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With no sign of them, I crawled over to Ashley, still doing my best to remain quiet. She lay ten feet away, mouth agape, snoring. She didn’t stir when I patted her cheek.
"Ashley?" I hissed. "Wake up. Come on."
Still nothing. The gas they used on us worked well, almost too well. Not seeing any other option, I hauled off and slapped the shit out of the poor girl. The sound echoed around us like a gunshot, and her eyes snapped open, eyes already welling with tears of pain.
"Shit. What the fuck?" She moaned groggily. Her hand went to her face, rubbing at her cheek. Even in the dark, I could see the outline my fingers left on her pale skin.
"Sorry. I had to wake you," I whispered.
Finally realizing she wasn’t in bed, Ashley sat up, looking around. "Oh god. This is where I woke up yesterday."
Before I could say more, my device burst to life, sending a wicked shock into my flesh. "Oh shit," I grunted, and held my arm to my chest.
A message displayed on the screen: Cut her. There’s a knife on the steps.
Frowning, I looked up and saw the blade of a bowie knife jammed tip first into the wood of the steps. It thrust into the air like some obscene phallic symbol.
I looked at the device again, confused. "No."
Another burst of pain hit me, making me gasp. This time it wasn’t only the pain that surprised me but the fact that Sam had to have heard me. Were there microphones outside the chapel? Christ, were they in the device itself? I didn’t even want to think about that possibility.
"What’s wrong?" Ashley said, staring at me.
Another message came through: Do it. Carve your initials into her chest. When the power comes back on, and you haven’t done it, the punishment will be severe. Do not disobey me.
An instant later the watch went dark. It was the nightly power outage. Oh shit. He knew that I knew. Holy fuck, what else did he know? Without answering Ashley, I stood and retrieved the knife. The blade made a squealing sound as I pulled it free of the wood. Looking at the blade, I debated trying to cut off the bracelet. The band was some kind of fine metallic mesh though. I might have been able to, but it would take longer than thirty minutes and I’d end up cutting my arm to pieces in the process. What if we ran for it? Could we get there in fifteen minutes? Maybe, but the men might still be in the forest. What if they were waiting for that exact thing?
I gritted my teeth and gripped the knife harder. If I didn’t do what he asked, things would go poorly for both Ashley and myself. Knowing Sam, he’d force me to kill Ashley if I hadn’t done what he asked by the time the power rebooted. No, as awful as it was, I’d have to hurt Ashley to keep us both safe.
When I turned back to look at the girl, she’d already realized what was about to happen. She shook her head. "Please. Don’t, Dahlia. Please."
I sighed and gestured to the knife. "I’m sorry, Ashley. I have to. You haven’t been here long enough to understand. It’s better to do something a little painful to keep something worse from happening."
She began to sob now, and I could see the betrayal in her eyes. "I thought we were friends. I don’t want you to."
Unable to meet her eyes, I glanced down, and saw that she still had no device on her arm. Everyone got a device on their first day. Why would she still not have one? A sickening thought sank into my mind. What if she’d only been brought here to die. Was she some fucking sacrificial lamb Sam forced me to connect with? He’d been very specific that I be the one to show her around, to help her kill her father. The girl looked up to me already. Was this his plan all along?
I made the decision in an instant. I couldn’t leave Drake. That was out the window, but I could save this poor girl. I had to make it look real, though. If the men who’d dumped us were out here watching what we didn’t, I had to ensure that I kept myself safe as well. I’d probably break Ashley’s heart, but I needed her fear to be real.
Swishing the knife through the air, I glared at Ashley. "You better run. Give me a good chase."
"No," she screamed, and scrambled to her feet. The word drained out of her in one long note that slowly morphed into an unintelligible scream of terror.
She’d barely gotten to her feet when I began my chase. The scream echoed through the night as the two of us rushed headlong into the forest. Remembering that the fence lay to the left of the chapel, I ran toward Ashley’s right, forcing her to angle toward the fence. For a full minute, I worked like a herd dog, shepherding her in the right direction, all while she screamed and cried and struggled to run as fast as she could.
There was still plenty of time. The power hadn’t even been off for five minutes yet. I’d been worried about getting out of the house and to the fence in time, but we already had a head start. This would work. I could do one good thing in this fucking place.
A few seconds later, the crisscrossed mesh of the chainlink fence appeared at our left. As I chased Ashley, I let my elbow jut out, barely grazing the fence. I winced in anticipation of the shock, but nothing happened. I did it once more to make sure, and still nothing. I needed to do this now.
I dove at Ashley. All the training in the exercise gym of the house had improved my endurance. She’d been running for her life, but I’d been able to keep up like it was nothing. The whole time I’d been toying with her. I caught her around the ankles, dragging her to the ground.
The men could be anywhere, watching all this play out. I climbed up her body, doing my best to keep the blade away from her. I didn’t want to accidentally slit her throat in a pointless fight.
"No. Please no, Dahlia." She was sobbing. The sound of her voice, like the wailing of a trapped animal, grated on my nerves. Her terror and fear filled me with self loathing.
Without a way of getting her to hush without letting whatever watcher may or may not be there hear, I had to be more judicious. After tossing the knife aside I wrapped my hands around her throat, cutting off her screams. Pretending to bare down on her, leaning forward I put my lips to her ear.
"When I let you go, I want you to kick me in the chest, then climb the fence as fast as you can. Run for your god damned life once you get over."
