Page 4 of Cut Her Strings (Fractured Puppets #1)

Chapter 3

Hide and Seek

M y attention snapped back to Jayce at the sound of our enclosure moving. Jayce was still observing me, his face a picture of remorse. Even after all these years, I was still looking to him for comfort. I couldn’t help it, it was instinctual after all of the years we spent together. And our history.

"We aren't going to make it out of this alive if we can't move past this. I don't forgive you, and you don't have anything to forgive, but I need your help to work through this. Can you promise me that?" I bit out, trying to maintain some composure.

"Where have you been if you didn't die?” His face darkened and he stared pointedly lower on my body. “What happened to-?"

"No!" It was my time to scream, he had no right to ask about that. It was his fault. He was the one that knew Nightingale’s plans, he helped her, and he did nothing to warn me. "I do not owe you answers. We can work together and hope to live, or I will leave you and do it alone."

Something in my eyes must have finally gotten through to Jayce. I saw it the second his face shuttered, and he was that little boy again. Pretending everything was okay when it most certainly was not. Smiling at me, he stated, "I will help you. And we will live. I won't make the same mistake again."

"We'll see," I replied. I knew better than to trust the man before me, but what choice did I have?

Something on my collar pricked me, and the world went black.

If I learned anything in the last several years, it was the length I would go to survive, the limits I could push my body, and the ability to compartmentalize it all. I was barely a teenager when my world shifted on its axis.

Crime steadily increased over the last century as the disparity between the rich and poor became an unjumpable chasm. My family, I thought, were lucky enough to secure jobs with the Government. These jobs ensured we were housed and fed—nothing less and nothing more. We lived in a facility my entire life, and because of this, I grew up surrounded by Government Officials. From a young age, I learned the ins and outs of the world. Who not to make eye contact with, the best hiding spots, and even a secret maze inside the compound walls.

It was at this same facility that I met Jayce. When I was five, his family moved into the home next to ours. They knocked on our door, and I answered. I will never forget the day my child eyes locked on eight-year-old Jayce. He was standing stick straight between his parents, already full of fury and mistrust of the world, even at such a young age. His eyes reminded me of the pictures I had seen of the ocean. I couldn't stop staring into them, even though they were sharp and unapproachable.

"Hi honey, are your parents home? We're the Rogers. We just moved in and wanted to go ahead and introduce ourselves," his mom offered.

I spun and called for them. My mom and dad came to the front door, my sister in tow. While my sister was three years older than me, we looked identical, other than our sizes.

"Oh, good, you made it! These are my daughters, Raven and Anadil." My dad gestured to us. "Raven, you and your sister, go to the living room, please."

"Jayce, go join them, dear." Jayce's mother, Mrs. Roger, pushed him, and he followed us dutifully.

Once we were in the living room, I sat on the floor, and my sister plopped down next to me, placing her legs on mine and trying to reach for the doll I was playing with.

Jayce stopped at the doorway across from us, his fury still firmly in his hypnotizing ocean eyes. "Are you old enough to understand?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Understand what?"

My sister hit me with her shoulder. "Yes, we are," she whispered, and then she focused directly on the cameras that were placed in our living room for our safety.

Jayce followed her eyes, his face, if possible, shuttering even more. Then, as if a switch had been flicked, he placed a polite smile on his face and plopped in front of us, sitting very close. "Do you like to play hide-and-seek?"

At this, I smiled. "Yes, my sister and I are the best!"

My sister pushed me with her shoulder again. "Remember the rules, Raven?"

"Yes!"

My sister’s attention settled on Jayce and she spoke barely loud enough to be heard, "Tonight, we'll show you the best places to hide."

Later, I would think back on that entire interaction in a different light. My family did their best to shield me from the harsh realities of our lives. My sister was not so lucky, they used her as a sacrifice to keep me safe. By the time everyone knew her as Nightingale, it was too late for me to right the wrongs that broke her. She didn't want me to anyway; she chose to live in her resentment and intended for everyone else to feel her suffering. While most thought she died years ago, I knew for a fact that she hadn't. She already tried to kill me and everyone I loved, and now my guess was, she was trying to do it again.