Awake (27 page)

“I don’t know,” Shaun replied, sounding just as angry with his son. “We will find them both, though. Noah doesn’t know this forest as well as he obviously thinks. We’ll pick them up soon.”

Noah’s arms tightened around me, and he buried his head in my hair. What was he thinking? I’d not been around them long, but they’d always spoken to each other and about each other with respect. When Noah was telling me he wanted to get me out he still never spoke ill about his community. It had to hurt that they could speak about him with such hate in their tone.

Despite what he’d done, I wanted to comfort him. I hated that he could be in pain, and I wanted to fix it. I loved him completely, whether he was an ex-cult member or not. I loved who I thought he was, and I adored that he’d grown into that person again.

We didn’t move for a long time, clinging to each other, and my body started to seize up. I wanted to question him on when we were leaving, what he was thinking, and ask if he was okay but fear prevented me.

“Ready,” he said, after a few more agonising minutes. He still held onto me tight, and part of me wanted to stay hidden. There was less risk. We had to keep moving, though.

“Which way?” I asked.

He did another scan of the area and stood up, taking my hand. “Not the direction they went in, we’ll go further west.”

I had no idea how he knew which way was west, but I gripped his hand and ran beside him.

Noah

I WAS EXHAUSTED.
Completely and utterly exhausted. Sweat ran down my forehead, and my lungs burned. Scarlett was tired, too, but we still kept moving. Before they’d caught up with us, I knew the direction we were going but now we could be heading back to the commune for all I knew.

I didn’t tell Scarlett because it’d only panic her more. I’d never seen a person to terrified before and I wanted to do everything I could to make it better for her.

“Noah,” she said through ragged, struggling breaths.

We’d slowed down a lot, going at a pace somewhere between a walk and a jog. The sun was beginning to set, slowly descending the forest into darkness. Soon we would lose all light, and the temperature would drop dramatically.

“I know,” I replied, pulling her to a stop. Her legs buckled, and she fell to the floor as soon as I stopped her, and I doubled over, leaning against a tree.

“What’re we going to do?” she asked.

It was all on me, but then it was my fault for promising to get her out. “Right now we should concentrate on finding shelter. I’ve seen a few dirt roads, and I know there are houses in the forest. Rather than trying to find town, I think we should find somewhere to stay the night and head back out at first light.”

Her dark blue, fear filled eyes widened. “Isn’t that dangerous? What if they come for us?”

That I wasn’t sure of. Eternal Light usually avoided outside interaction at all cost, we didn’t want to be known and knocking at someone’s door asking for two runaway teens wouldn’t help. But they had nothing to lose now so I wasn’t sure if they’d go for it or lay low and try to find us alone.

At this point, it was anyone’s guess.

“We have to be smart about this, as soon as that sun’s gone it’s going to get really cold, add complete darkness to that and it’s not looking good for us. We’ll find somewhere to stay the night. I think someone’s house is the best bet. I have a story.”

“You really think that’ll work?”

I stood up straight and scrubbed my face with my hands. “I don’t know, Scarlett. It’s all I have right now. I wish I could wave a magic wand and get us out of this, but I can’t.”

“It’s okay,” she said softly. “I know you’re doing all you can, and I understand what you’re risking.”

“Come on, let’s keep moving.” I helped her up, and we jogged for what seemed like hours before finally came across an old bike and gardening tools.

Scarlett looked at me, afraid. “Whose do you think those are?” she asked.

“I don’t know, but it probably means we have stumbled onto private property, and a house is nearby. This is good.” Finally.

“Is it good? We don’t know who is going to be there.”

“It will be fine, Scarlett. No one can be as dangerous to us as them right now. You know that we have no choice.”

She nodded. “I’m with you. Can we just walk now, no running? I feel like I’m going to collapse again.”

“Yes, let’s take two minutes first so you can get finally changed now we’re further away. We don’t want this to look any more suspicious than it already does.” I dropped the bag, and she bent down, taking the clothes out of it. I had a pair of jeans and t-shirt, but it was better than the dress. “Put the fleece on, too, you’re freezing.”

I could just about see her rosy cheeks with the last of the light. But that didn’t fool me, she was cold to touch, and we’d been slowly losing pace for the last couple of hours. I slipped mine on as well and turned around, giving her some privacy even though I’d seen her naked before.

It only took her a minute to get changed, probably because she was cold. “I’m done, Noah,” she said. I turned back to see her shoving the dress in the bag and gripping the front of the fleece against her in a bid to warm up quicker. “We should take this, so they don’t find it and know we’ve been here, right?”

I smiled and took the bag. “Yes, good thinking.”

When I stood up from bending down to get the bag we were closer than before. I could smell her hair, her skin, and it drove me crazy. I missed her so much. Everything was entirely my fault, I’d lost the best thing that had ever happened to me, and I had no one to blame but myself.

Her eyes locked me in, preventing me from moving or even speaking. She was so beautiful, inside and out. “Noah,” she whispered and the softness in her voice made me ache. Even if it was only for a moment, she remembered how we were, how she loved me. It might not be much, but that tender look was enough for me. I didn’t deserve more. I didn’t even deserve that.

“I know,” I replied. “Let’s try to find this house.”

She stepped back first and the warmth I felt when I was near her subsided. I put my hand on the small of her back to guide her in what I hoped was the right direction. I didn’t need to but the urge to have some physical contact with her was overwhelming.

She tried not to look at me when I touched her, but I caught the glance in my direction. I took it as a good sign that she didn’t push me away. We only had each other right now, but I desperately wanted her to, at the very least, not hate me.

“Are you feeling warmer?” I asked as we power-walked ahead, being careful to watch the ground as well as the surroundings since we couldn’t see that well anymore.

“Yeah, thank you.”

“Sorry we couldn’t have stopped for you to change earlier.”

“It’s okay, I wasn’t that cold back then anyway. Not sure if it was because it was warmer or if the shock has just worn off now.”

“You’re not going to faint on me, are you?”

She smiled, looking out into the distance and then in front of her feet. “No, I’m pretty sure I’m saving that for when we get to town.”

“Noted,” I replied. “I’ll remember that for when we step into the police station.”

“That’s where were going first?”

“Of course.”

“You’re really turning them in?” she asked, genuinely surprised. I could just take her home, let her parents run away with her and go somewhere myself, but I would never do that. Eternal Light were dangerous and had to be stopped. Besides, the police were looking for her. Jonathan and Marissa weren’t the type of people to think of themselves first, they would tell the truth and get themselves into trouble to save their daughter.

I pulled her to a stop and spun her around. “I understand that I have no right to ask anything of you, but I need you to believe me when I tell you I love you. They would have killed you, Scarlett, and I have never felt fear like that. I felt physically sick from the moment I woke, worrying that something would go wrong with the escape. Nothing matters but you and maybe I’m blinded, but I don’t care. Bottom line is you come first, and there’s not one person in this world I wouldn’t betray to keep you safe. So, yeah, I’m really turning them in. I’m keeping you safe.”

She looked like she was going to cry in a good way. I loved that I could still affect her.

“We need to keep moving. They could be anywhere,” I said. There was a dirt track road to our left, so it had to lead somewhere. I led her down it and prayed somewhere safe was at the end.

Ten minutes later, we found a small cottage. An old Ford Mondeo was parked outside. Eternal Light had 4-wheeled drives because of how deep into the forest we lived. I was confident we’d be safe here.

Scarlett’s hand slipped into mine, and she squeezed. She was afraid.

“It’s alright. Just let me do the talking.”

With a little nod she replied, “Okay.”

I hated the next words out of my mouth; “We can’t be holding hands for this. I’m going to tell them you’re my sister.”

She let go, and I wanted to punch myself. That may well be the last time I’d get to hold her hand. I shouldn’t have said anything until we were closer. I needed more time.

“What will you tell them?”

“We’ve lost our camp.”

Frowning adorably, she said, “Huh?”

“Don’t worry, just follow my lead,” I said, knocking on the faded red door. When it opened an elderly man smiled at us. “Hello, my name is Jacob, and this is my sister, Amelia, we got lost in the woods with the loss of light and wondered if we could stay until morning, please? We won’t be any trouble, but we’re cold and need a floor to sleep on.”

“You’re lost? Where are you parents?” he asked.

“We know our way around here but ventured further than usual, and I would prefer not to have my sister walking through the woods in the dark. And our parents will be at home drunk, sir. We camp out a lot, they know about it. I’m eighteen, old enough to take care of us both, but right now I just need a little help.”

“Who is it, dear?” the man’s wife said, leaning around his shoulder.

“Kids here are lost in the woods,” he replied.

“I was just explaining to your husband that my sister and I walked further than usual and didn’t think about the time. Before we knew it, the sun had set, and we couldn’t find our way back. We need somewhere to sleep until sunlight when we can see our way home.”

“Of course, of course, dear things,” she said, shoving her husband to the side and taking Scarlett’s hand. “Come on in, let’s get you warm and fed. Through there, dear, that’s right.”

She showed Scarlett into the living room and her husband and I followed.

“Thank you for this, we really appreciate it. We’ll be out of your hair at first light.”

“Nonsense,” he said. “You’re no trouble. We don’t get too many folk knocking on our door anymore.”

That I believed. I just hoped we’d be the only ones knocking on the door tonight.

Scarlett

BRIDGET HAD ME
and Noah sitting on the sofa wedged under a thick tartan blanket. She’d made us hot chocolate with mini marshmallows on top. It was so unbelievably nice to have freshened up a little and be somewhere warm and dry.

I felt human again, but my nerves were still raging.
They
were still out there looking for me and any minute and could knock on the door any minute. Noah didn’t seem to think they would because questions would be asked, but they didn’t have anything to lose anymore. If I disappeared, they wouldn’t get their chance at eternal life.

“So, you two live in town? You don’t sound from around here,” Seamus said.

“We moved here from England two years ago. I imagine the accent will catch eventually,” I replied.

I hated lying to them. They were so sweet and so kind, but we couldn’t exactly tell them the truth. It was too unbelievable anyway. Eternal Light was well hidden, and although they had electricity and running water, I doubted many locals knew they were even there.

“Ah, I thought as much.”

Noah smiled. “We camp through most of the summer, though. We’ve always loved the great outdoors and wish our parents had bought one of the houses in the forest.”

“They don’t come along too often.”