Follow Me Through Darkness Read Free Page A

forward, his smile barely there but intentional. He’s so far from who he used to be that I don’t know if anyone can save him .
    “That’s interesting, isn’t it? How you can feel what he’s feeling?” my father says. He leans down to me, wiping a spot of blood off my lip. I must’ve bitten it. His eyes find the branding on my neck, and he pushes a finger against it. “Do not forget that I can take away everything you hold dear in your life if you disobey me.”
    Father signals to someone through the glass. He steps away from me. “See you at dinner, Cornelia.” The door closes and resounds back to me in the silence .
    Thorne’s pain is gone, just like that, but the memory of it lingers. It must be that memory that continues to ring through his body. Exhaustion, fear, pain, confusion, love-they all make me sick as they merge in my stomach. Thorne catches my gaze through the window. His eyes are heavy, darker, exhausted, and I can’t handle the look on his face-the pain my father put there, the love he carries for me, the confusion about all of this. I can’t handle it, so I look away .

DEADLINE: 32D, 13H, 32M
    THE BURROWS
    BAYARD LOOKS AT ME , his eyes studying mine. “You need to stop?”
    He picks up the torch from the ground, and the soft glow of it lights an area between us. I lean against the wall, gasping. After a second, I push away and apologize. Bayard grunts at me, his eyes narrowed and his face scowling.
    I inhale a breath as we walk, but it’s hard to do. My head feels heavy, and I want to sleep, to curl up against a fluffy pillow and rest. I can’t shake the feeling of Thorne. About how I left him. How I let him think I died. How I betrayed him. Where is he right now? Would he recognize me if he saw me here, covered in dirt and shaded in lies?
    “You sure you’re okay?” Bayard asks.
    I nod, inhale the stale, sour air again. It burns in my chest until I have enough to form words. I need to steady my emotions, to change the subject. “How long have you been in the Burrows?”
    “I was born here. Most of us who live here are from original families,” Bayard talks without hesitation, continuing the story of the past. I like the distraction of his voice echoing around me. “The Elders never thought to check below, and they didn’t care about the rest of us. Our families were the ones who were left to die, either from the infected or from the elements. The infected killed each other, and we survived as ghosts.”
    The Elders don’t care about anyone but themselves. Even now. “How have you survived?”
    “The Mavericks provide for us. They bring us some supplies every few months-torches, food, water. After three hundred years, we’ve figured it out. There are some Remnants who go above occasionally. I am not one of them, but my youngest daughter, Faye, likes to explore.” Bayard’s voice is rough as he talks about his daughter, and when I look at him, his eyes are narrowed, brows furrowed.
    “You don’t approve?”
    “I don’t want her to get hurt. There’s a difference. To love means to worry and want to protect, and that’s all I want for her. Safety,” he says softly. Perhaps I have been too hard on Bayard. His demeanor isn’t about our journey or me; it’s about the people he loves. Love, worry, protect. I understand that concept completely.
    “Why don’t you go live above? Why stay in the darkness for centuries?”
    Not just him, but all the Remnants. If the Mavericks are living above in this world and thriving, so much that they can help the Remnants who live below ground, then everyone could thrive together. If they wanted to.
    Bayard holds the torch between us so the glow reflects off his face. His dark eyes peer from his dirt- covered face to explore mine, and then he gives me a curt nod. “This is all I know. Why should I trade this place for something that could be worse when I am safe and warm and have all I could need?”
    I gulp back everything I’m feeling.