Someone was screaming. Not the ear-piercing, skin-crawling kind generally contributed to pain, but the type that was intended for a warning.
I knew Jaime's cry even before he reached me. I caught a glimpse of his head as he ran from the Hotel's back entrance silently, until his eyes landed on me.
That's when I saw his tears. That's when he started yelling frantic things of broken promises and Seekers.
Everything in me froze, time seeming to pause as I watched him run to me, until my own instincts kicked in and I dragged myself out of the car, just as he made it to the door. Instantly, I wrapped my arms around him, trying to get him to calm down. He needed to be quiet. His words would draw unwanted attention and I suddenly felt like we were being watched.
"Jaime, shh!" I hissed, finally having to resort to tightening my hand over his mouth until he would have to stop.
"What happened?"
"Melanie! She-she promised she'd be back!"
His words churned like ice in my gut. I swallowed back whatever harsh words I was about to say and looked him dead in the eye. "Where is she?" I asked. "Did they catch her?"
He wiped his eyes. "They w-were all around us," he replied, voice catching. "She told me to run."
My hands wrapped fiercely around his arms, trying to get a grip on myself, because I knew what was coming. It sang through my blood and roared in my ears, a lie I was silently begging to not be true; to not present itself after all we'd already been through.
"Where did she go?"
A tear spilled over his cheek as he stared at me, but I didn't think he was actually seeing me. "I think I heard her yelling."
I didn't look away from him. We weren't out of the woods yet. In fact, we were no better off than being stranded in middle of an open valley, with snooping Seekers all around.
I should have been throwing him in the truck. I should have been on the road now. I should have been halfway down the highway.
But instead, it was as if I had frozen, disbelieving. They couldn't have gotten Melanie. No. She wouldn't have let that happen, not when she promised both of us to meet back here.
She was still coming.
"Are you sure, Jaime?" I asked, shaking him slightly to make him focus on my words. On my face.
At first, he didn't respond, but then, almost imperceptibly, he nodded. "We're going to wait for her, right?" Jaime's eyes grew wide. His tone took on that of desperation, clutching at whatever hope lay before him, but by this point, he was reaching for something that no longer existed. "She's coming back like she said. She promised!"
"Jaime, shut up!" I said, my voice cold. In the next instant, as if someone had snapped my judgement back on, I lifted Jaime off the ground and into the truck.
"No!" He protested, kicking against me, fighting me. "No! We have to wait for her! She said she's be here!"
I remained silent as I forced him through the car door and into the seat, catching the seat belt and wrapping it around him. Then I locked it before hurrying to the other side of the car, my movements mechanical, as If I was doing without thinking.
For a moment, I wondered if this is what it felt like to be a parasite.
I slid into the front, looking anywhere but to Jaime, who was scratching at the window, trying to free himself like he was secured by chains rather than a flimsy piece of nylon.
"If I don't come back, Jared, please, you have to promise me to get Jaime out. Don't come after me, just get him someplace safe."
My fists tightened on the wheel as I forced my instincts into a different direction, of Jaime's safety, though everything inside me revolted against the idea of leaving Mel. I should go after her. I should protect her. But I also knew that if she were to have gotten away, she would also kill me for breaking the promise I swore to honor.
"Keep Jaime safe."
I cursed as I shifted the truck into drive, flipping down my sunglasses as I pulled away from the curb.
"Jared, we have to go back!" Jaime continued to yell at me, but I found being silent was the most appropriate course of action to take.
Because then he wouldn't hear the pieces of me slowly crippling.
Because then he wouldn't hear the doubt in my voice declaring how hopeless I truly felt.
I turned onto one of the main roads that led to the highway, purposefully not looking in the review mirror to the flashing lights that would undoubtedly be there.
That were always there.