Breaking Point

Days Missing: 15      11:00:00 PM

 

Zane

I’ve never seen Saxon so crazed. He’s been raveled out onto a very thin string. Everyone’s trying to calm him down, but it’s no use. My brother has always been so well gathered, always the one to calm everyone else down. Seeing him like this scares me.

“We have to go back!” He shouts, his eyes wild. 

Channing holds him down, grabbing his arms. Lucas steps in front of him and puts his hands on his shoulders. “Saxon, we have to be careful, they could…”

“But they have her!” There’s something in his voice that puts me on edge. It frightens me. It’s something that I’ve had in my voice ever since Alexandria was taken. Desperation.

Saxon shoves Channing away from him. He presses his chest against Lucas’s, anger in his eyes. “I don’t give a s**t about being careful, they have her!”

Eneko comes up behind Saxon, and gently pulls him off Lucas.  Lucas takes a step back. “Saxon, we’re going back, I promise. But we have to be cautious so they don’t hurt Alexandria or Iris…”

 “Who knows if she’s even alive!” desperation laces his shaking voice. “I’m not letting her down like Zane did to Alexandria!”

I feel like I’ve been shot in the chest. My knees go weak, and my back hits the wall. The room goes silent, everyone staring at the ground. Realizing what he’s done, Saxon turns away from Lucas and faces me, his face falling.

“Zane...” He pleads. “I didn’t mean it.”

 Tears begin falling down my face. My body begins to shake. He’s right. I did let her down. I slide down the wall, resting on my haunches, all my strength gone. I put my face in my hands, and burst into tears. I feel a pair of hands on my shoulders.

“Zane.” A soft voice appears by my ear. “Listen to me. I didn’t know what I was saying. I was acting crazy. I’m so sorry. I just want to find Iris, and I know you want to find Alexandria. We can do it together. You haven’t failed her. She’s still out there, and she’s alive. I know it.”

He wraps his hands around my wrists, pulling them away from my face. I meet his gaze. “We’re going to find them. Whatever it takes.”

Just then, Miren bursts through the door. He has someone with him, their hands bound.

He shoves him in front of us. He has black hair and is very tall. He looks young. Too young.

I recognize him. He’s the one I couldn’t fight off of me during the fight.

“Tell them!” Miren yells at the boy, and he shudders. “Tell them who you are and you work for!”

The boy looks up at us, puppy eyes filled with innocence. I wonder how he got into this business.           

“My name is Knox, and I work for Roan.” He says in a small voice, eyes falling to the ground. Miren shoves him. “Tell them what you told me.” He says roughly.

Knox looks up at us again.  We all stare back at him, waiting for his next words. He looks scared. He finds me and Saxon and holds our gaze.

 

“I know where Alexandria and Iris are.”

Reviews

[Alleyway Rover]

It was hard to tell what was happening at the beginning of this chapter. When last we left them, they were in the middle of the fight and, if I remember correctly, if not winning then at least holding their own. Now I think they are retreating, but I’m not sure what exactly is going on. The end of the fight was never written.

The chapter ends with someone I’ve never heard of (Miren) inexplicably dragging someone he has captured and bound into… wherever these people are at the moment. It all seems very convenient. Around… five people (I still don’t have a good sense of who exactly is in this group) just got their asses beat trying to rescue Alexandria, so how did one person manage to both defeat, capture and escape with somebody? It seems highly improbable.

I liked the place we were at. That space in the novel where it seems all hope is lost is often the most exiting part. As readers, we know it can’t possibly end this way but all the signs point to that fact. This is where the awesome writer displays her awesomeness. She’s got to find a way for her characters to work the solution that bring everything to fruition.

This doesn’t feel like that. This, in all honesty, feels like a cop-out. I feel like I’ve missed something as a reader. How exactly did Miren beat and capture Knox? How did he escape with Knox? For that matter, who is Miren anyway?

Keeping in mind what I know and the fact that this could be a trap, why didn’t Roan do this two weeks ago? Why here, why now, why in this way? Nothing about this makes any sense.

The good thing is the fact that every chapter seems to bring a new twist. The problem I’m starting to have is that they aren’t making a whole lot of sense. There are no pieces coming together and the mystery isn’t slowly being unraveled and things aren’t falling into place. A good plot twist lulls the reader into a false sense of security. They go deeper into the story thinking that they’ve got all the facts and they know the right answer. Then the plot twists, everything the reader thought was real is proven to be wrong and they are forced to confront a completely new world. That’s fun. The trouble is, I’ve never gotten enough information to have that false sense of security so I don’t think these plot twists are as effective as they could be.

[RainDancer1997]

This is kinda like a yayy, nooo chapter:) It's great they found someone who will lead them to the girls, but it's a trap-_- I'm so excited!!!!

[JordanIsaacSmith]

Good chapter, slowing things down again after the rush of the last few and before the inevitable rush of the ending. All they need to do is go and get Alex and Iris. I have a feeling though, that after all this, someone is going to have to die. Not just Roan.