The Centerpoint Trilogy by Kayla Bruner Page A

as another, this one with red hair a similar shade to Anna’s, entered the room. Between them, they had a group of prisoners. Yes, one prisoner had turned into four. The man now had four more people in his control.
    There were three adults and one child. Ethan first saw his brother, shaking his head in disbelief. The man looked a lot like he did, with the same hair and eyes, but he was shorter, stockier. His face had always seemed drawn, stern, but it was a contradiction to who he really was. He was a gentle person who wanted peace and quiet more than he wanted anything. His older brother was not incredibly close to him these days because of the way they fought in wake of their father’s death a few years earlier, but still the man was important to him. He looked at Ethan with shocked recognition. His mouth was gagged with a strip of cloth, and he did not make a sound. Next to him was Anna’s mother, still wearing a traumatized expression, and an old woman with the same dark skin tone as James. Anna’s mother had a child in her arms, who she was trying desperately to soothe. The child was about two with brown skin and curly hair. Anna’s mother was rocking in her arms, making hushing sounds through her gag. The child was crying, albeit silently. The look in Alicia’s eyes told them just who the child was to her.
    The girl’s face paled in absolute horror. Her jaw went tight and her eyes opened wide. He saw tears, but they never fell. They were trapped in place and Alicia was frozen in that moment. When she finally spoke, her voice came out as a wail. “That’s my baby!” she screamed, arms going slack. She was not bound, physically, any longer, but it was obvious that she was more bound than she ever had been before. There was no way that she would do anything to cause harm to their captor. “Please, let her go. I’ll do anything you want if you just let my little girl go.”
    The child, who was no more than two, began to cry. Sobs wracked her tiny body and although she too was gagged, everyone in the room could hear what her desperate plea was for. “Mommy!” she cried through the gag. Anna’s mother, although bound, had the two year old in her arms and was trying her best to hush her. She murmured with the smallest humming sound, trying to ease her. It was obvious what a strong woman that she was. He had a feeling that strong women ran in Anna’s family line. She was helpless, but still doing all she could.
    The little girl was crying louder now, choking on sobs through the gag. She coughed and choked and cried out for her mommy, but she did not move. She stayed still in the arms of Anna’s mother.  She seemed to trust Anna’s mother enough. She quieted just a little bit.
    The man who had captured them just laughed. He walked in between the line of hostages and the line of young people whom he had tortured for their whole lives.  “Everyone thinks that taking hostages is so difficult,” he declared, “but I managed four in a very short time like it was nothing at all.”
    James, who had been quiet for the most part, yelled out. “Let em go!” James screamed out. He struggled against invisible bonds, likely feeling bound in the same way that Alicia was, but still he inched forward, just a little. He was moving, but barely enough. The space he was in was restricted. “That’s my grandma. She’s eighty freakin’ years old! She doesn’t deserve this. Your beef is with me, but not her.”
    The man laughed. His head thrown back, the laugh came out of him like the tinkling of bells. His eyes twinkled with a kind of delight that made Ethan sick to his stomach. It was the same look that a person wore after meeting one of his life’s goals. Ethan tried not to let his pain show and he could see that Anna, still bound at his side, was trying to do the same. He saw her strain in the way her face muscles tensed. She tried to keep on an impassive face, but it was obvious that she’d kill and die for her