I looked Bram dead in the eyes. "Dunningham never touched me, not like that anyway."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure."
Bram nodded. "That's good to know."
I wanted to ask him why that was good to know, but Josh opened the sliding glass door, looking terrified.
I sat up. "Josh? What's the matter?"
He swallowed hard. "Colden's in the front yard. He has Kuro on the ground and he's holding a knife to his throat."
18
We raced through the house to the front yard. Right in the center of the lawn Colden sat on Kuro's chest with a knife digging into his throat. I wondered whether if Colden cut him he would bleed now that we had human blood in us.
Everyone was gathered there. Bram pushed through the crowd. Kuro. who was usually fearless, looked wide-eyed and terrified.
"Colden, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Bram yelled.
Colden looked up. "Don't come any closer. I swear to God I'll decapitate him , and he can spend the rest of his years with his head sitting on his lap."
Bram didn't go any closer. "Why are you doing this?"
"Why? He killed our only chance to have a normal life. You know how much money Lawson was worth? He was supposed to move my people to this side so that we could live a somewhat reasonable life. But Kuro killed him. Now what are we supposed to do?"
Bram's jaw twitched, which wasn't a good sign. He wasn't a very diplomatic person. I stepped forward and placed my hand on his arm. That always seemed to calm him down.
I stepped closer to Colden."It happened really fast. None of us meant for Lawson to get killed, but hurting Kuro isn't going to help. It's not going to bring him back. We'll figure out a way to live here. We will."
Colden looked up at me. "You guys are out of control. You can't just keep doing things like this and thinking it's okay."
Bram stepped a little closer and I tightened my grip on his arm. "Colden, think about this. You're surrounded by eighteen Grims. You can die and we can't. You hurt him and we'll take you out in less than five seconds."
Colden looked down at Kuro and stuck the knife harder into his throat. Kuro winced and Colden finally stood up. "You think I care about dying? I got nothing to lose. I care because there's a village of people depending on this. Dunstan has helped you out a lot and you owe us." He backed away from Kuro, who sat up rubbing his neck.
"That may be so," Bram said, "but if you ever come here and threaten one of us again, we will kill you and that is a promise."
Colden didn't look the least bit afraid. He was always so hard and cold, I couldn't imagine him even being afraid. "By the way, Dunningham sent us a message to pass on to you. If any of you want to return to Nowhere, you can. He'll let you come back with no punishment, no questions asked, but you have to decide by tomorrow morning. After that, things will get ugly. His words."
We had a meeting the next morning. Ebony, Garnet, and Gannon were contemplating taking Dunningham up on his offer. That would bring our numbers down to fifteen. Bram was pissed.
"You know how many other Grims I could have recruited to come over here? But I asked you guys , and now you want to go back and cower to him."
Garnet shrugged and pushed a lock of purple-streaked hair behind her ear. "Bram, I'm sorry. It's just that things here are so uncertain. We don't know what's going to happen when the power goes off or we run out of food. And what does he mean by 'things will get ugly ' , ’ huh? I'm sorry, but I think we're in way over our heads. It's been fun here and it was nice to have a break, but we're Grims and we belong in Nowhere. We can't get away from that."
"Don't be a fool, Garnet," I told her. "Do you really think Dunningham is going to just let you guys back in unharmed?"
"But he said—"
"I know what he said, but I know him better than any of you. He'll go back on his word in a minute. Make no mistake, he'll do anything he can to get you back, but once you are, he'll make an example out of you. We all know how he loves to do that."
The other two looked less sure now, but Garnet's mind was made up. She was making the biggest mistake she could make, but there was nothing we could do to talk her out of it.
Colden came an hour later. He seemed surprised to see that only one person was giving in.
"Okay," he said. "I'll take her back. Anyone else?"
No one else said a word. We hugged Garnet good-bye and she left with Colden. I knew that nothing good was awaiting her.
Our food supply dwindled down a week later. I'd been warning Bram that we needed to make a plan before the food ran out. We needed to ration and keep a supply large enough to feed seventeen Grims so we wouldn't starve. He and Shiva had kept putting it off. We were down to ten cans of soup, a few boxes of crackers, and four cartons of fruit juice. I figured that it was only a matter of time before the utilities stopped working. We were lucky to have kept them for this long.
"I think just a few of us should go at first," Bram said as we discussed our first "shopping trip " . ” "To try it out. It'll be easier to coordinate."
"But we need a lot of stuff, Bram," Naomi argued. "The more Grims to carry things, the better."
Bram nodded. "I know. Let's try it small at first and then we'll bring more Grims along."
It was decided that Bram, Adrian, Shiva, Nokomis, and I would go first. The plan was to stuff as much food into our hoodies and backpacks as possible. We made a list of things we needed. The first round we would go for the necessities—water, juice, bread, milk, cheese, and meat. We piled into the SUV once we were ready.
Adrian drove us to a small grocery store not too far from the house. The ride took less than ten minutes.
"We'll start small," Bram said from the front seat. "Keira and Nokomis , get the bread and meat. Adrian , hit dairy. Shiva and I will get water and juice."
We parked the vehicle as far away from the store as possible. Dressed in our black hoodies and backpacks, we entered the store undetected.
"I'll get the meat," I told Nokomis.
"I'll get cereal," she replied. I didn't remember that being on the list, but I didn't have time to argue with her. I went to the section of the store that housed the packaged meats.
That part of the store happened to be empty except for one woman trying to decide whether she should get the honey-baked ham or the regular kind. I grabbed an assortment of meats—bologna, ham, turkey, things I knew everyone ate. Bram was particularly fond of pastrami , so I took a couple of packs of that. I turned around and yanked some boxes of crackers from the shelves.
Someone gasped behind me. I turned, expecting to see someone looking at me, wondering why I was stealing. Instead , there was a woman picking up a cookie her toddler had dropped on the ground.
The baby whined and reached for the cookie.
"No, no, it's dirty," his mother said gently.
She pushed past me in her shopping cart. I released the breath I had been holding in and went back to what I had been doing. I grabbed some cookies and shoved them into the front of my hoodie. Anything we touched would become invisible to the human eye as we were.
Once I was done I stood at the door and waited for the others. Bram, Shiva, and Adrian emerged with overflowing backpacks. We looked around for Nokomis. I spotted her in the candy section poring over the candy bars.
"There she is," I said , pointing.
Shiva marched over and pulled her away from the candy rack. "Come on, we're ready."
She yanked away from him. "What's the big deal? it's not like they can see us."
"We need to be careful," Bram said with an edge of irritation in his voice. "We have human blood in us now, we don't know what might happen. Let's go."
We rushed out of the store , and I was only relieved once we were pulling out of the parking lot. We had done it. We'd gotten enough food to feed everyone for the rest of the week undetected. A big part of the worry I'd been carrying melted away. Bram had been right. We wouldn't starve.
> Two days later we went to a huge superstore, which turned out to be a gigantic mistake. Filling up four SUVs, the seventeen of us pulled into the parking lot. Everyone had their own section of the store to hit for specified objects, but one we got inside, it turned into a free-for-all.
Amaro and Gannon tossed loaves of bread at each other over the stands that separated one row from the next. Someone dropped two jars of pickles on the floor, creating a mess. Joshua and Dorian pushed each other through the aisles in shopping carts. Merchandise was being knocked over left and right. Nokomis and Ebony were trying on clothes right in the middle of the store. There was no way we could let everyone come shopping like this at once again.
We took way much too long to get what we needed , and it took even longer to round everyone up and get them out of the store. At least we had gotten what we needed.
That night we took in a movie at the local drive-in , which went a lot smoother. At home, aside from the occasional foolery, everything was going fine—until Colden showed up.
We were having a barbeque in the backyard. Chase and Shiva grilled burgers and hot dogs for everyone while the rest of us lounged about the yard.
Colden was greeted with stares when he stepped into backyard. We were having a good time , and I hoped he wouldn't spoil it.
"Come to talk more Grims into going back to Nowhere?" Bram asked as he tried to get vegetables and chunks of meat on a skewer for shish-kabobs.
"No," Colden said gravely. I noticed that he wasn't his usual arrogant self. There was something different about him. "I came to tell you that you made a good decision."
"How's that?" Bram asked.
"Dunningham executed that girl."
Everyone froze. Nokomis burst into tears. I felt for Garnet, although I wasn't surprised that Dunningham had gone back on his word. Amaro tried to comfort Nokomis, but she pushed him away and went to sit next to Bram. She leaned against him, begging for acknowledgement, but Bram's eyes didn't leave Colden's.
"Her death is on your head," Bram told him.
"It—it's not his fault," Dorian argued. Bram shot his brother a harsh look, but Dorian didn't falter. "I'm just saying, don't shoot the messenger. This was Dunningham's doing."
Bram said nothing , but looked back at Colden, who apparently had more news for us. "There's something else. Dunningham says for every day you guys are gone, he's going to execute three Grims of Litropolis. When he's done with Litropolis, he'll move on to Farrington."
There was a cold silence in the air that lingered over us.
"Why doesn't he start with Farrington?" Josh asked. "That's where our families live. It'll hurt us more."
We all looked at Josh. Of course it wasn't something that we wanted to happen, but it was a good question.
"Dunningham knows what he's doing," Bram answered. "Litropolites are virtually useless to him. If he can lure us back by getting rid of Grims who mean nothing to him, it's a win-win for him. If he executes our parents, more Grims may turn on him. Things in Nowhere are fragile enough as it is. He knows not to rock the boat too hard."
"Bram, are you sure?" Naomi asked. "Maybe we should go back."
Bram stood and paced back and forth. "For what? So he can kill us? I'm sorry, but I'm not going to turn our lives over to him to save a few Litropolites."
"What should I tell him?" Colden asked.
"Tell him to do what he has to do. We're never coming back."
I swallowed hard. What if Dunningham wanted to kick things up a notch and hurt our families? Surely we would have to go back then, even if it meant our deaths.
Colden backed away toward the door, looking at us as if we were making a terrible mistake. "I'll relay the message. By the way, there are other Grims who are wondering when you're coming back for them."
Bram nodded. "I know. I promised to get them out, to give them a taste of freedom, but I can't go back there. It's too risky."
"What?" Nokomis said. "Because you got your brother over here, you just stop? You don't care anymore? That's not fair. Bram, the others are depending on you to bring them over. You sold them this beautiful dream and you can't back out now."
Bram rubbed his eyes. "Well, what am I supposed to do? It's too risky to go back over there now."
Colden put his hand on the door handle. "Listen, if I were you, I'd bring as many of them over as I could. This will get ugly. Dunningham isn't going to let this go easily and the more Grims you have on your side, the better. Trust me."
That statement frightened me. I wanted to think that Bram insisting that we learn to fight was just him being paranoid, but maybe not.
"Also, get some more weapons. No one really knows how many resources Dunningham has at his disposal," Colden added.
"We can't do this alone. We need Dunstan and Doyle as backup. Have you seen Doyle?" Bram asked.
Colden nodded. "Yeah, Dunningham has been keeping him very close so he hasn't been able to get away."
That statement made me nervous. Was Dunningham on to Doyle? If he was, Doyle's fate was sealed , and our connection to Nowhere and Dunningham's plans would be lost.
For the first time , Bram looked worried. "We won't negotiate with him. If he wants to kill innocent Grims, that's on his hands, but we won't go back. Look what he did to Garnet. That would be suicide."
Colden nodded and disappeared into the house.
Bram turned to us. "Don't look at me like that. I'm just doing what I have to do. It's either them or us."
I didn't think any of us were blaming Bram for the decision he'd made. We were just scared.
The following morning , as we enjoyed a nice breakfast of steak and eggs, Shiva, Amaro, and Nokomis burst through the door , carrying Gannon. Shiva cleared everything from the kitchen island with one swipe of his arm , and they placed Gannon on the counter. It was then that I noticed something wrong with his leg—the bone was protruding through broken skin. I felt my breakfast rise in my throat, but I forced it back down.
"What the hell happened?" Bram demanded as we crowded around Gannon.
"We were car surfing," Shiva said bashfully as Gannon groaned in pain. "He landed wrong, I guess. That's never happened before."
For about twenty seconds the only sound was Gannon's wailing. The rest of us tried to stomach the scene.
Bram ran his fingers through his hair. "So…"
It took me a moment to realize that everyone was looking at me.
"What?"
"What do we do?" Nokomis asked.
"How should I know?"
"Because," Shiva said. "You're, like, smart and stuff."
I sighed and forced myself to look at the grotesque injury. "I don't know. We've never had to deal with broken bones in Nowhere because Grims didn't do stupid things like this. He needs a doctor to set this straight."
"Well, obviously, that's not an option," Amaro said.
"Okay," Bram said, "We'll go to the store and get some first-aid supplies , and then we'll figure out how to fix it." I was sure that repairing this injury was going to take more than a first-aid kit.
Several of the others were excited for a trip into town, but Bram shut that down quickly. "Keira and I will go to the store. We don't have time for shenanigans."
After a barrage of complaints, Bram and I headed for a small drug store close to the house. In the first - aid section , we grabbed things we would need and stuffed them into the backpack I was carrying. We took bandages, alcohol, aspirin, and Tylenol, and Bram had even found a pair of crutches. I didn't know what else we would need or even if what we had would do any good, so we exited the store.
At the entrance, a woman with red hair was taping a poster of the week's sales items on the front door. Bram and I pushed past her. She cleared her throat. "Gonna pay for that stuff?"
We froze. I looked at Bram. He only frowned, just as surprised as I was.
"You can see us?" I asked.
"Yes, I can." She pointed to a black mound stuck to the ceiling above us. "So can our su
rveillance cameras. I suggest you go to the counter and pay for those items."
I would have loved to do that, but seeing that we had no money, that was impossible.
"Keira, run!" Bram grabbed my arm and we sprinted for the vehicle. The tires squealed as Bram pulled out of the parking space, I looked back at the woman. I expected her to be chasing us or heading inside to call the police, but she just stood there staring, the fluorescent yellow poster dangling from her side.
"What happened? How could she see us?" I asked Bram as we sped away.
He shook his head. "It must be the human blood. Maybe that's messing with our invisibility or something."
I sat back in the seat and closed my eyes. "How are we supposed to get food and supplies now?"
"Don't worry about it. She's the only one who's been able to see us. We'll figure something out. Don't worry about it."
The more Bram told me not to, the more I worried.
19
Back at the house, Gannon was sweating. His skin had turned a pale gray color , and he looked like as though he w ere as about to pass out, which concerned me.
"He's burning up," Nokomis said as she felt his forehead.
Naomi poured a glass of water while Shiva fumbled with opening the bottle of Tylenol.
Everyone stood around looking on quietly as I worked. My hands trembled, but I tried to work quickly.
I cringed and gently pushed Gannon's bones back into his skin. It was the most disgusting thing I'd ever done. Gannon shot up and screamed at the top of his lungs , and two of the boys had to restrain him. "Somebody give me a belt."
Bram took his off quickly and handed it to me. I wrapped the bandages around Gannon's leg and then tied the belt around the wound to keep the bone in place. Josh and Dorian had fashioned the splint and helped me set his leg in it. I looked back to examine my work. The bone wasn't sticking out of his leg anymore ; , the leg was in place the best I could put it, but that wasn't good enough. I knew his leg wouldn't heal properly and he was in excruciating pain.
I looked at Bram. "This isn't right. I mean it's better than nothing, but he needs someone who knows what they're doing."
Keira Grim: The Final Breath Chronicles Book Two Page 13
