Page 63 of Fallen Creed

In the dark early hours of the morning, Ariel had started to drive Libby crazy. She paced the cramped quarters of the trailer like a caged animal, either too high on whatever she was taking or having withdrawals, to even consider sleep. She was anxious to get out, and Libby was anxious to get rid of her.

It didn’t help that the dog wouldn’t stop growling at Ariel with every pass. Ariel kicking it had only made matters worse. Libby knew if Ariel thought she could pick it up without getting bit, she’d have thrown it out into the snow hours ago.

When Ariel suggested dumping the guy’s phone, Libby didn’t argue. She dug up a pair of knee-high snow boots and handed them to Ariel.

The boots fit perfectly. Libby wasn’t surprised. Ruben had a type and that included physical traits: lean, athletic, but small-framed. He wanted them strong enough to handle his dirty work, but small enough that he could still overpower them. He liked them cynical, with equal parts of self-doubt and self-assurance. It seemed like a contradiction, but he had a wicked way of bringing out both and capitalizing on the result.

She saw so much of herself in Ariel. The parts she didn’t like, some of them she’d tried to get rid of. Even the fact that Ariel wouldn’t share what the final straw was that made her flee. Libby had never shared her turning point either, not with Nora, not with a single soul. To speak it out loud would make the horror too real. It prevented her from commiserating with guilt and regret that she hadn’t left Ruben’s arrangement sooner.

He warned them in the beginning, like he was doing them a favor by telling them ahead of time. Once they accepted the terms of the arrangement, they could never leave. Of course, he told them this right after he outlined all the perks: weekly cash allowance, car payments, rent, beach vacations, etc. It didn’t take Libby long to notice he customized the list to entice each recruit. And he was good at his word.

There were times when he’d ask a girl point-blank if she wanted to leave. He’d ask in front of the others—always in front of the others. Three. He liked having three of them.

Behind the vulnerable one’s back, he’d tell the other two that he was afraid she was going to blow it for all of them. He had a skilled way of doing it, so that by the end of the conversation, he remained cool, calm and collected while the other girls were a raging pack of wild animals, feeling betrayed and offering to get rid of the traitor by any means possible.

Libby was kidding herself if she believed for one minute that she had escaped. Maybe it was impossible to think she could do it a second time.

So in the dark of early morning, Libby led Ariel through the blowing snow. She guided her through the maze, some of which were now tunnels because of fallen tree limbs. She took Ariel about halfway back to the shed that housed her vehicle. The snow had let up; the wind had not.

“Text me when you’re finished,” she told Ariel. “I’ll meet you.”

As Libby trudged back, she noticed their footsteps were already starting to fill in with the blowing and drifting snow. She doubted Ariel could find her way to the shed. The SUV wouldn’t be able to plow through the snow. She told Ariel this and worried she wouldn’t listen, even after Libby explained that if the vehicle got stuck in a snowbank, they wouldn’t have any mode of escape when the melting began.

Ariel assured her she wasn’t going to take the vehicle. She simply wanted to walk far enough in the opposite direction to throw away the dog handler’s phone. Libby had already dismantled the battery yesterday, but Ariel insisted she show her how to connect it. Before she threw it in a ditch, Ariel said she wanted to turn it on just long enough to redirect anyone who might look for the man. Make them look somewhere else.

Libby actually thought it was a good plan. If nothing else, it would buy her a little more time. Plus, she got rid of Ariel for a few hours.

Libby suspected Ariel really wanted to get back to her vehicle to replenish her drug supply. The gummies she’d offered Libby were not the only source of her continuous high, but she had to be running low.

The drugs would be a problem. She didn’t like Ariel being high. She didn’t trust it. Drugs could make Ariel unpredictable and vulnerable. They obviously made her fidgety and impulsive. Maybe she only counted on them to make her brave, but yesterday, they had made her reckless. Stabbing the dog handler was stupid and yes, now she understood it was also cruel.

The drugs weren’t entirely to blame for the sparkle in Ariel’s eyes when she talked about “finishing” the man and dumping his body. As Libby left her in the early morning dark, Ariel was still mumbling about coming back and cutting him into pieces. Ruben had a way of bringing out the savage in all of them. He rewarded the behavior until it was ingrained in them and became almost instinctual. He once bragged about having his own army of homegrown killers.

Despite all of Ariel’s bravado, Libby wouldn’t be surprised if she ended up lost in the dark. She claimed to have a “stellar” sense of direction. An odd word, but that was what she said. And Libby had to admit, Ariel didn’t appear frightened of anything. Her mannerisms certainly didn’t match that of the panic-stricken voice on the phone, the one telling Libby to get out of the house. When they were away from the safe glow of the trailer and heard a coyote howl, the sound freaked the hell out of Libby. Ariel didn’t even flinch.

None of it mattered. Ariel didn’t matter. Libby wasn’t looking for a new best friend. She didn’t need anyone. She just needed a means of escape.

She took her time going back to the trailer. A broken branch with leaves still attached worked like a broom. She dragged it behind her, helping the wind cover her tracks. So what if it made it difficult for Ariel to find her way back? She hadn’t come this far to leave tracks for Ruben.

Survival of the fittest.

Another lesson of Ruben’s.

The drugs were an unpleasant reminder of Ruben and how much he liked his girls addicted to more than just his cash handouts, spa days, the expensive iPhones and other gifts. Libby still felt the sting of his anger when she turned down the assortment of drugs he provided. To make up for it, she surprised him with her first tattoo. That was when she was still flying on a natural high of rebellion.

She knew he was dangerous. They all did. It was part of his attraction. The adventure, the reckless abandon of their past goody-two-shoe lives brought excitement even if it came laced with a bit of terror. Then came the actual tests. His voice came to her

What are you willing to do?

What are you capable of doing?

How far are you willing to go to find out?

She shook her head, not wanting to remember that part. A chill tingled at the back of her neck. She pulled up her collar and yanked the stocking cap down further. It didn’t help. She knew dislodging this chill had nothing to do with the snow or the cold.

Libby shook her head again, disappointed how much Ruben still influenced her.

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