I swiped the sweat from my forehead, and took a moment to glance around. I was thankful for the jeans that protected my legs from more than one thorny vine, but the day had become uncomfortably hot. The ground sloped upward. Hills and trees, hills and trees…everything looked exactly the same and if I hadn’t had the compass, I’d be totally lost.
A few birds had chirped, leaves had rustled when a squirrel darted by, but I hadn’t heard anything in at least twenty minutes. The silence made me nervous. I peered through the forest. The shadows pressed against me, ever watchful. I wondered if even now my dad studied my movements on some hidden camera in some protected office. Hell, maybe Nora had set me up. I wouldn’t be surprised.
I swiped at my forehead again. Even the breeze, what little there had been, seemed to have disappeared. The area was deadly silent. The only sound was my harsh breath and the occasional snap of a branch as I shuffled through the trees, pretending to know what the heck I was doing.
As time ticked by, the landscape blurred together into shadows. I felt trapped in a world of nothingness; as if I would never see the end. I paused, exhausted. Anxiety gave way to annoyance. At this point I’d wished they’d just kill me and get it over with already.
I trudged up yet another hill, around a large oak tree and that’s when I saw it… the sparkle of metal fencing. I froze. Was it my imagination? A desperate attempt to see something other than trees? Or had I actually made it to the compound?
I stumbled forward once more, climbing over a fallen long. The rotten wood crumbled under my hands, leaving dirt and debris on my palms. I brushed them against my legs and continued downhill. An odd gurgling sound brought me up short.
I hadn’t imagined it. The stream sparkled under the weak light that managed to pierce the thick canopy of branches and leaves above.
I had made it.
My heart hammered madly. I’d made it, yet couldn’t seem to go on. Once I crossed that creek, I knew they’d arrive. For one incredibly brief moment Nora’s words came back to haunt me.
“The first thing they did was crack open my skull.”
I could leave. Turn around and run for the road.
“Keep it together, Cameron,” I whispered to myself.
I closed my eyes, and took in a deep breath. I couldn’t leave Lewis. I couldn’t. I opened my eyes. Besides, my father most likely knew I had arrived. If he was waiting for my next move, I’d give it to him. Determined, I started across the stream. The water sloshed over my shoes, trailing down my ankles and soaking my socks. I hated wet socks.
I climbed up another small hill and there it was…the fence, sparkling and shining under the brilliant sun. Rows and rows of barbed wire curled along the top. From where I stood, I could make out guards patrolling the area. I hadn’t seen this high-tech security when I’d been here, but then I’d never been this close to the perimeter either.
Even in the shadows, I felt like a spotlight shone on me. I swallowed hard and started forward. Nora had told me the fence had electricity running through and I knew about the motion detectors and cameras scattered around the area. But I didn’t have plans to climb the fence. I planned on going in the easy way, escorted.
A twig snapped from somewhere behind me. I froze. An animal? Or had they found me already? Slowly, I turned, but could see nothing in the shadows of the trees. If nothing was there, why did my heart feel ready to explode? I closed my eyes and searched for the energy that marked every living being. It had worked before, but could I sense them now?
Nothing.Emptiness.
Frustrated, I turned toward the fence. A wall of human forms stood in front of me. Dressed in dark clothes, they stood so still that for a moment, I thought I might be imagining them. As if given some silent command, they shifted their legs apart and lifted the rifles in their arms, pointing all five guns directly at me.
“You are on government land,” the man in the middle growled out. “Turn around, leave, and we will not press charges.”
Pure panic raced through me. They were real. Way too real. I stumbled back, tripped on a root and almost lost my footing. Crap, I wasn’t supposed to be shot down before I’d even had a chance. Realizing they might actually kill me, I had to rethink my plan.
Get rid of their guns, then I could focus on getting caught peacefully. I sent my energy through the air. Three of the guns broke free and flew across the woods. The empty-handed guards dove for their weapons, leaving only two behind.
“Don’t move,” one of the remaining men said, lifting his rifle higher and peering through the scope. I realized with some nervousness that he had the gun pointed at my forehead. I did the only thing I could. I bolted.
Branches snapped and popped underneath my feet and giving away my location. Not that I should have cared, but I did. I wanted to get caught, right? At the moment I was sure. I dove behind a tree and pressed my right shoulder to the rough bark. I just needed some time to think. Time to formulate a new plan because this one wasn’t working.
“Stop!” a familiar voice call out.
“Maddox,” I whispered, my breath catching. “No. Not him.” I leaned my head against the tree, staring up into the branches. I’d rather my father take me in than Maddox.
“Abandon orders,” he snapped. “You’re to capture her alive.”
“Oh God,” I muttered.
Obviously they’d identified me. At least they weren’t going to kill me. This is what I’d wanted to happen, right? For them to take me captive? But for some reason it was worse now that Maddox was here. A man I used to count as a friend. A man who had kissed me, brought up mixed feelings within. A man I’d betrayed when I’d escaped the compound. A man who was now the enemy.
“You’ll have to make it look like it’s an accident.” The memory of Nora’s words came back to me.
“Right,” I muttered. “Right. Make it look like I don’t want to be caught.” I took in a deep breath and bolted to the next tree.
“Cameron,” Maddox called out. “I don’t know what the hell you’re doing, but you know you can’t escape.”
“Oh really?” I spat out. “Because I have before!”
I could hear the ever so slight thump of feet. They were scattering. I tilted my head left, then right, attempting to uncover their route. It was impossible. There were too many.
“If you’re here to help Lewis, it’s not going to happen.”
Maddox’s voice came from the right. I didn’t respond, but shoved away from the tree and followed the fence line, my feet thundering against the ground. My instincts screamed at me to run, while my mind told me to slow the heck down.
I want to be caught. I want to be caught.
A branch snagged at the strap of my backpack, jerking me backward. With a growl, I shrugged the pack from my shoulders, dropping the bag and freeing my body from the weight. Sweat trailed down my temples, my breathing so harsh, that surely they heard me.
Where to go? I swallowed hard and studied the woods. Left was the fence, right were the woods.
“Cameron!”
More pounding feet and breaking branches.
So this is what it felt like to be a deer during hunting season.
“Your father is worried about you, Cameron. You shouldn’t have left.” Maddox’s voice came from the left now, not far… too close.
Instinct spurred me forward. I knew I had to head toward the woods in order to make it look realistic; make it look like I was trying to escape. I shifted my weight, spinning toward the trees. Keeping my mind free of emotion, I turned into a robot, instinct forcing me forward.
I held up my hands, protecting my face as I burst through branches. The more I ran, the more I seemed to calm down. I could do this, I could be captured. Lewis and I would escape. We would make it back to Savannah.
I ran around a tree and came up short. Three men stood directly in front of me, blocking my exit.
Slightly intimidated, I took one step back.
“Stop!” one of the men called
out.
“Yeah, no thanks.” I spun around and ran directly into a hard chest.
A familiar scent swirled around me… the light musky scent of aftershave, the heady scent of leather from the jacket he wore when riding his motorcycle. The sickening scent of gun power. I tilted my head back and looked directly into his gray eyes.
“You shouldn’t have come back,” Maddox whispered.
I’d done it…I’d been caught.
It was my last thought before Maddox lifted a small stun gun and pressed it to my neck. I felt the metal probes seconds before the pain sliced through my brain, branching down my spine and toward my limbs, burning me from the inside out.
I screamed, fading into darkness.
Chapter 8
I was vaguely aware of being carried on some sort of stretcher. Vaguely aware of men and women with hard faces hovering over me like some nightmarish dream. Voices and faces that faded in and out, as I faded in and out, pulsing in time with the pound of my head.
I tried desperately to concentrate, to focus on their features and their words, but it was as if my brain was working through mud, crawling…sloshing… I couldn’t make it work.
“…near the fence…” Maddox said to someone as he trudged beside me. He wore a black vest, black pants, thick black boots that crushed tree branches and weeds with no thought. With a rifle slung over his shoulder, he looked every bit the secret agent sent to kill and destroy.
“Why is she here?” someone else asked.
I didn’t hear the answer; I must have blacked out because somehow I’d made it through the woods, the fence and into the compound when I managed to open my eyes once more. But where exactly was I? A tunnel, a white corridor of some kind. I might have thought I’d died if it weren’t for the pain. Desperate, I reached out with my energy—nothing happened. I felt empty inside.
My powers were gone. I couldn’t even use my physical body, let alone my energy. So much for being a carrier of the source. Panic swept bitterly cold through my veins. I tried to curl my hands; nothing happened. I tried to lift my head; nothing. I couldn’t even grit my teeth in frustration.
This is what I’d wanted.
This is what I’d wanted.
We turned left. The movement of the stretcher, back and forth, made my stomach clench. I wanted to moan and curl up on my side; I couldn’t do a damn thing.
“How far did she get?” someone asked.
“Not far…”
I needed to focus on something, anything, other than the roiling of my stomach. Desperately I tried to remember the layout of the compound. There were three buildings. The first had offices. The second held rooms for torture, or questioning, as my dad liked to call it. The third building held the prisoners. I’d never been inside the third building; my father had said it was too dangerous. I knew now he was just trying to prevent me from uncovering the truth.
Considering I didn’t recognize this place, I assumed I was in building three. Hooray for small victories. I forced my eyes to stay open. Watched the fluorescent lights on the ceiling, counting each one we passed. When I grew tired of counting, I focused on the faces hovering over me, attempting to appeal to their humanity. Would any of them help me when the time came? But they were faces of stone, features with no sympathy. Even Maddox stared straight ahead, as if I was just another prisoner, no one special.
Exhausted, I gave into temptation and allowed my lashes to drift down. The darkness called to me. How badly I wanted to sink into oblivion. Forget where I was. Pretend to be elsewhere. But I was in that third building, the place where the prisoners were kept; a place I’d never been before. I had to pay attention…
Lewis was here…somewhere.
I swore, even through the darkness swallowing me whole, I could feel him. It wasn’t the electric sensation of my powers, but a knowing deep within. I heard hinges squeak as a door was opened. I managed to crack my eyelids and realized they were taking me into a cell, barred door and all. Firm hands gripped my ankles and under my arms. For a brief moment I was lifted and then settled on a cot near a cement wall. The motion stopped, but my mind kept spinning. Bile rose in my throat and I feared I’d choke on my own vomit.
“You’re sure she’ll be okay?” I heard Maddox ask someone as he hovered over me.
Was that an actual crease of worry between his dark brows? Was he joking? He’d caught me, the bastard, and now he was acting as if he cared. I wanted to hit him. I wanted to curse at him. I wanted to use my powers and knock him on his ass. I could do nothing but glare.
“Yes,” a voice replied. A voice that sounded so familiar…so very familiar. “Cameron, look at me.”
Unwillingly, I shifted my gaze left. The face before me was blurry through my exhausted eyes, but I recognized that brown hair, that slim body. The queasy feeling I’d been trying so hard to keep at bay, struggled up my throat.
“You remember me?” he asked.
Unfortunately, yes. My father. Any unease I felt faded, replaced with pure hatred. How could he do this to me? How could he sit there not caring that I’d been paralyzed?
But then again, this was the same man who tortured Nora. I realized, in that moment, that I hadn’t truly believed what my sister had told me. I knew the truth now, my father was a monster. But I couldn’t respond to his question, I couldn’t even move my lips to tell him to go screw himself.
He shook his head. “You shouldn’t have run, Cameron. You never should have switched sides.” He brushed his hand over my hair, like a father reprimanding his little daughter for doing something silly. “I can’t help you now. You’re on your own.”
All the while, Maddox just stood there looking dour, arms crossed over his broad chest. I wanted to slap their faces. And if I could’ve lifted my arm, I would have. But my father stood and walked toward the barred door before I had a chance.
“You’ll feel better tomorrow.”
“Wwwhat…” I couldn’t finish the sentence, my tongue refused to move, my lips refused to part.
He paused and glanced back. “What did we do? We had to paralyze you. It was for your own good, and our safety.” Three guards stood in the corridor; at my father’s approach, they turned and followed him, leaving me alone with Maddox. I wanted to demand he help me, tell him he was so wrong to believe in this cause but I knew it would be pointless.
And my eyes felt so heavy. My lashes drifted down… I sank into the cot, so very heavy. Vaguely, I was aware of the thump of footsteps as Maddox came near. His scent swirled around me and he leaned so close, I could feel the heat of his body.
“Why?” Maddox whispered, surprising me.
I managed to open my eyes once more and stare into his silver gaze. He was kneeling next to my cot, his jaw clenched in concern, or maybe it was anger. I wasn’t sure and I didn’t really care.
“Was he really worth returning for?”
I knew who “he” was. “Y..y…yes,” I managed to stutter, feeling quite proud of myself.
Maddox shook his head and stood. I didn’t miss the flash of hurt and disappointment that crossed his gray eyes. “I hope he’s worth dying for too.”
He was so sure I’d not escape. So sure they’d torture me to death. He turned and moved into the hall, shutting the gate and locking it behind him.
I’d show him what I was capable of… just as soon as I rested. Finally alone, I let go, and sank into the welcoming darkness.
****
I dreamt of Lewis.
Lewis calling to me.Lewis’ sweet voice saying my name over and over. I wanted to dive into the dream, to never leave.
“Cameron,” he whispered.
I tried to reply, but the darkness pulled me under and promised escape from my worries. I wanted this empty future full of nothingness. No pain. No worry. No fear of tomorrow.
“Cameron, wake up.”
But the voice called again and the words pierced my foggy reality, tearing me from the cocoon of slumber. Loud. Too loud. Startled, I pried open my l
ashes. My eyes were dry, painful. I blinked, attempting to clear the heaviness of slumber. The flickering fluorescent lights above throbbed against my head with every pulse. Where the hell was I?
Suddenly everything came rushing back on a wave of head-pounding pain. I groaned and brought my knees to my chest, curling upon the small cot. The cement walls wavered in and out of focus. There were no windows, only three walls of cement and one of thick metal bars. I was truly in a prison.
My home, until I found a way to escape. A narrow door interrupted the back wall. I shoved my hands into the cot and managed to sit up, setting my feet upon the floor. The room spun around me. My shoes were gone, although they hadn’t undressed me. Thank God for small favors.
I braced a hand against the cement wall and stood, my legs trembling like a toddler just learning to walk. Slowly, I shuffled toward the narrow door. It was a bathroom. A toilet, a shower and sink. No mirror. No door on the shower, and no door hiding the toilet, but I supposed I should be thankful that I even had one. I started to move toward the sink when I heard a shuffle behind me. I froze.
“Cameron.”
Had the stun gun made me crazy? Had I imagined him calling my name?
“Lewis,” I whispered.
“Cam?”
I spun around. Through the bars at the front of my cell, I could see him. Lewis, in another cell across from me. He stood half-hidden in the shadows where the fluorescent lights didn’t quite reach. But there was no mistaking that body, that face.
“Lewis!” I stumbled forward and grabbed the bars of my cell for support. “Lewis?”
He was alive. My knees went weak and I sank to the cement floor, still gripping the bars, afraid to let go, afraid this was all a dream. I’d never been so relieved in my life. I wanted to grab his hand and run. I slid my arm through the bars, but he was too far away. Defeated, I let my arm slump to my side.
“You’re here.” My throat clogged with a myriad of emotions, some of which I couldn’t even identify; had never felt before.
“Are you okay?” he asked, taking a hesitant step closer to his bars, acting strangely standoffish. He didn’t seem surprised to see me, and he didn’t seem exactly thrilled either.