Seven

Silence.

Everything was dead quiet, the stillness of the room disturbing in its calmness. Lucia blinked her eyes, attempting to fix her blurred vision.

She was confused at first, mostly because she had no memory of walking to the room, nor did she remember falling asleep or changing out of her hunting clothes, which had been replaced by a worn t-shirt and cotton shorts.

Though, she did remember the reason for the soreness in her legs and arms, recalling the tough trek through forest terrain, bringing back the memory of the huge buck in the clearing, the way she had pulled the string of the bow back...

oh

Without warning, everything came crashing back. The boy that had startled the deer away, the silver reflection in his eyes, and how the group had brung him back to their home.

The pain came in an agonizing wave, starting in the center of her chest as she choked on a sob, clutching at the skin near her heart. Lucia slowly remembered his words. 'I was still there', he had said. And if he had still been there, then there must have been others, others that could have 'still been there'.

And she had murdered them, her own family had been killed by her hands. They could have survived if it hadn't been for her reckless act. What if they had still been in there? What if the disgust in her father's eyes had truly been for her as Jackson aimed the crossbow at the old man? What if the fear in Claire's features had been genuine? What if? What if? What if?

"Lucia?" A soft voice spoke her name, interrupting her train of hateful thoughts meant for herself.

Of course, it was Jackson.

"Lucia," He repeated, now not as a question, but a call for her attention. She moved her emerald gaze to the source of the voice.

"Luc," He now sighed and her eyes hesitantly focused on his face, taking in the frown that pulled his lips down and the deep sorrow that was buried in his eyes.

He was sitting on the edge of their bed, one hand slightly outstretched like he wanted to comfort her, but wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do.

"What happened?" She murmured, breaking eye contact and gazing at the roughly dug out ceiling. Her mind was racing with questions. What had they done with Darko? Had the boy been telling the truth? How long had she been unconscious?

Jackson hesitated for a moment, seeming to debate on what to tell her exactly. "You, well, you blacked out back there. Kevin and Tom are keeping the boy held captive in the storage room, I think Haven's out by him right now and Jasey seems intent on staying there too." She looked at him when he said this, and he quickly picked up on the worry in her gaze. "Don't worry," He quickly amended, "They're both guarding from the outside."

They were both silent for a few moments, Lucia trying to gather her thoughts. Everything felt very unreal in that moment and she just kept wishing this had all been some sort of wild nightmare.

Jackson broke the silence. "After you passed out, the boy," Lucia started to pick up that Jackson had no trust for Darko and noticed how he seemed to refuse to call him by his name. "He explained that he wasn't sure if there were others like him, others that had survived the parasites. He seemed to think he was one in a million that had not been erased."

Lucia didn't move, eyes still on the ceiling, tracing the lines of metal that held the ground above their heads. "How do we know he's not lying? What if everyone else was like him? Jackson, I- I murdered them." Her voice broke on the last few lines, and she had to try her best not to let the tears that were threatening to spill over out.

"Luc," He cooed and now moved to be closer to her, stretching out so that he was lying beside her, warm arms twining themselves around her waist. "How do we even know he's telling the truth about anything? For all we know he could be lying about everything. I mean, who even knows if he's not a parasite himself?"

Jackson's words did help calm her down, the logic behind them melting the ice in her blood. He was right, they didn't know if Darko was telling the truth.

But, those words still couldn't erase the memory of Claire's horror stricken face embedded in her mind. With a deep sigh, Lucia turned towards him, burying her face in the soft fabric of his shirt. "I just miss her so much." She whispered, slightly choking on her words.

"I know," He said back, soothingly running his hands through the length of her hair.

They laid there for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Jackson was absently twirling a piece of her hair while she gently ran her hand along his arm. She recalled a time when she had thought of this boy as frightening and the hysteria bubbled up and almost had her laughing. Looking back on that now made her feel completely ridiculous.

"Do you remember the first time we met?" She asked, eyes focused on his bronze skin, tracing the line of veins that ran underneath.

"Well, I don't know if I'd word it like that exactly." He chuckled, and she joined in too after a moment. He was right though, it was exactly a formal sort of meeting. "I had thought for sure I had accidentally given you some sort of concussion." He admitted.

"Yea, me too." She joked, but vaguely remembered the throbbing in her head that hadn't went away for days. "But, that was the day Claire had been taken." She tried not to choke on her words again, biting her lip harshly.

"Yes, I remember you telling me." He murmured, voice soft and careful.

"The thing is, Jackson, I had promised to keep her safe. The week before my father was taken he had pulled me outside and made me promise that I'd do everything in my power to keep her from harm." Her breathing was getting shaky again. "And, I broke that promise. I should have never taken her out that day, I should have kept her hidden." Regret filled her chest and she felt like she was surely going to drown in all these emotions.

"Lucia, please." His voice was begging and filled with sadness. She knew she was putting him through pain right now, as well.

"I need to talk with Darko." She decided immediately, untangling herself from Jackson and sitting up. Her head felt light, but her vision stayed clear.

"Are you sure?" He asked, sitting up as well, eyes carefully watching her as she got up and started to search for her day clothing.

"Yes, I am. I need to know everything he knows." She set her jaw determinedly, quickly pulling on jeans and grabbing her shoes.

Jackson let out a deep sigh, "I suppose so, come on then."