Austin awoke to the worried gazes of his friends, and, as he groggily blinked sleep from his eyes, he remembered his dream crystal clear and almost wanted to go back to sleep. But he didn't get to say anything, because the moment he sensed the worried grief and awkward silence in the air, he knew something bad had happened. "What happened?" he asked as Reya and Aaron fixed him with worried expressions; Caesar looked more angry then usual and Cleo seemed totally spaced out and not there at all, radiating pure, raw grief. "What happened while I was out?"
When no one would answer the question right away, Austin knew he would not like what he would hear. So, when Reya answered, he didn't even gasp, he was so far shell-shocked that he felt that nothing else would surprise him again.
"They took them," Reya had said, sounding both bitter and angry. "The Annihilators entered the Meadows and took a handful of Meadowers two nights ago, including Zether. And.. and last night, they took Atlanna and Trevor and…and Stryker, who sacrificed himself to save me. I-he they took him… Austin. They took my brother."
"And a handful of the Scavengers,too," Caesar scowled at Austin, as Austin fought the urge to go and comfort Reya right then and there; she who seemed overwhelmed and barely holding it together, but the notion, he was certain, wouldn't have been taken the way he would have hoped if he did so in front of the others.
Suddenly, something clicked in his head. 'Two nights ago?' Austin thought. 'How long was I out?'
"48 hours," Aaroon said, reading Austin's expression. "You've been out for 48 hours."
"What?!" Austin snapped. "Why didn't anyone wake me? I could have helped!"
"It was my decision." Reya said when no one would answer. "Both you and Scarleteye have been out since the battle. You were in no shape to defend yourselves, so we didn't."
"Besides," Aaroon said, picking up where Reya left off. "What would you have done? You would've been a liability if we'd have woken you guys up."
"You would've been killed or worse," Caesar finished. "Taken. Not that I care, of course, but our numbers are smaller than I've seen in a long time. Every man counts."
'What an asshole thing to say,' Austin thought to himself, causing Reya to look at him funny.
'Doesn't make it any less true,' he heard the Voice within say to him.
Cleo muttered a muffled out her acknowledgement.
"After the battle… after our friends were taken," Reya swallowed a hard gulp before continuing. "We managed to get both Scareleteye and the little girl who helped them in a cell we have underneath the Barnhouse. We have trusted Meadowers taking turns watching them every second of every minute. They aren't going anywhere."
"We haven't questioned them yet," Aaroon picked up, eyeing Reya with hesitance. "We were waiting for you to wake up… or something, I guess. We just didn't feel it right to begin askin' questions without ya there, not when you were such a big part in helpin' us get 'em."
"No, you guys didn't feel right startin' the interrogations within this newb. I was alright with it," Caesar countered, sounding very displeased.
"Yeah, well, we're incharge. You're not, so shut it," Aaron shot back, before looking to Austin with a look that said can you believe this guy?.
"But I barely did anything," Austin shot back, earning a scoff from Caeser. "I wasn't even able to hit the girl!"
"But Atlanna and Trevor both told us about your rescue of them before you came to us," Reya said, shooting back. "Besides, we wouldn't have known what to ask other than 'why?' and I think we all know our friends deserve more than a reason why they didn't make it. Also, neither girls will talk to us. Maybe they'll talk to you though."
It sounded like a question.
"We all deserve more than that, Reya," Caesar commented. "We deserve to escape this hellhole… our fallen… Our taken… All of us; we deserve freedom from this hell."
A silence spread through them and Austin used that silence to observe where he was at: a room in the Oakhouse, was his guess. He could see the oak tree's bark along one side of the room. The floor, wooden and creaky, and the ceiling, even creakier and more threatening to collapse in at any moment, were a welcoming sight. Sadly, it was also a reminder that he needed to tell them what he saw while he was out.
"Um, guys," Austin began, interrupting the silence, gazes all now on him. "There's something you need to know… something I need to tell you. And… and it won't be pretty."
They all fixed Austin with annoyed, alarmed and slightly curious-eyed stares as Austin retold his dream and how he learned of his connection to Scarleteye. He told them about his crest and his powers and the dreams he had been having. How he only survived this long due to his super instincts, or intuition, or whatever he called the Voice.
"Apparently," he was saying. "She and I - we are related by blood. That is why we are connected. That was why I passed out and that was why I couldn't hit her and she me. And I may know the way out of here, but I think… I think I need to talk to Scarleteye first and get her to help us. But, first, tell me the whole story of what happened while I was out."
Reya explained to Austin everything, with Cleo and Aaron filling in on things she seemed to forget or seemed much too uncomfortable to say herself. Apparently, the Annihilators were the ones who truly won the battle 𑁋 They abducted Stryker and Zether as well as Horri and Pannica, the same night of the attack, right after Scarleteye and Austin passed out. Then the Annihilators returned the following night to capture Dominio and Feari, as well as Trevor and Atlanna.
By this time, everyone figured out the pattern; that the Annihilators abducting two of each group every night. The Meadowers had made a desperate attempt to deny the beasts access to the Meadows by putting up huge logs in front of each Gate's entrance, but they all agreed that it would only slow the Annihilators down; it's not a long term plan, but it brough little comfort in the sense of security.
Basically, Austin heard Reya's voice in his head. Turning to face her so quickly, he felt his neck pop. "What about Alyssa? Did she make it?"
Reya looked to Cleo, both their faces down crested as silence passed between them. Austin had a feeling Alyssa didn't make it but hearing it out loud didn't do anything to dull the grief. He barely knew the girl, but it was still sad to see someone else die in this hellish place, especially when she unexpected saved him.