by Ryan Casey
She saw her clearly.
And then her suspicions were confirmed.
“Gina?” the woman said.
“Mum?” Gina repeated.
Chapter Forty-One
When Mike opened his eyes, he had the strange sense deep down that something was wrong. Very wrong.
First, he saw that it was light. The sun was up. Which was weird. Last time he’d had his eyes open, he was pretty sure it was dark.
He was still in the woods. He was still where he remembered being—at least he thought.
And then the second thing that hit him was the pain.
It was crippling. A deep pain, right in the middle of his body. Like someone had cut him open. Like someone had…
He remembered, then. He remembered, and somehow remembering what’d happened made the pain a whole lot sharper. It made it feel a whole lot deeper.
He remembered the way he’d found that bond. That bond with Calvin. A bond he’d tried to fight. A bond he’d tried to resist.
And then he remembered the way Calvin had apologised to him before ramming a knife—a knife he didn’t even know he had—right into his stomach.
Mike twisted around. He was on the soggy ground. He tried to turn over. Tried to see where he was, to get a better view of what kind of situation he was in. Even though that deep sense that he’d been betrayed was strong. Even though the anger—the vengeance—had completely taken him over now.
Because of the memory.
The memory of what had happened.
The memory of what Calvin had done.
“Sorry about what I had to do, Mike. Really. But it’s nothing personal. Honest.”
When Mike heard the voice from over his shoulder, he couldn’t help tightening his fist and turning over right in an instant.
Calvin was sitting up against a tree. He had a blade in his hand. A bloody blade. And it didn’t take Mike long to realise that was the blade that had been buried inside him.
“What—” Mike started.
“I mean, I am sorry. Truly. I mean that. I’m sorry for what happened to Holly. I’m sorry for what I did to your people. I don’t want you to think I’m lying when I say that because I mean it. Truly. But the truth here is… the truth is, I know what’s going to happen when we get to that extraction point. We both know what’s going to happen when we get there. You’re not going to be able to see past what I did. You’re not going to be able to give me a second chance. And you know what? I’m not sure I’m happy with that. I’m not sure I can accept it. Not anymore.”
Mike twisted over. He looked down at his stomach, which was aching like mad. He was bleeding from it. Bleeding quite heavily.
“The truth is… I’m kind of seeing an opportunity here. And if you’ve ever paid any attention to me at all, you’ll know I’m an opportunist. That’s why I let Gina go. That’s why I made sure I broke free of her. That’s why… that’s why I didn’t tell her the exact location of the extraction point. Because I use chaos, Mike. That’s what I do. It’s what I’ve always done.”
He opened his hands. Then he patted Arya, who was right beside him, whining like she wasn’t comfortable about any of this.
“And here we are,” he said.
Mike gritted his teeth. Tried to drag himself towards Calvin. “You bastard.”
“I know,” he said. “But really. You weren’t exactly giving off the warmest vibes.”
“I—I trusted you.”
And that’s when Calvin smiled. That’s when he really smiled. Even let out a little laugh. “You trusted me? You actually trusted me? Well. That’s your biggest mistake, isn’t it? You should’ve known better. You should’ve known what I was like. Exactly what I was like.”
Mike felt his heart racing. But as it did, the pain in his stomach got more intense. He was losing blood. He didn’t know how bad the wound was, but he could only assume it was pretty bad because Calvin’s blade had gone quite deep.
And he was struggling to get to his feet. He was struggling to move at all.
Calvin walked over to him, then. Stepped right over him. Lowered down over him, knife in his hand.
“I’ll tell you what’s going to happen now, Mike,” he said. “I’m going to leave you here. I’m going to leave you here to really think about what you’ve done. To really think about how you walked yourself into this. And then I’m going to head towards this extraction point. I’m going to head towards it, and I’m going to take Arya there. I’m going to find Gina. I’m going to find Alison. I’m going to find Kelsie. And we’re going to move forward, me and Kelsie. We’re going to move forward together. But you won’t be there. You’ll spend your last moments thinking about how you had a chance to make it to this place. How you had a chance to take me there—as a prisoner. And then you’re going to think about how I’m going to kill Alison. How I’m going to kill Gina. And how it’s going to be me, Kelsie, and Arya. A happy family. A happy new world family.”
He stroked Arya’s head. And it wasn’t just the fact that he was doing it that made Mike feel uneasy. It wasn’t just the fact that he was making a fuss of the dog Mike had been with since day one of this sorry mess.
It was the fact that Arya was just allowing it to happen.
That she looked like she was actually enjoying being petted by Calvin.
That’s what hurt most.
“And if this place really is some kind of extension of the world I wanted to create? Then so be it. I’ll applaud them. Hell, I’ll volunteer. It just legitimises what I was doing. What I was trying to do. It makes me realise that maybe I wasn’t so insane after all.”
Mike just stared on. Speechless. Couldn’t say a word.
Calvin squinted at him. “What?” he said. “Something on your mind? Something getting to you, Mike? Reality setting in?”
“I just…”
“I can’t hear you,” Calvin said, leaning in closer. “What was that? Speak up.”
“Why are you doing this? Why all this way with us? Why… why take this risk when I could’ve just killed you?”
And then Calvin laughed even more. He laughed like he was genuinely enjoying this. Like it was all just a game.
“I did it because I knew you wouldn’t kill me, Mike. I did it because I had the strangest sense that maybe we could all move forward together, at one stage. But then… then I realised it wasn’t going to happen. I saw how you spoke about me. I saw the look in your eyes. All of your people’s eyes. So let’s just say I had a new idea. A new goal. Getting to that extraction point. Getting away from here, one way or another. And knowing that you’re aware that I’ve got away with the people closest to you in your dying moments.”
Mike’s heart pounded. More blood came from his stomach. And he had to admit something. Something that was growing inside him. Building inside him.
Something that Alison told him, all along.
“You’ve got to learn to forgive, Mike. Because if you don’t… it’s going to kill you someday. It’s going to kill everyone you care about.”
“So now I’m going to sit here,” Calvin said. “Now I’m going to wait. I’m going to watch, and I’m going to wait. Because I’ve got all the time in the world. Arya here’s got all the time in the world.”
He patted her when she walked over. Ruffled her fur, just a little.
And then he tickled under her mouth.
“Maybe when we’re done with you, we can give Arya an extra little snack. A little taste of you. How does that sound, eh Arya? Bit of Mike for breakfast?”
Mike heard Calvin’s words.
He felt the tension building up inside.
He felt the urgency growing.
The urgency to do something.
The urgency to end this.
But then he felt something else taking over.
Something else lulling him towards it.
Sleepiness.
Unconsciousness.
“Don’t resist it, Mike,” Calvin said. “Just allow it to happe
n. Allow it to take over you. Allow it to swallow you up.”
And Mike wanted to stay conscious. He wanted to keep alert. Keep awake. Keep aware.
“Let it take you. Just like it took Holly. Just like it’s going to take Alison. Just like it’s going to take Gina.”
And he tried to fight even more.
He tried to keep his consciousness.
But all he could do was look at Arya.
Look at her tilting head.
Look at her confused eyes.
Right by Calvin’s side.
“Let it take you over,” Calvin said.
And this time… as much as Mike wanted to keep his shit together, he felt his eyes closing.
He felt the cloud of unconsciousness sinking over him.
And then he felt nothing but darkness.
And all he could think about were Arya’s big, confused, loving eyes, and…
Chapter Forty-Two
Gina looked at her mum, and she couldn’t quite explain why her first reaction was one of… fear.
Disappointment and fear.
Because at that moment—right at that moment—she could feel herself snapping back into how she used to feel. She could feel the old Gina returning. The Gina she used to be in the eyes of her mother.
But something else bothered her.
Something that took precedent over any of her own emotions, any of her own feelings.
And it was the fact that her mum—her hair long, her teeth yellow, her body skinnier than she remembered—had her hands around Alison’s neck.
“Gina?”
Gina heard her mum’s voice, and right away she felt another thing switch inside her. Her heart began to race. A nervousness crept through her body; a pricking sensation, right up the back of her neck, right up her spine.
There were other people here. Just a few. Men, mostly. And they looked… familiar. Like the group that Gina had fled from a while back. Like the group of people that Gina had run away from—the ones who’d tried to kill her, and who she’d in turn killed one of.
They looked very much like a part of the same group as her mum.
“It’s really you,” Gina said.
Mum loosened her grip on Alison’s neck right away. She got to her feet, all wobbly, all shaky. Tears built in her wide eyes. Gina couldn’t tell as she walked towards her whether she was happy to see her or disappointed in some way.
She knew Mum wouldn’t like what she’d turned into. She knew Mum wouldn’t like the person she’d become. The person she’d had to become to survive.
“My girl,” Mum said. “My sweet princess. He was right. He was right when he said you were alive. He was right when he said you were out here, all along. Come here. Come here.”
Gina fell into her mum’s arms. And she felt the tears building up. It didn’t matter how much Mum smelled of rancid rot. It didn’t matter how awkward she felt about her bony arms being around her, not for a moment.
It just mattered that she was in her mum’s arms again. That she was safe again.
She held her for a moment. Felt the emotion. Felt the tears. But then she moved herself back, away, looked into Mum’s eyes. “What—what’s happened to you? What’re you doing out here?”
Mum wiped a tear from Gina’s face. “Oh, my sweet. You don’t have to worry about what I’ve been doing. You don’t have to worry about a thing. I’m here now. I’ve got you. Nobody’s going to hurt you anymore. Nobody’s coming for you anymore.”
“And—and Dad?”
Mum’s face dropped. Sadness stretched across it. Then a long, forlorn smile. “I’m sorry, dear. He isn’t with us anymore.”
Gina felt the words hit her like a ton of bricks. Dad. He was gone. She’d sensed it. Right at the back of her mind, she’d sensed it. But it still hurt, hearing it for certain.
She’d always hoped that one day, through some weird twist of fate, she’d see her parents again.
And she was here with Mum.
That was everything she’d ever wanted.
It’s just that something didn’t feel… right.
She wrapped herself around Gina again, and Gina couldn’t deny it. That sense that something wasn’t quite right. That sense of… awkwardness.
And that awkwardness was compounded by the look on Alison’s face.
“Why were you hurting her?” Gina asked.
Mum didn’t look like she understood. “Hurting who?”
“My friend. Why were you hurting her?”
“Because she was hurting me.”
“Alison’s my friend. She wouldn’t just hurt you for no reason.”
“And I’m your mother,” Mum snapped. “So you’d better do what you’re told and believe me when I say this woman isn’t good for you. You’d better believe me, right this second.”
She saw it, then. That look in Mum’s eyes. The look she’d seen so many times when she was younger. When she wanted to do something with her friends but couldn’t because Mum knew what was best for her. When she wanted to go on camping trips with school, but Mum didn’t let her.
That look for a moment like it would be the worst thing in the world to go against her. The worst thing in the world to betray her.
And then the guilt, and then the smothering, and then—
“No,” Gina said.
Mum frowned. “What did you just say?”
Gina took a deep breath. This was all still so surreal. Seeing her mum, out here, after all this time. None of it added up. None of it felt real. But she had to follow her instincts. She had to do what was right. “I’m saying that you’re—you’re wrong, Mum. Alison is my friend. She’s a good person. Whatever you’re trying to do to her here is—”
“She killed Ian, Gina.”
Gina wasn’t sure what she heard. Not at first. Wasn’t sure where it came from.
Then she looked over at Alison. Saw her crouching there, blood dripping down her matted hair. Looking at Gina with regret.
“What?” Gina asked.
Mum grabbed her arm. “Don’t listen to her—”
“What did you say, Alison?”
“These people,” Alison said. “They—they killed Ian. Back at the cabin. Stabbed him. She—she finished him—”
A punch. A punch across Alison’s face from one of these men.
Gina surged forward. “No!”
“Hush, Gina,” Mum said, going in to hug her again. “Hush, my girl. Don’t worry. You don’t have to worry about any of these people anymore. The man your friend talks about, he tried to hurt me. Tried to hurt your mother. He’s gone now. He isn’t with us anymore.”
The tension built inside Gina. The disbelief. Her mum. Her mum of all people. She was back.
But she’d killed Ian.
She’d murdered him.
“But you look so skinny, my dear. You look so skinny. You must be so hungry.”
Gina didn’t know what to say to her mum. She didn’t know what she was implying. But she knew what these other people wanted, so she didn’t have to connect too many dots to figure it out.
So she took a deep breath and told her mum what she needed to hear.
“There’s a place,” Gina said. “A place not far from here. A place that can help us. That can take us away from all of this.”
Mum’s face turned. Her lips curled. “Awh,” she said. “You believe that? Really? Gina, there’s so many things you have to learn.”
Gina frowned. “What’re you talking about?”
“It’s no safe place, my dear. It’s no safe place at all. Is that the kind of place you want to go? Is that the kind of world you want to step into?”
Gina shook her head. “It can’t be—”
“You’re safer with your mum, Gina dear. You always were a weak child. A sickly child.” She held out her hand. “Come on. Let’s go away from here. Let’s go back home. Back to somewhere safe.”
Gina looked at her mum’s hand. And on the one hand, she wanted to give up. She wanted to give u
p all her sense of responsibility. She wanted to be cared for again.
But on the other… she looked at Alison, kneeling there, bleeding, and she knew how wrong this was.
She took a deep breath and looked her mum in the eye. “I can’t come with you.”
Mum’s eyes narrowed. She looked… like she’d never looked before. Upset. Upset that Gina had actually stood up to her. “Why, my dear? Why would you say that?”
Gina’s bottom lip shook. “I… I want to. More than anything, Mum. But not like this. Not with these people.”
“But these people are my people.”
“But they aren’t my people,” Gina said. “I’m sorry, Mum. But you have to let Alison go. You have to let me go. If—if that’s how it is.”
Mum scanned her face. She scanned it to the point Gina had to look away. She couldn’t look her in the eye. She couldn’t face it. She’d barely even had the chance to process this moment, and already it was ending in a way she could never have imagined.
She glanced back up at Mum, and she saw something different.
Mum was smiling.
Smiling like she used to when Gina was a baby.
Smiling like she used to when she was so proud of her for doing well at school.
She smiled back at her. And for a moment, she felt that bond. She felt that connection.
Mum put a hand on her shoulder. “You’re not my Gina,” she said.
Gina frowned. “What—”
And then the next thing she knew, Mum lifted a rock and smacked it against the side of Gina’s head.
After that, there was blackness.
Chapter Forty-Three
Mike opened his eyes again.
He thought he was somewhere different. He thought he had been… transported somewhere. Somewhere he didn’t recognise. Somewhere unfamiliar.
But when he opened his eyes some more, he realised he was still lying there in the woods. Still staring up at the brightening sky.
Still very much alive.
He tried to turn. But turning hurt. Moving at all hurt. It made him want to gasp. Made him want to let out a sound.
But he couldn’t.
He couldn’t because he could see somebody by the tree.