Chapter 127

When the screaming started, I began to wildly flail and kick for the surface. I had been under so deep that the darkness surrounding me was almost impenetrable, enveloping me like the warmest of blankets, cushioning my bruised body, nurturing my tortured soul. When I had settled down to sleep, my mind had been racing, with nothing but images of Josiah and Harper crowding my head and making it hard to breathe. Bunkering down next to Lucius on the cold unforgiving floor of the old Mills basement room, the boy had stirred in his slumber, his eyes crinkling as he let out a little grumble. Snuggling closer to my arm, his little gloved hand slipped into mine and immediately he was calm, tiny contented snores drifting up from his still body. Having him close seemed to calm me also and soon I found my eyelids drooping heavily, unable to fight the unrelenting exhaustion any longer. Down, down, down I went, gladly, welcoming the darkness as it consumed me and content to leave the nightmares behi