That day when his dad spoke of his sister in present tense, referring to her recital… his face was so blank, only for the slightest moment. But it was enough.
And now, they were gunning for him; if they hadn’t already.
There was a drip coming in from the ceiling in the corner by the steel door. He rose to his feet and pulled at the door. It didn’t budge, and he could hear chains rattle on the other side. Sitting back down and dropping his head between his knees, he stared at the floor stained with his own blood. In the far corner, there was a gecko lizard sideways on the wall resting completely still.
He had to get to Erin. Somehow. She wasn’t even supposed to be there. She should have been at home studying.
Trevor’s door cracked open and Cassidy slithered inside. She looked like a heroin user, eyes dug deep inside the puffy purple pockets, her pupils dilated. Trevor hadn’t heard any rattle of chains or the sound of a lock being taken off, just silence leading up to her entry. She strode toward Trevor, backing him up to the far wall. Her face was urgent and desperate. The conniving manipulation he had seen in the villa was gone, leaving a girl desperate to be held and loved. She placed her hands on his face, and he tried to pull away. Her mouth was warm against his, her saliva sweet, like she had just eaten tart lemon drops. He pulled away again. Her face was stained with tears. “It was supposed to be different,” she said. “But I can’t have it the way they want it. I’ve been watching you, Trevor. You’re my soul mate.” Her fingers were now interlocked with his and he shook them loose. She hugged herself and stared into his eyes. “I can’t explain it, but I know. I didn’t want to be like that toward you. That wasn’t what I wanted in the villa. I just want to be with you.” Eyes sparkling like emeralds, a tear rolling down her face, she stepped in closer. “They will see. You’re pure again. Pure here.” Her hand was against his chest. “Please stay.” The words hung. It was difficult to believe they were real, that she was real. “Tell me you want me,” she said.
He closed his eyes and pictured Erin smiling nervously. He whispered, “No.”
Cassidy stepped back and wiped the tears from her face, her mouth open as she tried to choke out words. “Why?”
“You know why.”
She stepped back one more time and looked down at the floor, her hands trembling, tears falling. “Her?” Her face contorted in disgust. “Her?”
“Yup.”
She turned and slid awkwardly through the crack of the door, closing it slowly behind her.
Erin’s head was unclear, something that seemed to worsen since her feet hit the sand on the island. Trevor didn’t kill Skye. The relief, that didn’t do her much good now.
The ceremony… That’s where they will kill us. She knew his father would worry, and then scour all of Belize for answers. But Erin had no one else in her life to come calling.
There was a rattle at the door. It cracked open and Bruce walked through. She deemed his neutral face as smug, curling up her toes in her shoes angrily. He had a bottle of water in his hands. He tossed it to her; it hit her chest and fell to the floor with a plastic smack. “We’re just prepping the ceremony. We need a little more time so you should drink up. Get comfortable.”
“I’m comfortable.”
“It’s best not to be angry. You should be grateful.”
“Grateful?”
“Do you know how many people they’ve tried?”
Tried? As if they were sampling crackers at the supermarket. “They’ve chosen you, Erin. You’ll be reborn. You’re their holy grail.”
“Lucky me.”
He stepped forward. The knife tucked in her back waistband was waiting. She wanted to reach for it but it wasn’t quite time yet. Erin had grabbed it from the kitchen back at Stefan’s after she knew they were being hunted. She backed up to the wall, portraying fear, desiring revenge. She looked down to see a gun holstered at his side, but that was moot; he’d never see it coming.
“There’s no need to be scared. You’re home.”
“What will you do with Trevor?”
“He’ll be disposed of like the others.”
“Ashton?”
“Oh, of course. He’s been gone a while now.”
She cringed.
“Don’t worry though. We are delicate with our executions. Well, maybe not Stefan. But the rest all went without pain. Trevor will go without pain.”
She tilted her head and wiped her wet nose with her finger. “Thank you,” she muttered.
He inched closer. That’s right. A little more.
“It will be clearer to you soon. And you’ll feel right as rain.”
Right as rain… “So what’s the deal with you? You’re like a servant to them then?”
He sighed. “I’m still paying my dues in flesh, but my time will come soon enough. I’ll need to be replaced.”
“How’d you get here?”
“Pure luck.” A big greasy smile took over his wrinkled face. “Backpacking. I was a writer. A journalist. A very terrible one at that.” He chuckled. “I couldn’t be what everyone wanted me to be. I was a stain on my family, an outcast at my core. There’s great shame in that. It brought me here, though. I was the first to find them. I set them free and they welcomed me in like family. Helped me see things the way they should be seen.”
One more step. Her hand grabbed hold of the knife and she pulled it out and attacked in one fluid motion. His eyes lit up and the knife missed his face and slashed his arm. Bruce grabbed her wrists and squeezed. She tried to push the knife towards his face, but he was too strong. He wrenched the knife from her hand as it clanked on the floor, so she threw her head into the bridge of his nose. His gun dropped to the floor.
She ripped her hands free and got to it first. Erin backed up against the far wall, gun pointed straight at his chest. “Don’t think about going for that knife,” she commanded.
“I wouldn’t dare.” The fear had abated and was replaced by a sly smirk again. “You know that old story. Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight right?”
Her hand was on the trigger.
“You’re not going to kill me, are you, Erin?”
“Let’s not find out.”
He touched his puffy nose and sniggered.
“I will do this. I will,” she whispered.
He staggered slowly over to the knife, bent over, and picked it up. “I wish you had the flare for taking a human life, but sadly, you don’t. You’re going to be a doctor, Erin. You don’t take life. You’re supposed save lives.”
“Drop the knife and face the door. Please, just do it.”
He stepped toward her, looking down at his feet as he did so.
“Drop it.”
“No.” He took another step.
“Stop!”
“You’re where you belong. Don’t you want to stay?” He took another calculated step.
“Don’t move!”
“You’ve got it. No more moving.” He placed a finger on his left nostril and cleared out his right onto the cement floor. It left a green stain on the cement. “I’ve been around long enough to know cowardice. Don’t take it personally. It’s something that built into you; both from birth and your environment when you were of an age too young to control it. We’re often erased before we have a chance. That’ll never change. Not with the way the world is.”
“I’m not a coward.”
“No?”
“No.”
“What are you then?”
“I’m half a second away from shooting you.”
He chuckled. “I’m afraid not. I have a speech about a lion. Care to hear it?”
“I’m sure I’ve heard it before.”
“Right. Well the takeaway is that you are not a lion. You are something else.”