|| Josh ||

"You missed a lot last night," he says to Sarah the next day.

She doesn't look up from her computer screen. "Really?"

"Some people tried to steal our food."

"Hmm." She's still far and away.

"Amelia's Dad was there."

This grabs her attention. She lifts her head up, turning round to the doorway to face him. "Jack Harris...here?"

Josh nods. "He's joined a group, a cult, all of them Power-gained."

Her eyes grow thoughtful, but she doesn't reply.

He sits down gingerly on the straw. "About this plan," he begins, twisting his fingers into each other, "how exactly is it going to work?"

"You know already." Again, her eyes are glued to the laptop as she scrolls. "You read the assignment sheet."

He observes her, the sloping of her shoulders, the curve of her nose, and the grace of her neck. Her eyes are blue, like his mother's.

All of a sudden, the dream comes back to him so hard that he almost reels over in surprise.

My brave boy.

He listens.

You'll fight with me to the end, won't you?

Sarah turns round to face him. Something hits his chest, and he sees it. He sees why he is so drawn to her. He sees her hand coming towards his, the smile on her face as she pats his arm.

"It'll be okay, Josh," Sarah says. "I promise."

The thought comes. She is the mother he never had.

The first time he saw her in that lounge room, surrounded by the other very few Power-gained, his heart had clung to her, tied itself around hers.

He can feel the tears coming to his eyes.

She speaks to him, her familiar voice washing through his ears. But when he listens, all he can hear is about the assignment.

His duty.

What they've been trained to do.

The ruin. The ruin he is going to commit.

He sees no smile anymore, just a plan face. Just a face of duty, of ruin, of something that is not friendly.

"No," he says. He pulls himself away, getting to his feet. "No, no."

"Josh?" Her voice sounds confused. "Is it something I said? Look, the assignment can't be changed, I'm afraid."

No, he thinks as he escapes from the dark side-room.

He was wrong.

Sarah is not a mother to him.

Sarah is a beast.

A beast that will kill them all.

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