Eight Gemma #4
* * * * *
I never did go check on Kas.
Guilt coated me like tar every hour that I stayed away, but I had my reasons.
My personal locator beacon being the main one.
After I’d left his bedroom, closing the door on the awful books and painfully neat beds where only ghosts slept now, I carried my broken PLB and cell phone back to the main level.
I’d fully intended to return to Kas. To hope he was a nicer version of himself and would be amenable to me assessing his arm.
However, as I’d headed toward the library, I’d stopped.
I’d looked at the smashed screen of my cell and the snapped antenna of my PLB and I’d grown angry, frustrated, and full of burning rage that we were stuck out here.
I wasn’t capable of giving Kas the medical treatment he required. He needed a doctor—multiple doctors. And, instead of giving him an hour of my time—time that was utterly useless in fixing him—it would be better spent trying to fix my locator beacon.
Changing course, I’d cut through the foyer and headed outside.
Walking down the neat vegetable rows, I’d entered the garden shed where seedling pots, watering cans, and other propagation paraphernalia existed.
Tucked in the back were tools. Drills protected in plastic, hammers hanging off nails, measuring tapes, screws, saws—everything a handyman required to keep a hidden house like this running.
And that was where I stayed until dark.
I’d moved outside as it grew gloomier, hunched beneath gray clouds, and done my best to use tools I wasn’t familiar with.
Carefully unscrewing the casing of my PLB, looking at wires that made no sense, and fiddling with computer chips that looked complicated—blindly hoping I had enough dumb luck to somehow repair the piece of technology and send an invisible signal bouncing into space for help.
Once I’d poked and prodded my PLB, I turned my unskilled attention to my cell phone.
The screen was past salvageable, so I worked on removing the rest of the glass.
None of the touch functions worked without the pressure-sensitive glass, and the side buttons merely turned the device on with a soft chime but none of the features needed to call home appeared.
Not that there’s reception out here anyway.
The phone was pointless, but my PLB still held a minuscule amount of hope.
Once it was too dark to see any longer, I grabbed an eggplant, two courgettes, and a small head of frilly lettuce before heading into the kitchen to prepare a lackluster dinner. The other ingredients I’d picked earlier went into the ancient fridge.
I needed something warm.
Something that felt like a meal and could give comfort.
It didn’t take long to grill the veggies, grateful that the old oven still worked. My mouth watered to taste something cooked. The last hot food I’d had were the french fries Kas had made for me in the basement.
The lights over the island suddenly flickered as I plated the charred eggplant and courgettes onto a bed of lettuce, blacking out completely as I turned off the oven.
Now what?
What’s happened?
Holding my breath, I glanced around the pitch-black kitchen. Had Kas done that? Had he freed his ankle and was currently stalking me? About to pounce out of the shadows and kill me?
“Kas?” I inched toward the knife block, doing my best to keep my heart calm. “If that’s you, can you turn the lights back on?”
No footsteps. No reply.
My pulse continued to climb as I pulled a knife free, adding an additional weapon to the one already hidden in my leggings pocket. Stepping through the darkness, I fumbled for the light-switch against the wall.
On, off, on, off.
Still black.
It’s probably the solar power.
In my exploration of this place, I’d found a bank of panels in a field behind the house. Angled for the sun, clean from dust and debris, they looked well maintained and efficient.
But no matter how efficient they were, they couldn’t create power if they had no UV, and the past few days had been gloomy and gray. Sun had barely made an appearance this morning—definitely not enough to charge whatever batteries ran this place.
Crap.
Oh well, at least there’d been enough power to cook with. Lighting wasn’t necessary to eat with, and besides, I was so exhausted, I’d probably crash right after dinner anyway.
As long as Kas is restrained and I’m safe, of course.
My heart kicked. Would he hate me for staying away so long today or, in some part of his fractured mind, did he understand how hard this was for me?
Rubbing my temples, I tried to massage away my constant headache. My stomach rumbled, reminding me it wouldn’t just be me who was hungry.
Time to check on your patient, Gem.
Sighing heavily, I did my best to gather my courage and picked up the two plates. Every time I stepped into the library, I didn’t know if I’d find a monster or a miserable man who made me throb in so many indecent ways.
I was terrified of him.
Terrified of my reaction to him.
Bracing my spine, I marched through the darkness to find him.