Forty-Four Box Set, Books 1-10 (44) (46 page)

I pushed back against the wall as much as I could, and waited.

I didn’t have to wait for long.

***

First I heard his footsteps on the dock, and then the whistling. Then the boat rocked back and forth after he jumped on board.

I shivered and at the same time felt small beads of sweat forming on my upper lip. My hands were shaking.

I heard Jack say something into a cell phone or walkie-talkie. There were more footsteps on the dock.

It was Phil.

“He says to send it priority.”

“All right,” Jack said. “See you later.”

He started the motor. The boat rumbled steadily for a few minutes as it warmed up, the vibration humming through me. I could still hear Jack whistling faintly over the sound of the engine. He put the boat into gear and we started moving.

We pulled to the left abruptly in a forward spin and soon I could tell that we were on the open water, bumping along as we hit the swells.

I couldn’t believe it. Here I was again, leaving the island. Leaving Nathaniel and his insanity behind. I wasn’t sure where we were going, but it had to be a small town at the very least. It didn’t matter where it was. I was getting off the island.

We picked up speed as we got farther out on the water.

I was going home.

CHAPTER 37

I heard the beep of the walkie-talkie again and then heard Jack.

“Copy that,” he said.

We suddenly veered to the left. I held onto the bench and felt it in my stomach. We had turned around. We were heading back to the house.

I heard Jack clearly now as he talked to somebody back on the island.

“I’ll come pick it up right now if it’s really that important,” he yelled. “No problem. I’ll be back in a few.”

It felt as if we were now flying just above the water. Maybe it was Phil with another package. But I couldn’t be sure. I was hoping someone hadn’t noticed I was missing.

In another minute, I felt the boat slow. I stayed under the table as we floated into the dock, bumping it slightly.

I heard Jack get off the boat and then there was an eerie silence. It was too quiet. Something was wrong.

I knew there wasn’t another package.

And then I heard his voice.

“Abby,” Nathaniel said calmly. “I admire your perseverance. Really I do. But it’s time to come back now.”

CHAPTER 38

I crawled out from under the table. I’d take as many of them out as I could. I wasn’t going back without a fight.

“Okay, Abby,” Jack said. “I’m coming down.”

The boat swayed as he jumped back in. I held out the corkscrew in front of me when I saw his face in the sliver of sky up above the stairs.

“Come on now, Abby. What are you thinking here? What are you really going to do with that?”

In a flash, he jumped down and I was face to face with him. I was determined. My fear was gone. I was going for the kill. I lunged at him, full force with the sharp metal tip guiding me, but he moved out of the way before I made contact, grabbing me around the waist.

“Forget about it,” he said, as he started to pick me up.

I was clumsy and brought us both down to the ground. As he tried to stand up, I plunged the corkscrew into the back of Jack’s calf with everything I had.

He yanked me up hard.

“Damn it!” he said, staring at the blood spilling down his leg.

I screamed as he grabbed and pulled my hair, leading me up the stairs and off the boat. When we got on the dock, he tossed me into Phil. I tried to get away and jump into the water, but Phil twisted my arms behind my back.

Nathaniel stood watching, unmoved, no emotion on his face.

“Take her back to her room,” he said. “And make sure she can’t get out.”

Phil walked me past Nathaniel. And at that moment, I felt something change inside me, even though I had failed again.

I had put all my hopes into the kayak escape. And I had done the same thing with this attempt. I felt devastated, but there was a spark of something else, too.

Defiance.

As beaten as I felt, I refused to put my head down. Maybe there was still time. For what, I didn’t know. But I wasn’t going to give up.

When I got back to the room, Matthew was waiting with a syringe. I thrashed and bit Phil on the hand before I felt the prick in my arm, and then I was back in the eternal darkness of the dreams.

CHAPTER 39

I woke up lost, buried under a mound of blankets. I couldn’t remember how I had gotten there or what had happened. My stomach was in rebellion. I was sweating and nauseous. 

I opened my eyes wider and found those now familiar cat eyes studying me.

He was standing nearby, the glow of the fire behind him.

“Ah, Abby,” he said calmly.

I sat up quickly, my head throbbing, and then it came back to me. The escape, the boat ride to nowhere, the ridiculous delusion that I was on my way to freedom.

Pushing a corkscrew into Jack’s leg and staring at the blood. Biting Phil.

At least I had done those things.

I rubbed my head and closed my eyes.

“You are quite remarkable,” Nathaniel said. “It appears that you are as driven as I am.”

I said nothing, and for the first time started thinking about what had gone wrong. How had they known I was on the boat? Jack didn’t even know when we started across the strait. Someone had called to tell him. And if someone had seen me get on the boat, why did they let him leave before calling and telling him I was there?

“Your quest for home is buried deep within, and it’s admirable,” Nathaniel said. “I knew when I started all this that it would take time. I hold no grudges.”

“I’m never giving up,” I said.

He smiled.

“And just as you won’t stop, neither will I. The final phase of the testing is tomorrow. And I think after that, it will prove to you some of what we’ve been discussing. And perhaps, then, you will see everything in a better light.”

I shook my head.

“I admire you greatly, Abby,” he said. “I mean that sincerely. You’re a fighter. A winner.”

He came over to the edge of the bed.

“I suppose I should have told you. It would have saved us all a certain measure of grief.”

I looked at him.

“Told me what?” I said.

“About the tracking device we implanted in you.”

I looked down at my arm, rubbed the strange spot with the bump.

That was how they always knew where I was. That was how they were able to find me in the dark water during that night with the kayak. That was why I could wander all over the island by myself.

And that was how they knew I was on the boat with Jack.

All those times I thought that no one was watching me, I had been wrong. They were always watching. They always knew exactly where I was.

“Of course, you did manage to get past us a little more than I had expected. We were complacent at times, not always as observant of events as we should have been.”

I sank back down into the pillows.

“I assure you, it’s completely harmless. But we can always find you, Abby. Not only does it show us where you are, but it sounds an alarm when you are more than 2000 meters away from the house. You can’t escape. It’s impossible.”

I was still staring at my arm.

“Yes, that’s where we put it. I must confess that I was worried if we told you about it, you might gouge yourself silly trying to take it out. I wouldn’t recommend it. Other than cutting your arm off, it would be impossible for you to remove.”

He walked to the door.

“Tomorrow, we will conclude the testing. And then we can focus on us. Jack and Phil will come for you when we’re ready.”

“I don’t want to see those two. Can you please send someone else?” I said. “Like that woman?”

It was my last chance. If I could just talk to her, maybe she would help me.

“What woman?” he said, leaving. “I don’t have a woman on my staff.”

CHAPTER 40

When I opened my eyes again, it was dark.

The fire was going, the room filled with moving light and shadows. I stared at the walls, confused, somewhere between a dream and my hellish reality.

I saw her in the corner. It was the woman, the one I had been searching for. She stepped out into the firelight and walked over to me.

I knew who she was now. And even though I knew she wasn’t a doctor or one of the researchers, I still hoped there was some way she could help me.

She smiled as she took my hand and squeezed it.

“Emma,” I whispered.

She really was as beautiful as Nathaniel had described. Her long wavy hair flowed past her shoulders, her eyes were large and kind.

She looked like an angel, and for a moment, I wanted her to be one. I wanted her to take me away. I had nothing left. I was ready and willing to surrender to what came next.

I reached out and touched her hair. It was soft in my fingers, like feathers.

“Please, help me.”

She smiled, held my hand. She seemed to glow, lighting up the room.

She wasn’t a ghost like Annabelle or those others I sometimes saw walking around the streets. She was full of light and love and goodness and she filled the room with hope.

“Why do you stay with him?” I asked.

“Nothing can keep us apart,” she said softly. “Not even death. I will always be with him.”

I swallowed hard. I knew about that, loving someone with all your heart and soul across two worlds.

“But he’s a killer,” I said.

She nodded slowly as a look of sadness swept across her face.

“This isn’t him. This isn’t who he is. His pain has caused him to become someone else. Something else. He’s lost himself.”

I looked into her eyes.

“I’ve tried to reach him, but he doesn’t hear me,” she said. “He cannot hear me from where he is. But I will always love him. We are bound forever.”

“He’s going to kill me, Emma,” I whispered. “I won’t survive much more of this torture. I know it. I can feel it inside.”

She nodded slowly.

“There is truth in what you say,” she said. “Abby, you must get out of here. You have to harness all your strength and get off this island, far away. He intends to drown you. It’s the last test. The final chapter. He expects to be able to bring you back again. But he will fail. You
will
die this time.”

I covered my face and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to hold in the tears.

“There is nothing for you here but death. Your time grows short. You must leave… as soon as possible.”

When I opened my eyes, she was gone.

CHAPTER 41

The door was locked again.

Nathaniel had said the last of the tests would be today. I had felt it deep down inside and now Emma had confirmed it. I would not live through it.

I was out of time. This would be my last dawn.

As much as I hated the idea, I felt there was nothing left to do. The final test and death were just a few hours away.

It was time to accept the inevitable.

I would never get off this island. I would die here, with Nathaniel and his brooding scientists analyzing and testing me during my final breaths. And wondering why the serum hadn’t worked.

I made the bed, folded clothes. The strange peace that had settled around me was strong. It was an odd feeling, but maybe it was all normal.

Normal to accept what was coming.

I wrote a note to Kate and left it on the desk. I told her how much I loved her and how much she meant to me. And how sorry I was for causing her such heartache these past few years.

I called out to Jesse in vain. Maybe he knew something. Maybe he was staying away because it would be too painful.

I would never see Kate or Ty or my home again.

There was nothing to do. Nothing to think about anymore.

I lay there on the soft bed.

In my final hours of life, all I could think about was death.

CHAPTER 42

As I stood by the window, watching the shadows grow on the water, something stirred inside me. Battered by disappointment and now hopelessness, the will to live was almost extinguished, but still there, ever so faint. It nagged at me with its dying breath, prodding my mind to somehow find a way. Even at this late stage, long past any point of no return. There had to be a way out.

“Leave me alone,” I said out loud.

And then I heard the lock.

It was Jack and Phil, dressed again in scrubs.

“Let’s go,” Jack said.

We were quiet going down the hall and then the stairs.

When we got to the kitchen I thought of Simon. It had been nice getting to know him, even though I knew how stupid that sounded. But I liked him and hoped that someday he would find a better path.

We walked outside, over to the guest house. Phil opened the door.

We headed down the hallway, past the rooms where I was a few days ago, all the way down to the end of the hall and through another door.

To the small pool.

I stared at it, the last of the peace inside me evaporating like a puddle in the summer sun. I had entered my own heart of darkness, but that Barcelona fearlessness I needed so badly was nowhere in sight.

A metal lift was at the edge of the water, holding a gurney. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it.

Jack moved closer to me. A small group huddled together at the edge of the pool, near the lift. I looked for Simon and found his eyes behind a mask. He nodded at me and I tried to smile. 

Nathaniel stepped toward me. He was wearing his white coat with a stethoscope hanging around his neck.

“Here we are, Abby. The last test.”

His eyes were dark and serious, focused only on the procedure.

“I want to assure you that once this test is completed, you will have a long, long break. You can do whatever you like. Cook, play soccer, long walks on the beach. Phone calls home. You have my word.”