I knew he was talking about his little brother Jordan but I also knew he wouldn’t want that on tape. I let it slide. “Okay, we’re done. Can you please send in the next person on your way out?”
“I’m the last person.”
“Well I guess I’m done too.” I stood and started packing away the camera and seats. Lochie helped, completely on his own direction. I would have found it sweet had I not known he was probably just doing it to show me how much better he was than Havi. I kept having flashbacks to the pier and what he said. That was the real Lochie, not the helpful and sometimes charming one with me now.
I went to leave but Lochie continued to follow me. He walked all the way to the AV club to return the camera and then to my locker. For a moment there I suspected Rob had hired him as my personal escort. If only I could have fired him.
“What are you doing?” I asked when he was still lingering at the lockers.
“Just standing here, is that a crime?” He shrugged, leaning against the lockers like he wasn’t planning on going anywhere else in a hurry.
“It’s creepy,” I replied.
“Oh, you think this is for your benefit? No, I like this particular part of the corridor. It’s my favorite.”
I shook my head, it was easier just ignoring him most of the time. Engaging in conversation only drew it out longer. I opened my locker and buried my head inside instead. At least the metal walls almost drowned him out.
I found the books I needed for homework that night and changed them with the ones in my bag. At least the workload wasn’t going to be too bad that night. Only a few short answer questions from one particularly zealous teacher.
Just when I was about to close my locker, a piece of paper fell out. It drifted to the floor in an elegant dance. I bent over to pick it up.
“Whatcha got there?” Lochie asked, taking a step closer to join me. I picked up the paper before he could see it, he was incredibly nosey when it came to things that didn’t concern him.
“None of your business.” I tried to read the note without him seeing. When I saw the words, I started shaking. This wasn’t just a note left by a friend. This wasn’t good at all.
We have Lola. Surrender yourself at Mansfield Beach at midnight or she’s dead. Tell anyone and she’s dead.
It felt like everything around me was spinning. I didn’t need to see them to know it was the men in suits. Only one organization that I knew of was trying to kill me and they were it. But worse, they had Lola. My best friend. My innocent best friend. She had nothing to do with the project and now they could be hurting her. My hands shook as I scrunched the note into my bag.
“Is everything alright?” Lochie asked, serious this time. All the teasing was completely gone.
“Yeah, I just… I just need to go.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” I repeated, trying not to sound like my entire life was over. I had to get to the beach and exchange myself for Lola. There was no way around it.
I didn’t wait for Lochie to reply before leaving. I headed for my car, hopefully still parked in the lot. Thank God my mom had a dentist appointment so I didn’t have to wait for her to pick me up today. I walked like a zombie, my mind in too much of a spin to send the appropriate messages to my legs.
I had no idea what else I could do. If I called Rob or my parents, the kidnappers would probably know about it. If they were prepared to kill an innocent teenager, I was sure they were perfectly capable and prepared to bug my phone. I couldn’t even alert my security, the kidnappers were probably watching me too. Someone had been close enough to me to put the note in my locker, there was no saying they weren’t keeping eyes on me the entire time.
I sat in my car, fumbling for my keys to start the engine. I needed to get to the beach so they would let Lola go. She had to be free and there was only one way to do that. I had to get a move on but my hands were shaking so badly it was seriously slowing me down.
It was a nightmare. A complete and utter nightmare. I should have listened to Rob. I should have been placed into protective custody from the start. At least then I would have been able to keep my friend safe. It was so selfish of me to demand to stay. If only I had a time machine, I would totally go back and make it right again. In a heartbeat.
Suddenly the door to my car opened. I jumped, gasping as I feared it was one of the men. I probably wasn’t going fast enough for them.
But it was only Lochie. I was actually relieved to see him, I never thought I’d say that. “Get out. What are you doing here?”
“You’re in no state to drive,” he commented, nodding toward my shaking hands. “What’s wrong? Has something happened?”
I wanted to push him out of the car but there was something stopping me. I couldn’t do it. Instead, I just stared ahead like a crazy person. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lochie sigh and lean over to the floor for my bag. He opened it, pulling out the note. I let him, knowing I could have stopped him at any time if I was still in charge of my body.
He smoothed out the paper and read it, his expression growing just as concerned as mine. “What’s this? Is it for real?” I nodded. “Who are these people? Why do they have Lola? Why do they want you?”
So many questions for such a short period of time. “They’re the guys that chased us the other day. They’re definitely for real and they’re going to hurt Lola if I don’t meet with them.”
“You’re not just meeting with them, you’re surrendering to them. What’s going on? What is so special about you?”
I was in too much of a state to tell him the whole story and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to either. I thought of the next best thing – a half-truth. “My parents are in the FBI.”
“Like the real FBI?”
“Yeah, like the one FBI in the world,” I replied. Even through the fog in my brain, he still managed to annoy me.
“You have to tell them about this then. Tell me you’re on your way home to show them this.” He looked at me so seriously, I would have laughed at any other time. “Amery, promise me.”
I shook my head slowly as I tried to keep the tears at bay. I wouldn’t cry, not when Lola’s life was at stake. “I can’t. If I tell anyone, they’ll kill her.”
“And they’ll kill you if you don’t.”
“I’m the one who got her into this situation, I’m going to get her out of it. I’m going Lochie, there is no other option.”
He scrunched up the note and thrust it back into my bag. “I’m coming with you then.”
My head snapped around to face him. “No, you’re not.”
“Yes I am. Let me help you. Can’t you just accept it for once? I’m trying to do the right thing here.”
Fire burned in his eyes, I hadn’t seen him like that before. My words surprised me just as much as they did him. “Okay.”
He leaned back in the seat. “Good. I’m going to pick you up at eleven tonight. I’ll be waiting on the street in my car. Will you be there?”
“Fine,” I sighed. It wasn’t ideal but having someone there did sound very appealing. He wasn’t a cop, security guard, or an agent. Hopefully nobody would care that he was my ride.
CHAPTER 15
I had to be normal around my parents. If they thought something was wrong even for a moment, I would have to tell them everything about Lola. And I couldn’t do that, it would ruin everything. I couldn’t put Lola in that situation. I would trade my life for hers, simple and easy.
I forced down dinner, despite feeling sick to my stomach. I forced a smile at my dad’s lame jokes and I helped with the washing up. Keeping busy wasn’t even working to keep my horrible thoughts at bay.
I pretended to go to bed and dressed in something a little warmer than just my shorts and t-shirt. I didn’t know what the men had in store for me. They could kill me on sight or they might take me somewhere. I needed to be dressed for whatever they were going to throw at me. I doubted they would care if I was warm enough or not.
&n
bsp; By the time it was eleven, I was a nervous wreck. I wanted to vomit and collapse at the same time. Yet instead I managed to sneak out my window and hide in the bushes until I saw Lochie’s car. He had parked a few houses down, just like I asked him to. At least for once in his life he followed my directions.
I slinked around the garden, my eyes glued to my security detail parked across the street. If they saw me, it would be all over. They would probably be worse than my parents, they didn’t really care about hurting my feelings.
Slower than I thought possible, I opened the passenger side door of Lochie’s car and slid in. Keeping my head down, I still knew I hadn’t made it yet. “Thanks for coming.”
He started the car. “You would have done it anyway without me. At least this way I can keep an eye on you.”
He did a u-turn and drove in the opposite direction so he wouldn’t have to pass my house. I was grateful he had thought it through.
Only when we were three blocks away did I sit up in the seat. “Did you have to sneak out too?”
“No, I just told my mom I was going to pick up a girl I know from school and deliver her to a group of kidnappers so I could exchange her for another girl I know from school.”
I looked at him, trying to work out if he was serious. I never knew with Lochie.
“I snuck out, Amery.”
“Sorry you had to do that,” I replied sincerely. “You didn’t have to get mixed up in this. I told you I would be fine.”
“Yeah, like this is fine.”
We drove the rest of the way in silence. There was no point convincing him I was doing the right thing. He didn’t know the truth about me, he didn’t know what was at stake. If it meant the Department would continue on with the project and my people would be able to come to Earth, then my sacrifice would be worth it.
Of course, that didn’t mean I wasn’t petrified about what was about to happen. Despite popular belief, I didn’t have a death wish. I had a lot more to do with my life and the last thing I wanted to do was end it abruptly. But I didn’t want Lola’s life to end abruptly either. She had nothing to do with the project, she didn’t deserve it. Maybe I did.
Lochie pulled the car up at Mansfield Beach and we looked around. The place seemed to be deserted. “Should we get out?” I asked.
“I have no idea. They didn’t cover this in school.”
We remained where we were. I figured they would make themselves known when they wanted to. It wasn’t like there were any other teenagers sitting in cars around the place.
“It’s creepy here at night,” I said. The beach was only lit by the moon and a few streetlights over the parking lot. Anything could have been hiding in the shadows.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Lochie asked. “It’s not too late to call someone for help or leave. I can take you wherever you need to go.”
“They have Lola, I have to do this.”
“So why take Lola when they want to get to your parents? Why didn’t they just take you in the first place?”
“Because I have-” I stopped short of telling him about my security detail.
“Because you have what?”
“What’s with all the questions?” I sighed, knowing he had every right to ask them. It wasn’t like we were sitting in the park on a sunny day watching a parade. He gave me a look telling me the same thing. “I have a security detail watching me at all times. If I didn’t come willingly, I wouldn’t be able give security the slip. If they took me, everyone would know about it in a second.”
“Your parents aren’t just in the FBI, are they?” Lochie stared at me, expecting an answer. I was in too much of a mess to keep lying.
When I opened my mouth to tell him what I really was, another car pulled up across the parking lot. Relief flooded through me, we could finally get the swap over and done with.
Two men got out of the car and headed for the beach. They were wearing black suits, exactly the same as the ones who had chased us through the school.
“Show time,” I said, climbing out of the car. Lochie moved too. “Stay in the car, I can do this. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“Wherever you go, I’m going too,” Lochie insisted. Why did he have to be so annoyingly gallant?
The men stopped in the middle of the beach. We joined them. My eyes flicked everywhere, trying to see a trace of Lola. Surely they couldn’t have killed her anyway? They had to give me a chance at doing the right thing.
“We said tell nobody,” one of the men started.
“He’s nobody,” I replied, nodding towards Lochie. Hopefully he wouldn’t take it as an insult. “Where’s Lola? You said we would do a swap.”
“We said she would die if you didn’t come here. There’s a difference,” said the other one, slightly shorter and rounder than the other.
“But Lola, you have to let her go.” All my hopes of doing a clean swap completely went down the drain. It wasn’t fair they could do that. They shouldn’t have been able to say who lived and who died.
“We don’t have to do anything.”
Without warning, strong hands gripped around my waist. I frantically looked around, Lochie was being held by a large man too. We were being dragged toward their car, completely immobilized. It didn’t stop me thrashing about though. I did everything I could to fight against the man’s strong hands but I was barely a blip on his radar.
“Let Lochie go! He’s got nothing to do with this,” I yelled, trying to at least get them to listen to me. I didn’t want them taking Lochie too, I didn’t want to be responsible for another person getting hurt.
In response, one of the man’s hands clamped over my mouth. I tried to bite him but I couldn’t open my mouth to do it. It didn’t stop me trying desperately though.
With one swift movement, everything went black as a hood was placed over my head and I felt myself being placed on a hard surface. The man held me down while another bound my feet and wrists together. Next, they took off the hood long enough for them to tie a gag around my head. I couldn’t move and I couldn’t scream.
Before they put the hood back on, I glimpsed my surroundings – I was in the back of a van. Lochie was on the floor beside me. They obviously tied him up first, probably because he was much more of a threat than I was. They must have been strong to be able to get him to submit.
I felt a prick on my elbow and pain travelled up my arm. It only took a moment for me to go to sleep and be completely at their mercy.
The next thing I became aware of was the horrible taste in my mouth. I had to blink a few times to see everything clearly. I was in a room with nothing in it – literally. I was lying on the floor with everything still tied up and the gag in my mouth. It couldn’t be the piece of material leaving the metallic taste on my tongue. It had to come from whatever they had injected me with.
Straining against the rope around my wrists, I tried to see if there was any give in my bindings. Unfortunately, they had done too good of a job tying me up. It was impossible to move anything. Even my fingers didn’t want to move as they were starved of a solid blood supply. It wouldn’t take long before I was in a great deal of pain.
Seeing the room empty made me panic. What had they done to Lochie? He was definitely with me in the van at the beach. What could they have possibly done between there and wherever here was? I felt sick thinking about it.
The door suddenly slammed open, making me gasp involuntarily. One of the men stormed in, roughly pulling me into a sitting position. I trembled with fear but I didn’t want him to see it. I didn’t want him to see any of my weaknesses.
“We’re going to have a conversation, Amery,” he said, yet it sounded like a threat. “You are going to tell me the truth about everything or your little friend is dead. Nod if you understand.” I nodded. “Good. Now I’m going to take this off but you better not scream or I will punch you so hard your head will spin around in a circle. Understand?”
I nodded again, I believed in his promise. He
waited for another moment until he was certain I had processed the information. He then untied the strip of material from around my head. The relief was instant as the blood returned to my lips. I tested my jaw, it was stiff and sore.
“Okay, let’s start from the beginning.” He pulled a chair in from the hallway and closed the door behind himself. The noise echoed around the room. He looked down at me with wild eyes. “Tell me about the project.”
“Where’s Lochie and Lola?”
“Lola is with my colleague, safe and sound for now.”
“What about Lochie? The guy that was with me on the beach?” The lack of knowing was killing me.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said seriously, without any sarcasm in his voice. It set off alarm bells in my head.
“You took him too. He was with me in the van, I saw him.”
He just shrugged. “Tell me about the project.”
“I don’t know anything about a project, you’ve got the wrong person,” I lied. The second I told them what they wanted to hear, I knew my value would zoom down to zero. While I remained quiet, they couldn’t dispose of me. At least that was what I was counting on anyway.
“So you’re not Amery Jones, participant number nine-two-one in Project Integrate?”
“That’s my name but I don’t know what you mean about Project Integrate.”
His hand shot through the space between us and his knuckles collided with my jaw. My head whipped sideways with the impact as pain registered a second later. My jaw throbbed, shooting out bursts of pain in all directions. My head swam with stars in front of my eyes.
“The truth now, Amery, because I can do this all day.” He flexed his fingers as if showing me he was completely unscathed and unaffected by my hit. “Tell me what you are.”
“I’m Amery, we’ve already established that.”
“You’re not a human.”
Project Integrate Series Boxed Set Page 12