HEAR HER SONG (Completed)

CHAPTER 15

Niylah was still unsure about where they were going, but Tom and Harris were best friends and nobody would know where he was taking Soren better than her dad. Especially, when he knew what his intentions were.

She tried to distract herself by looking out the window, but the endless glittering stars were consumed by thick, grey clouds. Niylah looked past the clouds and tightly clasped her hands together, silently begging the Creator for Soren's safety.

"Hold on," Tom said, breaking her from her prayer.

She grasped onto the panic bar attached to the ceiling; dull nails dug into her fleshy palm. Before she could comprehend what was happening, Tom floored it through a metal gate. The metal shrieked against the pavement, gate bending to compensate for the force of the truck plowing through. Tom slowed the truck as much as he could before abruptly stepping on the break. Niylah slumped forward, inertia suspending her there for what seemed like a few heartbeats until her back slammed against the seat. Her clavicle felt bruised, but she ignored it.

They were stopped outside of a garish, red warehouse. The roof was tin and probably grew uncomfortably hot whenever the sun broke through the clouds. There were several large, metal doors that lined the wall and Niylah guessed they were used to transport things in and out of the warehouse. Florescent light flooded out of one open door, casting Tom and Niylah in a ghostly glow. Harris's pick-up was sitting idly near the door.

"Where are we?" Niylah asked.

"One of Malden's warehouses. This is where we usually drop off our catch so it would make sense for Oli to take Soren here."

Niylah pressed her lips tightly together as she tried to quiet the fear inside her.

"That son of a bitch!" Tom bolted out of the truck and Niylah followed him with her eyes as she spotted Harris coming out of the warehouse, hugging two boys close to him. One boy looked to be about her age and he was smaller than the other. His hair was dark like Harris's. The other one looked to be few years older than her and his hair shined white against the fluorescence. They had to be the boys that were mentioned earlier – Harris's sons.

Seeing Tom coming his way, Harris ushered his sons into his truck, but he didn't have enough time to scramble away as Tom lunged at him. He grabbed Harris by his shirt collar and thrust him against the vehicle. Niylah sprinted out of the car as Tom pulled his fist back and thrust it forward, connecting with Harris's cheek. He held Harris in place by his collar as he kept landing blow after blow. As Niylah grew closer, she could see Harris's cheek was split and his eye was already getting swollen with the force.

"Dad!" Niylah and one of the boys called at once. Niylah looked over to see one of the boys hanging out of the truck window, watching in horror as his dad was being pummeled.

"You pulled a gun on my daughter?" Tom screamed in Harris bloodied face. He had his arm cocked and ready for another blow, knuckles blistered, but he held back.

"He had my boys, Tom. I wasn't going to hurt her! I-I just needed the fish-girl!" Harris' cried pathetically. He had his hands held up in defense, but he didn't fight back.

Tom's arm twitched as if he were going to attack again, but stopped as soon as an alluring song came from the warehouse door.

"That's Soren!" She heard the familiar captivating sound several times when the two had interacted before officially meeting.

Tom pushed himself away from Harris and the beaten man struggled to his feet. The older boy immediately went to his aid. He and Niylah shared a momentary look before he helped his father into the truck. Niylah held no malice towards the boys. She knew it wasn't their fault they ended up in this situation.