Page 89 of Madness & Mayhem
Reign nods.
“But what happens when we get to the border? Are we crossing with you guys?” Eloise asks. “Getting two over the border will be tough. Getting all six of us over seems impossible.”
“We’re not getting to Canada, El,” Kyler says simply.
My eyes narrow as I look at him. “Wait, what do you mean?”
“We’re not going to Canada, Lakyn,” Archer says, his eyes focused on mine.
My face scrunches in confusion. “Wait, why?”
“Because we have to go home. We’re not the ones that are on the run. We’re just trying to help you get over the border, baby Lake.”
“You guys are going to get in so much trouble for helping us,” I whine.
Posie reaches out, grabbing onto my hand. “Worth every second.”
“Shit might have been fucked with Creed, but he would’ve wanted us to do this for you guys,” Kyler says.
Reign stiffens beside me, his arm snaking around my waist. “Thank you guys.” Reign grabs the scribbled-on menu, scrunching it up and shoving it into his pocket. “Well, let’s go, then.”
With one last glance at the cabin-slash-mansion in front of us, we walk around the back, making our way deep into the forest. The air is cold tonight, bitter as it kisses the bare skin of my cheeks. My nose is already numb, and I keep my hands tucked into the pockets of my coat. We’re silent, focusing on the noises around us, our eyes peeled on the forest surrounding us.
We walk for seconds, minutes, hours until our bodies are no longer cold, but numb.
“I can’t feel my legs,” I whimper, unable to stop them from moving, but feeling like I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to.
Reign stops, turning around to look at me with worried eyes. “We’re all cold, Lakyn. We can’t stop now.”
I stop anyway, feeling the lack of blood flowing through my limbs. I pull my hands out of my pockets, pressing my fingers against my thighs.
Nothing. I feel nothing.
“I can’t feel my legs,” I whisper. Posie stops beside me, pressing against her legs.
“I can’t feel mine either. That’s kind of freaky,” she mumbles.
“We need to stop. Take a quick break and warm up. We won’t make it all night in this cold,” Kyler urges.
Reign shakes his head. “We stop, we won’t make it before the sun gets up. We have to keep going.”
“Reign, please,” I beg. “Even just for, like, twenty minutes so I can get some feeling back in my body.”
“Where are we going to stop, Lakyn? There’s nothing around us but trees,” Archer waves his hand around us, but he’s right. We’re in the middle of nowhere.
“There has to be someone around here. Something,” Eloise whines.
Reign sighs, a lick of concern crossing his features. “Okay. Next time we see something, we’ll stop. Ten minutes, though, and not a second longer.”
I nod, swallowing through the fear that I won’t be able to make it as long as it takes to find a place.
Everyone starts walking again, but Reign stays still, waiting for me to catch up to him.
“You okay, baby Lake?” he asks when I reach him.
I shake my head, reaching out and gripping onto him. My teeth begin to chatter, and I couldn’t stop it even if I tried. “I’m just so cold.”
His lips press into a thin line, and he grabs me, pulling me close. “We’ll find something, Lake. Just hold on.”