Red Moon Rising

42. asleep

Chapter Song: Avalanche - Leonard Cohen

XX

I don't try to beg anymore, and neither does Sam. Instead, I scoot as close to him as I can in the backseat of the truck and lay my head on his shoulder. For a moment, he is completely still, and then he kisses my hair lightly and rests his head on mine. In my stomach, I feel an intense, solemn understanding that we are not going to make it out of this. I think Sam feels it too. And Reiner, as well—every now and then I catch him glancing in the mirror to stare too long at where Sam won't look back.

When we hit gravel, the truck slows considerably to stay safely on top of the ice-covered back road to the school. I briefly consider tumbling out of the door on a turn, but where would that leave me? And where would it leave Sam? I won't leave him now, not when he'll face punishment for helping me escape in addition to leaving on his own in the first place. Will his fate be worse because he came with me?

I won't have to wait long to find out. Already, the gabled roof of the school is peeking above the trees, and my heart is pounding hard at the base of my throat. Maybe I'll get lucky. Maybe those drugs weren't as strong as I thought and Isaac won't have noticed that I slipped him something. This was the last time I would outsmart him. He will never offer another opening for me to escape.

When we pull in front of the school, the slam of each car door sends a shiver of dread through me. Max and Reiner drag us from the truck and toward the school doors, letting the silence rise like water in our throats. I watch my feet fall heavy in the snow with each step.

"Will you cut the zip ties?" I ask softly, but earn no reply. Max opens the door and pushes me none to gently through it. Down the hall, leaning with arms crossed against a cafeteria table, is Isaac. His tapping foot stops abruptly when he sees us, and when he rises slowly to meet us I find myself faltering.

"Keep moving," Max says in a low voice, and his hand slips up the back of my neck to guide me forward. I wonder how often he's said those words to different girls, how often he's grabbed them like this to guide them to their fate. Maybe it won't be the last time I hear it.

We stop at the edge of the cafeteria, and though every part of me is screaming to turn back, I take a step toward Isaac. Max lets me go, too. Maybe if I go to him now he'll focus on me, not Sam. I can take the brunt of his anger if it means that Sam will be spared. As I step closer, Isaac points to the floor in front of him, and I swallow my terror to stand before him.

"Well?" Isaac's voice is cold, jagged.

"I'm sorry," I whisper.

"You already used your second chance."

"I know."

His hand slips over my cheek and down my neck, and the warmth of his skin is such a strange contrast to the numb coolness of my own. When he touches the back of my neck, it is enough time to consider that this is where his punishment begins before he's slamming my face hard into the cafeteria table. I'm able to turn my face enough that my cheek takes the brunt of the blow rather than my injured nose, but the shock of it laces up my neck and leaves my ears ringing. He pushes at the back of my neck, hard, enough to force a whimper from my throat.

"You've got a lot of fucking nerve," he growls into my ear. I want to shrink away from the body bearing down on me, but there is nothing to lean into but the cool surface of the cafeteria table. "Did you think that would kill me?"

"I wasn't trying to—"

"You're going to wish I caught you before you left. You've given me too much time to think about what I'm going to do."