The Hollows In Our Freedom | 'Hollows' Book Ⅲ

Chapter Seventy-Five

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T h e   H o l l o w s   I n
O U R  F R E E D O M
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S K Y

The house suddenly shook.

But it was not the inside that was affected, it was the outside.

We held onto each other as the explosion sounded, and both my mum and Jameson were quick to check if I was okay. But it wasn't the people on the inside that I was worried about—it was the people who were outside.

And Lexi was one of them.

Suddenly, a shrill broke through the blanket of silence, startling us all at once. And then we sprung into action.

My mum was first down the stairs, closely followed by most of the Guardians. Jameson disagreed with me coming, but I disagreed with lives lost in our own back garden.

I hadn't seen it happen, but I heard as my mum stormed through the kitchen door—I think it smashed.

I ran out of the door, spotting the group of Guardians and joining them.

I froze when I saw it. When I saw what I was dreading. A figure laid on the floor. A girl.

Lexi.

I slapped a hand over my mouth to silence the sob I felt erupt inside of me. Someone brushed past me suddenly—Jace. He fell to the ground beside her, joining my mum in shaking her.

I walked slowly over to her, feeling my heart clench. And then her ankle twitched.

"Alexi?" I asked, falling down to the floor and grasping onto her hands. When my mum rolled Lexi over, I was aware of two things.

Firstly, that Lexi was covered in ashes, and secondly, that Colton—Cassie's son—laid where her body had last been.

I heard my mum swear, gently tapping Colton—but she didn't need to fret; he let out a loud shriek in the next moment. With Lexi sacrificing herself for Colton, I wasn't sure that he would be too injured, but my mum made sure anyway, and then Cassie took him into her arms and cried in relief.

I cast my eyes back to Lexi, clenching onto her hand.

"Lex?" Jace asked, brushing hair from out of her face.

It was then that she rolled over, lurching over and heaving as she coughed and spluttered.

I threw my mum a worried look, who then came to Lexi's side in an instant, performing the medical stuff that I couldn't.

It was in that moment that I let myself relax slightly; my mum had it under control, and I trusted my mum. But then that's when I heard the commotion to my left.

I must've been so focused, too focused, on Lexi and Colton. So focused that I missed the blood on the floor.

The blood.

I shot up and ran over to where the larger group was, pushing through and finding Jameson, Avery and Jim.

And someone else.

I felt the scream boil up inside of me before I even thought of how to unleash it.

"Mum!" I shrieked, startling everyone around me. I fell to the ground, tears blurring my vision and my pounding heart making me tremble.

I heard footfalls, and then someone fell beside me. "Sky." My mum spoke but said nothing else as she realised what was going on.

And here's the scene.