Beyond the Walls

Chapter 6

Mae's dark eyes lock on Ruben. Her brows furrow. Her lower lip pulls between her teeth.

"Who are you?" she asks, stepping closer.

I feel Ruben catch his breath. He rises to his feet and I notice his knees trembling. "Do you not recognise me? I am your son. Ruben."

Mae just shakes her head. "No," she says. "You can't be. My son's father would never have let him out of the Floodgates."

"He is dead." Ruben barely coughs out the words. "My father, Arthur Sneya is dead."

Her eyes widen and she steps up to Ruben. She gently cups his face, and her eyes dart around, at last landing on his eyes. "Oh my God," she breathes, and a tear streams down her cheek. Her fingers trail up the side of his face, brushing over the scar at his hairline, the one that Sneya inflicted. "Is it really you, Ruben?"

"It is," he whispers.

They embrace, hugging each other so tightly I can almost feel it myself. When at last, they break apart, his mother peers up into Ruben's face. He is easily a head taller than her. "You still have your father's eyes."

He winces, glancing away. "I am nothing like my father."

Her face breaks into a watery smile. "I believe that." She sighs. "God, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Mother."

"No," she stammers. "No, it isn't. I should have been there for you. I never got to see you grow from that eight-year-old boy to now. I was never there to protect you from your father."

"I am okay, mother," Ruben says, forcing a sad smile. "I got through. He did not break me."

They embrace again and when they pull apart, Ruben turns to us. "I'd like to introduce you to my friends, Mother."

At this, we all stand and step forward. He gestures to the redheaded boy first. "This is Killian Brooker, one of my best friends. This is his girlfriend Monet Cappron. This is my new friend Aston Bulaway." He pauses, putting his hand around my waist and pulling me into him. He kisses my temple. "And this is Elle Fallon."

Mae's gaze stays on me for longer than on the others. "Fallon?" She steps up to me, dark eyes boring into my pale ones. "And that signature red hair." She gently tucks a curl behind my ear. "I knew your parents."

Immediately, my polite smile drops. "Y-you knew my parents?" I stammer.

"Yes. Carl and Elizabeth," Mae nods. "They were banished from the Floodgates a few years after I was."

"How did you know them? What happened?" My words are rushed, panicked.

"I met them here. At our camp. You see, we base ourselves here so that those who are banished from the Floodgates can have a chance of finding us. We try to look after them and recruit them in our tribe."

"They were in the tribe?"

"Well, they did make it to the tribe. Although, before they were banished, they were tortured horribly. We did our best to look after them, to get them back to health. But their wounds were just too severe. After a few days, an infection took them both. Your mother first."

I am silent. Allowing the words to wash over me and sink into my pores. "I was named after my mother," I whisper. "My name is Elizabeth, too. But I used to be called Elle when I little so much that the nickname stuck."

Mae smiles. "Your mother told me that. She really loved you and your sister. Isabelle, right? How is she?"

I bite my lip and stare at my feet. "She was executed last year."