Dusk: A Handmaid's Tale Story

Chapter 10

Ezra's POV: 

"Fuck! Fuck!" Someone yelled entering the room. 

I raised my head curiously in alarm. 

"What's going on?!" another man asked, standing up. 

Stephan, the man who had entered yelling, shook his hair with his hands in obvious frustration. 

"One of the handmaid's blew herself up at a market today..." He said grimly. 

The mood in the room instantly changed. 

Some people cursed, others gasped, I felt a strange chill settle in my bones. 

"Stephan... what market..." I asked, hands beginning to clench violently with an odd sense of dread. 

He looked at me with a strange look, before realizing what I was asking. 

"Ezra... Before I tell you, you need to promise you won't act recklessly okay? We can't have you doing some dumb shit!" He said with a warning evident in his tone. 

His words said enough, I stood and grabbed my coat quickly. 

"Ezra! Ezra!" He called out to me as I began to quickly maneuver through the corridors of the building. 

It was our local market. The one Serenity visited sometimes. The one her walking partner always came for her on Wednesdays, mid-day. 

Today was Wednesday, it was just past 2 pm.

I felt my shoulder tugged hard. 

"Ezra! You cannot jeopardize us or yourself do you understand me? I don't have any more details to give you, but whatever happened you cannot do something stupid! Do you want the Eyes to suspect something is going on?!" Stephan said grabbing me by my coat collar to face him. 

I shoved him back, "And if there fucking is huh? What if there fucking is something going on? What if she's dead huh? Then what the fuck is all this for?!" I screamed at his face. 

He just stood there. 

"What the fuck is this all for huh? How about for every child, mother, parent, woman, out there living in this hell? This is bigger than you and your girlfriend Ezra and you need to remember that or you're going to get burned." He said finally before walking away, leaving me to think on his words for a moment, before turning to run. 

-

Pulling into the house confirmed something was wrong instantly. Aunt Lydia's van was parked out front. 

I could feel myself begin to shake, but I knew that Stephan was right to an extent... If I wasn't careful I would not only put myself in danger but others as well... I had to compose myself somehow. I had to stop and think. Whatever awaited me inside, I had to be composed.

As the door opened, I noticed Aunt Lydia sitting with Lin who wept before they turned to look up at me. 

I swallowed deeply, "Blessed Day Aunt Lydia, Lin. Is everything alright?" I asked, trying to sound just mildly concerned. 

Aunt Lydia smiled sadly, "Blessed Day Ezra, please come in. I'm sorry to be disturbing your arrival."

I walked in slowly, calculating every movement I made, "Not at all Aunt Lydia. Is my step-mother well?" I asked, moving to sit on the adjoining couch cooly.  

She sighed, "Mrs. Adams is well, but I'm afraid something terrible has happened to OfJames."

I had to dig my nails into my palms to keep from jumping up and screaming.