11:5
Siobhan lowered the pages to her lap, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. The depth of it was echoed from others around the tight circle. Silence was also a common. Pregnant silence speaking of sympathy born on shared trauma.
Llora drew a ragged breath and then dashed her hand over her damp cheek. Siobhan looked around the circle. Gwen met her eye and mouthed, “Sleeping Beauty.” Kim read Gwen’s lips and frowned. She cocked her head then clicked her fingers to draw Gwen and Siobhan’s attention.
“You think?” she mouthed. Gwen wa
ffled her hand then nodded tentatively. “Yeah,” she replied silently. Diana, beside Dan, followed this exchange, her gaze going between the three. A frown marred her pristine forehead. It seemed like Mal was following along too, but he was far less controlled in his response.
“What’s the secret?” He demanded.
Kim blinked. Hard. Then bit her lip as she quickly ran the pros and cons of answering honestly. They’d said no mention of the group at Maise’s house. But, everyone here knew there was something to do with Fairy Tales connected to their abductions. Where was the harm?
“I guess we’ve all figured out that there’s a connection with Fairy Tales and what happened to us?”
Mal nodded. “Yeah.” He pointed at his chest. “Jack. That was the story that played out, right? I had an axe.”
“I’m Cinderella,” Diana offered. “Or the story around,” she paused and took a small breath before continuing, “what happened to me seemed to be that.”
“Red Riding Hood,” Roanne added from inside the crook of her dad’s arm.
“Snow White,” Jennifer whispered, to which Nieve nodded while Bliss, Joanne, and Candice made similar noises of assent.
Rather than chronicling his story, Gryphon grunted, “What does this have to do with the whispering?”
“Not whispering.”
Gryphon raised his brows at Gwen’s quick response to which she gave a hearty sigh.
“Mouthing. We were mouthing.”
Again no response beyond an expressive look from Gryphon.
Siobhan drew a weary breath, straightened the papers in her lap, then said, “Its possible Bria is Sleeping Beauty. Which would fit the other abductions being connected to a story. I think Llora is right that Bria was taken by the same people who abducted us.”
“Because the cryptic story about her, left where she disappeared, was not a dead giveaway?” Mal snarked, drawing a slight snicker from Roanne. Kids!
“The good thing is it just happened.” Dan said, then looked to Llora. “It just happened?”
Llora nodded. “The staff checked on her in the last hora, so very recently.”
“Then we may be able to find her before her abductors can do any harm.”
Gwen placed a hand on Llora’s knee. “Her being in a coma may be a blessing. She may never even realize anything happened.”
“Pretty crappy blessing,” Llora sniffed.
“Oh, totally. Crappy blessing. Still blessing.”
Siobhan looked around the group. “I’m not calling the meeting but me, Kim, Gwen, and Dan are going to go.”
Gryphon nodded. “I can close the place up.”
Aillea raised a hand. “I’ll help.” She gave an encouraging smile. “Go. Strike while the iron is hot as they say.”
Siobhan leveled a somber look around the circle. “Don’t go alone.”
The other echoed back, “We are not alone.” It was becoming kind of a mantra for them. Or a slogan. Or something. Whatever it was hearing it repeated, forging another link among the group, felt damned good.
There were other encouraging words of support from the others and with that Kim and her peoples rose and left the hall.
Enter The Woods 