TABOO: THE COMPLETE SERIES(39)

“Colton!” I almost ran toward my brother who was on the floor on his back, and his eyes were closed. I went up to him and tried to see if he was awake. “Hey.”

He fluttered his eyes open and stared at me in that strange way. “Colton, it’s me.”

He started crying and I hugged him, and took him in my arms and we sat on that floor like that for a long time. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop it, Colton.”

But he didn’t respond.

I didn’t even know if he was okay. But maybe if we could just get through this night alive, we’d be fine. Well, not fine exactly, but we’ll be alive. And Alive is not Dead. I can still help him. I kissed his head repeatedly, and the smell of his damp hair calmed me down. My brother would shiver and go cold, and then he would become warm all over as though he was feverish. I saw what they did to him. He needed medical attention. But it was obvious Weldon wasn’t even letting him have that.

Alive is not Dead.

Just live through this, Colton. Please. I can’t live without you.





TREY


No matter how much I drank I couldn't get her out of my mind. Or the way she died, miserable on a hospital bed. Rotting. Alone. Yes, I was there with her but I knew I wasn't the one she wanted around. She wanted some asshole ex-husband who left her because he couldn't handle the illness. He left her and a part of her died. The other part, the one riddled with cancerous cells took over and I was left with nothing. I don't think she realized how much I loved her. I don't think she understood that I remembered every tiny gesture of her love and her company growing up. I don't think she knew that guy was a monster. I don't think she knew I was a monster. I always kept this part of my life a secret because I didn't want to disappoint her.

I couldn't bear to look her in the eye if she had known the kind of things I have done for a monster. Weldon. The same monster who ruined us...

But that's a story for another day.

I finished the bottle and found myself still sitting in my car. Right above me, the building Weldon owned, stood intimidating and ominous. It looked like a fucking fort. It was a fucking fort! There were people in there, alive and breathing who hadn't seen the sight of the outside world in years. Who were trapped inside it's vacuous walls...

I slammed my fists against the steering wheel until my hands hurt. I let myself cry.

She didn't know I was a slave to a monster because of her. She didn't know that everything I did was because I would do anything for her, see her alive for one more breath. She left anyway and it hurt and it made me mad. I was angry. At Aubrey for not fighting hard enough and to God for taking her away when he knew how much she meant to me. The thing is that I would happily do it again if it meant I could have her back.

But she was gone.

She was never coming back, I realized miserably.

I looked up at that gloomy building. Jake and his brother were still inside. I don’t know how Jake had survived this long to be honest, the first time he came to me in that messed up state I thought he was going to die. I never voiced my concerns aloud because I didn’t want to believe that one more person I cared about might leave me. I couldn’t bear the thought of Jake being tormented anymore and I couldn’t stand anything happening to him or his brother.

I unlocked the car and got out to stand on the deserted street.

I glanced up one more time and saw the light in one of the barricaded windows turn off. It looked like Weldon’s special wing but I wasn’t sure because no one was allowed to roam about in that part of the building.

It wasn’t going to be easy but nothing in life worth doing ever was, so there’s that. And after a long time, I found myself making decisions for myself instead of having to make them for Weldon. I couldn’t be there for my sister, but I can still do something for the ones who were still alive and still trapped. Maybe I couldn’t save everyone but I could save Jake and his brother. I had been a monster for so long it would take time to be something else but I had to do it. their lives depended on my convictions and my actions could help decide the course of their lives. It was not an easy decision to make. Going against Weldon meant going against this fort and the army waiting within its walls, but it was about time someone went in guns blazing. It was about time I became something more than a monster’s slave.

I want you to be free.

I knew what I had to do.





JAKE





I don’t know when I dozed off but I was jolted awake by Colton’s screams. I saw them, dragging my brother away from me and I tried to stop them and didn’t even care about the firearms pointed directly at me.

“Jake!” Colton yelled but they hauled him off the ground and there was nothing I could do. But then I saw the strange looking gun in one of the guards’ hand and a strange feeling washed over me. Something wasn’t right. They hauled Colton out of the room and I was left with all those new faces. I didn’t recognize a single one of them even though I’d started to remember most of the guards and their faces.

When one of them quietly walked up to me, I killed an urge to attack him. “You’re Jake?”

Stranger.

“Yes.”

“Weldon wanted you to know that you’ll be going on to the next level,” he said. “You might not see your brother for a while—”