Page 40 of Blood Ties

Riley

K ai doesn’t come back for dinner. I nibble on my last protein bar, trying not to think too deeply about what it might mean. What he might’ve found, if he dug into how his Momma ended up here.

What if he realized it was true, that she’s always been trapped here just like me?

What if he confronted his Dad about it? I haven’t seen that terror of a man since the night that landed me here, but he towers like a mountain in my memory, with his cold eyes and bristling beard, and that shotgun in his hands.

I’ve seen the bruises he’s left on Kai. He wouldn’t be afraid to hurt him, if confronted. He might even kill him.

My stomach lurches at a vivid mental image of Kai facedown on the floor, blood pooling around him. Just like Felix, like Caleb, like May. Leaving me all alone down here to rot.

Maybe Knox would keep me alive for a little while, but that’s hardly better. And he hasn’t been down here since that one visit after those girls...

The churning in my stomach turns to a violent heave. I scramble on my arms and knees, and just barely make it to the toilet in time to vomit up my paltry dinner.

What a waste , I think, glumly, as I watch the last of my food swirl away. But maybe the protein bar had already gone bad, if it made me sick. Or did I manage to sicken myself with my own thoughts?

Or maybe...

I stare at the toilet, dread sinking its claws into me. The thought frightens me so much I hardly dare to form it, even in my own head. No, no, no.

I wipe my mouth, sit back on my heels, and try to think back. Days blur together in the basement. How long have I been here? How long since Knox took my birth control away?

How long has it been since my last period?

I knew I missed one. At least one. I figured it was the stress, the malnutrition.

It still might be. But as I climb back onto the mattress, one hand pressed to my stomach, I have a terrible feeling deep in my gut.

*

I JERK AWAKE IN THE middle of the night, not even sure what woke me — until I see the shadowed silhouette standing at the bottom of the steps nearby. I nearly scream before I realize it’s Kai.

“Kai?” I whisper. He says nothing back. His shoulders are slumped, his expression lost. Fear twists in my stomach. I shouldn’t have said all of those things about his mom. “I-I’m sorry for-—”

“You were right,” he says, his voice low and hollow.

I stop. For a few moments there’s only the sound of our breathing.

“My Momma,” he says, and his voice cracks.

“Oh, come here,” I say, opening my arms. He collapses onto the mattress and falls into them, and I rock him silently, pressing my cheek to his forehead.

“I remember now,” he says. “She tried to get away. To take me away. But I... ruined it. It was my fault, and now she’s—”

“Shh,” I say. “None of this is your fault.”

“Her legs,” he says into my shoulder, barely understandable. “He cut them off. So she couldn’t run.”

I freeze as the words sink in. Oh, God . My heart aches for that poor woman in the attic — but I am also frightened, so frightened, for myself. Is that the fate that awaits me if this goes on? Will I become a shell of a person, unwilling or unable to even try to run?

I slowly ease Kai away from me, tilt his tearstained face up so I can look into his eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Kai,” I breathe.

He just looks at me. He’s always been vulnerable, but he’s fully cracked-open now, revealing something deeply broken.

I think of my sickness earlier. The missed periods.

I’ve always wanted to be a mom someday, but I refuse to do it like this. I can’t stand the thought. I won’t become like that helpless woman in the attic. I won’t let my child end up stuck here, abused and isolated, like Kai.

A part of me that feels guilty for taking advantage of this moment, but... it’s now or never. I can feel the noose closing around my neck.

“You need to get me out of here,” I say. Barely a whisper. “Or they’ll do the same thing to me.”

For a moment Kai’s expression is blank, like he doesn’t understand what I’m saying. Then he sits up, wiping his eyes with his sleeve, something unreadable shifting over his features. I stare at him, waiting for him to say something.

“Please,” I say. “I... I-I’m sorry, I know this is a lot for you right now, but I’m so scared. I’m so scared all the time. That your brother or your dad are going to—” My voice shakes and my eyes fill with tears. “I-I don’t want to be trapped here. I don’t want to die here. I want to live, Kai.”

He lowers his arm from his face and looks at me. There’s fear in his own expression, too. I know how much I’m asking him. To go against his father, his uncle, his brother. To risk his own life.

But he takes my hand in his and squeezes. And he nods. “Yeah,” he says. “You and Momma. I’m gonna get you both out of here.”

I hesitate for a moment. How? How can be possibly hope to save us both, if his mother can’t even walk or feed herself? But I can’t ask him to leave her behind. I hate myself a little for wanting it.

“Okay,” I say, while internally I steel myself. Whatever else happens, when I see an opportunity to run, I’ll run. Alone or not, I’m getting out of here. “Do you have the key? Can we go tonight?”

“I need some time,” he says. His brow furrows. “And the key... uh...”

“Knox,” I whisper, remembering him setting me free so he can chase me. “Knox has it somewhere.”

He blinks, realization registering on his face, and nods. “I know where it is. I’ll get it.”

He sounds confident. But I search his face, looking for hesitance, for indecision. The longer we wait, the higher the chances he’ll back out, and the more opportunity there will be for something to go wrong.

When he sees my hesitation, Kai leans in and presses his forehead against mine. “I’m getting you out of here,” he says, and it sounds like a promise.

I shut my eyes and try my hardest to believe it’s true.