Caught Between Worlds (The In-Betweens Book 3)

by Alison L. Perry

  I took a step backward, as if the distance would help me resist. But somehow, instead of putting more space between us, I felt him at my back. I blinked twice, shocked I’d missed his movement, and even more surprised when I felt his breath… this time real and not imagined… blowing warmly across the back of my neck at the hairline. I shivered as more tingles started from my neck and shot down my spine to land in my lower back where they continued to hum. Goose bumps popped out across my skin. What was he doing to me?

  Fighting against the claim he had over me, I tried to speak. “Who the hell are you? After all this, at least tell me your name.”

  I felt the vibration of his chuckle more than heard it. “You’d like that, would you?” His lips were near my ear as he barely whispered the words. I hated how attractive it sounded and I hated him for doing this to me. Slowly, I sensed him move from behind me, to my side, and finally in front of me, inches away. He held me tight with his eyes and the only thing I could do to fight back was stare into them with hatred. It didn’t matter, though. He seemed to like it.

  “My name, huh? You want my name. Tell me how much you want it, sweet Sadie.” He trailed a finger down my cheek as he smirked at me. “If you tell me, I’ll grant your wish.” He shifted so that our bodies were nearly touching. “Sweet Sadie, don’t fight me.”

  My lips loosened and I opened my mouth to form words. “It’s the least you can do. If you’re finally going to kill me, I should at least get to hear my killer’s name.” What I intended to come out as words of strength and independence, came out more as a plea. Disgusted at myself and at him, I closed my eyes and hoped for a quick death. Please don’t let it hurt too much.

  “Dekker.” The name caressed my ear in an intimate way, leaving me slightly breathless. Dekker. It was an asshole name for an asshole person. I wanted to lash out and punch him while he was this close to me, but I still couldn’t move. “Okay, now you can kill me. I’m ready.”

  He laughed, this time loudly. “Sadie, I’m not going to kill you yet. That’s not the plan.”

  Fear unfurled in my belly. What did he mean he wasn’t going to kill me yet? And what plan? “Wh-what do you mean? You’re going to torture me first?” I tried not to cry. I forced the tears back, but he knew. It seemed he knew everything.

  “Shh, shh, little one. It won’t feel like torture. In fact, you won’t feel a thing unless I want you to.”

  He was crazy. That was it. He was damn crazy, and I’d gotten myself caught because of my stupid car. Why did I let myself feed on Cam again? If I had been stronger, none of this would be happening right now. “I don’t understand. I thought the whole point of the Firsts bringing you in was because they want me dead and Kade couldn’t do it.”

  His face immediately changed. “Kade is a child,” he uttered in a menacing voice. “At least they know that now. They should have called Carmen and me first.”

  Ah! I knew Carmen was part of it! He’d admitted as much. Hating her all over again, I attacked. “What role did your stupid sister play in your game? She’s been pretty useless, if you ask me. She’s barely caused any trouble at all.” I wanted him to hurt. I wanted him to feel my disdain. Anything that would sidetrack him from me. “Such a waste,” I said, metaphorically twisting the knife in.

  But he didn’t take the bait, only laughed. “Then she’s doing her part perfectly, right under your nose.” He tapped mine to emphasize his point. “Carmen is an integral part of everything, so don’t worry about her yet.”

  Again, I tried to move, focusing every ounce on breaking the unseen barrier holding my arms and legs still. I funneled my frustration and anger into it like a laser beam of pure emotion. When I wiggled the toes on my left foot, I felt a surge of freedom. Of hope. But I had to keep him talking so he wouldn’t notice my victory. “So, what now, Dekker? What’s the next step?” Now I was twitching my ankle.

  He gazed at me a moment, as if he knew I was doing something, but wasn’t quite sure what. I delighted in his bemused expression. I bent my knee ever so slightly, encouraged that it was becoming easier.

  “Now, we get to take a little trip together… as soon as I put some gas in your car.”

  I was confused. What did gas have to do with anything? I hadn’t run out of gas. The car stopped, yes. But I had half a tankful of gas.

  He could see me trying to puzzle it out and smiled. “Yes. You’re out of gas. I thought you would have figured it out by now, but then again, it’s you.” He waved at me dismissively. “I decided to keep tabs on you so when it happened, I could take advantage of the situation. And here we are.”

  I didn’t understand. I guess he saw it because for the first time, he sounded exasperated. “Your fuel gauge was tampered with.” At my blank expression, he rolled his eyes. “Seriously? You’re not adding it together yet?”

  Was he talking about Coach Anderson? “Coach Anderson? Is that what you’re saying? He sabotaged my car?”

  “There she is. Very good. Now you’re all caught up. With what you need to know, anyway.” He smiled and this time it wasn’t attractive.

  I had to knock him off-balance. I had to do something other than stand here like an idiot robot waiting for his commands. I seized onto the first thing I could think of. “Why didn’t they bring you in first, anyway? Why were you second choice?” My left side felt free and I quickly started detaching my right side from his influence. I was so intent on it, I almost missed the pure evil that slid across his features. Almost. And I wished I had.

  With dead eyes, an empty voice, an expressionless face that sent waves of chills right through me, he answered, “Because they knew once they brought me here, they wouldn’t be in control anymore.” Terror washed over me again and again. “Because I don’t stop. And I don’t follow orders. And because I play my game by my rules.”

  ***

  I was floating in the dark. My head hurt, and there was something wrong with my right arm. I tried to move but couldn’t tell if I was successful or not. Blackness pushed in from all sides and as much as I attempted to focus on my surroundings, all I could hear was a faint sucking sound. I felt weightless, but at the same time, heavier than a bag of concrete. Where am I?

  Time ticked by. Or at least, I assumed it did. If I were dead, then time would have stopped, right?

  The sucking sound continued, but now it was louder. Whether that was a good or bad thing remained unclear. Now a steady pounding took up all the space in my head. Though I couldn’t hear it, I sensed it. Like a metronome, it was measured and constant.

  A flash of bright light streaked behind my eyes. For one slow-motion second, I saw everything. In a little forest clearing stood a girl and a guy. They looked close, intimate, like a couple. But something wasn’t right. I couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but something terrible was about to happen. And as I watched, it did. The girl collapsed to the ground for a moment, and as the boy reached toward her, she rose and hit him in the face with a rock. Next, she was running, running so fast, but he was close behind her as if nothing had happened. He grabbed her by the arm and smashed her against the trunk of a tree. She crumpled, but stood again quickly to latch onto his hair with her hands, screaming and thrashing the entire time. For a moment, the two were locked in battle as he tried to pull his head away from her grasp. She yanked, the tendons in her hands and forearms standing out with the effort. A loud yowl exploded in the air as her hands finally pulled away, large tufts of hair entangled in her fingers. He picked her up again, jaw clenched with fury, ignoring her flying fists and flailing legs. Swinging in a large arc, he slammed her against the tree trunk again. This time she went limp.

  The scene faded into the black void around me. I knew it was important but couldn’t put my finger on it. Who was that girl? And why did I feel so sorry for her? I reached out, trying to wrap my fingers around the cloudy pictures, to hug them to me so they couldn’t disappear as if nothing had happened. Though I tried to grip them, they turned to water and slid right through my ha
nds.

  This time the flash wasn’t as bright, but I was desperate to catch everything I was shown. The boy picked up the girl and began taking her back to the clearing where a car awaited. Wait, why did the car look familiar? Had I seen it before? When he reached it, he opened the trunk and tossed the girl inside before pulling a red container out. He fiddled with the side of the car and then… chaos. Suddenly, there were people everywhere. A man appeared out of the shadows and was fighting with the boy and doing a decent job of it. A woman with long dark hair joined in, so that it was two against one. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. They tumbled around in the clearing, exchanging blows and cursing wildly at each other. While the boy was distracted, someone else pulled the girl from the trunk and cradled her close. There was yelling, lots of yelling; then there was nothing around me but black again.

  All of a sudden, there was light everywhere. It was bright and sharp and all I wanted to do was scream. So, I did. I screamed and screamed until someone put a hand over my mouth and I tried to bite it. They yanked their hand away with a muffled curse and something sharp stung my right arm. I tried to pull away but only felt soft sheets covering me and my aching head being settled against a soft pillow. Sleepiness tried to overwhelm the fear, and then all of it was gone, replaced with happiness. I smiled at the sensation of floating again and felt someone take my hand.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “Sadie, dear. Sadie, wake up. Come now, open your eyes. That’s it.”

  The voice sounded familiar.

  Slowly, carefully, I pushed my eyes open and winced at the room’s brightness. Shifting my feet, I realized I was still in bed, under soft covers, tucked in like a child.

  Should I be scared?

  Am I safe?

  Memories floated in and out. Cam. I bit Cam and scared him. My car… Coach Anderson! He did something to my car to make it easier for the boy to catch me alone and weakened. The boy.

  Dekker.

  I turned my head slowly in case my brains tried to leak out of my ears and looked at the hand holding mine. My eyes traveled up their arm, toward their face, into their eyes. Red eyes, with black and gold flecks, stared into mine.

  Pen!

  I tried to speak, but she immediately shushed me. “No, child. Don’t try to talk right now. Just rest. You were severely injured and your recovery is the most important thing right now.” I squeezed her hand to let her know I understood.

  Pen’s here and I’m in the hospital?

  Looking around the room, I tried to place it, but I couldn’t recognize anything. The walls were made of dark paneling and there was a crystal chandelier on the ceiling over us. But that’s not where the light was coming from. I twisted slightly to look over my shoulder. A bright light, like what you’d see in an operating room, stood on one side of the bed. Next to it was an IV stand with a tube running from the bag hooked on it to a needle in my arm. And finally, I saw the machine responsible for all the strange sounds I was hearing. My heartbeat made it beep softly, my pulse steady, and I watched as something that looked like a weird Slinky was blown upward and then released. Up and down. Up and down.

  A movement caught my attention and I turned back to look at the foot of my bed. I opened and shut my eyes as if to clear them. No. This wasn’t possible. Why was she here?

  “It’s okay,” Nurse Edara said. “I’m not here to hurt you. I’m on your side. I’ve always been on your side.” She touched my leg softly. “Please believe me.”

  I looked at Pen and she nodded. “It is true. Edara is to be trusted.” I waited for her to continue, but she didn’t. I sighed in frustration, but I believed them. And I wasn’t in any position to argue with them about it, anyway. Still, I kept a wary eye on her.

  Since they made it clear I wasn’t getting any answers at this time, I relaxed and started a mental checklist of my body. I needed to know what was wrong with me at least. It seemed pretty bad, seeing as everything from my hair to my toes hurt in one way or another. Pen said I needed to rest and recover. Okay, I could do that. But what was I resting and recovering from?

  I remembered the fight. Not that it was much of a fight, but more like a one-sided ass-whoopin’. I had tried throwing him off by letting myself go limp and hitting him in the face, but it hadn’t worked like I’d planned. I smiled slightly when I remembered pulling his hair out, but a frown took its place when I recalled how incensed it had made him. I tried to run, but felt myself being lifted in the air instead, and nothing after that. I looked at Pen again, trying to convey my question without speaking. I shifted my eyes between myself and the IV several times.

  “Ah, you want to know your injuries?” I nodded. “Dekker, that horrible young man, threw you into a tree a few times. You have a severe concussion, several broken ribs, a fractured arm in three places, and your femur was fractured. You also had some internal bleeding, but Grammon thinks he has that under control now.” She sighed deeply. “You are very fortunate, that is all. We barely caught you in time and it has been four days since you arrived here.”

  I wanted to ask where “here” was, who Grammon was, and who “we” were.

  She patted my hand. “I know, dear one. You want all the answers, but give it time. You will know everything in time.” She rose from her chair next to the bed and straightened my sheet. Next, she fluffed my pillow and asked, “Would you like some ice chips? Your mouth is likely dry from the anesthesia.” I nodded, then winced as my head thrummed with pain.

  She left the room, softly closing the door behind her, and I was alone.

  ***

  I shuffled slowly down the aisle, eying each rectangle of linoleum carefully as I stepped on them. I still had to take tiny steps and used a cane, but I was walking on my own now. I never thought I’d be happy to do something so simple, but the last several months had changed my way of looking at things. My life was now a series of celebrations when I hit a milestone, like bending my fingers or chewing food instead of slurping it. Some days I still had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t a ghost. And some days I had to force myself to breathe through the panic at the idea that Dekker was still out there. And Carmen.

  My friends drifted into my mind, but I quickly pushed them back. Pen had reported that Dekker left Texas a day after my rescue. They were safe now. I was gone, dragging the enemy with me and out of their lives. If they thought I died in that forest, it was for the best. It was best for me, too. I’d heard this explanation many times since my injuries and it made complete sense, so I didn’t fight it. I didn’t have the energy to, anyway. All my attention was on healing.

  “Sadie, do you want Crunchy O’s or Cinnamon Twisters? And no, you can’t have both.”

  I sighed and considered the question heavily. “Crunchy O’s,” I answered at last.

  They dropped into the basket I was pushing in lieu of my cane. It was more useful in helping me stay steady than anything else. And I was being a helper, which was a bonus. I pushed my hair out of my eyes and smiled at the woman with me.

  We moved down the aisle to debate about oatmeal. I hated it, but she was in favor of it. She won, and in it went with the cereal. My thoughts drifted away, the norm these days. Grammon had assured me I didn’t have any lasting brain damage, but rather, my inattention to details and habit of getting lost in my thoughts were “persistent postconcussive symptoms” and would eventually go away. He hadn’t led me astray yet, so I had no reason to doubt him.

  We’d made it to the produce section, which was my favorite part because I was allowed to press the tomatoes lightly and choose the best ones. I took this job seriously, sometimes spending twenty minutes or longer on the task. I was also permitted to choose the apples, and if I was extra lucky that day, the bananas. I filled the flimsy produce bag with my choices and helped put them in the cart. Pleased with my picks, I hummed a little tune to celebrate.

  Standing in the checkout line was the worst part. By now, I was tired and my legs were starting to wobble unde
r me. I was scared of falling and making a scene. “Please hurry,” I whispered under my breath. The woman turned her head at the sound, giving me a questioning look. I shook my head, refusing to drag the scene out any longer. We were next to pay. Thank God.

  “Okay, Sade, we’ll make the switch now, okay? Just go slowly. Here’s your cane… there you go.” I gripped one hand on the cane and one hand on the cart. She held me steady while I let go and balanced with only the cane. I nodded when I was ready, and she let me go. “Great job!”

  Slowly, we made our way out of the store and into the bright sunlight. I winced at the sudden shift and tried to hold in the sneeze that suddenly threatened to unbalance me. I leaned against the side of the black SUV while I waited for her to load the groceries. I had one more hurdle and that was climbing into the passenger seat. It was getting easier, but my leg had a long way to go to heal and there was still quite a bit of pain. The trunk slammed shut and she came around prepared to help me get in. Five minutes of sweating and groaning passed before I was comfortably situated. I leaned my head against the back of the seat and did some deep breathing exercises. It helped more with pain than the pills I’d been prescribed.

  The engine started and I looked over at the woman behind the wheel. I smiled and it was mirrored back at me when she returned it. Her green eyes were bright and loving. She had her long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail and wore no makeup to hide the dusting of freckles on her nose. But she didn’t need it. She was beautiful. In a calming gesture I’d become used to, she used a finger to brush the hair out of my face and tuck it behind my ear. “Sadie, sweet girl. Are you ready to go home?”