Brave Fear (boyxboy)

Chapter 18

Zane gawked as the two girls embraced, tears rolling down their cheeks. Anastasia was leaning against Daisy for support, her frail body staggering in the darkness. Daisy held her tightly, obviously and understandably afraid to let her go again.

Despite the happy reunion in front of him, Zane found himself asking questions that could prove to be dangerous. How did Anastasia get out? Would she tell them she had got out on her own, even if she hadn't, even if she'd had help? What if she was just another distraction, another variable for Wawrzynski to record reactions and scribble them on a notepad? He shared a look with Mallory and concluded she had had the same thoughts. She tucked Daisy's sister's gun in the back of her waistband, hiding it from sight.

"I can't believe you're actually alive," Daisy sobbed, her face pressed into her twin's shoulder. Her voice was shaky, and there was a hint of vulnerability Zane had never heard from her before. She seemed to have forgotten her ankle in the excitement of finding her sister alive.

"Me neither," Anastasia answered. Her voice was deeper than Daisy's, an octave lower, and Zane couldn't help but wonder about the reason why. She sounded utterly defeated.

"Sit down, sit down," Daisy said, lowering her to the hard ground. Anastasia glanced at her thankfully and Daisy smiled brightly. Her face was brimming with emotions, thousands of them at once, all brought on by the return of her sister. Daisy rummaged in her backpack.

Zane got an idea of how important Anastasia was to her when she pulled a box of Froot Loops from her pack. Without a second thought, she offered them to her twin. Zane recalled how she had snatched them away from him earlier before he could even open the tab. It was a silly assumption based on cereal, but he sensed Daisy would do anything to keep her sister alive, keep her away from Wawrzynski.

Zane relished in the fact that Wawrzynski had nobody to coerce them back with. Anastasia had been his most important weapon, and yet he'd lost her. Zane's content faded when he sensed that question in the back of his head; What if he let her go on purpose to bring us straight back to him?

Wawrzynski surely had the equipment for all sorts of brain-washing techniques, and Zane found himself wary of Anastasia, as if she were still the unrecognizable figure lumbering through the dark.

Joseph shocked him from his thoughts. "Who's Anastasia?" he whispered frantically, sounding slightly embarrassed that he didn't know.

Zane turned to find the boy's curious gaze fixed on him, a bemused expression on his face. He knew Zane knew who she was. He knew he'd gleaned the information from Daisy. He seemed ready to make another remark about how easy he was to talk to when Zane said, "Daisy's twin sister."

Joseph cocked a smile. "Mhm, and how do you know this?"

Zane rolled his eyes, hoping Joseph could hear it instead of see it. "Daisy told me," he said brusquely.

"Social butterfly," whispered Joseph. He was smiling broadly.

"Shut up and go eat a bagel," Zane spat at him. But he too was smiling.

Daisy and Anastasia broke apart, each sobbing and throwing handful upon handful of Froot Loops into their mouths. Zane sighed and extracted the box from them, away from their pawing hands. "I'm rationing you," he said forcefully. "We can't afford to go through a box a day."

"Bitch," they both said simultaneously.

"Hey, watch your mouths,"

"Fuck you," came the synchrononous response.

Mallory and Marcus were watching curiously, wary of the newcomer. When Anastasia looked over, Marcus tipped his hat to her and Mallory gave a curt nod. The red-haired girl stifled a laugh and Zane was slightly inclined to trust her.