A Revelation of Death by Alexa Padgett

Author:Alexa Padgett [Cagney, J. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sidecar Press, LLC via Indie Author Project

30

Cici

It appears necessary to go back to first principles in search of the most simple truths, and to dispute with some prevailing prejudice every inch of ground. ― Mary Wollstonecraft

* * *

She woke, straining against the nonexistent bonds. But it was her screams that shook her. These were not the cries she’d made the night before in terror—her vocal cords released a sound of sheer agony. Her nerve-endings still pulsed with the pain the girl endured.

“Cici,” Sam called. Her name fell sharp from his lips, primed by the fear glinting in his eyes.

“Oh, Sam.” She threw herself into his arms. Her body began to convulse and the cold slick of sweat coated her skin. “What he did to her.”

The pain began to subside but the relief that she wasn’t his victim caused tears of shame to pool in her eyes.

“Another girl or the same one?”

“I don’t know…”

But she did. She didn’t want to say it—didn’t want to make it true. She forced out the words. “Another one.”

Sam cursed even as his arms banded around her, molding her body to his. He rocked her as she struggled to regain control over her emotions.

“I’m sorry,” she blubbered.

“No, Cee. No. Don’t be sorry. I thought you were dying. God, I thought you were—”

“I was.” The tears stopped. She sucked in a harsh breath. “For a time, I was her. I was drowning.”

And the horror of those moments caused her to flail from him, ignoring her ankle as she sprinted down the hall to the bathroom. She barely made it to her knees over the toilet.

Sam caught her hair and held it back. She retched and retched, emptying not just her stomach but the evil that tried to seep into her soul. No one should see what she had.

No one should live through it.

Cici didn’t pity the victim—she became her. And the woman’s determination to live bubbled up in Cici's chest then, as it did now. Except Cici still breathed, still had a voice.

That’s why her twin sent these terrible visions—so Cici would be able to tell these women’s stories. To be sure they were found and justice meted.

She brought her forearms up onto the toilet seat and rested her forehead against them. She wiped away the tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

The remnants of the dream rippled over her skin before they seemed to sink into her body, much like the stagnant, murky water.

“It’s hate, Sam.” Her voice was raspy from bile and emotion. She sat up, wiping the remnants of sick from her mouth.

Sam watched her from his perch on the side of her bathtub. He’d turned on the bathroom light and his eyes seemed as shadowed as hers felt. He stood up and brought her a toothbrush, already dabbed with toothpaste. She took it, grateful, to wash the horrid taste from her mouth. While she did so, he slid her boot back over her air cast. Cici winced at the throbbing in her ankle as it careened up her leg with each new jostle.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.