Chapter 44
Chapter Forty-Four
ONE YEAR EARLIER
C hrissie was hovering in the shrubbery near a layby. Her feet hurt because she’d walked for what felt like miles to reach the road. She felt strangely untethered, having left Lucian and the group behind. She felt afraid.
For the last nine months she had done everything Lucian had said, given him money, stayed in the middle of nowhere, eaten at particular times of the day. More recently the food had become more scarce – part of their spiritual test, he said. But something inside Chrissie was calling to her. There was something wrong with this. It had nagged at her before, but now she knew she needed to get away from him.
That day, he’d made a careless mistake. He’d put down his phone and walked away – a phone he denied even owning, as he’d told them all that he, like they, had abandoned his connection to the outside world, to modern technology, to western medicine. Chrissie had spotted it, and, blood thundering in her ears, she’d managed to open it, establish where she was, and get a message to Kiera.
Then she ran.
Now hiding as well as she could among the undergrowth and litter, she hoped against hope that Kiera would find it in her heart to rescue her. But would hope be enough? Deep down, she didn’t believe Kiera would come.
When the familiar car pulled up, she could hardly believe it.
Chrissie couldn’t speak to start with, and was shocked when she saw her own reflection in the wing mirror. She didn’t recognise the grey, thin face in front of her, the long, lank, tangled hair. She knew in that moment she had done the right thing by running. But she had no idea what she was going to do next.