The Cross Society

Chapter 9

The phone rang at 6:30 a.m.

She looked at the screen. Her brother's name.

She answered.

"Hello?"

His voice was shaking. She could hear it through the static. She could hear it through the silence of the room.

"Ife. Mama is gone."

She sat up. The words didn't make sense. She tried to put them together. They didn't fit.

"What do you mean gone?"

"Taken. Someone took her. She's not here. The house is empty."

She heard his voice c***k. She heard him trying to hold it together. She heard him failing.

"I don't know where she is. She's just... gone."

Ife pressed her hand against her mouth. Her fingers were cold. Her skin was cold. She couldn't feel anything.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"At the house. I came home and she was gone."

"Did you find anything? A note? A sign?"

"No. I looked. I searched everywhere. There's nothing."

She heard him breathe. She heard him trying to steady himself. She heard him failing.

"Ife," he said. "I don't know what to do."

---

She didn't remember the walk. She remembered the dust. She remembered the heat pressing down on her shoulders. She remembered the sound of her own footsteps, but she didn't remember the streets. She just remembered standing at her mother's gate, staring at the empty yard.

The gate was open. The yard was empty. The house was dark. The windows were dark. The door was closed.

Her brother was standing in the yard. His hands were shaking. His shoulders were shaking. He was trying to hold it together. He couldn't.

"I don't know where she is," he said. "I came home from work and she was gone."

"Where were you?"

"At work. I was at work. I didn't know. I didn't know this was going to happen."

He pressed his hand against his face. His voice cracked.

"I should have been here. I should have been here."

She walked to him. She put her arm around him. She felt his body shaking. She felt him trying to hold it in.

"Mama," he said. "She's gone."

She didn't answer. She didn't know what to say.

---

She walked to the porch. She sat on the steps. She stared at the empty yard.

The dust was thick beneath her feet. The sun was hot on her face. She couldn't feel any of it.

She heard footsteps. She looked up. Her brother was still standing in the yard. He was staring at the ground. He didn't look like he was going anywhere.

"Did you find anything?" she asked.

"No," he said. "I looked everywhere. There's nothing."

He started having thoughs was this a mistake .

"I called the police. They said they'd come. They haven't come yet."

"The police won't help," Ife said.

"What do you mean?"

"They're on the Cross family's payroll. They won't help us."

He stared at her. His face was pale. His hands were shaking.

"The Cross family?"

"Ife, what are you talking about?"

She looked at him. She could see the confusion on his face. She could see the fear. He didn't know anything about the Cross family. He didn't know anything about what she'd been doing.

"Mama took Amara's place," she said. "She's going to be the next to die."

He stared at her. His voice was quiet.

"What have you done?"

---

She stood up. She walked to the gate. She didn't know what she was looking for. She just knew she had to look.

She found the note under a stone on the porch. It was folded. Neat. The handwriting was precise.

"Your mother is safe. For now. She will stay safe if you stop. Leave the city. Leave the country. Forget everything you know. Forget everyone you love. If you don't, you'll find her where you least expect."

She read it twice. She read it a third time.

She pressed the paper against her chest. She could feel it against her skin. She could feel it against her heartbeat.

"Jake," she said.

He was beside her. She didn't remember him coming. He was just there.

"They took her."

"I know."

"I can't let them take her."

"I know."

"I have to find her."

He didn't answer.

---

She sat on the steps. She held the note in her hand. She stared at the empty yard.

Jake was standing in front of her. She could see his hands. They were steady. She could see his face. It was pale.

"Ife," he said. "We need to talk."

She looked at him. She could hear her own breathing. She could feel the paper in her hand.

"I've been thinking," he said. "About what we're doing. About what we're fighting. About what it's costing."

She didn't speak.

"I love you," he said. "You know I love you. I've never said that to anyone else. I've never felt that way about anyone else."

She waited.

"But I can't do this anymore. I can't watch you lose yourself. I can't watch you lose your mother. I can't watch you put yourself in danger every single day. You're so busy fighting for the dead that you're losing the living."

She felt the words hit her chest. She felt them settle in her chest.

"Jake—"

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry I said that. But it's true."

He stepped closer. She could see his face. She could see his eyes. They were wet.

"If you're going to do this — if you're going to keep fighting — I can't be part of it. I can't be part of losing you. I can't be part of watching you die."

She stared at him. She felt something break inside her.

"What are you saying?"

He looked at her. His voice was quiet.

"I'm saying if you want to fight, you have to choose. Me or the case. You can't have both."

She stood there. She couldn't breathe.

"I need to find my mother," she said.

"I know."

"Jake—"

"I know. I'm not asking you to choose her or me. I'm asking you to choose what you can live with."

She pressed her hand against her mouth. Her fingers were shaking.

"I'm not leaving you," he said. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm asking you to decide. If you want to keep fighting, I'll understand. I'll leave. I won't argue. I won't make it hard."

She felt tears burning behind her eyes.

"But if you choose to fight, I can't watch. I can't be here to see you die. I need to know you'll come back to me. I need to know you'll survive."

She couldn't speak.

"So choose," he said. "Right now."

---

She stood in the yard. The dust was thick beneath her feet. The sun was hot on her face. She couldn't feel any of it.

She looked at the note. She looked at the empty yard. She looked at the house where her mother used to live.

She looked at Jake.

She wanted to run after him. She wanted to ask him to stay. She wanted to give up.

She didn't.

"I have to find my mother," she said.

He nodded. His face was still.

"Then find her," he said. "But I can't be here."

He stepped back. He looked at her. His voice was quiet.

"I love you, Ife."

She watched him walk away.

She didn't follow him.

---

She stood in the yard for a long time.

The sun moved across the sky. The shadows grew longer. She didn't move.

She could see the note. She could see the empty house. She could see her tears flowing out of her face. She could hear her own breathing. She could hear the silence of the yard settling around her.

She looked at the gate. She looked at the street. She looked at the place where Jake had walked away.

Her brother was still standing in the yard. He was staring at the ground. He wasn't looking at her.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"I'm going to find her."

"How?"

She looked at the note. She looked at the empty house. She looked at the dust beneath her feet.

"I'm going to find her," she said again.