The Link

by Dara Nelson

  “Quick,” Matt said, “in here.” We turned and quickly ducked into an abandoned apartment building. Flying up four flights of stairs, we ran to the apartment at the end of the hall. Through the apartment and out the open window to the fire escape. We jumped into the dark alley below, and stopped. Four of them were waiting for us at the end. We turned to run out and saw four more behind us, closing in. We looked up, hoping against hope that we could jump, or fly. But there were two hovering above us. There was nowhere else to run, nowhere else to go. We were completely surrounded and we were out of options. As The Enforcers closed in, we clung as tightly to each other as we could. “Don’t let go,” I whispered. “Please, don’t let go.”

  “Never,” he said through clenched teeth. I squeezed my eyes shut as they got closer and closer, knowing what was coming, knowing that this was the end. I felt their breath on my back, felt their ancient fingers close around my arms, felt them yanking and pulling until they finally broke us apart. Felt the panic rising as they pinned our arms behind our backs. I felt my heart break as I heard the cracks when they broke our fingers so we couldn’t touch our scars.