29. Lorraine
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Lorraine
“ W hat the fuck is wrong with her?” Thing One asked.
His gravelly voice pulled me out of a deep sleep. I must have drifted off again at some point. The sky was dark and dotted with stars. A cool breeze brushed my cheeks through the open car door.
“I don’t know. She fought like a hellcat a couple of hours ago, and now she looks like she’s at death’s door.” That had to be Thing Two talking, but I was struggling to put things together.
“We can’t use her if she looks like this.”
A moment later, strong arms grabbed me and yanked me out of the car. They tried to make me stand, but my legs wouldn’t cooperate. I didn’t have any energy at all, and I sank to the ground.
“If this is some tactic to escape, it won’t work,” one of the men growled at me.
Sure. I’m pretending to be this weak so I can catch them by surprise and run away.
Actually, that wasn’t a half-bad idea. Sadly, it wasn’t something I could actually do. I had no idea what was going on with me, either. I just knew my energy was draining away, and fast. It was like somewhere inside me, there was a hole, and all my strength drained out of it.
When I sank to the ground after they tried to get me upright a second time, Thing One growled out something inaudible and threw me over his shoulder like I was a rag doll. His shoulder pressed into my stomach, and it hurt. I moaned, but he ignored me. He walked across an asphalt plane. Where the hell were we?
I was aware of a metal door scraping open and the air turning from cool to cold. I shivered, my arms and neck breaking out in goosebumps. Thing One dumped me onto a cot, and I managed to shift a little to be more comfortable.
“Get her something to eat,” Thing One barked.
“Like what?”
“Do I look like I give a shit?” Thing One growled. “Make it work.”
He turned his face to me. I glanced up at him. My vision was a little blurry, and I couldn’t make out his expression, but I had a feeling that his face was twisted into a snarl.
“You’ve been nothing but trouble,” he said to me accusingly.
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t have the strength to answer, anyway.
Thing Two returned not too long after with a bottle of water and a carton. “A sandwich,” he said. “It was the best I could do.”
“Fine,” Thing One said. He looked at me. “Better get your strength up, or you’ll be no good to us. We’ll be better off killing you, then, so decide what’s more important.”
He walked out of the room with the other one following.
“No reason to bother locking the door,” one of them said. “She can’t get out, looking the way she does.”
“We can’t be too careful, I’m not losing her again. He’ll have our heads if we’re not back with her this time.”
“Come on, let’s just go—don’t worry about it,” the other one insisted.
Footsteps receded. I tried to figure out what they were talking about. Who wanted me? Oscar didn’t know about this, so this was about something—or someone—else. With my mind so fuzzy, it was hard to think straight. I couldn’t piece together who might be after me and why. Nothing made sense anymore.
The bottle of water and carton of food stood on the floor next to the cot. It took a lot of energy, but I managed to hoist myself up and pick up the bottle. I fought with the cap until I unscrewed it and took a sip. When it went down okay, I took another, and another.
I picked up the carton and undid it, finding the sandwich that had been mentioned. When I took a bite, it was the best food I’d eaten in a long time. I’d been hidden in a different realm, and aside from the pies I’d baked, the fresh fruit and berries that looked like they’d been foraged, I hadn’t eaten much at all. Yet, back there, my strength hadn’t waned, even with my strange diet.
Had that been about the magic?
Why was I getting so weak so quickly now?
I struggled to swallow down the sandwich. I ate another bite or two before I gave up on the sandwich and dropped it back into the carton. I drank more water—I could survive for a while without food, but I had to drink and stay hydrated. I didn’t know what lay ahead for me, but whatever it was, I had to take care of myself so that I could escape.
I lay back on the cot and threw my arm over my face. I wished I was back at the cottage with Ash checking up on me.
Hell, I wished I was back home with Cat.
“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” Mom asked as she pressed her hand against my forehead. Whenever she wasn’t sure if I had a fever, she pressed her cheek against mine—a mother’s cheek was the most accurate thermometer in the world. She lifted her head, her face concerned. “You’re going to get through this.”
“It’s just a rough patch,” I said hoarsely.
“We’re all allowed downtime, honey. Sleep, get better. I’m taking Cat to school, and then I’ll be back with something to eat.”
I nodded, and my mom left the room. When I blinked my eyes open, Mom was back. A tray stood next to my bed with a cup of soup and a piece of toast.
“It’s nothing too fancy, so your stomach should handle it. Sit up, try to eat.”
She sat next to me on the bed with a smile, and I hoisted myself up. I took a bite of toast, following it with some soup, and I groaned.
“This is so good.”
Mom smiled. “That’s good. Eat as much as you can. You have to keep your strength up. We won’t let this thing get you down.”
My dad walked into the room.
“How are you feeling, pumpkin?” he asked. “It’s good to see you eating.”
“I’ll be okay,” I said.
“Of course you will,” Dad said with a grin. “It’s not that easy to take us out, huh?”
I smiled, but a thought dawned on me. “Where’s Oscar? Has he come to see me?”
Mom glanced at Dad before turning back to me.
“I wish you would keep your options open, sweetheart. He’s not the right man for you.”
“What’s so bad about him?” I asked. “He’s always been good to me, and you’re always so nice to him when he’s here.” I looked at my dad, who shook his head.
“It’s not always about what someone does, or who someone is.”
“Then what’s it about?”
“It’s about who you are, and what you deserve.”
“I deserve to make my own choices,” I said, feeling angry now.
Mom smiled. “You have enough energy to be angry. That’s a good sign.” She pressed her hand against my forehead. “We’ll talk about this another time.”
Dad agreed.
I lay back on the pillows, suddenly exhausted, and looked up at my parents. I was upset they didn’t want me to be with Oscar. My parents—my family—meant a lot to me, and to not have them agree with my choices… but I was old enough to make my own choices, whether they liked who I chose or not. They didn’t know Oscar the way I did. They didn’t understand. They just?—
Fire erupted in my room. The sound of metal scraping on metal sounded, and there was a loud crash all around us. My bedroom folded in half.
“Mom!” I screamed. We were in a car now.
“Hold on!” Dad shouted, but the car crumpled, cutting him off.
I reached for them from the back where I was strapped in, but I couldn’t get to them. I tried to undo my seatbelt, but it was stuck.
“Mom! Dad!” I tried to reach them, but they were suddenly gone. I was in my room, alone, and everything had faded to gray.
“Mom?” I asked in a small voice. I rubbed my hands over my arms, cold in the empty room.
“Mom,” I whispered again, opening my eyes at the sound of my voice.
I lay on the cot in the room where the men had put me. I shivered, chilled to the bone.
It had all been a dream.
Guilt twisted violently in my chest, and tears squeezed out of my eyes. Why was I dreaming about them now?
But I knew why. I was in a bad space. I was sick, and the truth was, I needed my mom. I’d needed her for a long time, but she wasn’t here. She and my dad were both gone, because I’d been too selfish. Because I’d chosen myself over my family.
Look where I was now. Alone, without anyone to save me, without anyone to look out for me. Cold, and probably about to die.
I tried to push myself up on the cot but found I couldn’t. I reached for the bottle of water. My fingers grasped for it, but I missed, knocking over the bottle instead. It rolled away from the cot, out of reach. I didn’t have what it took to get up and get the water. I was too sick, too weak.
When I closed my eyes again, I sank into a different dream.
I walked through the trees, the sunlight dappling across my skin through the canopy of leaves overhead. The trees around me rose to the sky, stretching to find the sunlight. The breeze on my skin was warm.
When I stepped into the clearing, the lake lay before me, shimmering in the sunlight. All around the edge of the water, dryads stretched out, bathing in the sun. Their green skins glittered as if they had diamonds embedded in their skin and their laughter skittered across the water like pebbles. Druses stood in groups, watching the girls, laughing and joking.
“You’re here,” Ash said. I turned to look at him when he stepped up next to me. “I didn’t think I’d find you.”
“I didn’t think you’d be here, either,” I said.
“You know I wouldn’t just leave you.”
I studied his face. “Do I know that?”
Ash nodded. “Of course. I promised I would keep you safe, didn’t I?”
“But I’m not safe,” I said.
“Tell me where you are,” Ash said.
I frowned at him. “I’m right here.”
“Where is here?” His tone became more urgent. “If you tell me where you are, I can find you.”
“Ash, I don’t know what you’re saying,” I said.
Ash turned and grabbed my shoulders. “You’re fading badly, Lorraine. Tell me where you are so I can come get you. So I can take you back to the vale before it’s too late.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Where are you? Describe it to me.”
I glanced around. I wanted to tell him I was at the lake, but that wasn’t true, was it? An uneasy feeling crept in, and the perfect image of the lake flickered as if it was just an illusion. Behind the illusion, there was a room with four gray walls and a cold floor.
“I’m on a cot,” I said to Ash. “I can’t reach the water bottle.”
“That doesn’t help me,” Ash said impatiently. “Come on, Lorraine, think! What do you remember?”
I racked my brain, trying to find a memory, but it slipped through my fingers the way a dream disappeared after waking.
“Asphalt,” I said. “A large metal door. A warehouse, maybe? A factory? I don’t know. I’m in a room, it’s locked, and I have a sandwich.”
Ash shook his head. “We’re running out of time, Lorraine. You have to help me. Find me.”
“How can I find you?” I asked.
“Find me,” Ash said urgently. He flicked in and out of sight, too. “Find me, Lorraine. Tell me where you are, and I’ll come for you. Just find me.”
Ash disappeared, and the dream fell away, melting into nothing. Once again, all I could see were the four walls.
I blinked my eyes open. Ash wanted me to find him. How was I supposed to do that? I didn’t know where he was. I couldn’t find him.
Something tugged at me, something from inside me. I realized what it was.
Ash.
He was looking for me. He didn’t know where I was. I didn’t know where I was either, but I was connected to him.
I didn’t understand this world of magic I’d been submerged in for… I didn’t know how long I’d been in the forest with Ash. I’d only recently learned that magic was real at all, but that magic was anchored inside me, stuck to something that had been created when Ash and I were together.
A bond.
A connection.
A way to find him again.
I closed my eyes and tried to find that connection, that bond. I tugged at it, the way Ash had tugged at me.
I felt recognition through the bond. Somehow, he was on the other end. Ash was looking for me, and all I had to do was tell him where I was. I tugged at our bond again. I was weak, but I mustered all the strength I could find, and I tugged at that bond as hard as I could.
It was difficult. I struggled to keep a hold of the bond, struggled to do what Ash asked of me. I was too weak—physically and mentally—to do anything more. I lay on the bed, breathing hard, trying to keep it together. Whatever was happening to me was getting dangerous. I didn’t know what it felt like to be at death’s door. I’d never been so sick that I started to wonder if I would make it, but right now, I was pretty sure I was getting too close to death for comfort.
Something was wrong. I wasn’t supposed to be this sick, this weak. I should have been strong enough to escape, to fight, to get away from my captors. I’d done it once before, hadn’t I? I should have been able to do it again.
I just… couldn’t.
Ash! I cried out in my mind, being too weak to do it physically. Ash, I’m here.
Could he hear me? Could he find me? I hoped to whatever powers were out there that he could, because I had nothing more to give.
I closed my eyes. I was so damn tired, it felt like I was being dragged under. I tried to fight it. If I followed the darkness, I would never get out of it again. I didn’t know how I knew—I just did.
The darkness became too much to bear, too strong for me to fight.
I tried one more time before I gave in, and the darkness dragged me under for good.