Chapter 169
- Evan -
I swallowed hard, the water rising against my chin, the ceiling pressing down like judgment upon us.
"He didn't just make a mistake back then," I said, my voice shaking more from memory than from fear. "Josh chose it. He chose to follow our father. He believed if he gained enough power, he could bring Mom back."
The words tasted bitter.
"I always knew it was wrong. But I didn't stop him. I told myself he would figure it out eventually... that maybe he'd come back on his own. I thought I could fix it quietly without tearing us apart."
Water splashed against my lips.
I kept going.
"And when I first went into the Abyss... it wasn't for you."
The confession hurt more than the cold.
"I didn't even know who you were back then. I had forgotten. I went for my own selfish reasons. I didn't realize it at the time, but then I saw you—when I found you again—everything changed."
My throat tightened.
"I thought you were dead when I carried you out. Your body is lifeless and still. I thought I was too late.
I forced myself to look at her and not look away.
"When I realized you were alive... Josh stayed behind. He faced his father so I could get us out. If he hadn't done that, none of us would have escaped."
I gasped from the shivering my body released.
"In that moment, he chose us. He started changing after that. You've seen it. He's been trying ever since. But I was too much of a coward to tell you the truth. I hid behind shame. Behind silence."
My chest burned.
"And when you went back into Abyss... when your memories started returning... I knew once you had seen everything, you might hate me."
My voice cracked.
"But you didn't let the pain break us. You gave up your memories. You let them be sealed inside the curse Father put on you—just to save us. To save Josh. To save me.
The water touched my mouth, and I choked a bit, but I didn't stop. These were our last few moments together.
"That's why his arm is like that," I finished, barely able to get the words out. "Father tried to kill us again in an attempt to restore Mom. We lost to him, but you were there to drag us back from the Abyss that hell."
I looked at her through the distortion of rising water. Through the tears, the water was splashing away.
"We've all been carrying a piece of that night. I just... never dared to tell you how much it was my fault that I could have stopped this, stopped Josh. I am as much to blame for your pain as he was for beating you to death."
"Evan—I don't—" The words died in her throat as the rising tide claimed the final pocket of air, sealing us both in.
Our eyes locked as the water rose; her final look held no hate, only sympathy and forgiveness.
I could tell she was having a hard time staying afloat because of the injury from the metal shelf, and we were quickly running out of the air left in our lungs.
She was losing consciousness fast. Instinctually, I pulled her face toward mine and pressed my mouth to hers.
I forced the remaining air I had into her lungs.
Her chest expanded weakly.
Suppose I could borrow one more second for her to be on this earth in our last moments. Just hoping someone may come to save us.
As I held on to her in the stillness of the water, I drifted off. I was at peace knowing we were together in our last moments.
Peace washed over me like a call from the heavens, but then life pulled me back at the explosion of the doors bursting open.
The surge of water violently rushed us outward.
Hands grabbed us.
The pressure released for me with a cough.
Sound came back all at once, disorienting.
I collapsed back onto a pole outside, coughing up seawater on the concrete.
"She's not breathing," someone shouted.
She wasn't moving; she was more still than when she was in the water.
I rolled toward her immediately, adrenaline drowning out everything else.
"No, no, no—"
I pressed both my hands on her sternum and began compressions.
"One—two—three—"
Water spilled from her mouth.
"Come on," I choked. "You don't get to leave like this."
Another compression.
Her body jerked with a spark that zapped through my hands.
She coughed violently as I helped her roll onto her side. Seawater poured out from every inch of her lungs in sharp, ragged bursts.
I sagged back on my heels, chest heaving. I couldn't speak at first.
Then the word tore out of me anyway.
"Damn... that was a close call."
My hands were shaking heavily.
My heart wouldn't slow down.
And my breath it all— something strange lingered.
A whisper of a memory.
Like his moment sitting in a place my body couldn't recognize, but the back of my mind did.
"I swear," I muttered hoarsely, "it feels like we've done this before."
Kaysi looked at me sharply.
But before either of us could say more—
"What the hell is wrong with you people?!" Officer Frank roared behind us.
He was furious, not controlled or silent in the least.
He rounded up the other officers. "Who ordered this? Who signed off on this location, their children for Christ's sake?!"
Alarms suddenly began blaring from the docks—a deep, citywide siren that echoed through steel and water alike.
Frank's radio crackled at his hip.
He grabbed it at first with static, then it cleared.
A panicked voice on the other side.
"Multiple breaches reported—first ground district—this isn't a leak—it's deliberate—systems failures everywhere.
Frank went pale.
"That's the farming district," he said under his breath.
My blood ran cold.
Maxwell House!
"That's where we are staying," Kaysi spoke, still barely breathing.
More chatter burst through the radio.
"The five unidentified adult intruders who evaded detainment and verification have been spotted and are now suspects.
The five rogue adults who were never found.
Frank snapped into motion. "You two—if your people are down there, get them out—now!"
"We have our group and the Maxwells, who now have 2 children plus Elise."
That caught his attention.
"Let's go, then. The officer already started racing back to the house.
Kaysi was already on her feet despite the tremor in her limbs.
I grabbed her hand to lend her my strength.
We didn't speak.
We ran.