“We were playing skirmish with a group of people from school and we got hit,” Lochie said, lying his pants off. I had to give it to him, it was a pretty reasonable excuse for the bruises. Hopefully Mrs. Mercury wouldn’t realize you were supposed to wear helmets when playing skirmish.
“I didn’t know you were going to play skirmish of all things today.”
“It was a last minute type of thing.”
She seemed satisfied, changing the subject. “So Amery, Lochie tells me you’re very clever. Have you chosen a university yet?”
“I’m keeping my options open.” It seemed surreal to be sitting there in such an ordinary setting, answering questions about my future, when there was so much extraordinary stuff going on. If I pinched myself, I was sure I would wake up from the whole ordeal.
“Lochie has early acceptance, did he tell you that? I’m so proud of him.” She looked at her son so lovingly it made me wish I could go home to my own parents. I would love to be wrapped in my mom and dad’s arms and told that everything would be alright.
“Mom, I’m sure Amery doesn’t need to hear all this,” Lochie interjected.
“Okay, okay, I get the hint.” She stood, holding up her hands in defeat. “I’ll leave you two alone. The news is on anyway.”
“Sorry about that,” Lochie whispered.
“It’s okay.” I finished my meal, sad to see the last of it go. I probably would have had dessert too if there was any. There was no guarantee when I would be able to eat again. I had to take it when it was available.
We returned to the living room, the clock striking eight as we did. Mrs. Mercury, who looked so much like her son with her bright blue eyes it was eerie, was watching the news. She stopped us. “Darling, do you know this girl?”
We paused, seeing Lola’s face splashed across the screen. Her crying parents were huddled together, a sober looking policeman standing at their side.
“Turn it up,” Lochie ordered, getting closer to the screen.
I felt sick at seeing the scene. When Lola didn’t return home from school yesterday, her parents obviously reported her missing. With no signs of her whereabouts, they were appealing to the public for any information they might have. They described her as a seventeen year old, five foot six, black hair, and with multiple piercings in her ears. She was last seen at Portview High School.
It should have made me happy knowing the police were looking for her but I couldn’t help but feel terrible that I was to blame for the entire thing. Lola should be at home with her family, they shouldn’t be crying their eyes out at her disappearance.
As if he could read my mind, Lochie grabbed my arm and discreetly pulled me towards the front door. “Amery is going home.”
“Thank you for dinner, Mrs. Mercury,” I said, trying to keep my voice from shrieking.
“You’re welcome, come around any time,” she called out in response.
Lochie shoved me through the door and whispered: “Come around the back.”
I stood in the dark, watching him close the door. If I wanted to run and try to find Lola that night, now was my opportunity. I was alone and nobody could stop me.
Except I was so tired I could barely function and I had no idea where to start looking for Lola. I didn’t have a car, my phone was dead, and I was wearing borrowed clothes covered in my own blood. Plus, it was dark and I was being hunted by an organized group and probably the Department too.
I plodded around the side of the house like a zombie. I would use the time in the night to figure out how to rescue Lola. If I had a plan, I would have a better chance at finding her sooner. If I was blindly searching, my chances were slim to none. The men were organized so I would have to be too.
Lochie was waiting for me at the back of the house. He smuggled me inside and up the stairs to his bedroom. It was starting to become familiar. Much more so than I ever expected.
“Take a shower and I’ll find you something else to wear,” Lochie said, turning on the television to cover our voices. I did as told, the hot water stinging my shoulder. I probably needed a few stitches to close the wound, I was going to have a serious scar there when it eventually healed. My parents wouldn’t appreciate the fact I had ordered Lochie to cut into me with a fishing knife. I would even incur their wrath to see them right now.
The something Lochie found me to wear was one of his shirts. It was big on my small frame but soft and clean so I shimmied into it gladly. He was sitting on his couch, watching the television intently. It felt weird being in his bedroom wearing only a thin shirt. I was less dressed than I would have liked.
“I found some plasters for your shoulder, I can put on some cream if it you can’t reach.” Lochie nodded towards the assortment of first aid supplies he had put on the coffee table. There was a decent assortment. “My brother is always hurting himself, we have all sorts of things to repair him.”
I picked up the tube of cream, I could probably put it on my shoulder again if I went by touch but there was no way I could get the band aids in the right spot. I would most likely stick them to my shirt and have to start all over again. “Would you mind helping?”
“Of course not,” he replied, patting the spot on the lounge next to him. I settled there, undoing the top few buttons of my shirt so I could slip my shoulder out. It wasn’t helping with my naked feeling.
“This might hurt,” Lochie warned before he gently smeared on the antiseptic cream. I flinched at the sudden cold sending pain shooting through my shoulder blade. It was definitely going to be sore for a while.
I could hear Lochie breathing as he worked. It did seem like he was trying to minimize my pain which I was immensely grateful for. He patched me up effortlessly.
“You might not want to sleep on your back tonight,” he suggested as I did my shirt back up. I turned around, not realizing he was still so close. Our faces were so near it wouldn’t have taken much of a movement for our lips to meet. Ugh, I should not even have been thinking about that. Our near death experiences had severely clouded my judgment, clearly I wasn’t thinking straight.
“You take the bed and I’ll sleep on the couch. My mom won’t come in so she won’t find you here.”
I shook my head. “I’m not kicking you out of your own bed, I’ll take the couch.” It was a nice couch, I could easily fit comfortably. Plus, I was so exhausted I probably could have passed out on the floor.
“I’m not letting you sleep on the couch. It’s either the bed or I throw you out.” We stared each other down, waiting for the other to blink first. Unfortunately, that was going to be me. I was too tired to argue, especially with the king of arguments. He would make a good lawyer.
“Fine,” I sighed. “But if you change your mind, then just say it and I’ll switch.”
He waved me away like I was the one irritating him. I climbed into bed as Lochie turned the television down to whisper quiet. My head wasn’t even on the pillow before I fell sound asleep.
My dreams were plagued with nightmares about being tied up. I was completely immobilized and at a shadowy figure’s mercy. At one stage in my dreams I turned around and saw Lola there with me. She was crying and pleading for me to help her. I wanted to but I was still bound. My silent screams woke me up.
Daylight was peeking in through the blinds over the windows. The alarm clock flashed that it was just past five o’clock. I turned over onto my good shoulder. Lochie was still asleep, spread out on the couch. At least he looked to be sleeping peacefully. He actually looked adorable as he slept. His face was serene, his bare chest moving up and down rhythmically. I had never noticed before how perfect his muscles were, it was like they had been photoshopped onto his chest. Clearly, I was delusional with stress.
“Like what you see?” Lochie’s voice made me jump as he opened one eye and then the other. My face started to burn with embarrassment. He was asleep only a second ago, I was sure of it.
“Thinking that I’ve never seen anything stranger, actually,” I shot bac
k. I couldn’t believe he had just caught me checking him out. He would never let me forget that.
He sat up, looking at me more intently than I was comfortable with. It was one thing sneaking a peak while someone was supposed to be asleep, a whole other deal to blatantly ogle them. I pulled the covers a little higher, trying to cover what was left of my dignity.
“You’re bleeding,” Lochie pointed out, standing and hurrying across the room in an instant. “You seriously need stitches on that cut.”
I looked around, there was a worrisome amount of blood not only on my shirt but on the sheets too. The first thought that popped into my head was that I was a terrible house guest. “I’m really sorry.” He sat on the edge, tugging at my shirt collar. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to look at it. Undo the buttons.” He looked at me, waiting expectantly. He raised his eyebrow when I just stared at him. “If you don’t, I’ll do it for you. We’ve got to stop your shoulder from bleeding.”
I reluctantly undid my top button and he instantly slid the shirt from my shoulder. I craned my neck but couldn’t really see anything.
“The gauze is completely soaked through. Jump in the shower and I’ll dress it again. Make sure you get lots of water onto it.” When I didn’t move, he pushed me along like I was a child.
“I need to clean your sheets,” I protested. “I’ll have a shower then.”
“The sheets will be fine, go. Seriously, Amery, go.”
He pushed me again and I finally went. The water hurt like hell on my shoulder. It burned much worse than my embarrassment only a few moments earlier.
I jumped out of the shower and wrapped the towel around me, leaving it relatively loose at the back in case I was still bleeding. I didn’t need to ruin the towel too.
All of a sudden, the door flew open and Lochie jumped in, closing it behind himself just as fast. We stood face to face, barely a breath between us. I instinctively pulled the towel higher, hoping it was covering everything I needed it to. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Shh.” He put a finger to his lips, shushing me. “My mom is out there, she thought I was in the shower.” I stood there, motionless. Lochie’s eyes, however, wandered over me.
“Don’t look,” I whispered as harshly as I could. If I thought I felt naked the night before, now I was actually naked. And it felt even weirder, especially when Lochie started grinning.
We listened as soft footsteps padded through his bedroom and then out again, the door closing with a low thud.
“Is she gone?” I asked.
“I think so.”
“Then get out!”
He made a show of looking me over once more before taking a step back and leaving me to dry off. I shook my head slowly and waited as some clothes were slipped through the door. Lochie had found me another t-shirt, this one light blue, and a pair of black shorts. Simple and functional.
I stepped back into the bedroom, ready to get started for the day. I was determined to find Lola before sundown. Lochie efficiently attended to my wound before heading for the shower himself.
I stopped him at the door. “Do you mind if I use your computer?”
“Go ahead.” He nodded towards his laptop. “The password is Britney.”
“Why is-” I cut myself off, not really wanting to know why his password just happened to coincide with the name of the head cheerleader at school. I probably didn’t want to know the answer. Actually, I was certain I didn’t want to know. “Never mind.”
Lochie closed the door and I waited to hear the water gushing before I logged onto a site I often visited. It was message board, dedicated to the pursuit of the truth. Which basically meant it was a bunch of people with conspiracy theories trying to get support from likeminded people.
I kept an eye on the boards that discussed aliens. It was more out of curiosity than anything. So many people were sure the human race was being invaded by little green men. They were right about some things, but wrong on so many more issues.
Sometimes I felt an urge to set them straight, especially when some of the more zealous believers talked about how the aliens were intent on wiping out the human race. What they didn’t realize was that aliens would have no reason to wipe them out. We didn’t want to run the planet by ourselves, it was a far greater option just to unite and slot into the population. We had feelings, just like humans, we wouldn’t want to hurt people.
I didn’t have time to check the usual boards so I went to start a new thread immediately. I quickly typed a message, asking for anyone who had heard of a new organization that was trying to wipe out any supposed aliens on Earth. It was a long shot but it was all I could think of to find out more about the organization that had Lola. Some of the people that posted were too accurate not to know something about what was really going on.
I let the screensaver take over the screen and grabbed my phone. Lochie had attached the charger overnight so it was fully usable. I called home first. The number was still disconnected. Next, I tried my mother’s cell, it rang and was answered quickly.
“Amery?” Her voice was a relief to hear on the other end.
“Mom, I’m so glad you answered.”
“Where are you, honey? Tell us where you are and we will be there straight away.” She sounded tired.
I ignored the question, just in case someone else was listening in on the conversation. One thing I had learned early on from the Department was no phone line was safe, every word was able to be eavesdropped on. “Mom, why is the home phone disconnected?”
“It’s a precaution, the Department thought it was best. Where are you?”
“I’m safe but they have Lola. They took her from school the day before yesterday,” I said, trying to fight back the tears. Why was it you always went to pieces when speaking with your parents? It was like I was back to my five year old self again.
“We saw the news,” Mom replied. “Agent Bower said they couldn’t do anything. We can talk about that when we see you.”
I knew I had to say the words that I didn’t want to. “I’m not coming home until I find Lola. I’m sorry, Mom.”
She sighed. “Amery, there is so much we need to talk about. The project is being put on hold, did you know that?”
“Rob told me.”
“We need to discuss the future… as a family.”
“Have you chosen to be reassigned?” My voice was barely a whisper. My heart stopped in the silence that followed. The question shouldn’t have required a long time to think it through. They were either reassigned, and therefore giving up being my parents, or they were staying with me.
“No, we’re staying with the mission,” she finally replied. There was something in her voice that worried me, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. I wished I could just tell them Lochie’s address and let them pick me up. To hand over the controls to someone else would have been so nice.
But I couldn’t be sure they would be as keen to find Lola as I was. “Good. Stay safe, Mom. I’ll call you when I can.”
“No, Amery, tell us where you are. Your father and I are so worried about you. Without the protection of the Department-”
I cut her off. “I’ll be fine. Just look after yourselves. I promise, Mom.” I hit the end button and the line went dead. I turned off the phone. Cells were way too easy to trace and no doubt that would be the next step in tracking me down.
Lochie lingered by the door to the bathroom, steam escaping from the room behind him, making it seem like he was emerging from a cloud. Or a music video.
“The olds want you back, huh?” He said, nodding toward the phone. Trust him to be listening in on every word I said. I had never met anyone as snoopy as him.
“They want me to go home, yes.”
“You don’t think they can help? Aren’t they FBI agents?” He crossed the room and sat on the lounge, still staring at me intently.
“They’ll try to stop me looking for Lola,” I started to explain, not entirely
sure how. My parents still worked for the Department, it was ingrained in them to trust and obey orders. If the Department wasn’t interested in finding Lola, then my parents probably wouldn’t be either. “They’ll side with the FBI.”
“And the FBI don’t want to find a kidnapped seventeen year old? Isn’t that their job?”
“Not when it doesn’t suit them.”
Lochie nodded, but I’m not sure he fully understood. I didn’t blame him, I would think I was a little nuts if I wasn’t me. Talks of the FBI and secret organizations sounded like something out of a science fiction movie. It didn’t sound like the life of a teenage girl.
The computer started beeping in the silence, I spun the chair around and moved the mouse. Someone had replied to my message.
“What’s that?” Lochie asked, standing to see over my shoulder. I quickly minimized the screen.
“Nothing, just a message. Do you think you could find us some breakfast?” I looked up hopefully.
“Are you cool with toast?”
“Sounds perfect,” I replied with a smile. He left me alone in the room so I could read in peace. The last thing I needed was more questions from Lochie and, if they revolved around alien talk, I didn’t know what I was going to say.
I read through the message, posted from a member I didn’t recall seeing before. His message was simple, he had heard rumors of an organization that were currently hunting aliens. They apparently had some really good leads and the organization was very well funded.
I sent the poster a private message, asking for their location and whether they would speak to me about it more privately. I waited and waited for a response. His icon said he was still online so I just needed him to respond before time ran out.
Lochie returned, handing over some buttered toast. I sat on the lounge and ate while I stared at the screen. He flicked on the television to kill the silence. At least he wasn’t interrogating me again.
Finally, a new private message alert sounded. I clicked on and read through. The guy was in Maudesville, about a half hour drive from town. He said if I was serious, he would meet me but it would have to be at a location he stated and at a time he set. He sounded paranoid, probably with good reason. I sent back a message that I agreed to his terms and hit send.
Project Integrate Series Boxed Set Page 17