Leslie looked down at the floor, red hair hanging in her face like a ragged curtain. Only the white cloth of the gag was visible through it.
“Mmmph nggg,” Leslie tried, lurching forward.
Janelle’s legs turned to rubber. Leslie didn't deserve to be dragged into this. Why had she even left her that message? All she had done was put her life in danger.
Gary’s grip tightened on her arm as her friend cried out again, lifting her head. Tears streaked her freckled cheeks. Her eyes had turned a dull red. She’d been crying for a while. No surprise or relief flickered in them when her gaze landed on her.
Her best friend knew everything. What she was. What she could do.
“Leslie,” Janelle breathed. She glared at Kevin. Rage rose up inside her. “Take that off of her!”
Kevin jerked her arms further behind her back, smirking. “She wouldn’t shut up. What else was I supposed to do? I couldn’t have her screaming on the boat because it was giving me a headache. Plus, how else was I going to get her out of her house without her waking the neighborhood up?”
Kevin had taken Leslie from her own room. It was the stuff of kidnapping movies.
More muffled cries from Leslie. She thrashed against Kevin’s grip, hair flying back and forth. Her captor tugged on her arms again. A squeal of pain echoed off the walls.
Blood roared in Janelle’s ears. All thought left her as she leapt forward, but Andrina’s hand came down on her shoulder.
“Do not damage that girl, Kevin,” Andrina snapped. "We need her alive.” She sucked in a long breath, like she was feeding off Leslie’s terror. “So, Janelle, can I count on it that you'll prepare for Operation Reckoning with no argument?"
“Why her?” Janelle faced the Tempest High Leader, fists balled. Red hate grew inside her, exploding into a supernova.
A slice of hurt raced across Andrina's face, and her hands closed and squeezed. She'd said the wrong thing, but it was too late to take it back. But it was gone in a second. “This is nothing personal, Janelle. You just need a little persuading right now.” She tapped her foot with a bony sound. “You also happen to be quite outnumbered. Now, I know that you're a smart girl, so you can figure out the terms here."
Janelle’s breaths came shallow and whistled in her ears. A faint breeze started to blow through the chamber—was it her doing or the air conditioner?—but Andrina seemed not to notice. Gary shook his head in warning, glancing at Ivanna and the other Tempests. Two against six were pretty crappy odds.
He was right. They couldn't win here.
“W…what preparations are you talking about?” Janelle asked to stall.
Andrina gripped Janelle’s shoulder and spoke in that satin voice again. “Oh, I can’t spoil it ahead of time. It’s nothing that hurts you, of course. Just some simple suggestions to make sure you do what’s needed for the Operation. Kevin, you made sure this...girl heard all about it, didn’t you?”
This girl. Andrina didn't even consider her worthy of a name.
Kevin gave Leslie a nudge.
Her friend looked up like a puppet on strings. Andrina marched forward, reached out, and ripped off the gag. Leslie let out a breath as if the terror itself were escaping from her, but she didn't speak. Leslie never stopped talking.
Janelle couldn’t stand by anymore. “Leslie, don’t worry. I'll get you out of—”
The freckles had turned brown against the paste that was Leslie's skin. “St…stay away from me, Janelle. I can’t be friends with a Tempest. It's just too weird."
The world went silent and still as a cloud blocked out the sun, dimming the room. Janelle stepped back and bumped into Gary. Leslie, her best friend. Revolted at what she was. The past twelve years meant nothing now.
No, I’m not like these people, Janelle tried to yell. But she couldn’t. Her throat had locked up.
Because she was like these people.
Andrina faced Janelle, unsmiling. “See what I mean?" she asked, somber. "I'm sorry, Janelle." She nodded to Kevin. “Put that girl down in storage for now. I'll page you any orders regarding her based on Janelle's behavior.”
Kevin twisted Leslie around and forced her away down the hall. Only the sound of shuffling feet floated through the air. They vanished around a curve, silent. There were no apologies floating back to her. No pleas. Nothing.
“Gary, return to your quarters and stay there for now. Alec, you make sure he doesn’t go anywhere,” Andrina said, pointing to one of the black-haired men.
Gary started towards her. “But—”
“Now. Alec, let me know if he tries anything funny. Because if he does, I’ll need to send Kevin some…new orders regarding Janelle's friend. Well, former friend."
Janelle jammed her hands into her pockets, squeezing the thin fiber inside. Why didn't she just say it out loud--that she wanted to have Leslie killed? It was so much scarier hearing it like this. Even if Leslie hated her now, she couldn't bear to see her murdered. It would also make every horrifying thing she feared about herself true. So she faced him, to be met with a gaze as hopeless as she felt. “Go, Gary. Just go!”
He cast his gaze to the floor and vanished down the middle hallway, Alec right behind him, leaving only a crushing feeling in her chest.
Andrina released her arm and walked across the room, stopping at the mouth of the left hallway. She made a clicking sound with her tongue, as if she were calling a dog to follow her. “Come on, Janelle. You’ve got nothing to be afraid of,” she said, making her way down the hall.
Eyes downcast, Janelle walked beside the Tempest High Leader, staring down at the passing reflections on the polished floor. Her head pounded, but she barely noticed. Attacking Andrina would only kill Leslie. She couldn't risk going for her phone and keeping it away from her. Too much could go wrong with that plan.
“Oh, look up, Janelle. I keep my word. Your human ‘friend’ will live if you only agree to take your part in the Operation. If, in fact, you still feel any kind of friendship with her. I won't blame you if you don't.” Andrina stopped, making a show of checking out her surroundings. “Isn’t this room beautiful?”
Janelle peeled her gaze from the floor, fighting against the misery pulling her down. The hallway had opened up into a smaller domelike chamber. Four tube aquariums bubbled away in each corner, and fish of every possible color swam inside of them. Sunlight filtered down through glass in the ceiling, forming a swirl of light on the floor. For a moment Janelle forgot all about Andrina and Leslie and Gary and stared, amazed. It reminded her of a mall restaurant she'd been in not too far from her old house, the one that always had loud jungle sound effects and waterfalls and rainbows inside. She and Leslie had always used to check out the shop there and--
A fresh wave of hurt roared through her again, casting her gaze back down to the floor.
“This way,” Andrina said, oblivious to it. Stairs curved up to a set of double doors with a huge Tempest swirl carved across them. “This is our apartment, reserved only for Tempest High Leaders and their families.”
The situation weighed down harder. If she didn’t escape, she’d have to spend every day with Andrina, the monster who had destroyed everything.
The Tempest High Leader placed her finger on another touchpad. The doors clicked open to reveal the most luxurious living room Janelle had ever seen.
Janelle shuddered. This was more what she’d expected from Andrina. The inside was still beautiful like the rest of Alara, but it was a dark type of beautiful, one with sharp teeth and a craving for blood. Thick red rugs spread out like pools under antique tables. A small shark swam in a tank nearby, baring all its jagged teeth underneath a greenish light. Another tank held fish with protruding jaws—piranhas. Darkness filled the rest of the space save for a green lamp in the corner and a curtain that seemed to go to an outside balcony.
Andrina patted her pocket in warning. “Com
e on in."
Leslie would be crying right now, with Kevin hovering over her, waiting for the call…
Janelle stepped into the room, fighting every urge to turn back and run.
Andrina closed the doors behind her. They sounded like a dungeon door closing. Janelle was trapped inside this apartment with her. Alone.
The Tempest High Leader clapped her hands and made for the kitchen counter. A motion-sensing light clicked on to show a covered platter waiting on it. “It looks like the cooks prepared our dinner already. Come grab a plate, Janelle, and we’ll eat on the couch, though I want you to be careful not to get crumbs all over it. You’re weak from lack of food, and we can't have that. It's best if you're at full strength when you change.”
“Then I’m not eating.”
Andrina thrust her hand into her pocket, grasping the phone inside. "I insist."
There were no choices here. This was the High Leader's game, and she had no choice but to play by the rules. Eating would give her time to think, at least. Maybe, if she made Andrina complacent, she could pluck the phone from her pocket and run. But what if Andrina had more than one phone, or had a second one in the apartment somewhere? It was another risk she couldn't take. She'd made too many bad decisions in the past two weeks, and that one might be the most dangerous.
A chicken in some kind of sauce gave off an aroma as Andrina carved it. Janelle’s stomach rumbled. Her legs quivered with weakness and a dull ache had crept into her skull. Her last meal had been home, with her father, the one she'd shared with Gary. The macaroni.
Andrina opened a pan on the stove and heaped some mashed potatoes onto two plates. She followed with green beans and biscuits, making sure she could see.
Saliva flooded Janelle’s mouth, but she looked away to hide her hunger. No way would she look grateful to Andrina for anything. It would only give her more power.
A plate of steaming food slid across the counter to her, and Andrina waved her towards the leather couch. A minute later Janelle sat on the edge of it, pressing against the armrest to keep as much distance as she could between them.
"Eat." She made a show of stuffing some chicken into her mouth and chewing.
Her stomach growled again. She’d eat, but maybe she could throw it up later, so that if Andrina did manage to make her listen to any deadly tapes, she wouldn't have the strength to go through with Operation Reckoning when she transformed.
When. Not if. She couldn't kid herself anymore. The fact that she was already out in the middle of the Caribbean sealed her fate. Her only hope now was to get out of here before the brainwashing started.
Janelle forced a bite of the chicken, trying not to think about it, squeezing its juices out and across her tongue. Despite her situation, food had never tasted so good.
Andrina ate in silence next to her, but Janelle could sense her stare boring into her every time she paused between bites. Janelle looked away and studied the books on the shelf, regretting it instantly. Hurricane Andrina: A Warning Unheeded. Andrina and the Failure of Government Emergency Response. Andrina: A Storm for the Ages. The DVD's were no better, and one that read Geographic Review’s Future Disasters on the spine sat on top of the DVD player as if it were part of a shrine.
Janelle forced down a bite of her buttery mashed potatoes, which tasted bitter all of a sudden. She’s not my mother, she’s not my mother, she’s—
“So how’s the food?” Andrina set her fork down on her plate with a clink. “We have excellent cooks here.”
“Fine.” Janelle finished the potatoes and speared the green beans, barely able to eat but unable to stop.
“That’s good. And just so you know, I also want you well rested before the Operation.” Andrina put her plate down on the glass coffee table. “You’ve got rings under your eyes, sweetie, so I suggest you take a nap. The sleep medicine in your mashed potatoes ought to help with that.”
Janelle vaulted off the couch. She let the plate fall to the floor, where it shattered and rained splinters over her feet. “Sleep medicine? I just slept on the boat!”
Andrina stood as well, her eyes shining with triumph that she couldn't quite hide. “Only for two hours. You have a lot of catching up to do."
Sleep. That was when Andrina would make her listen to those hypnotic recordings, if Gary was right about that. He hadn't lied to her yet.
Already it felt as if shadowy hands were creeping up into her mind, turning the world into a giant, dark puddle bent on drowning her.
“Ahem.” Andrina stopped at the mouth of a hallway and patted her pocket.
Her chin quivered. There was no escaping this.
With heavy legs she followed her to an open door at the end of the hall. A lavender bedroom waited on the other side. Another chandelier hung from the ceiling and a canopy bed waited in the middle of the room, its covers pressed and smooth from years of waiting. Clothes stuffed the closet, most of the shirts a perfect fit for her height, but others were too small and junior-high sized.
Andrina had been expecting her arrival for years.
Janelle rubbed her arms in disgust as her legs carried her into the room, pulled by the thread of obedience that was keeping Leslie alive. She didn't see the stereo system next to the bed until she was almost right on it. A CD in a blue case sat on top, with her name written across it with the neatest handwriting she'd ever seen.
Janelle’s heart leapt into her throat. No, oh no, no…
“Your room,” Andrina said, watching her and the CD closely. “I decorated it myself years ago. I hope you like lavender. The mattress is unused, so it should be quite comfortable.”
The world started to blur. She had no choice.
Janelle climbed into bed and pulled the covers over herself. She could leave her eyes open just a little, and Andrina wouldn’t know the difference. As long as she stayed conscious, the recording wouldn’t work. Right?
Those shadowy hands reached up again to drag her down to oblivion.
A mechanical click followed as the CD player opened.
Breathe evenly. Stay awake. Whatever you do, stay--