Peeling his shirt off completely, the boy still not waking, Sarah held Eli at arm’s length to examine the scrawls of inexpert black marker crawling over her son’s chest and back, his nipples, shoulder blades, belly. It took her several minutes to put together what at first looked like a random crowd of words.

I told you I would let you out and I will. If you want to live to see daylight, follow the flag. Fail and you and the ones you love most will die in here slowly and in worse ways than you can possibly imagine. Remember, I could have killed your son but didn’t.

Snowman

She was still reading when Eli grunted, crossed his arms over his bare chest, shivering. Sarah barely noticed, too preoccupied by what she saw. When had Snow done this? Obviously, when the two of us were separated. She hadn’t noticed until now without the benefit of any light. The thought of Snow taking off Eli’s shirt and writing on him…

Don’t think about it.

But she had to think about it. It was all she could think about. That’s why he’d left it there, for her to consider. Follow the flag?

Eli’s eyes opened blearily. “Mommy? I dreamed…” His voice fading as he realized he hadn’t been dreaming, arms clutching her tightly. “What’s going on?”

Could she say “I don’t know” one more time and have it mean anything? What else was she supposed to say?

“Honey, do you remember someone writing on you?”

“Writing?”

“On your skin.”

Eli scowled down at his chest, eyes still scrunched with sleepiness. He shook his head, then paused and nodded.

“Did he do anything else? Hurt you, or…?”

He shook his head again, less certain now. Even as he did so, she saw him running his hands down his arms, cupping his elbows as if ensuring he hadn’t sustained any other injury. “Mommy? Can you put my shirt back on? I’m cold.”

She slid it back over his head, mindful of the lump on his forehead, and saw him wince with pain. After all of this, his worst wound of the night still came from a moment when she hadn’t been paying close enough attention.

“Did the man who did this say anything to you about a flag?”

“No,” he mumbled, eyelids heavy. He was already tilting toward her, wanting her to hold him so he could go back to sleep.

Sarah held him. How much did she want to take Eli somewhere and scrub these horrible words off his skin? In a strange way, seeing them in normal light made her more afraid than ever to make a move, feeling like Snow was watching her, knowing she had to comply.

When the time comes, all you’ll have to do is follow the signs.