The Lost Kids
Page 9
“Can you feel that?” Olivia asked. She was always the one who conducted his session.
Phinn shook his head. “I don’t feel anything,” he said.
As soon as the ceiling in BioLark turned to dusk, each of them was taken to a private room and connected to a heart monitor for what Olivia dubbed punire tests, which Phinn knew was the Latin verb for “to punish.” The tests included a prick of a needle, an electric shock, a knife dragged across the small of their back, or a lit cigarette pressed into their skin. It supported Phinn’s theory that BioLark was developing its own form of painkillers, and that they needed to see how well rahat suppressed the damage they were inflicting. Or maybe Olivia and her cohorts were just a bunch of sadists. Either way, the drug made their nerves numb enough to withstand the tests, but did nothing to help with the cuts, burns, and bruises that were marring their formerly youthful flesh. The scars Phinn had before the experiments were no longer visible beneath his new wounds. But Phinn would have gladly accepted a thousand more cuts if it meant he could skip the interrogation portion of the sessions. Perhaps Olivia was trying to figure out if rahat also eased emotional pain.
“Where’s Wylie Dalton? What did you do to her?”
Olivia always asked the same questions, and Phinn always declined to answer. Tonight was no different.
“How old were you when your parents died?” she continued.
“Five. I was five when my parents died.”
“And how did they die?”
Back when Olivia lived on the island, she was always badgering him about his mom and dad. She complained that Phinn had too many walls. She seemed to think that if she could get to the root of how he lost his parents, she could be the first girl to heal him of the trauma.
“They killed themselves,” Phinn muttered, as his heart monitor remained steady.
“How?” she asked. This time, the monitor made high-pitched beeping sounds and Olivia marked down notes on her clipboard.
“No comment.”
By nighttime, they were subjected to the most demented activity: a party hosted by Olivia. All they wanted to do was retire to their bungalows and go to sleep, but Olivia insisted on the late night soirees. Didn’t she have a life outside of her work? A partner or children? Didn’t she have anywhere else she’d rather be?
It had been ten days since she’d plucked them from the island and, apart from when they were sleeping, the BioLark staff lingered nearby at all times. Even when they were alone, Phinn assumed their conversations were being listened to. Phinn wished he’d done more on the island to prepare them for a kidnapping of this scale. If only they’d developed a secret language they could use to covertly plan an uprising. Phinn and Maz called the revolt they wanted to organize “prom night” and kept their conversations as vague as possible.
“We’ll have to wing it,” Maz whispered the night before.
Phinn had nearly laughed. Rebellions may have been improvised along the way, but they needed some level of planning and organization. Neither he nor Maz had spotted an exit out of the building. Even if they could get outside, there was no way of knowing how to get away or where they were. Sedated on Minor Island, they’d all woken up with no idea how they’d arrived here. It was right out of Phinn’s own playbook.
But Maz was right. They didn’t have the luxury of planning their rebellion. Their only option was to lead by example and hope everyone else followed suit. The kids outnumbered the BioLark staff two to one. There were strong girls and boys among them. The teenagers could take over the place and force their way out.
* * *
“Thank you for another great day on BioLark’s Minor Island!” Olivia shouted to everyone from the top of the waterfall. “I speak for our entire staff when I say this place never felt complete until we brought you here. With your help, we are going to change the world.”
They knew to applaud. She gave the same speech at every party, and, though they secretly wanted to jeer and call her insane, they clapped and cheered. But Phinn knew if they kept this degree of feigned loyalty up every night, they might eventually start to believe it.
He needed to put a stop to it. He needed to get them home. With any luck, maybe Wylie was already there, waiting to greet them. He waited for the Youth Brigade to start their set and then he found Maz standing in line to get a sugar root.
“Tonight,” he said to him. “Right now.”
Maz nodded. Phinn stood in line with him. He was glad Nurse Conway was the one lighting the sugar roots on fire and handing them out as soon as they burst open.
“Good evening, Phinn,” Nurse Conway said with disdain. He was completely devoted to Olivia, and didn’t like the fact that Phinn had hurt her as a teen.
“Good evening,” Phinn replied.
He watched as Nurse Conway lit a match and held it up against the bulb of the sugar root until it expanded and burst. Phinn had to act quickly. It only took the plant a few seconds to cool off enough to be eaten. Phinn grabbed the treat and pushed the bulb straight into Conway’s eye.
His screams were so loud everyone could hear them over Bailey’s singing. From there, it was mass chaos. Maybe Phinn had been wrong. Maybe you could stage a rebellion out of nowhere. He wrapped his hands around Nurse Conway’s neck and started squeezing. He didn’t plan to kill him, but he needed him weak and disoriented. In the distance, he could see Joshua grabbing another staff member and shoving him against the trunk of a palm tree. Bandit and Patrick fought off several orderlies that had them surrounded. Maz and Aldo held Olivia back as she screamed at them to stop, but they didn’t have to listen to her anymore. This is it, Phinn thought. We’re going home.
“You’re going to get us out of here,” Phinn said to Nurse Conway. His eye was already swollen and closing up from where the sugar root had burned him. “I will take my hands off your neck, and you will show us to the exit. Understood?”
But before Phinn could make good on his promise, he felt a wave of exhaustion rip through him. His eyes were drooping and the sounds of confusion and chaos were getting quieter.
“Today is going to be the first day of the rest of your life,” Olivia had told them that morning, but it turned out it was just another day of being her hostage.
* * *
There were wrinkles on her forehead. They were harder to see from far away, but Olivia’s face was peering at his. Phinn wasn’t sure if she had tears in her eyes or if his vision was just blurry from whatever drug he was coming off of. He wanted to reach out and pull his mother’s necklace off her neck, but he was afraid of how she might retaliate. He’d already asked for it back a million times, but Olivia refused to part with it. She said he’d given it to her years ago and that it technically belonged to her.
“I’ve tried so hard to make everyone here happy,” she lamented now. “I’ve been so good to you. Why would you want to leave?”
Phinn looked around. He was back in his bungalow. Maz was asleep in the bed next to him.
“Are you kidding? You sound like a deluded elder,” he whispered to Olivia. “You’re keeping us prisoner.”
“I’m taking care of you,” she argued. “We had to sedate you for your own good. You’d never survive outside here on your own.”
“In what universe is being here considered surviving? You’re treating us like we’re cadavers at a medical school.”
Olivia laughed. “That’s a bit dramatic.”
Phinn wished he could take a time machine to the day they were on the beach and he’d discovered the gray hairs growing on Olivia’s head. What if he’d said nothing? Why couldn’t he have just let her stay? Lola’s extended family of seventeen-year-olds had warned them about what happened to adults on the island. He thought they were only trying to make up excuses for his drug-addled parents, but maybe the island would have found its own way of getting rid of her, and none of them would be here right now.
“You have nothing to worry about, toy soldier,” Olivia said as she walked to the door. “Haven’t you heard? Men are like fine wine. They only get better with age.”
CHAPTER TEN
the lion’s den
a loose thread from the blindfold tickled the bridge of Wylie’s nose. She puffed up her cheeks and blew on it for brief respites, but the string kept landing in the same spot. She tried to pull her arms out of their restraints to adjust it, but Dr. Jay had tied thick and complicated knots that didn’t allow for wiggle room. It had been hours since she’d gone to the bathroom, and they couldn’t pull off at a rest spot to empty their bladders. A windowless white van, with five blindfolded kids in the back of it, wouldn’t exactly make them the most inconspicuous travelers. Why did she think it was a good idea to slurp down three bowls of stew on the boat? If the drive lasted much longer, she might have to pee her pants to get some relief.
“How far are we?” she called out.
“About twenty minutes away,” Dr. Jay shouted back.
“I’m going to throw up,” Lola whispered next to her.
For parts of the ride, it felt like they were traveling over roads riddled with potholes. Every bump and turn sent them careening from one side of the van to the other. Lola had never ridden in a car before, and not being able to look out a window only intensified her motion sickness.
“We’re almost there,” Wylie told her. “But if you need to puke, you can totally puke on me.”
Wylie wanted to offer more words of consolation, but she was too busy taking mental notes on their journey. At least the blindfold heightened the rest of her senses. She estimated that three hours had passed since they’d parked the boat and boarded the van. They’d been told they were traveling upstate, but that narrowed their destination to dozens of towns. An hour into the drive, the van slowed to a stop and Wylie heard the high-pitched whistle of a train barreling over rickety-sounding tracks. After they crossed the tracks, the car made a sharp left turn, and then continued driving straight for another hour until making a right turn. The bumps became more pronounced and Wylie assumed they were no longer driving along a paved road. She could hear the ping-ping of loose gravel hitting the windshield. There were also stretches where Dr. Jay rode the brakes as they went downhill. Aside from frequent commentary from Tinka, the group was mostly quiet during the drive. Tinka didn’t seem too concerned about BioLark or their missing friends. She was just thrilled to be in a car and away from the ocean.
“This is the most fun I’ve had in months,” Tinka announced.
“I’m gonna take a wild guess and say you don’t get out much,” Dr. Jay called back to her.
“I have an adventurous spirit, Doc. But I could have done without the restraints.”
The blindfolds and rope were a surprise twist in Dr. Jay’s plan.
“Olivia’s got eyes and ears everywhere,” he claimed. “It has to look like I forced you here against your will. Plus, when I started at BioLark, I signed an NDA that said I would never share the location of the facility. I’d like to avoid getting sued by my boss on top of everything else.”
The paranoia reminded Wylie of a documentary her dad had made her watch with him. The film was about a cult defector who was convinced he was being watched and followed by his former leader. He slept with the lights on and kept a knife under his pillow at all times. She wondered if Dr. Jay would do that for the rest of his life, too. Back on the boat, he forbade them from discussing their plan once they reached the States.
“Someone might be listening,” he’d warned them.
The cell service at the harbor was spotty, but Dr. Jay had been able to reach an old friend who was willing to bring him a van, no questions asked. They’d cut a pillowcase in strips to make the blindfolds. Hopper already had plenty of rope on the boat to tie their hands up.
“This is crazy,” Micah whispered, as Wylie tied the blindfold behind his head. “If he’s just using us, we’re the world’s biggest idiots.”
Wylie thought about how her intuition had told her to trust Dr. Jay. If Wylie Dalton thinks someone’s trustworthy, she thought wryly, then surely they’re bad news. Especially if that person is a guy.
But she remembered the tears she’d seen fill his eyes when they’d buried his colleagues at sea, and how she’d heard him curse Olivia under his breath. His throat had constricted as he’d told them that, like most of BioLark’s employees, Charlie and Kevin had no families that would miss them. But it was clear that he wouldn’t forget them any time soon.
In the end, it didn’t matter if Dr. Jay was lying to them. He was their only way into BioLark.
The van pulled to an abrupt stop. Wylie heard Dr. Jay turn off the ignition, unfasten his seatbelt, and slam his door shut as he stepped out of the car. A few minutes went by until he popped open the back doors.
“Get out,” he ordered. His tone was cold and distant.
They slid toward the brisk air and sunlight that was pouring in. It was hard to steady themselves without using their arms for balance, but it felt good to stand and stretch their legs. Wylie could hear Lola retching her guts out.
“Sweet Jesus,” Dr. Jay said. “Here, have some water.”
Lola mumbled a thank you. Dr. Jay offered them each sips of water, and told them to prepare themselves for a long walk.
They must have been in a secluded place. Dr. Jay wouldn’t parade around five blindfolded teenagers in a populated area. Wylie guessed they were walking through woods. Leaves crunched below her feet and she was overwhelmed by the perfume of maple syrup. Maple trees didn’t actually give off a strong scent, but she’d cooked with candy cap mushrooms before, and their aroma of sugar and maple still lingered in her olfactory memory. Maybe they were in an area where the mushrooms grew. Or maybe she smelled fenugreek. She couldn’t decipher the difference under duress.
When leaves and branches obstructed their way, Dr. Jay had to grab their arms and direct them, one by one. The most treacherous stretches of the hike entailed crossing streams with aggressive currents and slippery rocks. They waited patiently on the other side as Dr. Jay guided them individually over each rock. Even with full use of her arms and eyesight, Wylie would have been terrified of getting swept away by the current. It was probably better that she couldn’t see the water they were crossing.
“You have to move faster,” Dr. Jay yelled as Wylie briefly sat on a rock to catch her breath. The contempt in his voice was palpable. He sounded like a counselor from one of those wilderness camps for troubled youth. Wylie fumbled and her feet slipped into water up to her shins. Her socks felt like wet sponges for the rest of the trek.
“How do we know you’re not going to murder us in the middle of nowhere?” Tinka asked.
“You don’t,” Dr. Jay replied. “Now keep it down.”
“But I want to know where we are,” Tinka continued to press.
“Tinka, it’s okay,” Micah encouraged her. “You all right, Wylie?”
“Fine, just a little damp,” she called to him.
Wylie never thought she’d accept Tinka as her brother’s girlfriend, but the more time she spent with them, the more she realized how good they were together. They kept each other calm in times of crisis and communicated with a brief look or gesture. Micah’s bouts of anxiety had subsided and he didn’t seem to rely on alcohol anymore to get him through the day. They preferred not to discuss the fact that Wylie’s dad and Tinka had been involved with each other, and Wylie didn’t care to remind them. Despite their unique circumstances, Micah seemed genuinely happy for the first time since he was a baby. Tinka had the ability to draw him out of his shell, and for that, Wylie would be eternally grateful. There was a time when he would have been in the throes of a
panic attack right now, but instead he was the one making sure everyone else was okay.
“Stay right here,” Dr. Jay snapped at them. “Don’t move unless you want to get hurt.”
His harsh disposition was just for show, Wylie told herself. This was part of the plan they’d agreed on together. Dr. Jay needed to make it look like they were unwilling hostages.
A high-pitched beeping sound echoed through the woods. It was followed by the click of an intercom.
“How may I assist you?” a raspy male voice asked.
“Get Olivia, now. Tell her Dr. Jay is here. I found five more kids on the island, and I brought them back.”
“Are Dr. Porter and Dr. Cowell with you?”
“They didn’t make it,” Dr. Jay replied, without a trace of regret or sorrow.
After a few agonizing minutes, Wylie heard the sound of an electronic door slide open.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Dr. Jay warned them, and led them inside.
As they followed him through the entrance, the air instantly felt ten degrees warmer. Oddly, it felt like the sun was beating down on them. They walked in single file down what seemed to be a narrow hallway until they were ordered to stop. Wylie heard the ding of an elevator, and Dr. Jay guided them inside. From the brevity of the ride, Wylie assumed they’d only gone up one floor.
Once the elevator doors opened, Dr. Jay practically pushed them out. Wylie was comforted by the scents of pineapple and coconut. Wherever they were, it smelled like vacation.
“Don’t be scared,” a woman’s voice said. “We’re not going to hurt you. We brought you here to take good care of you.”
“Is that you, Olivia?” Tinka asked.
“In the flesh,” Olivia answered, “though I’m a smidge more wrinkled than the last time you saw me.”