Unspoken

Chapter 53

Only just after I've roused myself from sleep, Brody hurries into the room. I hadn't even heard the metal door slide open this time; the flick of the light and his arrival are both a huge surprise. I blink through the light to find him rushing toward me. His eyes are wide and frazzled. His breathing is labored, like he'd just run miles. In his hand is a half-full cup of water. His hand drips with the small beads of the liquid. He grabs the back of my head and pulls me so his mouth is against my ear. He speaks quickly and softly.

"Jeremii disabled the camera for about five minutes. We couldn't get a key to unlock you, but I can tell you what we know." He steps back and looks over his shoulder, as if someone might be following him. He leans in again and continues, "Whoever the new Movement leader is is looking for you. You're priority number one on the surface; Michael thinks they'll find their way down here soon. He wants you under his control so he doesn't have anything to worry about if they do. He might also be a little bit angry with you, but I didn't totally understand all that. You're stuck here, though. We're gonna try to get you out after Michael's meeting tomorrow. My dad thinks he can pull something. We can't get you out before, though. We wanted to, but we can't figure out where Michael put the damn key."

Hope fills my chest, but falls--even though everything sounds so right, nothing will go how we want it. We wanted to stop Michael before he enacted his plan. If I can't get out till after the meeting, then that means it'll already be put in motion. "Brody..."

"And one more thing I thought you should know." Brody bites his lip and looks down at my feet. Pain laces his dark eyes. His face has become vulnerable and soft, something I never thought I'd see from Brody when I first met him. I smile a little; for a moment my problems are gone. "Something happened...between Baya and Michael. She went to see him after you went missing and hasn't come out of her apartment since. I think he hurt her."

I lurch forward. One of the cuffs around my wrists cuts my skin. I slink back and press my back against the wall. My breath is heavy now and face is hot as I look into Brody's own. "I'll kill him."

Brody shakes his head. "We don't need to kill anybody. It'll only make shit worse, not help us. But we do need to bring him down." Brody starts to take a step away, but stops. "Don't beat yourself up about any of this, Taeo. We're shaken, not broken."

His eyes fall on the half-full cup. After a moment, he turns it upside down and empties the contents on the ground. The clear liquid soaks into the rotting wood. "What Michael doesn't know can't hurt him." He hesitantly exits the room, but I can see that he doesn't want to--he only has to. The five minutes will be up any moment, and then Brody would have to act again.

I let the darkness of the room wrap around me and slip to the floor. Nothing is going the way we want; at this rate, nothing will change.

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A/N:

I'm pretty sure there's only five or six chapters left, but a LOT is going to happen! The next chapter is another slow one like this, but it heats up after that--hehe.

Like, share, comment, whatever! I LOVE your feedback!

Until next time,

Alisha :)