Keepers of the Cave (27 page)

“Are you alone?” he whispered.

She nodded. “Yes, I’m alone. Is everything okay?” she asked, looking past him into the dark night.

“Yes. I couldn’t come last night. Belden was out and about. I didn’t want to take a chance.”

She nodded and stood back. “Come inside.” He did and she locked the door behind him.

He looked around, then laughed uneasily. “I don’t mind saying, I was a little nervous leaving.” He cleared his throat. “Okay, a lot nervous. I even put pillows together in my bed to make it look like I was sleeping.” He shrugged. “If Belden finds out I’m gone though...”

“Yes, I know. You came along the trail?”

“Yes. It took about a half hour at a fast walk.”

Their eyes met. “Out in the woods at night, Belden would be the least of my worries,” she said.

“I know. I was terrified.”

She moved slowly back into the living room and her recliner, motioning to the worn sofa for him. Instead of sitting, he helped her down into her chair.

“Thank you. Every day gets harder to move around.”

“I can’t believe you’re so calm about this,” Don said, his hands twisting together nervously.

“Calm? You should have seen me yesterday. After I’d taken the potion, the one Mother Hogan told me to take twice a day, I was so hungry. But I knew I didn’t have anything. Except there was a soup left for me. One of Selma’s, you know. I started eating it like a crazy woman.” She paused, just thinking about it making her nauseous. “The soup was bloody,” she said. “I couldn’t even see it at first. It was full of raw meat and...blood.” She glanced away, clearing her throat. “I got sick. Threw it all up. And I haven’t taken her potion at all today.” She looked at him pointedly. “What do you think is in them? What do you think she mixes up?”

He shook his head slowly. “I wouldn’t even begin to guess. But I wouldn’t take anything she gave me.” He leaned forward. “You know the rumor is that she poisoned her mother.”

Fiona nodded. Yes, they’d all heard that rumor. She often wondered if Mother Hogan hadn’t started it herself, just another means to keep the flock under her control. Although she had no doubt that it could have been true.

“Do you think...well, do you think there’s a chance I could escape?”     

“Yes. But you’ll need help. There is someone I trust here. She’ll help.”

“A teacher?”

“Yes. The new ones. The ones who found me the other night.”

“They’re new? And you trust them?”

She nodded. “Yes. They’ll help. I know they will.”

“Will you come with me?”

She squeezed her eyes closed, feeling the pain starting again. Oh, how she wished she could run away with him. “No. You know I can’t. I’ve been thinking about how you can do it, though. I feel certain that once I go into Hoganville this weekend, she won’t let me leave again. So it must be this week.” She tried to shift in the chair but couldn’t. She took short, shallow breaths, finding this helped the pain somewhat. “You come here on Friday,” she said. “Early. Be here when we get out of school. We’ll go together.” She met his gaze head on. “We need to tell them.”

“Tell them?”

“Yes. Everything.”

He stood up quickly. “Fiona, we can’t.” He paced in front of her chair nervously. “You know what will happen. Belden will take us into the caves. No one ever returns from the caves.”

Her breathing was becoming labored, and she wondered if maybe she should have taken Mother Hogan’s potion after all. She looked up at him, seeing the fear in his eyes. Strangely, she felt none of it.

“You are getting out of here, remember?” She pointed to her belly. “And I won’t be sent to the caves. Not as long as I’m carrying this.”

“But if we tell them, do you think they’d even believe us? I sometimes don’t believe it myself.” He pulled out a small pill bottle from his pocket. “Here,” he said, handing it to her. “I almost forgot. It’s Vicodin. For pain. I guessed you wouldn’t be taking her potions, not after the other night.”

“Thank you.” She stared at the bottle. “What will this do?”

“It’ll make you drowsy. You may want to take only half a pill now,” he suggested.

The pain was getting worse, but she thought she could hold off a little longer. “I’ll take a whole pill before bed.” She looked up at him. “I will wake up, right?”

He smiled and nodded. “Yes. And an added bonus, it’s not even expired.” He sat down again, his thoughts obviously going back to what they’d been discussing. “If we tell them, what will happen to the others?”

“The flock?” She shook her head. “They can’t function on the outside, you know that. Will they be jailed? Mother Hogan will. Belden and his crew, yes. But the others?”

“None of us were participants in this, Fiona.”

“You and I,” she said. “We’ve been outside. We know better. We should have done something to stop it years ago.”

“Done what? We both know the consequences. We’ve seen what happens to those who go against Mother Hogan,” he reminded her.

“Yes.” And this too had been weighing on her. What would happen to the flock? To her own mother? She knew the answer, but she was almost afraid to say it. Had Don been brainwashed like the rest of them? Or had he been able to block it, like she had? Was it because she had an education, had been outside, that she knew to even try to block it?

“What are you thinking?”

“The sessions,” she said. “I haven’t let her inside.” She tapped her head. “I’ve blocked her.”

“Yellow rock,” he said clearly, arching an eyebrow.

She smiled. “You’ve blocked her as well.”

“Yes. Mother’s code word for her poison potion.” He stood again. “When the sessions first started, I was horrified at what she’d planned for us. I saw the others, all in their trance, all taking in her words. ‘Yellow rock in the clock.’” He laughed. “You’d think she could have come up with a trigger phrase better than that.”

She hated to say it, but it was the only option. “Maybe the flock should end with that phrase,” she said. “Put an end to it once and for all.”

“Have them die at their own hands?”

“Do you know anyone who could survive outside the confines of Hoganville?”

He slowly shook his head.

She took a deep breath, feeling more exhausted than she should. “You come back on Friday,” she said. “Now you should go. You don’t want to be caught in the woods.”

He glanced out into the night. “Yes, I need to hurry. I don’t want to be mistaken for dinner.”

He said it with a laugh, but she had no doubt that he meant it literally.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

“Well, you’re looking better,” Paige said as she helped Fiona into the chair.

“Yes. I feel almost normal,” Fiona said. She pointed to her protruding belly. “As normal as can be with this, anyway.” She started to unwrap her sandwich, then stopped. “Everyone is talking about me, aren’t they?”

The polite thing to do would have been to lie, but Paige didn’t think Fiona wanted that. So she nodded.

“Yes. Mostly they’re concerned,” she said. “And of course, some are surprised by your pregnancy.”

“Yes. I am too,” she said with a small smile. “But it’ll be over soon.”

“You’re due already?”

“Yes. Soon,” Fiona said evasively.

Paige didn’t press her. She, too, was concerned about Fiona’s health. Although, as she’d said, she did look better today. But she decided to keep things light during their lunch and not grill her.

“I got another lecture from Ms. Miner,” she said. “She walked in the gym while we were doing Zumba.”

Fiona laughed. “I bet she almost had a stroke.”

“Worse. She’s set up an appointment with Director Avery to go over my lack of curriculum.” Paige leaned forward conspiratorially. “She thinks I’m out to sabotage the audit that’s coming up this fall.” She smiled. “Yes, I’m going to singlehandedly take the school down.”

Fiona clasped her hand. “Oh, it feels so good to laugh. Thank you.”

Paige nodded but was startled when Fiona linked their fingers together.

“I really like you, Paige. I think...I think we could have been really good friends.”

Paige frowned. “What do you mean
could have been
?”

“I mean, I wish it wasn’t here. I wish it was out in the real world.” She squeezed her fingers. “Different place, different time.”

Paige wasn’t sure what she meant, and she supposed the look on her face registered it as shock because Fiona laughed again.

“No, no. I don’t mean sexually,” Fiona said. “Not like you and CJ.”

“Oh. Okay then,” Paige said, giving her a relieved smile, but she tightened her hold as Fiona tried to withdraw her hand.

“I just feel, with you, if we’d been somewhere else,” she explained, “we could have been best friends.” Fiona sighed. “I’ve never had a best friend.”

Paige cleared her throat. “Well, now you do.”

They went back to eating their lunch, and Paige wondered what was going on with Fiona. She seemed different. The same, yet different. Fiona’s next words only confirmed that.

“Do you believe in monsters?” Fiona asked quietly.

Paige nodded. “Yes, people can be monsters.” She winked. “These students can be monsters.”

Fiona did not return her smile. “Not people. Real
monsters
.”

Paige leaned her elbows on the table, studying her. “I don’t know. We read about them in books, they’re in movies, but whether they exist or not, I’m not sure.” She watched as Fiona’s hands went to rub her belly. “Are you okay?” she asked.

Fiona looked up quickly, the smile on her face forced. “Yes. Sorry. Must be my hormones.” She cleared her throat. “Listen, will you and CJ be home Friday after school?”

Paige nodded. “Yes, but I have to make a run into San  Augustine for groceries. Unless the Hogan Grocery will be open,” she teased.

Again, Fiona didn’t smile. “No.” She met her eyes. “Don’t go in there.”

Paige was confused by how serious Fiona was being. Surely she knew Paige had only been teasing. “Okay.” She touched her arm lightly. “What’s up?”

“I have someone I want you to meet, that’s all.”

At this, Paige’s interest was piqued. “Someone special?”

Fiona took a deep breath, nodding. “Yes.”

Paige waited for Fiona to explain, but she said nothing more. She shoved the uneaten part of her sandwich in the bag and stood, using the table to support herself.

“I should get back.”

“Okay.” Paige gathered her trash quickly, taking Fiona’s from her and tossing it all into a trash bin.

“I’m just tired,” Fiona said.

“What?”

“You’re worried.”

Paige laughed. “Does it show?”

Fiona surprised her by taking her arm. “Thank you for being my friend.”

“If you need help, you’ll let me know, right?”

“Of course.”

“Because—” She stopped, seeing Jules approaching. She smiled. “Hi. You getting a late lunch?”

“Oh, no. I just haven’t seen you all week.” She turned to Fiona. “How are you feeling?”

“Fat,” she said, and they all laughed.

Jules turned to Paige. “I wanted to make sure you knew about the cookout on Sunday. It’s at Val and Ella’s.”

“Okay. What’s the theme this week?”

“Oh, no theme. We’re doing steaks and a side dish. Dave has a gas grill he’s wheeling over.”

Paige nodded. “Great. We’ll be there.”

“See you two later,” Jules said, waving her goodbye at them.

“Wonderful,” Paige said dryly. “Steaks. CJ will love that.”

“Oh? And you won’t?”

Paige shook her head. “I’m just this close,” she said, holding her thumb and index finger together, “to being vegetarian.”    

CHAPTER FORTY

CJ lay wide awake as the lightning flashed across the closed blinds and a light roll of thunder followed. The wind had picked up, and she assumed rain was not far behind. She instinctively tightened her hold on Paige, her eyes slipping closed for a second as she gently kissed her naked shoulder. Paige burrowed deeper into the pillow, her hand keeping CJ’s arm wrapped around her waist from behind.

CJ thought she could stay like this forever and that surprised her. No doubt, when the case was over, when they returned to Houston, then this little
affair
that they were having would come to an end. Frankly, that sucked. Lying in bed like this with someone else, some stranger she’d just met, wasn’t appealing in the least. But who was she kidding? She never stayed around long enough to hold anyone. Hell, she never wanted to hold anyone. Sometimes, she couldn’t get out of their bed fast enough. God, so much had changed. She kissed Paige’s shoulder again. No, she wasn’t looking forward to going back to her old life.

She also was no closer to falling asleep. She eased away from Paige slowly, keeping the covers around her. Paige stirred but didn’t wake. CJ grabbed the T-shirt she’d discarded earlier and slipped it on, then walked barefoot into the living room. She opened the blinds, the storm in full strength now as thunder rumbled overhead. She stood near the window, watching the show, the large pines across the road swaying mightily in the wind. She wasn’t one for weather forecasts, but she’d heard Chief Aims mention to one of the other guards that these storms could produce tornadoes. She craned her neck, looking at the giant pine that stood just outside the window, figuring if it fell it would squash their little house into matchsticks.

She stepped away from the window quickly as a lightning flash sizzled over the woods immediately followed by a clap of thunder. Her gaze went to Fiona’s house across the road. She assumed Fiona was in bed; it was just after midnight. She was curious as to who Fiona wanted them to meet. Paige thought maybe it was the father of her baby.

Another blaze of lightning streaked across the trees, illuminating the forest. She leaned forward, not believing what she’d just seen. She squinted, waiting for another flash of light. And there it was, a big hulk of a creature standing at the edge of the woods near Fiona’s house.

“What the hell?” she murmured.

Again, darkness, and she waited. The lightning flash was nearly simultaneous with the roar of thunder and she jumped back. The...the
thing
seemed to be looking right at her, then it bolted off into the woods on all fours.