I pulled into the exact same parking spot as I did at our previous top-secret encounter. Now that the sun was on the verge of disappearing for the rest of the night, it’d be easier to meet up under the cover of darkness, where nobody would witness us together. At least, that’s what I hoped for. The universe hadn’t sent me any luck lately, so I crossed my fingers we wouldn’t accidentally be seen.
Ryan’s truck wasn’t visible, so I waited in my car, my leg bouncing up and down. I chewed on the skin around my fingernails. Dom and I didn’t have much time left. In an effort to multitask, I had dropped him off at my house, so he could help pack my things, while I figured out what the hell Ryan wanted.
A few minutes later, Ryan parked his truck in the spot next to my car. I quickly left my vehicle and hopped into his.
“So, what did you hear this time?” I asked.
“Nothing good,” he said, shaking his head. “And just so you know, we have to make this quick, because Jessica will be heading to my house at any moment.”
I twirled my hand in a circular motion. “Well, hurry it up, then. I’ve got places to be, too.”
Licking his lips, Ryan said, “Okay, so, Jessica was way too happy about whatever her dad is planning. My guess? It’s something about you, because all I heard was your name, some other dude’s name, and the words fugitive and escaped. That’s it. That’s all I know. I may not be the brightest crayon in the box, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out. You’re a wanted person, aren’t you?”
Closing my eyes, I sighed. “Yes, I am. Jessica’s dad works for an organization that exacts cruel punishment on people who are—” I stopped myself.
“People who are what?”
“People who are different.”
“Different?”
I stared at Ryan. Could I trust him? So far, he’d been right to contact me and let me know about Jessica’s conversations with her dad, but Ryan and I didn’t have the best track record. He knew it. I knew it. And, to be honest, I still despised the way he treated Liz last summer. These secret meetings weren’t normal for him. We weren’t best friends, we were hardly acquaintances, and his girlfriend hated me. Sure, he thought the exchanges between Jessica and her dad were odd and sounded a bit extreme, but that didn’t mean he had to warn me. He could’ve avoided these covert meet-ups altogether. And if he was that bothered about what they discussed, he could’ve called off his relationship with Jessica by now. Wouldn’t that be the logical thing to do?
“You know what? Never mind,” I said, reaching toward the door handle.
Clack. The lock sunk into the paneling, and I froze.
“You’re not leaving until you give me some answers,” Ryan said. “What the hell are you talking about when you say ‘people who are different’?”
I was in deep shit. Dom would kill me if he knew I was having this conversation with Ryan.
“My kind—”
“Your kind?”
“—has a special ability.”
Ryan’s eyes were the size of small planets. “What are you talking about?”
“There are people like me, people who have the ability to travel anywhere, at any time.”
“Uhhh… I’m pretty sure most people can travel anywhere, at any time.”
I closed my eyes, slowly inhaling and exhaling. “That’s not what I meant. There are people like me, who can travel anywhere they imagine. Like, if I wanted to travel to a world that doesn’t exist, all I have to do is dream that it does, and I can transport myself there.”
Rubbing the back of his neck, Ryan took his sweet time responding. He shook his head several times as he peered out the windshield. “No. There’s no freaking way that’s possible. I thought Jessica was crazy when she said she saw you disappear, but…” he trailed off, like he just realized Jessica wasn’t crazy. She was one hundred percent right about me. “It’s true, then? What she said? All of it?”
I blew out a puff of air. “Yeah, it’s true.”
Ryan leaned forward and rested his forehead against the steering wheel. “Why didn’t you tell me this to begin with?”
“I didn’t know if I could trust you. I mean, I still don’t. But can you honestly look me in the eyes and tell me you would’ve believed me?”
Turning his head toward me, Ryan replied, “No, I probably wouldn’t have believed you in the beginning, but the more I hear Jessica talk about you to her dad, the more I would’ve put two and two together. Then, maybe. I don’t know. This is weird.”
“Which is exactly why I haven’t told anyone.”
“Wait—Liz and Deandra don’t know?”
“Uhhh, no. I’m afraid I’ll lose them. Who’d want to hang out with the Central Falls freak?”
Ryan sat up. “So, who all knows? Just me and Jessica?”
“Yep. And the Ministry. And Dom.”
His face scrunched up. “Who and who?”
As fast as possible, I explained what had happened to me in the last week, who everyone was, what the Ministry stood for. When I finished, Ryan opened his mouth, but nothing came out, except strange noises.
Finally, he settled on, “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to. If you really want to help, just keep your eyes and ears open. Dom and I need to find a place to hide for awhile, so I won’t be around here.”
“Where do you plan on going?”
I shrugged. “We don’t know of anywhere yet. I guess we’ll just drive until we figure something out.”
“That’s stupid. Here,” he said, leaning across me and opening the glove box, “take this.” In his hand was a gold key. “My parents own a cabin up in Coldbrook Springs, about two hours from here. Why don’t you two stay there? I’ll call you if I hear anything else.”
“Ryan, I can’t—”
“Shut up. I don’t want to hear it. Your life is at stake, so now isn’t the best time to argue. Look, I know I’m an asshole when it comes to relationships, but that doesn’t mean I’m completely heartless. If something happened to you, and I missed my chance to help, then I’d probably never forgive myself. So, take it.” He held up the key, and the street lights glinted off the surface.
I snatched it out of his hand. “Fine.”
“Wait.” Shuffling through the contents of the glove box, he found a pen and a receipt. “This is the address,” he said, scribbling. “My parents usually keep the fridge stocked. They go up there almost every other weekend.” Before I could ask if this was one of their weekends, Ryan peeked up at me and added, “Don’t worry; it’s next week. That should be long enough for you guys to come up with a plan and decide where you’re going next. I don’t know. Whatever fugitives do.”
A plan? Oh, I was already working on one of those. I took the piece of paper from him and said, “Thanks.”
He tossed the pen into the glove box and closed it. Pushing a button, he unlocked the doors, giving me a sympathetic smile. “Good luck.”
Luck was an elusive thing in my life, and good fortune had all but deserted me. No, luck definitely had nothing to do with my fate. But I did. And I wasn’t going to stand by and let the Ministry win. In the end, even if it took me weeks, months, or years, I’d watch the organization—and everything they worked so hard to build—collapse. The M.I.N.D. would be nothing more than a vague memory to some. And to others? Completely forgotten.
14