“The house is warded,” Karim said, “If you’re worried about someone getting in. Only those invited can enter. We alsohave some outdoor cameras we can check to see if anyone’s around.”
That did help. When Karim tugged again, Luis stepped forward.
“Actually, let’s go to Julien’s office first,” Karim said. “We can check the cameras, make sure it’s all good.”
“O-okay,” Luis said, voice rough.
“I’m just going to text Julien to meet us there,” Karim said. He kept one hand in Luis’s and used the other to pull out his phone and text.
They all arrived at the office at the same time. Julien took one look at him and frowned as Karim led him to a chair.
It was only then that Luis let their hands part so Karim could wake the computer.
“Luis,” Julien crouched down beside the chair, setting a glass of of water on the desk. His hands fluttered like he wanted to touch but couldn’t decide if it was okay. “Your hands… what happened?”
“He’s worried someone might have trespassed on property,” Karim said. He pushed the monitor to turn it more toward them, pulling up the camera feeds. “I’ll check the motion logs for the last day.” Karim clicked through the activity log and clips appeared: someone walking a dog, a package being delivered to the front door, and a squirrel climbing up and down one of the backyard trees.
“Looks normal,” Karim said after a minute more of looking through the log. “But I’ll turn on the push notifications.”
He did so, then both their attentions turned back to him.
“I–” Luis coughed, his throat achingly dry.
“Here, drink,” Julien said, offering the glass.
Luis was still shaking but he managed to get it to his mouth, smearing blood on the cup. It was cold, tasteless, and he swallowed gratefully.
He didn’t come back up until it was mostly empty.
“I’ll get you another,” Julien said as he started to rise, “And something for your hand.” Luis’s hand snapped out to grab his arm.
“Wait, wait,” Luis said. Then pulled his hand back because he’d left blood and dirt on Julien. “I need–I need to tell you what happened, please. You might be in danger.”
Julien turned back to him and resumed his crouch, expression serious. “Okay, I’m here.”
His hand touched the back of Luis’s, careful. Luis wanted to jerk away and apologize for the grime, but then Julien was gently squeezing, and he didn’t have the strength to deny himself this. On his other side Karim scooted closer and gingerly took his unwounded hand. Luis’s lip trembled at the gesture, and he forced himself to breathe.
Then he told them everything.
##
It took a while to get through it all. Luis kept having to backtrack for context, and because all the events were so jumbled in his head.
He told them about his mom, her beliefs, the fights they’d had before he’d moved out, and the fight they’d had last week. He told them about Eric’s true intentions at the bar, and how he’d been at the church. He told them about All Pure, and what kind of a place he understood it to be.
By the time Luis got to how he’d escaped from the basement, he couldn’t stop the shaking, horrible energy that quaked through him. Just remembering the desperation, the fear of it, was awful. He felt sick at the memory. He kept his eyes down while he talked through it, gripping Karim’s hand.
“I don’t know if they know where you live,” Luis said, winding down, “But–but they might also target you. Especially if they think it’s your fault. I’m—I’m so,so sorry.” There were tears dripping down his cheeks.
“Luis,” Julien sounded heartbroken, “sweetheart none of that is your fault.”
“Don’t apologize for fucking monsters,” Karim snarled. He was breathing hard. “Your own fuckingmother? What kind of fuckingparent–”
“Karim,” Julien said softly, cutting him off.
Karim let out a breath. “I hate this Jules, I really fucking hate this. I–it reminds me of–” Karim’s teeth clattered together, biting off the rest of the words.
“I know darling,” Julien said. “Do you need a minute?”
