Shadowed Eden (8 page)

He attempted a smile. “No, I guess not.”

Just then, the leaves rattled again. At first, it was a small shake, but then the entire bush rocked back and forth.

“What is that?” Panic filled June's voice.

Avery and Benny backed away, and Luca swallowed hard. Raising the stick toward the leaves, he took a deep breath and pushed the branches aside for a second time.

Nothing.

He let out another rushing breath. It was nothing. They were fine.

He began to turn when a high-pitched screech erupted from the bush. A much bigger monkey burst out from the middle of the leaves. It was a larger version of the baby monkey from earlier. It had to be the mother, and she wasn't happy.

The monkey lunged at Luca.

Luca swung the stick, connecting with the monkey's leg. The monkey cried out but didn't give up. It swung from a vine, doubling back and latching onto Luca's shoulders. It used its furry little hands to go for Luca's face.

Panic set in and Luca grasped at the monkey's arms. “Get it off me!” The last thing he needed was rabies, let alone some other strange jungle disease.

Avery grabbed his stick and beat at the monkey. Most of the swings landed on his shoulders instead of the monkey, but the monkey's grasp had loosened so Luca wasn't complaining.

He spun in circles, pulling at the monkey's arms, but his hands were slick with sweat and he couldn't get a good grip.

“Over here!” June called.

Luca turned toward the sound of her voice and—

BAM!

Lights danced in front of his eyes, then there was nothing.

Splitting pain inched its way across Luca's forehead when he woke up. The pain started on the left side of his temple and worked toward the right temple in a slow, steady line. He peeled one eye open, then the other. “What happened?”

Avery knelt over him. Her forehead wrinkled with worry and she touched a spot on his forehead.

Pain shot through his brain.

He winced.

“Sorry!” she said.

He swallowed down the sickness rising up his throat. There wasn't enough in his stomach already. He sure didn't want to throw up what little he had.

Slowly, gingerly, he pushed himself to a sitting position. Stars flashed in front of his eyes and he blinked them away. At least the monkey was gone. When he was sure he wasn't going to throw up or pass out, he spoke. “What happened?”

Avery glanced at June and Benny then looked back to him. Her cheeks glowed red, but Luca couldn't tell if it was from the heat or embarrassment.

“I was swinging for the monkey just as you turned toward June. I knocked you in the forehead by mistake.” She bit her lip, never taking her eyes off him.

He tried to think of something to say—anything—but his head hurt too bad to think.

“I'm sorry.” Her words came out in a whisper.

“I'm sorry, too,” June said. “I shouldn't have called to you like that. I just thought there was a window of getting away…” her sentence trailed off.

“Hey, at least the monkey's gone. You think you can walk?” Benny watched them all, shifting from foot to foot.

“Anxious about something, Benny?” Luca bit out. Let
him
get knocked in the head with a giant stick and see how fast he recovered.

“I don't want to stick around for round two with the crazed monkey, OK?” Sweat dripped from Benny's dark hair and down his forehead.

He had a point.

“Fine. Give me a minute, will you?”

Moving slowly so he wouldn't get sick, he pulled a water bottle from his pack and drank a few gulps.

The nausea disappeared and the dizziness went away. “OK. I think I'm ready.” He put his hands on the bushy grass and began to push himself up, but something caught his eye. A path—grass clearly stomped down—led away from the path they were on. “Guys, look.”

Avery moved the brush aside.

The green path led ahead for as far as he could see.

“Maybe the monkey was good for something,” Benny said.

Benny was making lots of good points today. Luca nodded. “Yeah, it was.” He hauled himself up, bracing for the dizziness, but it didn't come.

“Are you all right?” June asked.

“Yeah, I think I am.”

Avery returned his stick and they started down the new path.

Sweat ran down his neck and he wiped it away. Good thing he'd remembered to drop the sweatshirt from last night before they'd come on the search. Now if his headache would ease up.

As they followed the path, Luca took in the jungle around them. Trees draped over them in great, towering arcs. Huge white flowers blossomed from several trees, and a sweet smell drifted on the air. The path went on and on, but any sign of the missing girls was nonexistent.

The longer they walked, the more his dizziness seeped back. He took another drink of his water then glanced at the others.

Benny barreled through the overgrowth with his head down. He'd never find anyone like that.

June kept her gaze forward. Every few steps she'd stop and examine a bush. At least she was trying.

Avery looked around constantly. At first, he thought she was being extra vigilant about finding Gabby and Katelyn, but then he noticed her eyes. They bolted back and forth nonstop, like a criminal in a sea of cops. She hadn't stopped frowning since they'd started on this path, and he realized she wasn't looking at the flowers or looking for the missing girls. She was looking for something specific. He'd have to ask her about it later.

“Is this a turn in the path?” June's words jerked him back to their reason for being in the jungle in the first place.

He stepped forward and checked out the stomped-down growth, then he took in the rest of the area. “Good call, June. I think you're right.” He stepped onto the new path and began walking, but Avery stopped him.

“That path takes us even deeper into the jungle. Are you sure it's safe?”

“It doesn't matter. We have to find Gabby and Katelyn,” June said.

Avery bit her lip and looked to him.

Great. The girls disagreed and Avery wanted him to settle it. “We came out to find them.” There shouldn't be an argument about it anyway. It was why they'd come into the jungle in the first place.

She glared. “Fine.”

“What? Would you rather leave them behind?”

She huffed and rolled her eyes. “Of course not. I just think it would be wiser to let the others know before we go even deeper into this jungle. If we get lost, they'd never find us.” Even with her brave words, though, her gaze continued to roam.

Something had spooked her. Too bad she wasn't sharing what it was.

“We don't have time to go back,” Luca said. “It would take the rest of the daylight hours just to get back to the desert and bring someone else out here. I say we keep going.”

She clenched her teeth but didn't speak.

He took that as compliance.

She huffed and pushed past him, taking the lead.

Luca held in his sigh. Who knew what had scared her? In this place, there was no telling. One thing he did know. He couldn't get out of here fast enough.

9

Avery

Avery blinked against the sweat dripping in her eyes. Every step she took toward the heart of the jungle made her head spin faster. Every thought was a chore. Her mind was a war zone.

She swallowed against the fear in her stomach. No matter what her eyes told her, small black creatures were not following them. The creatures didn't increase in number with every step they took.

This was a certainty because no one else seemed to notice the shiny black things crawling everywhere.

Not crazy.

Not crazy.

Not crazy.

“Do you suppose they just got mixed up?” June's words broke into Avery's thoughts. “We've been walking for hours. They had to have realized they were going in the wrong direction.”

Luca shook his head and shrugged. “It's easy to do when the light gets dim.”

Speaking of dim. The deeper they hiked, the darker it grew. Avery shuddered at the thought of spending a night in the jungle, especially with the imaginary black things. They looked like giant water beetles crawling up the trees, through the leaves, across the paths.

Except they didn't crawl anywhere because they weren't real.

“I'm hot and hungry,” Benny said. “Can't we take a break?”

Luca slowed to a stop and pulled out a few water bottles. “Here. I figured we could find some fruit here in the jungle.”

“More fruit?”

Avery tuned out Benny's whines as she tipped the water bottle toward her lips. It wasn't even cold anymore, but it was the sweetest thing she'd ever tasted.

For the first time she felt clear-headed. She took another long gulp. Maybe dehydration was to blame for her “sightings.” She nearly laughed as relief washed over her. She wasn't crazy after all.

“Avery?” Luca nudged her with his knee, bringing her back to the present.

“Hmm?”

“Are you OK? I called you three times.”

She shrugged it off. “Sorry. I was thinking.”

“Do you want some fruit? Benny found pomegranates.”

“Oh, yeah.” She shook herself and took the fruit, even though she agreed with Benny. If they were here much longer, they would need to break into the food supplies.

The soft, wet fruit opened her senses even more, and the black beetles began crawling away. She quickly ate the rest of her fruit and asked for more.

Benny sat down on the grassy floor, and June joined him.

Luca sidled up to Avery again. “Hey, are you sure you're OK?” he asked quietly.

Avery took another bite and nodded. “I am now.”

“You seemed upset earlier. Kept frowning.”

She shrugged and continued eating. She wasn't about to admit what she'd seen. He might worry about her. Wonder about her. She could take everyone else's cold shoulder, but not Luca's. She couldn't stand it if he deserted her, too.

Kind of like she'd done to him?

She pushed away the guilty thought. “Yeah, I'm fine.”

Luca watched her for another few seconds before giving up on the interrogation. They finished their fruit, and he stretched. “OK, let's keep moving.”

June and Benny stood up and brushed off their pants, then they continued their trek.

Avery followed behind them, with Luca at the rear. Farther and farther they trudged, but Avery only focused on the next step. As long as she didn't look around, she wouldn't have to see anything that wasn't actually there.

“How much time do you think has passed?” June asked. She wiped at her forehead.

“A few hours maybe,” Luca said.

Benny shoved a hand in his pocket and pulled out his phone. “It's two seventeen, Iraqi time, if you must know.”

Luca's hand shot out and grabbed Benny's arm. “Wait, you mean your phone is getting signal?”

The rest of the group stopped and stared at Benny.

He shrugged and laughed nervously. “Of course it does. It's the
latest
model.”

Luca growled and rolled his eyes. “Why haven't you called for help?” He punched Benny in the arm.

Avery winced. He shouldn't go off on Benny, not here, and not now.

“Get with me when we get out of this blazing, hot jungle, will you?” Luca growled. He waved his hands forward and they re-started their march.

After a few steps in silence, June continued her questioning. “Do you think the rescue van arrived yet? Or maybe they got our van working.”

“I hope so,” Avery said. “I hope my dad is there.”

“Your dad?” June glanced in Avery's direction and frowned.

“He's the group leader. He's in the other van.”

“Oh, I remember him. I bet you miss him.”

Avery smiled and shrugged. She did miss him. Didn't she? Truthfully, she wasn't used to him being around anyway.

He was always off searching the globe. And when he was home, he was dictating her every move—like where she'd go to college. What she would do for a living. Who she was not going to spend time with. Or he was making promises he never kept.

“Guys, look!” Benny said. The path veered to the left and there was a small, round section of grass and brush that had been beat down. “What do you think it means?”

“It looks like someone slept here,” Luca said. He squatted beside the spot and put his hand out. “It looks big enough for two people.”

Avery studied the space, thinking about Gabby and Katelyn sleeping out here for the night.

It might have been someone else sleeping here, though. What if it was Rae? She hadn't been dehydrated when she saw him.

Glancing around, she searched for anything that looked like a house. She even looked toward the trees for a tree house, but there was nothing. He'd said the girls were on their way back, but here was a place where it looked like they'd slept. Besides, they hadn't made it back yet.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. He hadn't been real, either. He'd been as imaginary as the black beetles. She needed to accept that. She opened her eyes and turned to Luca. “What do you think?” She needed to focus on the real. The here and now.

Luca sighed as he stood. “I don't know. Do you see any other trails leading out of here?”

Avery glanced around with the others. It looked like the trail stopped cold with this alcove. Refusing to give up, she stepped into the circle and looked for a way out of it. The move paid off. “Here,” she said, pointing to a narrow but definite path.

Luca hurried toward her. “Good eyes. This looks like a single person made the path. Would they have walked single file?”

June shrugged. “Who knows? I think it's worth it to follow.”

Luca nodded and looked at June. “You're right. Let's go.”

He agreed with June a lot. Why did that bug Avery?

Again, she pushed the thought away and refocused on the search. They'd walked for hours and had seen nothing. No people, no houses, no sign of life in this jungle outside of normal jungle creatures. This path was their only hope. It seemed to take a fairly straight shot, and the group walked for an hour without saying a word. The confusion seeped back in as sweat pooled at the small of her back. She swallowed hard, noticing her mouth felt like cotton. Why hadn't she grabbed a spare piece of fruit?