Eos (The Eos Dawn Series Book 1)

by Jen Guberman

  “I see you got your knife back,” she said with a frown. I smirked at her.

  “Take me instead,” I offered.

  She laughed. “I’m not that stupid.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She nodded her head down toward my dagger.

  “Oh this?” I said casually, setting it on a table.

  “Eos, what are you doing?” Lamb whimpered.

  “Eos? I thought your name was Elle?” Eloise asked innocently from her hiding place.

  “I lied,” I admitted. “But you should be used to it here.”

  Renée groaned and rolled her eyes.

  “So, like I was saying. Take me. You’ve got more against me than her—she’s not here of her own accord. I didn’t give her a choice. It wouldn’t be right to hurt her. Me?” I snuffed. “That would make more sense.”

  “Again, I’m not that stupid. Clearly you are though, for thinking I’d just let her go.” Her tone changed as she began speaking to her daughter. “Eloise? Honey? Go tell Mr. Nolan to call the officials. Please hurry, Elly!”

  Eloise scampered across the room and out the front door.

  “What’s the key for?” Renée asked.

  “I’m not that stupid,” I said, mocking her words. “I’m not telling you. Not like you’d have much use for it anyways.”

  “Tell me what it’s for!” she commanded, tugging back on Lamb’s hair, forcing her to squeak in pain.

  “It’s a long story,” I started, creeping forward almost unnoticeably toward Lamb and Renée. “We need that key, and one from somewhere else. We collect these keys. They’re to unlock a special box with something in it for us.”

  “Just shut up with the stalling and tell me what the key is for.”

  “The box is like a huge treasure chest, in a way. It has money, jewelry, diamonds… Rumor has it that the box contains a very valuable and very old classic painting that was saved from the war.”

  “Why would you want useless stuff like that when you’re an exile? There’s nothing you can do with it. You’re lying.”

  “No. We may know some people… Those things can be worth more than the average share of rations. We could feast daily. I think I’d fancy keeping the painting for my room, though. Adds a bit of class, wouldn’t you agree?” At this point, I was within arm’s reach of Lamb.

  “I’d have to be careful though, other people might want to take—” I stopped speaking as I spontaneously threw a punch at Renée’s nose.

  She ducked reflexively, releasing her grasp on Lamb, and my hit missed. Lamb stumbled over to Zane, trying to help him to his feet, forgetting the rope around his ankles. I grabbed Renée’s wrist, trying to wrestle the knife out of her hand. She was pushing with all of her strength against me, and the knife began to move toward my waist. I kept turning her wrist back on itself, but she was stronger. In the struggle, her knife grazed my side, slicing open my shirt and leaving behind a clean cut. I yelped, grabbing at my bleeding side with both hands. I saw Renée, lunging toward me with her knife again. I saw Lamb dart in front of her. I saw the look of terror on Lamb’s face. I also saw the knife sink into Lamb’s stomach.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  “No!” Zane shouted, writhing against the floor as he tried to break free of the rope around his ankles. “No, no, no, no, no!”

  I gaped in shock at Lamb, crumpled over on the floor. Glaring back up at Renée, who was also in apparent shock as she held her bloody kitchen knife, I pounced forward, clawing at her. I felt her nose crunch as I punched it in the middle of my furious flurry of attacks. She gasped, blood trickling down her face. She dropped the knife and immediately clutched at the blood flow, and I took the knife. I broke the ropes binding Zane, and without hesitation, he stumbled to Lamb in a panicked run. His eyes were full of tears, his face void of any color, and his hands visibly shaking.

  “I got you,” he whispered to Lamb, who was breathing laboriously on the ground. He scooped her up gently in his arms and hurried to the door, his steps careful. “Eos! Let’s go!”

  I dropped the kitchen knife, grabbed my dagger, and rushed out of the house. A couple of armed officials appeared from around a nearby house, so Zane and I crouched down behind a bush along the side of Renée’s home. I looked over at Lamb in Zane’s arms. She was in obvious pain but held her silence in the moment.

  “On the floor!” one of the officials yelled, bursting in through the front door with a loud crash.

  “No! You don’t understand! People broke into my house! They were trying to steal from me, and they threatened my daughter! This was self-defense!” Renée plead honestly.

  “You’re covered in blood that clearly isn’t your own, it looks like there was an altercation, and there’s a kitchen knife on the floor. Your daughter isn’t here and is scared speechless. Get on your knees!” I could hear the other officer demand.

  “I didn’t do anything! It’s a misunderst—” her voice cut out. They must have used a tranq shot.

  We waited in the bushes for another few minutes as the two officials walked out of the house, one of them carrying Renée, handcuffed and unconscious in their arms as they groaned about Equivoxes always trying to lie to get out of situations.

  When we were sure the officials were gone, we almost stood to our feet, but stopped short when we heard the timid voice of Eloise as she approached the front door of her home.

  “Mom? Mom? Mom, where are you?” her voice cracked, and she began to sniffle.

  I motioned to Zane for him to stay put as I emerged from the bush. I entered the house and saw Eloise, crumpled up in a ball on the floor. Her face buried in her hands, she was sobbing uncontrollably.

  “Eloise?” I called softly.

  She scurried into a stand, her eyes red, teary, and full of terror.

  “Please don’t hurt me!” she begged.

  “I won’t. I promise! I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  “You killed my mom!” she accused, letting out a horrific wail before bursting into tears again.

  “Eloise!” I said, trying to get her attention again. “I didn’t kill your mom! She’s alive and she isn’t hurt or anything.”

  “But… there’s blood over there. And a knife!”

  “There was an accident, and my friend got very badly hurt. Your mom is okay though.”

  “But… But where is she?”

  “The officials came, and they saw your mom covered in my friend’s blood. I think they took her somewhere—probably just to ask her some questions and help clean her up!” I lied, seeing the panic in her wide eyes.

  “When will they bring her back?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure. It might take a while, but only because her shirt was stained really bad and they probably will have to work really hard to clean it is all.”

  “Where did they take her?”

  “Probably back to one of the cities. They have special rooms for things like this. It’s a long, long trip, but she will come back! You just have to be super patient. You have to be brave and take care of yourself while she’s gone though.”

  “Why are you being nice to me?” she asked, squinting at me.

  “Because I know how important family is, and I know how scared you must be. I didn’t want to leave you all alone without explaining that everything will be okay.”

  “But you came here to hurt us!” she accused.

  “No! No, Eloise. I don’t like hurting people. I’m just missing that box I had when I was here last time, and I really, really need it.”

  “Why do you need it? It just has some stupid little key in it. It isn’t even anything fun!”

  “It’s to open an even more important box I have at home. I can’t open it without my key, and so I’ve been really sad about that! Do you know where your mom put the key?” I asked.

  “My mommy didn’t take it. My mommy never steals.”

  “Did you take my key, Eloise?”

  “Yes,” she admitted.


  “Eloise, where is my key now?”

  “I lost it,” she said, reaching her hand into her pocket and holding it still.

  I raised an eyebrow.

  “I don’t believe you, Eloise. I think you’re lying.”

  “I’m not lying! I lost it!”

  “You know you don’t have to lie like your mommy did. That’s why you’re at this place—because lying is bad.”

  “This place is nice,” she said. “And I’m not lying! I promise!”

  “The cities are even nicer. There is more food than you can imagine, and a lot more kids. Lots of toys and other cool things, too. You’d have all of that, but your mom must have told some really, really bad lies before you were born, so that’s why you were born here instead.”

  “Because she lied?”

  “Yup. And you don’t have to follow in her footsteps, Eloise. You can be a better person. Lying hurts people, that’s why liars get sent away to live here—because no one likes how liars hurt them.”

  She paused for a moment of contemplation.

  “I’m sorry I lied to you,” she apologized innocently, pulling the key from her pocket and holding it out to me in her tiny palm.

  “I forgive you, Eloise.”

  I rushed back out of the house and over to Zane and Lamb. We went back to the storage house, with Zane carrying Lamb, who had grown alarmingly weak.

  “Stay with us, Lamb,” Zane urged as we slipped into the house.

  “Put her down over here,” I said, opening the back door of the truck. “Just lay her across the backseat.”

  I pulled the blanket out of my bag and balled it up like a pillow to lay beneath Lamb’s head as Zane and I helped set her down. Her face scrunched as she winced in pain, biting her lip.

  I looked down at her, getting a close look at the wound for the first time. It was deep, and Lamb had lost a lot of blood. Her shirt was soaked through, and her hands were glistening red as she attempted to hold back all of the blood.

  “It’s bad isn’t it?” She mustered a nervous giggle, which quickly turned into sobs.

  “I don’t know what to do!” Zane whispered as he turned away from Lamb. “We have to do something! Look at her!”

  “I know! But I don’t know what to do either,” I said under my breath, my throat feeling tight. “I have bandages, and some ointment. But I don’t know what it does, and I think this is beyond bandages…”

  “We have to try something. We have to stop the bleeding. Please, Eos! Just try something—anything!” he begged angrily and desperately, struggling to stay quiet enough to spare Lamb of our dismal conversation.

  “Alright. The bandages and ointment should be in your bag, can you bring them here?” I turned back to Lamb. “We’re going to fix this, okay? You’re going to be okay.”

  I don’t believe the words myself, how do I expect her to believe them?

  “E, look!” Zane called to me, holding up a small bottle of a clear liquid. “I forgot! I stole some alcohol from back in Avid—it was in the pantry! I think it’s just some medical alcohol—it might help.”

  “Perfect—bring that, too.”

  Zane handed me a wad of cloth bandages, the bottle of alcohol, and the ointment. I paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. I can do this.

  “Lamb, I need to see it,” I said lightly, reaching for her hands.

  “O-Okay,” she blubbered, nodding her head repeatedly as she mustered up the courage to move her hands.

  I slid the bottom of her shirt up gently, revealing a deep incision in her pasty skin. Lamb shivered violently as she sobbed.

  “This is going to hurt a bit, I’m not going to lie. But you can do this—you’re tough!” I encouraged her, and then turned to whisper to Zane. “Zane, sit by her head, hold her shoulders down and try to keep her calm, okay?”

  He nodded, sitting by Lamb’s head and pressing his hands firmly on her shoulders, a solemn look on his face as he looked down at her.

  I took a deep, shaky breath, unscrewing the lid of the alcohol. I blinked back tears, trying to clear my vision as I steadied the bottle over the wound. I slowly turned the bottle over, letting the clear liquid pour out and splash against the cut. Lamb let out a piercing scream as she writhed. I stepped away from the truck, my hands over my mouth as I tried to catch my breath. The screams continued for a few more moments as I sat on a crate, plugging my ears and closing my eyes. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.

  There was a hurried shaking on my shoulders. I opened my eyes and unplugged my ears.

  “Eos, are you okay?” Zane asked, his eyes bloodshot, his hair ruffled, and his hands twitching.

  “No,” I breathed, answering honestly. “I can’t handle this. I don’t know what to do.”

  “I bandaged her up. She’s resting now. She’s lost a lot of blood, E.”

  “She’ll make it,” I said, looking to my feet.

  “Yeah,” Zane sighed.

  There were still a couple hours of darkness left, so Zane went on a walk around the lake while I went back to the truck to sit with Lamb. I sat by her head—her eyes closed, her hands folded over her bandage, and her chest rising and falling slowly.

  “E?” she whispered, her eyes fluttering open.

  “Hey, Lamb,” I responded, gently stroking her soft, fuzzy blonde hair.

  She smiled weakly at me.

  “Just relax,” I said. “You need rest so you can get better.”

  “Eos,” she contested. “I’m not going to get better.”

  “Don’t say that. You’re fine. We patched you up and cleaned it and everything. It’ll just take time—that’s all.”

  “No, E. I’m sorry. I know. I can tell what’s going to happen, but it’s okay. I’ve got you and Zane… Where’s Zane?”

  “He’s taking a walk. He’ll be back soon.”

  “Do you ever miss your family?” she asked.

  “Yeah, sometimes,” I admitted. “My parents didn’t even say goodbye when I was arrested. I went to see them before I was exiled, but they locked the door and wouldn’t let me in. I didn’t get to say goodbye…”

  “I’m sorry, E. That’s rough,” she apologized genuinely.

  “Don’t. You shouldn’t be apologizing to me about anything. I should be apologizing to you. It’s because of me that you’re even in this mess.”

  “It isn’t your fault. Don’t blame yourself.”

  “So… do you miss your family sometimes?” I asked, reverting the subject.

  “I do,” she said sweetly. “I used to live in Eastmeade, like Zane. We went to school together. He was friends with my big sister.”

  “I didn’t know you had a sister,” I said.

  “Two. I actually have two sisters—one older, one younger. The older one, Daniella, is four years older than me. Tessa, my little sister, is about nine years old now.”

  “Daniella, Leanne, and Tessa,” I repeated their names, smiling. “Why do people call you Lamb?”

  She smiled at me. “When Tessy was a baby first learning how to talk, she couldn’t pronounce her own name right, let alone mine or Daniella’s names. Daniella became Della, Tessa became Tessy, and Leanne became something that we thought sounded like Lamb. The names just kinda’ stuck. She still calls me that. At least, she did the last time I saw her.”

  I wish I could tell her she’s going to see her sisters again.

  “It’s so cold,” Lamb shuttered.

  Just then, Zane returned, his eyes even more puffy than before. He ran his sleeve under his nose with a sniff before getting into the driver’s seat.

  “Let’s get out of here,” he said, easing the truck back onto the spiraled road.

  Zane lowered the platform at the end of the road and pulled onto it, raising us back to the ground. Above ground, Zane kept driving, his eyes rarely blinking as he stared at the road. Lamb’s eyes closed weakly, but her chest was still rising and falling gently as she rested.

  “Zane,” I hissed in a whisper over the seat. “Where
are we going?”

  “Eastmeade.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  “Eastmeade?” I echoed. “Why?”

  “So she can be with family.”

  “I don’t know if she’s going to make it, Zane,” I whispered.

  “Yes, she will. Don’t say that. It isn’t that far of a drive anyways.”

  Zane accelerated, kicking up sand behind the truck as he raced along, making a couple fast decisions whenever we came to a fork in the road. Every time Zane hit a slight bump, Lamb’s face contorted, and she moaned in pain.

  “What are you trying to do, Zane? Kill us?” She forced a labored chuckle.

  It was about an hour into the drive when someone finally spoke again.

  “We’re almost there,” Zane said.

  I could finally see the sun peak over the horizon, gradually illuminating the sky in pastel pinks and blues.

  “Lamb,” I called, nudging her. “Wake up—we’re almost at Eastmeade. We’re going to sneak you in so you can see Della and Tessy.”

  Nothing.

  “Lamb? Lamb, wake up,” I said, more urgency in my voice as I shook her gently.

  Zane stopped the truck, turning back with a look of fear on his face.

  “Lamb, please wake up,” I said, my voice cracking with a squeak as I began to sob uncontrollably. “Zane, she won’t wake up! Help! She won’t wake up—Lamb!”

  Zane’s lip began to quiver until he bit down on it, turning away from me. In the middle of me shaking her, one of her arms slid limp from her abdomen, revealing her blood-soaked bandage.

  The bandages didn’t stop the bleeding—it just slowed it. She’s gone.

  “She’s gone,” I breathed in disbelief.

  No response.

  “Zane,” I called, my voice trembling.

  Zane ignored me, accelerating again.

  “Zane, what are you doing? I said she’s gone!” I yowled. It didn’t really sink in until I said it the second time. Lamb’s gone. She’s never coming back. The tears began to roll out of my eyes, one after another without stopping.

  “I’m going to Eastmeade,” he said, clearing his throat.