As soon as I stepped into the small closet to the stairs leading up to the attic, I closed the door and leaned back against it. I was exhausted, beat to shit, and scared out of my mind. I needed to grab Sy and get the hell out of here before something else happened.
I just had to wait until the sheriff came and left. I couldn't take the chance that he would spot me or Sy and ask unwanted questions.
When I heard movement outside the door, I pushed away from it and hurried up the stairs to the attic. Lu and Sy both looked in my direction when I reached their floor.
I walked over and sat on the side of the bed next to Sy, putting my arm around his shoulders. "I need you to be really quiet for a little while, okay?"
Sy nodded.
I could see the confusion on his face and knew I had to give him some sort of explanation. "There are some men coming to the house for a little while. We can't let them know we're here."
"Bad men?" Sy asked.
I shot Lu a quick look before answering. "No, I don't think so, but it's still important that they don't know we are here. They could accidently let the bad men know where we are."
Lu gave me an inquisitive frown that I ignored. I didn't have to explain myself to him, and I didn't want to. The less the people that here knew about my situation, the better for all of us.
Time slid by at a snail's pace. The waiting seemed to take forever. After sitting there for what felt like forever, I got up and walked over to the window, pulling the edges of the curtain back to look outside.
There was nothing to see except darkness even with my enhanced sight. Just darkness and moonlight and a whole hell of a lot of trees.
I suppose that was a good thing. It meant there was no one out there watching the house or waiting for just the right moment to attack. It also meant this was still my opportunity to escape.
I let the curtain fall back into place and turned to walk over to the bed. I could feel Lu's gaze on me with every step I took. I didn't mind that the man never communicated verbally, but the intensity of his stare was unnerving.
Lu snapped his fingers. When I glanced at him, he gestured to me and then to his mouth. He might not be able to talk, but he could clearly get his point across.
"No, thank you." I couldn't eat right now if I tried.
Having spent a large majority of the last few years skipping meals more often than I would have liked, I knew I should eat. I could use the nutrients. I would need the energy when the chance to escape came again.
If it came again.
I also knew anything I tried to eat would simply come right back up. My stomach was in too many knots to accept food into it right now. My anxiety level was rising with every passing second.
"Should we turn off the lights?" I asked.
Anyone coming up the drive would be able to see the lights shining from the windows of the small attic room. They would know someone was up here. If they decided to search the place, I was doomed.
Instead of answering, Lu got up and walked over to turn on the small bedside lamp and then he went to the wall by the door and flipped the switch to turn off the overhead lights.
The room was darkened, but not totally. I could still see everything, which was good. I needed to be able to see my surroundings for my own piece of mind.
Things grew quiet again after Lu sat back down. I didn't really have anything to say at this point. I was hoping to avoid the confrontation I knew was coming. I doubted that would happen, but I could always hope.
I would say if luck was with me, they would just let it go, but I had never been lucky. At some point, Ze'ev and Jackson, as well as the others, would want an explanation as to why I was leaving.
I sucked in a harsh breath when Lu suddenly got up and went to the window. "Are they here?"
Lu gave a single nod.
"Sy," I said as I went over to kneel in front of my brother. "I need you to be very, very quiet. Can you do that for me?"
"Bad man?"
I hated that the Boogeyman was alive and well in Sy's mind.
"No," I replied again because I didn't like lying to him. I also knew from experience that explaining things more than oncewas kind of the norm. "But there are strangers coming to the house and we don't want them to know we are here."
