𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐄 || j. daniel atlas

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐍𝐄

"Mama?" Alena said again as her throat tightened. The line was silent for a moment longer, then a strangled sob seeped into her ear. "Mama, please don't cry," she said, tears welling up in her own eyes.

"It's really you, isn't it?"

"Mama, I'm so sorry." It had been on the tip of her tongue for ten years. "I'm so sorry for leaving you behind."

Alena's mother gave a great sniff. "I don't have much time," she whispered.

"Why? What's the matter? Are you okay?"

"I just needed to know that you're safe, and that you're happy."

"Mama, tell me what's wrong."

"You are happy, aren't you, my darling?"

"Mama, please. What's the matter?" Alena begged. "Are things bad again?"

No reply. Alena peeled the phone away from her ear to check that it was still connected. After another long silence...

"Worse."

"You have to let me help you."

"No, I can't ask you to do that. I just needed to know that you're okay."

"How can I be okay when I know that he's hurting you?"

"It's not just me. I'm fine. It's the others I'm worried about."

Alena forced down the lump forming in her throat. "Alright, I'm coming to get you."

"No," her mother yelped, then lowered her voice again. "You stay where you are. You stay safe, my angel. If you come back here, they won't let you leave."

"I never should have left you behind." Alena stood up straight, glancing at her watch and then, over her shoulder. "Can you meet me somewhere outside of the community? It's a short walk to the village. You've been there. You can get a bus to Brighton. If someone follows you there, it'll be easier for you to disappear in the crowds. Can you do that, Mama?" Silence. "Did you get that? Mama?" Alena pulled the phone away from her ear again.

The call had ended.

The lump heaved itself up into the back of her mouth, choking any cry of anguish that could have escaped.

Alena stared at the screen, hoping against hope that it had been a mistake, that her mother would call back any moment now. The cold crept over her bare arms, seeping into her skin and penetrating her trembling bones. And still nothing.

There was only one phone in that little hamlet, a landline in the community centre, but it was for emergency use only and the sect's leader alone had access. Any call made would have been supervised by him.

This call had come from a mobile, probably a pay-as-you-go that you could easily pick up in a phone shop. If this was the case, then Alena's mother must have been able to get hold of one on a trip to the local village and snook it back onto the community lands. Which meant that Alena couldn't call her back. Someone else finding the phone could get her mother trapped inside their borders for the rest of her days.

All she could do was wait.

Alena saved the number into her contacts and started down the street. She knew that if she set foot back in the bar to collect her bag, her friends wouldn't let her go home alone. And the last thing she wanted right now was to be in anyone's company, even if that was the one thing she needed the most.

It didn't take long for all the logic of the situation to fade away with the babble of New York nightlife. Alena could no longer hold down the lump in her throat and the pavement ahead became blurry. She had only had one drink before leaving the bar, but the cold and shock of her mother's call seemed to have catalysed the effects of the alcohol. Stumbling in her heels, Alena clutched her phone to her chest, the hope of it ringing faltering with every step.