(Esther's Point of View)
The room was too quiet. There was more than just silence in the air. The kind of quiet that made everything feel like it was going to break. It was so quiet that you could feel it in your bones, like a storm was about to happen.
I couldn't move and was watching Matthew's back. He was hunched over with his head down, like he was fighting something he didn't want me to see. Something he wasn't ready to deal with.
I could hear my breath, which was shallow and ragged, but I didn't know if I was more scared of what was going to happen or what had already happened.
I whispered, "Matthew," and my voice shook. "Talk to me."
He didn't answer. He was staring at the dark city outside, where the lights below flickered like little stars in the distance, far away from where
