Chapter 62
SAGE
It’s been days, weeks, months… I don’t know, but the pale-beige walls of this bedroom are starting to make me dizzy.
There’s a small TV in the corner, but it isn’t connected to the internet or anything, so I only have a stack of Halloween-themed DVDs to keep me occupied, all of which I ran through within the first few days of being here.
Food and water show up just inside the door while I’m asleep, as well as a change of clothes. The bathroom attached to this room has a toilet and a shower, but the window is boarded up, so no sunlight shines through.
I just want to go home.
I want to see my grandmother; I want to see my guys. I can’t imagine how worried they are. I know they’re looking for me, though. They wouldn’t give up, Gran too. There’s no way she’s giving up on me.
I’ll be rescued any day now.
Until then, I’ll lie on this musty mattress with its light pink sheets and watch the same five movies on a loop.
Blackmore is a small town, so whoever’s taken me must know they can’t get away with it. That is, if we’re still even in Blackmore, and because of my involvement with the Hallows Boys, they can’t think they’ll be able to hide me for very long…right?
My blonde hair is matted and tangled, since I haven’t been given the gift of a hairbrush, and after I get out of here, I’ll never take for granted the small luxuries again—like conditioner and skincare and soft pajamas.
I’ve been given shampoo and a bar of soap, but apart from that, I’m living with nothing else.
Most nights, I try to stay awake, waiting for the moment that the door to my bedroom opens so he can replenish my food and water, then I’ll jump, fight, run, and scream. But every night, I’m unsuccessful, taken under by sleep so deep that it almost feels uncontrollable.
There is no window in my bedroom, so as I watch Hocus Pocus for the 30th time, I try to imagine it’s sunny outside, the earth growing green as winter leaves and spring creeps in.
Maybe it’s raining, feeding the trees and grass and plants enough that they can flourish through the mild chill still clinging to the air.
I want to go outside. I want to smell the rain and earth and dirt in the cemetery.
I want to listen to the birds in the distance, singing songs meant for only me.
I want to breathe in my three guys, kiss them and touch them and tell them everything I’ve learned.
I want to tell them I’m sorry, that I can’t let them bring a new generation into the Games, because the Blackmore name can’t carry on like this.
I want to tell Gran I love her, and kiss her cheek, and smell her soapy perfume that clings to her skin and clothes.
It isn’t fair.
Tears roll over my eyelids as I smash them shut, refusing to let myself get worked up again. I promised myself I would stop giving whoever this is the satisfaction of my misery, because he doesn’t deserve it.
I am strength and wildfire and power, and I can get through this.
I am Sage Blackmore, and I will survive.
I’m not sure how long I’ve been awake; all I know is that skipping food all day has been my saving grace. I have more energy now than I’ve had any other day, which makes me believe there’s been something slipped into my food this whole time.
Sitting up on the bed, I leave Scream playing on the TV, letting the sounds fill the room so it isn’t immediately obvious I’m awake when he comes in. I usually fall asleep with a movie on anyway.
I pull my knees to my chest, wrap my arms around my legs, and rest my cheek against my kneecap to watch the door. A small shiver of fear wraps around my spine, and I press my teeth into my bottom lip so I don’t cry.
It’s a couple more hours before someone comes to the door, the movie credits rolling as I listen to a key sliding into the lock and twisting.
I hold my breath, scared and hopeful and terrified.
Then the doorknob twists, and the door opens slowly.
I see his shadow before I see him, a large black shape stretching across the carpet for a few seconds before his face comes into view and he peeks into the room.
His eyes go wide when he sees me sitting up in bed, wide awake, and a loud gasp escapes me. I feel relieved for a moment, thankful someone’s here to save me, his name passing through my lips like a prayer.
“Uncle Aaron, thank God. How did you find me?!” I whisper-shout, climbing to the edge of the bed, but when he doesn’t push the door open farther and step inside, my brow furrows. “Uncle Aaron?”
“Sage,” he says, a small smile curling the edges of his lips. “Why aren’t you asleep?”
His eyes travel across the room to the table where my uneaten food and water for the day sits, and he clicks his tongue in disappointment. “Oh, Sage. You must be hungry.”
A small glimmer of mischief twinkles in his eyes, and he pushes into the room and closes the door behind him.
“Uncle Aaron?” I say quietly, still confused, growing more uneasy by the second.
“This isn’t how I wanted to do this, sweetheart.” He shakes his head, a mock sad smile on his face as he walks toward me.
I shuffle back on the bed on pure instinct, my knees curling to my chest again like they’re a bulletproof vest. “What are you doing?”
He sits down on the edge of the bed, but he doesn’t touch me. “Let me just explain everything. Okay, Sage?”
“You’re the one keeping me in here?” I say on a shaky exhale, heat spreading through my cheeks. “Why?”
“I had to,” he says, shaking his head. “You were in danger. I was trying to protect you.”
“Danger?! I was in danger from what? Where are we?” I gasp for breath, my heart racing to the point I’m feeling dizzy. “Uncle Aaron, you need to let me go. Gran will be looking for me. My friends.”
“Your friends?” Uncle Aaron spits. “You mean those boys you spread your legs for in the cemetery? They couldn’t protect you, Sage. Only I can protect you.”
My face burns with embarrassment, even as I bite out my next words in anger. “The Hallows Boys. You know all about them, though, don’t you?”
“You were never meant to get mixed up with them. That isn’t why I made it so you were sent here. You were supposed to rule this town, not blend in with three troublemakers.” He scoffs.
My stomach clenches. “What does any of that mean?”
He ignores my question and stands up, walks across the room, and picks up the water bottle from the table. When he comes back, he holds it out to me. “You need to at least drink some water. You’re probably dehydrated.”
I stare at his outstretched hand, at the bottle of water, and shake my head. Rolling his eyes, he sighs. “There’s nothing in it, only the food.”
When I still don’t reach for it, he twists the lid off and takes a mouthful, then gives me a look that says see?
To get him to shut up, I take the bottle and drink a sip of the water before I put the cap back on. “There, happy?”
He smiles, his brown eyes crinkling at the sides. “Thank you.”
Silence coats us like a sickness, but I find some courage deep in my gut and speak. “You guys killed Megan Gallagher.”
Uncle Aaron sighs, shaking his head. “No, Sage.”
“I read the book. From your Games with Megan,” I say, disgust in my tone. “You can’t lie.”
“You read the book, so you know your father killed her, Sage. No one else. And he made Benjamin take the fall because he was arrogant and horrible and selfish.”
“Stop,” I say, and he stops talking. Pressing my eyes closed, I feel moisture lick at my eyelids. “Don’t talk about him like that.”
“I want you to know every truth, Sage, I do. I just want you to know the reasons behind everything first. And you need to know that your parents weren’t the people you thought they were,” Uncle Aaron says, then he runs his hand through his perfectly styled brown hair.
“They were always ganging up on me, even when we were in school and playing the Games. No one was ever as good as your dad. It wasn’t fair.
Benjamin and I tried to get your mom to love us as much as him, but we were never Andrew. ”
He spits my dad’s name like it’s a dirty word.
“I said stop,” I growl, then I clear my throat as tears fill my eyes. “Please.”
“I can’t, Sage! You need to hear the story!” he shouts, making me jump.
Sighing, he runs a hand over his jaw in thought, then he starts talking again.
“I loved Benjamin so much, and it wasn’t fair that your parents made him take the fall for Megan’s death.
It still isn’t fair that he’s in prison and they got away with it, but decisions had to be made so I could get you here.
For that, I’m sorry. They never would’ve let you come; they wouldn’t even let me talk about Blackmore. ”
“What decisions?” I whisper, afraid of the answer.
He grabs my hand and squeezes. “I had to, Sage. I had to get rid of them to get you away from them! They were turning you into something you weren’t.”
I rip my hand from his, my entire body shaking with a tremor. “What…? Get rid of them?!”
He nods, and nausea spirals through my gut. He speaks again before I can ask any more questions. “And changing the will was easy. Money talks and all that. That lawyer owed me a favor.”
A sad smile touches his lips, and as confusion rolls through me, I feel like I might fall over and drown in a sea of my own grief.
“I had to, Sage. It wasn’t right what they did. They deserved to be punished for what they did to Benjamin, to Megan, to me, and eventually, they would’ve destroyed you as well. And I had to get you here, and I deserved to inherit their estate! I did everything for them!”
My hands go to my face as I shake my head. “Oh my god.”
“Listen, Sage. Listen, listen, listen,” Uncle Aaron pleads as he moves closer to me, his hands reaching out for me. I move back before he can touch me, though, feeling nauseating anguish taking over my senses.