“Ame,” Lochie mumbled as I reached the door. He didn’t physically stop me that time.
“I need to go,” I replied, not meeting his stare. I waited for him to say something else but he didn’t. I placed my hand on the doorknob, desperate to hear him ask me to stay. I didn’t want to leave, I needed him to want me to remain. But it didn’t look like it was going to happen again.
“Ame,” he repeated. My heart skipped a beat, I needed him to say the words I wanted him to. Surely he wouldn’t let me go? Surely he didn’t want me to leave? How had we gone from being so excited about spending the night together to… this?
Perhaps he didn’t want me to stay. Perhaps that was the moment we broke up and would never see each other again. That kiss in the elevator might have been our last kiss and I had no idea at the time. There would never be anymore.
It was over. Done. Final.
“I’ll drive you home,” Lochie muttered the words that absolutely shattered my heart into a thousand pieces. I couldn’t answer, all I could do was nod and hide the tears as they welled in my eyes. He wasn’t my boyfriend anymore. I wasn’t his girlfriend.
It was over. Done. Final.
We didn’t say one single word to each other as we found his car in the parking lot. The ride across town to get home was exactly the same. At least in the darkness he couldn’t see the tears falling down my cheeks anymore. I couldn’t hold them back any longer, nor did I really care to.
A part of me was really angry at Lochie, even through my hurt. He had said he loved me. He had given me no warning signs or indicated he was going to end it. Had he spent our entire date knowing we were going to break up? Was he going to spend the night with me knowing? I thought he’d changed from the old Lochie, perhaps I was just fooling myself.
“What’s going on?” Lochie said as we pulled up outside my home. I looked at the house, trying to work out what he was talking about. I wasn’t in the mood for some cryptic message.
All the lights in my house were on and the front door was open. Considering it was after midnight, that definitely shouldn’t have been the case. I wasn’t that late for my curfew, surely they couldn’t have been overreacting already?
I slipped out of the car without answering Lochie. He didn’t have a right to know what was going on anymore, we were done, remember? He could run home to this mother and forget all about my dramas.
My sole focus was on getting inside the house and working out what was going on. I took long strides across the lawn and hurried in through the door. Adoptive Dad was on the phone, pacing around the foyer. I kept moving and found both of my mothers in the kitchen.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
They both turned to face me but it was Adoptive Mom that spoke first. “The police are on their way to arrest Garrick. They’ve sentenced him to death.”
“They’re going to kill him,” Birth Mom added, like it wasn’t clear.
I shook my head, certain I must have heard wrong or someone had got the details jumbled. Garrick hadn’t even had a trial yet, they couldn’t make any sentences when he wasn’t even found guilty. “What are you talking about? He’s on bail.”
“There’s no time to explain,” Birth Mom wailed. “We have to get ready.”
“Ready for what?” I didn’t get an answer from them so I left to find Garrick. At least he was normally a bit calmer in an emergency. And this definitely seemed like an emergency.
I almost ran into Lochie as I spun around. I didn’t have time to care why he was still there. He wasn’t my problem anymore either. I stepped around him and headed upstairs.
I caught my birth father in the hallway between the bedrooms. “Dad, what’s going on? Why are they coming for Garrick tonight?”
“They said they’ve bypassed all natural courses of justice due to the circumstances of the case. He’s been sentenced to death in a closed courtroom tonight. We knew nothing about it.” His voice was shaking a little in his state.
“Does Krom know?”
“Leader Krom has been informed but there is nothing he can do. He said we had to follow the humans’ legal system.”
“That’s not the legal system,” I insisted, even though it wasn’t like my protests were going to make any difference. “What are we going to do? We can’t let them take him.”
“We’re getting him out of here.” Dad placed a comforting hand on my shoulder before hurrying downstairs.
I could still hear Adoptive Dad in the foyer as he spoke into his cell phone. God only knew who was on the other end but I imagined it was probably someone high up in the Department.
I ran for Garrick’s room and found him shoving everything he owned into a backpack. “Where are they taking you? Who’s going?” I had a million more questions but those were the two most pressing.
He looked like a scared little boy when he stopped for a moment to reply. “I don’t know. Kyle is coming to pick me up. I really wish he’d hurry.”
“I’ll pack, I’m coming too.”
“No, you’re not. This isn’t your problem, Amery.” I seriously disagreed. Garrick hadn’t abandoned me when I most needed him and I wasn’t going to do it to him now.
“There’s no time to argue, I’ll go grab some things.” I didn’t wait around for a reply. I sprinted for my room and threw some clothes and underwear into my overnight bag. I probably took all the wrong things but it didn’t matter. The only thing that counted was getting Garrick out of there before the firing squad arrived.
I ran downstairs with my bag and collided with Lochie again as he stood with my adoptive father – who had finally ended his phone call.
“Dad, I’m going with Garrick,” I said. There was no question about it, the remark was a statement that I wouldn’t argue about.
To my absolute surprise, he actually nodded his head. “I figured you would.” He placed both his hands on my shoulders, making me look him directly in the eyes. I knew that was a trick he used to make sure the person was listening to him and had no distractions.
“Amery,” he started. “You need to keep yourself and Garrick safe. Promise me you won’t do anything stupid and you’ll do everything in your power to return to us in one piece. Promise me.”
“I promise, Dad. I’ll come back, I promise,” I said sincerely. I had no intention of getting myself hurt or killed. I didn’t have a death wish, I just wanted everyone to be okay.
He let me go and hurried out the front door. Lochie stepped in my way. “I’m coming too.”
Was he serious? “No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
I didn’t have time to argue. I stepped around him and raced outside where all my parents were huddled together as they waited at the curb. Garrick and Lochie were by my side in no time.
Within seconds, a white van pulled up and Kyle jumped out. He tugged open the side door. “Get in. We need to move.”
Garrick thanked my parents and jumped in. Just as I was giving them each a hug and promising to keep my word, another car pulled up. My heart stopped when I assumed it was the police.
But instead of the cops, Lola raced out of her car. She ran over, her cell phone in hand. “Thank goodness you’re all right,” she exclaimed. My confusion jumped up about ten levels at her arrival. Pretty much everyone important to me was now standing on my front lawn and it was past midnight.
“Lola, we have to go,” I said quickly. My parents could fill her in once we left. The clock was ticking and it was literally a life or death situation. I climbed into the side of the van, noticing Lochie sitting in the back already. I didn’t see him slip in.
“I’m coming with you,” Lola declared as she jumped into the front of the van next to Kyle. She threw her car keys out the window and my adoptive mom caught them.
Kyle hit the accelerator before anyone could argue or discuss the matter any further. We screamed down the road, testing the van’s limits as we wound around the
corner and into the darkness of the night.
Nobody spoke. It was eerily quiet and calm in the back of the van. The adrenalin was still bursting through my veins and making every one of my senses stand on high alert. Everything had happened so quickly that I still wasn’t sure what on earth was going on.
We reached the city limits and kept going. Kyle’s gaze was focused on the road as he kept the van barreling along. He had slowed down a little, making sure to stay within the speed limit so he didn’t attract any police attention.
“Um, where are we going?” Lola finally asked. She directed the question to the van at large, probably hoping at least one of us would have an answer.
“Far away from here,” Kyle replied. Gee, that was helpful. I wondered if he actually had a destination in mind or if we were just driving blindly with the aim to put distance between us and the Portview Police.
“What were you doing at my house?” I asked, the curiosity getting the better of me.
Lola twisted around in her seat to look at me in the back. “Your parents called. They said they couldn’t get you on your cell and needed to contact you. They thought I might know where you were.”
I remembered my cell phone, it was still turned off in my handbag. I pulled it out and switched it back on. There were twenty-three missed calls and double that in text messages. “I had it turned off. I’m so sorry you got dragged into this.”
“Are you kidding? This is an adventure! We’re in a getaway car,” she replied, full of enthusiasm that the rest of us didn’t feel. “Except, you know, it sucks about your situation, Garrick.”
Garrick snorted under his breath. “Yeah, it definitely sucks.”
“So where were you all night with your phone switched off, huh?” Lola asked.
I really wished she didn’t. My gaze met Lochie’s as he kept his mouth firmly shut. So much for coming to my rescue and helping me think up a quick lie. I couldn’t rely on him for anything anymore.
I wouldn’t care about telling Lola everything, I probably would eventually anyway. However, I really didn’t want Kyle and Garrick knowing about my disastrous evening.
“We went out for dinner,” I finally replied. It was true, after all.
Lola pursed her lips together, no doubt knowing there was much more to the story. Especially with my eyes ringed in red and I was sure I probably looked as horrible as I felt.
But Lochie wasn’t my main problem anymore. Garrick’s situation was much higher on my priority list and deserved all my attention.
Nobody said a word in the dark van after that. We were driving on roads that didn’t even have street lights so it was impossible to see where we were. I prayed Kyle had a plan and an end destination in mind. We had to stay out of sight and we definitely couldn’t let the police get their hands on Garrick. I still didn’t know exactly why they thought they could murder him, but I would do everything in my power to get in their way.
“Everyone got their seatbelts on?” Kyle asked after a couple of hours. We all mumbled a yes in response. “Good, hang on. It’s about to get bumpy.”
The car swung violently as Kyle took us around a corner. He wasn’t kidding about the bumps. I jumped up and down in my seat in the rough ride. It was starting to make my stomach sick with nausea. Thank goodness for the seatbelt, otherwise I would have shaken right out of my seat.
The van rattled with the uneven road surface. It sounded like it might fall apart at any moment. The windows shook and the suspension groaned. I hoped it would make it to wherever we were going.
Lochie’s hand was gripping the seat between us, right next to where my hand was holding on for dear life. Once, we would have been holding each other for that support.
All of a sudden we stopped. The silence was deafening after all the rattling. “We’re here.”
“Where’s here?” I hoped the answer was one I wanted to hear.
“It’s our new ride,” Kyle replied. Apparently he couldn’t answer one question with a straight answer tonight.
We all got out of the van and followed Kyle. He was heading for a row of trees. The moon sat high in the sky, casting a glow through the canopy. Unless we were going to be riding in an invisible car, I had no idea where he was taking us.
Alone in the deserted woods in the early hours of the morning, it was more than a little freaky. If I could have still called Lochie my boyfriend, I would have been glued to his side for some comfort. Instead, I was walking as far away from him as possible. He shouldn’t even have been there, it was so stupid of him to come along.
“This place is creepy,” Lola commented. I looped my arm through hers. It was supposed to be a gesture of comfort for her, but it was for me too.
“The creepiest,” I agreed. The only good thing was it was unlikely a policeman would spring from the trees anytime soon. I couldn’t imagine seeing anyone in the woods.
I stepped on a twig and the snap almost gave me a heart attack. I gripped onto Lola’s arm tighter and continued on. The faster we walked, the sooner it would all be over. At least that was my theory.
We started trailing behind the guys and I pulled Lola along a little faster to catch up with them again. The last thing I wanted to do was to be lost in the dark woods for all the wild animals to find me. Their beady eyes were probably already watching our every move from the shadows.
A bright light shot through the trees. It was big, easily far bigger than a car. We caught up to the boys and stopped. The woods opened up to a small field. It was probably only the size of a couple of trailers put together but it was big enough to use as a landing pad.
We were standing in front of a spaceship. The rings of light were illuminating the trees, casting darts of shadows in all different directions.
A door opened slowly, making a whooshing sound as it pushed out and down to reveal a set of stairs. I finally understood what Kyle meant by changing rides. We weren’t going to be travelling in a car anymore. We were going by spaceship.
CHAPTER 13
“Oh my God,” Lola muttered under her breath. Her mouth was hanging open as she stared at the spaceship.
The crafts had been on the news for months now, it shouldn’t have been a surprise about what they looked like. But seeing one up close, with all its lights on in full glory, it really was something else. I doubted I would ever get used to it. A spaceship would never be normal for me.
Kyle moved to stand on the stairs leading up to the open doorway. He turned to face us. “Amery, Garrick, we need to get going before they find us. You two, go back to the van. If you follow the trail back to the main road and turn left, it will take you onto the highway. You’ll be able to find your own way home from there.” He threw the keys to Lochie.
Garrick hurried up the stairs to get inside with no hesitation. I couldn’t move, my feet weren’t obeying the commands of my brain. Mainly because my mind was too preoccupied trying to take in the idea of going onboard the spaceship.
Lochie held out the keys for Lola to take. “I’m not going back. Here, Lol, take these.”
Lola stared at them, looking from the keys to the ship before shaking her head. “I’m going with them. You can keep your keys.”
I could not have my best friend and my… ex-boyfriend risking their lives by flying in that craft with us. They had a life here, I couldn’t let them do it. “Are you two crazy? This isn’t some kind of fun video game. You need to get in the van, go home, and get on with your lives.”
They both stared at me, wide-eyed. Lochie didn’t say anything, he simply brushed past Kyle and stormed up the stairs. He disappeared into the bright light.
I had to reason with the one person that was still reasonable. I took a step closer to Lola. “You need to go home, Lola. Seriously, I have no idea where we are going or if we’ll ever come back. Don’t be an idiot, go home. Please.”
Her gaze met mine. I could see the conflict in her eyes. Then her face relaxed into a smile. “I’ve always wanted to be abducted by aliens.” Sh
e was out of my reach and up the stairs before I could drag her back.
That only left me. Out of everyone there, why did it seem like I was the only one hesitant to get onboard the spaceship? I was the alien, I should have been the first to sign up.
“Amery?” Kyle prompted. “Do you want to take the van?”
I laughed nervously. “Lochie has the keys.” It was a joke, but a part of me wasn’t joking. If I had the keys in my hand, my decision might have been easier to make. And I might not have been proud of that decision.
“The ship is safe,” he offered. Like that was my problem. I wasn’t even thinking about the safety concerns of the ship until he mentioned it.
I needed to suck it up and remember why I was there. It was Garrick’s life at stake. I could not leave him when he needed me the most. I was not that kind of a girl, I was not that kind of a friend.
My decision was made. I took each step one at a time as Kyle followed me toward the light. It was so bright that I was momentarily blinded.
Inside, my eyes had to blink several times to get accustomed to the light. It was a stark contrast to the dark woods. Everyone had already found a seat on the high-back chairs lined up in the middle of the room. The interior was a round circle with a million buttons and lights on the walls and consoles. A man sat at the controls, I had never seen him before.
“This is Roch,” Kyle made the introduction, except he didn’t bother telling the guy all our names. “Anyone want to change their mind before we close the door?” I looked around as I sat down next to Garrick. Nobody was moving. “Fine. Let’s get going, Roch. Fasten your seatbelts, everyone.”
He sat down next to Roch and tightened his own belt. I pulled mine as tight as I could while still being able to breathe. All the faces around me looked worried, even though we were all trying to be brave.
The only other time I had been inside a spaceship was when I had first come down to the Earth. I had been just a baby then so had absolutely no recollection of what to expect. I didn’t even like flying in commercial airplanes. I somehow doubted this would be better than a jumbo jet.
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