“And me as well.” My brother adds.
Amira spreads a sad smile on her face; my arms die from the need to hold her.
The child finally falls asleep, still frowning. Amira rocks him, taking steps back and forth.
“I already said goodbye to my mother and brother,” she whispers only to me, then louder so everyone can hear her, “She gave me her blessing to run away.”
My brain cannot process what she had just said. Her father is a monster, yes, but her mother always looked the other way when she saw what was happening in the house.
I pick up my heavy body from the ground and walk towards her.
Could this really be happening? Do we have a chance to live our lives away from these people?
“Amira...I...”
She shakes her head, “It's not over yet, Magno. I'm not going to let them catch me. I'll kill myself before I let them lay a hand on me.”
Adrenaline rushes up through my back. I can't think of a world where Amira is not in it.
I nod and sit down again next to my brother, with a defeated spirit.
“His name is Dante, Amira,” he says with a warning tone. “If you want your life and his to change tonight, start by not using his slave name.”
My brother is defending me and that is very uplifting, but I don’t want to Amira to feel bad; she doesn’t know Dante. My brother is very intimidating and the fear over Amira’s face is impossible to hide.
“I'm sorry.”
Bruno doesn't speak to her again.
“People are still around,” says Sarah near the window. “Maybe we can camouflage ourselves among them and walk out the door.”
Bruno listens to her for a few seconds, “How would you camouflage yourself?” She looks around for an idea, but all there is in this tiny room are gardening tools and spiders.
“I don't know, but—”
“And the child? There's no way to camouflage him.” Amira adds.
There goes Sarah's plan.
Sarah carefully scouts out the window again, Bruno joins her. Both of them are looking for answers on the red horizon.
“Dante...” Calls Bruno, “Razzag, how does he get around?”
“What do you mean?”
“What means does he use to get in and out of the compound?”
I think about the answer for a few seconds
“He doesn't leave, ever, but he uses a van to move around the compound.”
“Not even in an emergency?”
Amira gasps. “The helicopter! Magn—Dante, the emergency helicopter!”
I get up in a heartbeat, excited.
“That’s right!” I turn to Bruno, who is listening to me carefully. “The master has a helicopter on the east side of the compound, he hardly ever uses it, that’s our best chance.”
“Sounds good to me, lead the way”
My soul breaks when I remember that the heliport is in the garden of the master's mansion.
