Chapter 34
Chapter 34
Teeth of the Night
Judith
The room felt wrong. Too bright, too neat. The food on the table sat there cold, looking at me. My stomach was hurting but no way I could eat.
I kept hearing Caleb scream when that soldier dragged him. It cut me inside like glass, over and over.
I looked at my hand. Cuts from before were still there, little lines of dried blood. It stung but I wanted it to sting. Pain was something. Better than nothing.
I pressed my ear to the door. Boots again. Step, step, step. I counted. Every time. Same loop. Same sound.
When it got quiet, I pulled the glass shard from under my pillow. Ugly, sharp, perfect. Slid it into my sleeve. My heart went crazy.
The lock clicked. Keys. Voices. They thought I was broken. Not tonight.
I crouched by the door. The knob turned. A soldier leaned in. Just a shadow of him but enough.
I jumped. Pressed the shard to his throat. His eyes went big, his gun dropped. “Don’t,” I hissed. He froze.
I shoved him back and slipped out. The hall stretched forever. White walls. Cameras blinking. My feet felt too loud, my breath too fast.
One word in my head, Caleb.
That was it.
Caleb
The room was too still. Too white. Too cold. He curled up on the hard bed, hoodie pulled tight. It smelled like him, sweat and fear.
“Mommy,” he whispered, voice cracking.
The door opened. Aunt Lila. Her perfume came in first. Sweet but fake. It made him want to cough.
She smiled too big, holding a tray. “Cookies! And juice.”
He stared but shook his head. “I want Mommy.”
Her smile twitched. Her eyes changed sharp for a second. She set the tray down. The glass rattled.
“Mommy doesn’t matter,” she said, too soft. “You have me.”
“No,” Caleb whispered. Louder this time. “I want Mommy. Not you.”
Her nails tapped the glass. Tap, tap. Then she walked slow, sat on his bed. Her hand in his hair, nails scratching his skin.
“You’ll forget her,” she whispered. “Soon.”
Caleb shook his head hard, fists grabbing the blanket. “No! I won’t forget!”
Her face snapped ugly. She grabbed his wrist. Too tight.
“Then I’ll make you forget,” she hissed.
His heart pounded. He wanted to scream but his throat stuck. Her nails dug deeper.
Judith
The corridor kept going. I turned corners, stairs, anywhere. Voices behind me. Guards laughing somewhere far.
Then I stopped.
Maxwell stood there. His jacket open, hair messy, green eyes straight on me. On my bloody hands. On the shard in my sleeve.
“Judith,” he said, low.
“Don’t.” My chest went up and down too fast. “Don’t come closer.”
He stepped forward. “You’ll die.”
“I don’t care,” I snapped. My voice shook but I didn’t stop. “My son is out there…with her. And you…” I bit down the burn in my throat, “you gave me bread like that was enough!”
His face flickered. Guilt? Pain? He raised his hands a little.
“Let me help.”
I shook my head. “No. Move.”
Something in his eyes changed. Maybe fear. Not for him. For me.
But I pushed past him anyway, running, my body shaking.
Caleb
Caleb twisted. Lila’s nails dug into his skin. His wrist hurt.
“Say it,” she ordered. “Say you don’t want her.”
He shook his head. “No.”
Her grip got harder. “Say it!” she shouted.
Caleb’s eyes shut tight. Tears fell but he didn’t. Instead he screamed so loud it echoed:
“MOMMY!”
The sound filled the room. Lila froze, breathing sharp. For a second, she looked scared.
Judith
I kept running. Guards shouting behind me. Maxwell’s voice somewhere too. Didn’t matter.
The shard cut my palm but I didn’t care.
Then I heard it.
Not in my head. Real. Clear.
“Mommy!”
My boy’s scream.
I stumbled, gasping. “Caleb…”
Then alarms blasted. Red lights flashed. Boots pounding from both ends. I was trapped.
Caleb
Lila yanked him back. Her face twisted, ugly. Nails still digging.
But Caleb screamed again, louder this time. “MOMMY!”
Her face went white. Real panic now.
The night split in two.
Judith trapped with guards. Caleb trapped with her.
Both of them shouting the same word.
“Mommy.”
Judith’s chest burned, every breath like fire, her knees wobbling but she still held the shard, hand shaking hard. Soldiers yelled, guns up, boots pounding closer. Caleb thrashed under the blanket, tiny fists hitting Lila’s arm, his voice cracking but still screaming. The alarms roared through the mansion, walls shaking, but his cry cut sharper than all of it. And somehow, in that noise and fear, Judith and Caleb felt it, far apart but blood pulling them close. Neither was letting go.
Judith’s hand was bleeding bad, red drops hitting the floor, but she didn’t even feel it anymore. Caleb’s voice broke, but he still kept shouting for her. The world could crash down, walls could fall, guns could fire,?none of it mattered.
That night, without even saying it, both mother and son made the same promise: they were going to find each other.
Judith pressed her ear to the door, every sound making her skin crawl. One guard coughed, another shifted his gun. They thought she was stuck. They thought she was weak. But they had no idea what a mom could do.
Somewhere else in the city, Lila bent down close to Caleb, whispering through her teeth. “Keep screaming and I’ll make you regret it.” Her smile was sharp and mean, but Caleb just pulled the blanket up to his chin. His lips shook, but he still said it, soft and stubborn. “Mommy’s coming.”
Judith pushed the shard deeper into her sleeve, holding it tight to her arm. She counted the steps outside, heart beating like a drum. She didn’t care about the pain, didn’t care about the blood. Tonight she’d run, fight, die if she had to. She wasn’t waiting for Maxwell. She wasn’t waiting for anyone.
Then, right when she thought she could move, the lock clicked. The handle turned. They weren’t supposed to come back yet.
Judith froze, blood dripping down, the shard biting her skin.
At the same time, Caleb’s door creaked open too. Lila wasn’t alone anymore. Heavy footsteps entered the room. Shadows stretched long across the walls. Caleb’s heart banged so hard it hurt.
Two doors. Two cages. Two hearts racing.
And one question hanging in the air like a knife,
Who was walking in?