Page 23 of Marked for Execution

“Sili.Are you alright?”

“Yeah.” Shoving the undergarments in some of my cargo pockets, I ran across a bra and stopped. I had been so used to hiding under my disguise that I didn’t remember what it felt like wearing one of these.

The bag was not big enough, so I left it behind and shoved the dresser door close.

We both walked down the stairs and turned into the kitchen to look around. As we opened and closed cabinets, the sound of a gunshot rang in the air.

We both ran out of the house toward the barn to see blood spraying in front of us. Another ragtag group fought with our men. I pointed my pistol at the closest one, pulling the trigger and getting him in the chest. He screamed and fell to the side, rolling off one of our guys he had pinned under him.

I heard a growl before Eliseo tackled a guy that was sneaking up behind me. They grappled on the ground for a few seconds before Eliseo straddled him with his weight. The glint of the blade distracted me as he sliced the man's neck, spraying him with blood as he repeatedly plunged his knife into the man’s chest cavity.

My adrenaline was running at full speed with this surprise attack. The smell of copper covered his normal musk, and it made my mouth water and tickled my nose at the same time.What the hell?

My ears twitched when I heard leaves crunch behind me. Twisting with my gun, I fired off a couple of rounds before rolling on the ground and crawling behind a bush.

“Where the fuck did the kid go?”

The stranger’s voice made the hair on the back of my neck stand. Memories bombarded me, flickering in and out with images of red, fires, smoke and screams. A moan and scream brought me back as I watched one of the strangers stab one of our own.

When the stranger turned to look at me, his face flickered into something else, right before it flickered back. He jumped up and ran, and I leaped to my feet. I grabbed my crossbow and secured a bolt but missed the target as he jumped over fallen trees and dodged around a tipped-over wheelbarrow. Throwing my weapon down, I chased after him and decreased our distance enough for me to reach for my knife and throw it. It hit the target, but it didn’t stop him. He took a few steps, turned, pulled the knife out of the back of his thigh, and threw it right back with an inhuman amount of force. I was still in shock about whatever the hell was happening, and I didn’t dodge in time, taking the blade right in my chest, knocking me to the ground with a crash.

“Sili!”

My vision blurred, mind replaying the strangers' flickering face and the memory of something else from the past. The impact of the blade had knocked the wind out of me, felt like it broke a rib bone and pierced through to the other side. The excruciating pain that coursed through my body brought back a familiarity.How many times had they stabbed me?

Hands roamed my body and I kicked and screamed, consumed by the mental cage of my memories.Smoke, fire, blades and screams.

“You brought that among us!”

“How could you bring that monstrosity here? Do you not care about the safety of this community?”

My father stood with his arms crossed, blocking them from getting to me.

“Sili.Open your eyes. Look at me. Look at me!”

I cried out when he tried to move me, and I drowned in another moment in time.

“Stay away from me!” I threw my first at the man before me, collapsing his face in. My strength was out of control, and it scared me.

“Caleb!” she cried before turning back to me. “You monster!”

“No!” I screamed as the community dragged me by my arms away from my family.

The fires began to burn at my feet as my father tried to get to me. It was my mother who ended up jumping into the flames with her knife in hand, sawing at my ropes as her dress began to catch fire.

“Get her off there!” one of the random community members screamed out.

“She’s out of her damn mind!”

“Faheemah. Just hold on, baby.”

A mouth pushed against mine and I was pulled back to the present, my mind fading in and out of awareness. Eliseo blew air into my lungs, and I was confused.Why did my limbs feel so heavy?He did it again and my fingers twitched. Coughing, I sputtered to the side, moaning as the skin on my chest started to itch in that familiar way.

“What the hell?”

Eliseo rolled me onto my back and stared at my chest as it began to knit itself back together at rapid speed. I tried to kick him off me, to no avail.He would condemn me. They all did.He leaned his head in with his eyes ablaze with something akin to fury as my body healed itself like nothing happened, leaving perfect skin behind.

When his eyes snapped to mine, his nostrils flared, and his lip curled with a snarl.