I spied from under the pillow, thinking Micah had slipped out of the room while I ugly-cried until my eyes hurt, but he was still there seated on the same chair. As usual he was dressed in black. This time it seemed almost as a joke. I guess I should dress in all black too from now on.
If I had any clothes left, because I didn’t. Everything I had was gone. Everything. Every piece of clothing, every book, every picture, every document, every person I loved and lived for.
A tear rolled down my face, and I quickly wiped it away.
Micah’s eyes fixed on mine with a sorrowful shine. The sympathy from before and the sorrowful expression on his face made me angry with him. Why was he sad? Out of pity? I didn’t need his pity, and I didn’t need his help.
“Talk to me, darling. How are you feeling?”
How do you think I’m feeling?
Pain sliced through my chest, and I closed my eyes, hugging the pillow tighter.
I didn’t want to answer. I didn’t want to think about it because if I thought about it, if I remembered it, it hurt more. The memory, the image of their bloodied bodies around me, burned inside, twisted my soul, and it ached more than my injuries. Much more. If I thought about my family, I wouldn’t do anything else other than cry.
Who was I kidding? I didn’t want to do anything else other than cry.
“Darling,” Micah whispered. His voice carried a tone I had never heard from him. His hand caressed my arm, and I felt like crying more. “I have something for you.”
I didn’t want anything from him, or anyone.
He gently clasped my wrist and turned my arm around so my palm faced the ceiling, then he dropped something there, something soft, fluffy, and almost weightless.
Realizing what it was, I flung the pillow aside. The air fled from me when my eyes fell on Pinky, Nicole’s stuffed bunny.
“Oh, God.” I pressed it to my chest, and a sob shook my core. Micah’s hand slid up my arm and squeezed my good shoulder. “How?”
“Rok told me your hometown was under attack, but I wasn’t fast enough.” He looked down. “When I got there, Omi was taking your family. There were too many of them. If I tried to save your family, I would have been captured too and that would make everything worse.” He dropped his hand. “Forgive me for not fighting for them right there. I thought I would be able to fight for them later.”
At a loss of what to do or what to feel, I did the only thing I could think of. Ignoring the ripples of pain that shot through my body, I knelt on the bed and embraced him. He was stiff at first, as if I had surprised him, but then his arms were around me, pressing me tighter. He buried his face on my neck and sighed.
“Nicole dropped that bunny, screaming that it was a gift from you and she couldn’t be without it. That’s why I grabbed it.”
Another sob ran through me. I inhaled deeply, trying to calm down. His vanilla and sandalwood scent washed my senses. In the past, I had felt lust whenever I had taken him in, but this time it brought me only security and comfort.
“I’m sorry, darling. I wish there was something I could do to ease your pain.”
“You could kill me,” I whispered without hesitation. He was the god of death, the dead, and the underworld, wasn’t he? He could kill me.
He grabbed my shoulders with a gentle grip and pushed me away. He stared at me with wide, hard eyes. “Don’t you ever kid like that, you got it? Never.”
I didn’t reply.
Hugging Pinky, I lay down on the bed turning on my side, my back to Micah.
I was being serious, even if he didn’t want to hear me. The best thing that could happen to me right now was to die, because the only thing I had to live for was gone.
Omi circled my family and me, pointing his scepter at each of us.
“Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,” he sang. His eyes sparkled red, sending fear crawling up my spine.
Desperate, I turned to my family and huddled them in my arms.
“No, Omi,” I mouthed. My voice didn’t come out, and I didn’t understand why. “Please, no,” I tried again, but the words were only in my mind.
“Tell me, Nadine, where are Levi and Mitrus?” Omi asked.
“I don’t know.” I shook my head, trying to emphasize my answer since my voice was completely gone.
Nicole’s arms tightened around me, and she buried her head in my chest. “I’m afraid,” she said.
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” I tried to say, and once more, there was only silence.
Omi turned his scepter to me. “I’ll give you one more chance to tell me.”
“I don’t know!” I mouthed, but he didn’t hear or see me.
He clicked his tongue. “What a shame.”
The red light shot out of his orb. I screamed. My family screamed.
The light became fire burning everything around me. Everyone. Except me.
I ran around my family, crying, trying to help them, to put out the fire, to get them out of there, to ease their pain.
My family writhed, screaming, jerking, their skin wrinkling and darkening. Burning, Nicole threw herself in my arms.
“It’s your fault,” she croaked before her skin peeled away. She shrunk and became dust in my hands.
I screamed.
“Nadine,” a voice seeped through my mind. “Nadine, wake up!” A strong hand clasped my arms and shook me. “Nadine!”
I opened my eyes and stopped screaming when my eyes settled on Micah’s worried face.
“It was just a nightmare,” he said, his grip easing around me. “You’re okay now, darling. It was just a nightmare.”
I looked around. We were still in the same place—some research bunker, I heard the others mentioning. I was in my room in my tiny bed, and we were safe. But my family wasn’t. My family was gone.
Whimpering, I hugged Pinky.
Micah let out a heavy sigh, ran a hand through his hair, cursed under his breath, then knelt beside the bed.
My eyes widened.
“I’ll stay here until you fall asleep again.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement, apparently not open for discussion.
However, I couldn’t lie. I didn’t want to be alone right now, and if Ceris had offered to stay with me during the night, I would have let her. At least Micah was nice to me—some of the time.
He sat on the bed beside me, his back to the headboard, arms crossed. I scooted closer, but turned on my side, my back against his leg, and faced the wall.
Micah’s heavy hand rested on my arm, caressing me from my elbow to my shoulder and over my back. Almost like a lullaby.
I barely got out of bed for three days.
They came and went all the time. Micah, Keisha, Victor, and even Ceris. They tried to convince me to eat more, to walk around, to breathe fresh air, to explore the bunker … anything. But I didn’t move. That didn’t stop them from telling me about everything that was going on.
Apparently Micah had found this shelter years ago when he was still a god. He had scared the researchers away and used it whenever he wanted time for himself in a place where no one could find him. He never told anyone about this place, so we were safe here.