“Can’t talk long. Chased. Dean—fine. Charlie? Will?” I try to catch my breath to ask a proper question, but I’m breathing too heavily already.
“They’re fine, we’re all fine. We have Joel, too.”
I hit the shopping center pavement outside one of the entrances and bolt through the electric doors into the warm, stuffy air inside. I slow down, catching my breath and trying to avoid all the shoppers around me.
“I need you to meet us at Dean’s grandma’s cabin in OuachitiaNational Forest in Arkansas—”
“But what—”
“Rose, please listen to me carefully. Ouachitia National Forest in Arkansas, go up Freedom Road and turn onto Yonder Tree lane, towards the end you’ll see a turn off to a dirt road. Go down it and drive until the end. There is a hidden cabin there. Dean says it’s safe and no one knows about it.” I pat myself on the back for not only saying that all correctly, but remembering it all after only being told once while I was freaking out. I hear Rose relaying it back to the others.
“Got it, now are you okay? What happened?” Rose sounds frantic, but before I can answer her I notice four men heading my way. My slowing down has cost me.
“Can’t talk,” I gasp and almost drop the cell as I turn a corner and nearly collide with an innocent shopper. I look behind myself to see two men bursting through the crowd, trying to get to me; the other two have disappeared. I can’t let them get too close.
“Zoe? Zoe,what’s going on? Hey give me that back—” I hear Rose’s voice argue as I pick up speed, keeping the cell close to my ear as I run. I hear my name being called, but I can’t concentrate on it. I’m in trouble.
I run further into the mall and sprint along the pathways, hearing people yelling as I pass them. It’s so close to Christmas now and people are packed inside. It makes running straight through them impossible.
“Zoe!” My name is yelled from the cell, loud enough to sound out over the crowd of people in the mall and my heart nearly gives way hearing his voice. As I run, my hand is slowly moved away from my ear, but I quickly hold the cell close to my ear again, pressing it there so hard my head hurts.
“Charlie?” Tears fall down my face, relief taking over me at knowing he is okay.
“Zoe, where are you? We’re coming for you—”
“No, go where I told Rose. I’m sorry, I have to go. We have to turn the cell off. They can trace it.” A late thought occurs to me, if they can trace this call, then it can lead them to Rose’s cell. “Turn off the cellphone and ditch it, Charlie. They can trace you now, too.”
“Zoe…” Charlie sounds worried and at a loss of what to say.
“Promise me you’ll ditch it.”
“We’ll get rid of it, I promise. What’s happening? Are you safe?” His worry tears at my heart and I want nothing more than to be back in his arms right now. My connection to him still feels as strong as it was back at The Windmill.
“I will be. I have to go. I’ll see you soon.”
I quickly end the call, feeling more devastated at hearing his voice than I would have imagined. My body is aching to see him and it’s also aching in a different way from this sudden bout of exercise. I manage to turn the cell off just as another incoming call is coming from Rose. I burst through an exit on the opposite side of the mall and scan the parking lot quickly. Dean pulls up with a new car, his arms waving wildly for me to follow. I jump in, banging my head on the top of the car as I quickly slam the door shut and swear loudly, dropping Dean’s cellphone on the ground of the car.
“Are you okay?” he quickly asks, already speeding through the parking lot.
“No.” I grab my head where I’ve hit it and hold my hand there, hoping to push out the pain radiating into my brain. I’m getting very tired of head injuries.
“Did you talk to Rose? Is she okay? She knows where to meet us?”
“Yes, and she’s okay. She’s with the others and they’re all okay. Just drive us out of here.” Dean is already doing that and I look behind us to see a black SUV following. My heart stops beating before I thankfully see it turn off down a different aisle. For now, it looks like we’re unseen.
Chapter 22 – The Reunion
The Cabin, Arkansas
December 22nd
“They’ll be here soon,” Dean mutters, although I’m not sure if he’s speaking to me or merely to himself.
We arrived hours ago and I’ve been standing by the window ever since. My legs ache from being stiff for so long and I’m beyond exhausted, but I stay watchful. After we got here, Dean checked stocks and unsurprisingly we have no food.
He said his great-grandparents built this place hidden away and as far as he knows it’s never been found. He used to come here when he was young, during the summer, but after a falling out from his family, his parents never took him back here. His grandparents have passed away, but his parents decided to simply ignore this slice of Heaven.
When he first said cabin, I pictured logs, something small and not really likely to have toilet facilities or a kitchen. Instead, I find a cabin mansion. My only correct assumption was the logs. It looks charming and big on the outside and better than you can imagine inside. As soon as you walk through the front door it opens up into a large open area. To the left is an open fireplace, in front of that is a large, dusty sofa. Behind the sofa is a wide staircase leading up to the second level.
Behind the staircase on the bottom floor are three doors. Upon looking inside them, I see two small bedrooms and in-between them a bathroom and shower. To the right of that is another entrance which has a kitchen on the other side, one that you can only describe as homely. There are strange cooking anecdotes hung on the wall like, ‘Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach him to fish and you get rid of him for the weekend’ and ‘Diet Choice: 1. Take it 2. Leave it’. In the middle is a large breakfast bar with eight stools surrounding it, and around that is a sink, a large oven, a fridge and many empty cupboards.
There is another door leading outside to a small shed that houses very few tools, a scary big axe and a few logs of wood for the fire. Dean brings them in and starts a fire up straight away. We’re mostly sheltered from the strong winds that have been blowing up a storm on our drive here, but the rain pounds down heavily outside.
Dean is able to get the fridge back on after fiddling around with the generator and the lights inside work, but they’re dim. Without much money, Dean decides to wait for the others to arrive to pool our money together to get some food.
There are many random bookshelves scattered around, and while I don’t recognize any of the titles, Dean grabs many to open and close again. I’m not sure what he’s searching for and I don’t bother asking. My eyes are glued outside, and as darkness sets in, I worry something has happened to them. What if they didn’t ditch the cellphone? If they were tracked and were taken, we wouldn’t know. How long should we wait here for them? What is our first step to finding them? Can I count on Dean to help me?
As the heat from the fire travels through the room, I find myself heating up. I take off my hoodie and leave it hanging over the couch, which I have to tap several times all over it to get the dust off. The ground isn’t much better, and after I finally can’t stand looking outside the window any longer, I find a broom and sweep. I get a pile of dust easily and sweep it outside, finding the rain has now let up to just a light mist. The air is cold, burning my exposed arms. I quickly close the door and can’t help noticing the plain blue button up shirt I’m wearing, along with blue jeans. I look so boring. I feel sudden nerves knowing I’ll be seeing Charlie again soon. I find a hair tie in my jean’s pocket, and hoping to hide my wild looking hair, I throw it up into a ponytail, wincing as I pull at the bump on the back of my head.
“They’re here,” Dean announces as he throws open the door.
I rush behind him, ignoring the cold air as I anxiously wait for Charlie to put the car into park. As soon as he opens his door I rush forward and throw my arms arou
nd him before he has even straightened up.
“Zoe...” He breathes my name and I squeeze him tighter to me. “We’ve been so worried about you. Are you okay?” He pulls away from me and his hands rest on my hips. He frowns when he notices how skinny I am, but his eyes flash anger when he sees the bruise on my forehead.
“Who did that to you?” He touches it lightly and I flush red in embarrassment.
“I think I got that injury from knocking my head into the car.” I smile, trying to hide how silly I feel and Charlie laughs quietly.
“Oh.”
“You can fight the car later, if you want,” I tease, my smile growing bigger. It feels like it’s been so long since I smiled.
“Don’t worry, I’ll set it straight,” he jokes back. I hug him to me again, trying to assure myself that he really is here.
“Come on, guys. It’s starting to rain again.” Rose ushers us inside. We’re the only ones that are still out here, everyone else must have run inside straight away.
When we walk inside, Rose hugs me fiercely and demands to know what happened to me; I don’t answer her right away. Instead, I move over to Will and hug him, feeling relief seeing him unharmed in front of me.
“I dreamt you were ambushed in an alleyway.” I shake in his arms, shocked when he hugs me back.
“I’m okay; Rose saved me.”
I turn and smile at Rose. I knew she would be amazing and do that.
“You don’t even look hurt—” I stop myself from saying anymore, guessing he probably has already healed from what was done to him; a perk at his quick healing ability.
“I’m fine. Honest.” Will tries to reassure me, but his eyes drop when I look at him, and I know he’s not telling me the truth. Since he does heal physically quick, I know this must be mental. Not really an area I’m an expert on.
“Spill, what happened? When you called, we were so worried about you.” Rose brings us back on track and I step back from Will to stand next to Charlie; his arm immediately comes around my side.
Up close I see the dark rings under his eyes and his disheveled hair. His clothes are wrinkled and stiff, and he looks like he could use a good meal and some sun. I think I can smell a waft of alcohol, but I’m not sure. Everyone looks worn, though, even Rose in all her perfect glory. Joel, I note, appears to be the most unaffected, but then he was only grabbed this morning no doubt. The rest of us have been at this longer. My earlier thoughts that I wouldn’t have to see him again have been dashed and I try my best to ignore the fact that he is here.
We migrate closer to the fire, Charlie sits me down and then collapses next to me. His arm doesn’t leave my side and I lean into him, my head resting by his neck.
“There isn’t much to tell. I went to see you,” I nod at Rose, “and I was attacked.”
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. I heard talking when I went out for lunch and heard them mention Stan. I think it was the kid who had been shot, the one who could read minds. Anyway, they were close, so I had to leave. I knew Will was in trouble and they mentioned a tracking device on Joel.”
“A tracking device?” I reluctantly look at Joel and notice dried blood on his shirt. I shiver at what that means and Charlie tightens his arm around me.
“Yeah, we thought at first they wanted to keep an eye on you and see if you led them to any of us, but that didn’t really make sense. Joel tried to kill you, obviously they wouldn’t have thought you would be hanging out, or even that we would know where he was and rescue him.”
“So why did they bug him?” I ask Rose.
“We think they were hoping it would lead them to whoever is trying to kill us. I mean, we know what happened, that people in the future came back to change the past, but for all they know they have a mole. I think just having Joel stay with you was a trade. No, they didn’t catch their mole, but they did get to keep tabs on you.”
“That’s creepy.” I shudder to think what would have happened when Charlie came to get me in a few months’ time. He would have been caught and taken. I might never have known he came, I might have thought he simply decided not to come back for me. I feel anger directed at Joel and instantly blame him for this. I knew I was being watched, and it’s his fault.
“Yeah, suffice it to say, we removed the tracking device.” Rose grimaces.
“So then what? How did you get out?” Will asks me.
“I was attacked in your apartment,” I nod at Rose again, “and then Dean came and helped me get away. We hid in your walk-in-closet until the coast was clear. We were going to go to Florida, but when we realized we were being followed, we had to lead them away. That’s when Dean decided we should meet up here.”
“Dean’s great, isn’t he? I’m glad that false wall wasn’t a waste of time.” Rose sounds pleased. Dean leans in and kisses her.
“He is. I would have been taken for sure without him. I called you while we were in the process of getting a different car. I distracted them and ran through a shopping mall while Dean stole something new.”
“That phone call scared the hell out of us, Zoe,” Rose reprimands me, finally coming out of her daze from Dean’s kiss.
“Sorry, I was in a bit of a rush. We just managed to get out of there and came straight here.”
“Thank you for helping, Zoe. I’m sorry you’ve been dragged into this.” Rose gives Dean a kiss this time and we all look away, feeling awkward.
“How did we all fail?” I ask everyone. So far, Will and Rose’s locations were compromised and mine was never unknown. Charlie is the only one who succeeded.
“Well, we didn’t do anything wrong.” Rose looks pointedly at Will and I try to understand what she is trying to say to him. “Will’s age hindered him. He looks underage so a report from a concerned citizen was enough to stuff him up. I’m not sure about me. They said someone called Spencer just needed a little more time.”
We all stay silent while we take in Rose’s words. I remember her recounting the overheard conversation.
“You think Blake is alive?”
“There was someone there and he could read minds. I guess it was him, but I didn’t get a good look at him.”
“So Blake didn’t die then? He was at The Windmill when we all were?” I feel awful that we left him behind. I remember the bed with the curtains drawn around it when I got my blood test. Was Blake hiding behind that? We had future Drew to tell us the truth about what P.A.G.E. really is. He would only have been fed the lies from Stan. Was that Blake who attacked me in Rose’s apartment? What did he say to me when he knocked my head against the floor? Something about his family? What lies has he been told?
“I guess not.”
“Do you think we should try and help him?” I ask. I know that task will probably be as hard as taking down P.A.G.E. itself. How would we get close to him? How could we possibly change his mind? Would he even care that P.A.G.E. is evil?
“I think we should deal with one problem at a time. Like what the hell are we supposed to do now?” Rose asks us all, leaning her back against Dean’s front as his arms wrap around her.
“For now I think we should stay here. How safe is this place?” Charlie asks Dean.
“No one will be able to trace it to me. My mom inherited it when my grandparents passed away, but that just means my grandma sent her a letter on her death bed. No one technically knows this place exists. My great-grandpa built it with his brothers, purposely set it in the woods to stay hidden. This area is a summer tourist place since there’s a lake nearby and in all these years no one has ever found it.”
“Then we stay here.” Rose nods.
“For how long?”
“Until we can decide our next move, which I’m voting is finding some food.” Rose rubs her stomach. I can’t remember the last time I ate, however I’m too exhausted to think about food.
“We need to get some supplies. There isn’t any food here,” Dean tells everyone.
“Fine, we’ll get food today and tomorrow we get s
ome other supplies, like clothes.”
It’s good Rose mentions that because I don’t have any clothes other than what I’m wearing right now.
Dean, Rose and Joel volunteer to go into the next town to buy food. I give Rose whatever cash I can find on me, since the rest I have stupidly left in my bag in her apartment.
Soon it’s just Charlie, Will and me. Will is quick to excuse himself to a room down by the stairs. He looks more upset than tired, but after he leaves Charlie informs me he’s spent a lot of their driving ill.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Charlie brushes a loose strand of hair that has fallen out of my ponytail away from my face, careful to avoid my bruised forehead.
“I’m tired.” I feel my eyes closing even though I don’t want them to.
“Do you want to lie down for a bit?” He sits up and brings me with him.
“Yeah.” I stand up quickly and a small bout of dizziness hits me. Charlie eyes me warily and holds me close to him as I lead him to the stairs with my hoodie in my hands. Upstairs there are two large bedrooms that both house double beds with their own adjoined bathroom. I decide to take the room on the left, and as soon as I’m near the bed, I collapse down onto it and sneeze as a cloud of dust flies up around me.
“Maybe I should shake that out a bit first?” He waits for me to stand up and then pulls the quilt off the bed to shake it out over the balcony that looks back out into the lounge area.
As Charlie does that, I pull the sheets down and shiver at how cold the room is. Downstairs the fire has heated the room up nicely, but it has yet to move its magic into this room. I check each corner of the bed and the pillows for any bug infestation. Thankfully finding it clear, I drop my hoodie onto the floor by the bed, unable to be bothered to put it back on to warm me up. I lower myself onto the mattress and relish the feel of a pillow under my head. It has been a few days since I’ve had the luxury.
I close my eyes and soon feel a weight coming down over me as Charlie places the quilt back on the bed and over the sheet I’m under. I open my eyes, seeing him crawling under the covers, too, and a smile graces my lips when he pulls me into his arms. I rest my head on top of his chest and let my eyes close, feeling safe.
Taken By Force (Taken Trilogy Book 2) Page 14
