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The look in her eye had changed by the time I raised myself up. No longer terrified. Now she understood what was happening. I gave her a wink the moment before releasing the hold on her throat. Her gasp shattered the silence of the forest. Taking up the knife again, I raised it over my head, Ashley swung a leg out from under me, cocked it back, and slammed her heel into my chest.
The impact was like getting kicked by a horse. The forest spun as I tumbled backward, the breath rushing from my lungs. The ground knocked even more breath out of me. On my back, gagging while trying to suck air into my lungs I barely managed to look toward the fence. Above me, Ashley scrambled up the steel, moving like a monkey, higher and higher every second. She would make it. There had to be at least five minutes until the power came back on. Plenty of time.
Blessed and cool air finally slid into my lungs, and I coughed. A smile slowly formed on my lips as Ashley swung a leg over the top of the fence, being careful to keep from getting caught in the barbed wire that ringed the top.
Then my device buzzed. I snapped my eyes to it, confused and bewildered. There was no way it had been fifteen minutes. Impossible. The message that shone on the screen sent a wave of nausea through me: You stupid bitch. You really believed you could out think me? I control everything.
"Ashley," I screamed, turning to look at her.
It was already too late. The girl sat straddling the fence, her hands locked on the steel, her teeth bared, eyes rolled to the back of her head, body jerking as thousands of volts surged through her.
"No," I sobbed, tears already pouring from my eyes.
Her clothes smoked, then her hair. The skin on her face blistered and popped. Finally her clothes burst into flame. The yellow and orange tongue of fire licked around her body until she was engulfed.
As bad as it was, I couldn’t pull my eyes away. The young girl didn’t deserve this. She’d been good. It didn’t take long until her hands finally released the fence and she tumbled off the top, slamming into the ground on the opposite side.
Another message: Get your ass back to the house.
I did as he said. There was no reason to fight anymore. He knew where I was, what I’d planned, what I’d found out, all of it. I stood and ran hard. Every few seconds a new shock burst through me, but I never slowed. The pain only served to push me harder, faster, until I stumbled into the house. The door swung shut, slamming with a bang and locking behind me.
In my room, I stumbled to the toilet and vomited, spewing bile until nothing was left inside me. Even then, I continued dry heaving until, exhausted and depleted, I fell into bed to slip into a fitful sleep. In my dreams, I watched Ashley burn over and over again.
Chapter 21
DAHLIA
When I woke the next morning, my head throbbed from crying the night before. My throat ached, raw and scorched from puking. I’d not even bothered brushing my teeth before falling asleep. My teeth were coated in fuzz and my tongue held the stale taste of vomit. None of that could touch the horror and depression that ached in my chest. Every time I closed my eyes I watched Ashley, clenched and convulsing at the top of the fence. I could see the smoke rising in curls off her body a moment before the electricity set her on fire.
I thought I’d been clever. Thought that there was something Sam didn’t know. All of this had been pointless. The robes, the vents, the power outages, all of it. Sam was a step ahead every time. He could never be beaten, at least not the way I’d planned. These stupid fucking bracelets were like collars. He had us in the palm of his hand unless we could get them off.
At breakfast I barely touched any food, unable to even force myself to eat. No hunger stirred in my stomach. The others noticed my mood and didn’t pry too hard, but it was impossible not to see that Ashley was nowhere to be seen.
"Where’s new girl?" Bri asked, pointing at the empty chair with her fork.
"Gone," I muttered, shoving a pile of scrambled eggs across my plate.
Bri raised her eyebrows and glanced around like she’d misheard. "Like, gone, gone? Like dead in a ditch or some—"
"She’s dead, goddamn it," I hissed, finally lifting my eyes to glare at her. "She’s dead and gone. Now, for once, can you shut your fucking trap, you loud mouthed bitch?"
Bri pulled her head back, eyes widening in shock and anger. She must have seen something in my face that kept her silent. Even Bri knew when to leave things alone. Beside me Drake remained silent and ate his food without a word.
"You’ve been really quiet, Drake," Payton said, obviously trying to ease the tension. "Is everything all right?"
Drake stabbed at his food in irritation. "Nothing wrong," he grumbled, then whispered to himself. "I’m stuck here like everyone else now."
I didn’t know what that meant. Of course he was stuck. Maybe he’d had hopes of escaping too and they’d been dashed like mine? He’d been in a strange mood for a couple days, and I didn’t have the energy to try and break him out of it. Thankfully, we were sent to the library together for our morning task. That meant I could get everything off my chest. I needed to talk about what happened the night before.
The door clicked shut behind us, and Drake walked straight to the shelf, grabbed a book, and sat to read. He took up his spot in the same chair he’d been in the very first time I’d come to this room. He’d scared the hell out of me that day, but he’d done his best to slip information to me. The few tidbits he’d passed along had helped me survive here. Now, instead of information, I needed his shoulder to cry on.
After picking my own book, Catcher in the Rye, I sat opposite him. I flipped through a few pages, not even trying to read, until I couldn’t hold it back anymore.
"Drake, last night was awful," I said.
His eyes slid slowly from the book to meet mine. Then he glanced at the camera.
I sighed and threw the book down at my feet. "I don’t care about that, okay? Sam knows everything. Hell, he probably figured out our little codes we have in here already. I need to talk. Can we do that?"
