Page 87 of Redemption in the Dark (The Righteous 5)
“Where are we,”she asked, looking up at the tall doors of the big building. She tucked herself in tighter to Mercurio. He’d been weird since the last bus ride. He hadn’t laughed or smiled, and she had a feeling this place was bad. She didn’t want to play the hide-and-go-seek game anymore. All she wanted was to go home to her mommy and daddy and sleep in her own bed. She was sleepy and hungry and cold.
“This is a fire station. You know where the bright red trucks come from with the flashing lights?”
She nodded but didn’t feel happy.
“Can we go home now? I want to see my mommy and daddy.” A tear slid down her cheek as her lower lip shook. She didn’t want to cry, and she didn’t want to upset Mercurio, but this game was not fun.
He slowly knelt in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders. His sleeve moved up and she could see the spider tattoo on his arm. Reaching out she touched it and then shivered. Mercurio only talked to her like this when he said something and wanted to make sure she was listening and not going to like it.
“Maeve, we can’t go home. We can never go home.”
“But I want to,” she said and held her backpack tighter.
“I know you do, and I really wish I could take you home, Maeve, but it’s not possible.”
“Why,” she asked, her lower lip quivering.
“Because there are really bad people that will hurt us if we do. I don’t want to see you get hurt. Do you want to see me get hurt?”
She shook her head no and wiped her nose on her hoodie. “No, but why do they want to hurt us?”
He sighed and looked away from her eyes. “Because of grown-up things. I know you don’t understand this, and I wish there were some way to explain it better, but I can’t get you to your parents without us both being killed. Do you understand?”
A small sob passed her lips and she had to bite her bottom lip to stop herself from bawling. She didn’t want Mercurio to think she was a baby.
“I don’t want to play this game anymore.”
He nodded. “I know. That’s why we’re here.”
Maeve looked up at the building with the lights on and the bright red trucks inside. “I don’t understand.”
“I need to go someplace that the men looking for us can’t get to me. I need to go someplace that you can’t come.”
“What do you mean?”
He pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry, Maeve, but I need to leave you here. You can’t come with me.”
There was no holding back the tears this time as his words sunk in. “But you said you wouldn’t leave me. You said—”
“I know what I said, and I’m so sorry. I wish I could bring you with me, I really do, but it’s not possible. The place I’m going doesn’t allow children. I need to disappear, and so do you. You need to forget who you are. You need to forget about your mommy and daddy and even me.”
“But, I don’t want to,” she sobbed, the tears falling in steady streams down her cheeks.
“Please don’t cry. This isn’t forever,” he said, and she sniffed.
“It’s not?”
He pulled back from the hug and smiled.
“Of course not. I couldn’t leave you forever. Please, Maeve, this is very important. Forget me for now. Never mention me or where you came from. You don’t know who your family is and….” He sighed and looked away from her eyes. “I need you to trust me that this is for the best. I want you to be safe, and the only way to do that is for you to leave your old life behind, and I need you to forget me.”
“But I love you. You’re my family.”
His eyes filled up with tears, and he blinked and looked away as he pulled a piece of paper from his pocket.
“I love you too, kiddo, but this is the way it has to be. Give this to whoever answers the door,” he said, putting the paper in her hand. Standing, he pushed the button on the door, and a loud buzz sounded inside the building.
She hung on to his hand and pulled when he went to walk away. “No, don’t leave me here, please,” she begged as she cried harder.
