. It's easy to use fear and hate to unite people. It's what people respond to best.

"Stop it," Vic says. He's kneeling in front of me as he takes my hand in his. "I know what you're thinking. Stop it."

"Will they always be afraid of us?" My voice sounds small even to my own ears. "Will they always hate us?"

"I hope not," Vic sighs. "Kells, I don't know. But I hope not. One day, maybe they can accept us. Rian did. Zack did. Matty did. If they did, why can't everyone else? It means that there is hope. We will be okay, maybe not now but one day."

"But hate will always rule everything, won't it?" I ask, discouraged. "They will always hate us for what we did to them. We will always hate us for what they did to us. No matter what we do, we will always be at war."

"Maybe," Vic sighs. "But it's like you said. We have to try, don't we? Otherwise, why did we escape? Why did we try if we knew that everything was going to be this terrible? Why didn't we just give up and let them kill us?" Because a part of us knew that there was a chance and we were willing to take it. We can't give up now, not when we're so close."