Page 80 of Hostile Saint

“Lacey, you are safe. They can’t hurt you—”

Her whisper was gone, her voice now louder. “Tate says they can! He’s telling me, ‘Run! Lucey, Run!”

My whole body jolted as I thought of the night being in the trunk. I had yelled the exact same thing to her. Except, as a man, I could say Lacey with no issues. “No, no, no…” I started seeing images of dark trees, like from the night in the trunk, but these trees were different. They weren’t from Colorado. They were from somewhere else! And from under these trees, I could now hear an exasperated breath behind me as I dragged— “…Oh my God,” –a little girl.

Lacey told Doctor Landon, “Tate is holding my hand. Helping me.”

She was right. I was seeing it in my head, clear as day. So clear that it was hard to comprehend I was still sitting at a dining room table.

I was running, pulling the little girl behind me through the woods I had been in before— “Oh no.” I looked to Lynx. “I think I’m remembering.”

His eyes wide with horror, he snapped at Vice, “Headphone up! We need to know if their stories match.” He looked back at me and swallowed. “Tell me.”

It was so dark, I struggled to safely pull her through the woods without tripping over fallen limbs on the ground. Our hands stayed connected, even when I fell, hauling her to the ground with me. I was already bigger than her, her tiny hand so soft in mine.

Not even bothering to wipe either of us off, I’d yanked the little girl back up to her red sneakered feet. I had seen what happened to the other kids when they were captured. It was horrendous. This was Lucey’s first time there. I couldn’t let it happen to her.

A couple of kids followed us, possibly too scared to think for themselves. I couldn’t see their faces in the dark, but I wanted to save them all.

I tried. I swear I did—

A firm hand grabbed the back of my neck and jostled. Lynx told me, “You not trying to save them never crossed my mind. Feel me?”

We were now on the couch. I didn’t even remember getting there. On a chair on the other side of the coffee table, sat Dagger. Somewhat pale, as if affected by every word I was speaking.

Lynx’s nostrils flared. “Okay, you were running in the woods.”

“Yes…” I fell again. There had been a slight drop-off that it was too dark to see. I ended up dragging Lucey with me as I slid down dirt and dead leaves. I could hear the two kids slipping down after us, all squealing and crying in fear.

Lucey’s hand never let me go. In fact, her other one now also clutched my one as I tried to guide our fall to protect us from injuries, slamming into tree trunks and debris.

When I saw a dark shadow at the bottom, I knew debris was the least of our worries. A robed man was waiting for us. I wasn’t the first child to make this grave mistake.

As soon as we neared the bottom, the man reached over my head and easily grasped the little girl I was valiantly trying to save. He had her in the air by her hair. I was seven and didn’t stand a chance against him, but the two other tumbling kids did. They slammed into me, then the three of us crashed into him, not by choice, and took him down as he tripped backward over a fallen tree trunk behind him.

The hood over his head slipped back, and he let out a groan before his hand accidentally released Lucey. Next to him, on the ground, she looked petrified.

Scrambling to get up, I yelled, “Run! Lucey, run!”

She did, making the man very angry. He grabbed my ankle as I tried to run past him, forcing me to crash back down to the ground. As he pulled on my leg, I kicked and kicked, managing to land my sneaker in his face. Crunch went his nose.

Instantly, he freed me, grabbing his face while howling in pain.

Wasting no time, I got to my feet and tried to warn the other two kids to also run, but froze when seeing who they were.

“Damien and Crow.”

I don’t think Lynx breathed as his mind raced… His eyes slid shut. “And there it is. They were taught, by once being the prey.”

I ran in the direction Lucey had darted. I couldn’t find her but soon came across a clump of her blond hair, probably from the man’s cruel grip. So, I picked it up and kept running—

“You did this—” said Dagger, in amazement, “—on the way to Serenity—in the woods. Her hair, kid.”

My mouth fell open. He was right. Now, actions that were so random made perfect sense. I had already been touching on a memory…

Within a few moments, I heard a choking and splashing! “Luce! Luce!” I charged toward the torturous sounds.

There she was, in the shallow part of a big round lake, too short to reach. Due to the darkness, she must’ve run right into the water by mistake. By the time she realized her error, it was too late. Her struggles took her out further into the water.