Outside

by Sewell, Nicole

  “We probably shouldn’t just drive in,” I say.

  Drew nods beside me, leaning forward in his seat to look up at the wall.

  I pull off into the grass just to the left of the gate and turn the car around, backing it up so we can make a quick get-away if we need to before killing the engine.

  “Okay,” Drew says. “We’re here. Now what?”

  “We go in.” I reach for my door handle.

  “What if there’s a bunch of them in there? We can just go in there unarmed.”

  I scowl at him even though he can’t see me. “I’m fresh out of guns.”

  “You got anything in the trunk? A machete or something?” He glances out the window nervously.

  “A machete? Are you serious? You think I drive around with a machete in my car?”

  Frustrated, he throws his hands up. “You know what I mean!”

  I sigh. “There’s a tire iron in there. And a jack handle, probably. But seriously-”

  “I call the tire iron,” he says, opening his door.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  ADAM

  Drew creeps up to the gate holding the tire iron over his head, ready to strike. I roll my eyes and walk past him.

  “Quit fucking around,” I say quietly.

  “Dude,” he hisses. “You can’t just walk in!”

  It’s too late, though. I’m already walking through the gate, unarmed and ready to tear this whole place apart if I have to. Maybe it’s the adrenaline, but I feel invincible right now.

  “Look.” Drew jogs to catch up and uses the iron to point at a white, early 90’s model Toyota parked just inside the gate.

  My heart leaps. I know it’s Alaina’s mom’s car. It’s just like the one she described when she first told me her mom had been following us. And if her mom’s car is here, Alaina can’t be far.

  I take off up the dirt road that leads to a cluster of white buildings.

  “Adam! Wait!”

  Ignoring Drew, I keep running until I’m in the center of the cluster. This place reminds me of a plantation I visited on a field trip in fourth grade. To my left, there are dozens of small white houses. On my right are a couple of larger buildings with one massive white building in the center. And directly in front of me is an all-white church with soaring steeple and stained glass windows that seem to glow from within. The gaudy gold crucifix at the top catches the moon light and winks down at me.

  “This place is bigger than I thought it’d be,” Drew says, catching up with me.

  “We need to split up,” I say, eyeing the houses. “You start at that end.” I point at the furthest house.

  “So what? Just bust down the door?”

  I roll my eyes. “No. If she’s in there, we don’t want to tip her mom off. Just sneak up and look in the windows. If you see something, text me. And put your phone on silent.” Turning, I head toward the first house.

  The first three houses I check are empty. The front door on the fourth house is wide open.

  Creeping up the front steps, I stop and listen for movement inside. I don’t hear anything over the noise crickets and tree frogs.

  Should I go in? I could be walking in to a trap. Or worse, another crime scene. I push that thought out of my head.

  Just as I’m stepping into the house, my phone goes off, buzzing in my pocket. I fumble for it and read Drew’s message.

  Someone’s out here.

  Scowling at my phone, I look up, scanning the area for movement. It’s too dark to really see anything.

  The clang of metal on metal cuts through the night, drowning out the crickets and frogs momentarily. It echoes off the buildings and I can’t pick out where it came from. Seconds later, it comes again followed by Drew yelling for me.

  I tear down the steps and toward Drew’s voice.

  “Adam!” His screams grow more frantic and terrified.

  Just when I think I’m getting close, he lets out one last strangled yelp and everything goes quiet.

  Skidding to a halt, I duck into a shadow between houses and wait, my heart in my throat, adrenaline and sheer terror pumping through my veins.

  What the hell could have happened? There’s no way that someone Beth’s size could have overpowered Drew, tire iron or no. Unless there’s someone else here. Maybe Alaina’s mom had help.

  Scraping sounds startle me out of my thoughts. Inching forward, I peek around the corner of the house. There, in the light of the moon, I watch a shadowy figure drag something limp and Drew-sized out from between the houses, across the gravel driveway, through the grass, toward the church. It’s impossible to tell if it’s a man or a woman from this distance. Whatever the case, now they have Alaina and Drew.

  Stepping back, I press myself against the side of the house and squeeze my eyes shut, swallowing the panic that’s starting to take hold. I need to keep calm and come up with a plan, but my ability to form coherent, rational thoughts is seriously fucked up right now. I just keep thinking I should go get in my car and drive it straight into that church.

  No. That would be stupid. I could end up hurting Alaina or Drew, and wrecking our only escape option isn’t smart either.

  Call the cops. Yeah.

  I dial 911 and the operator picks up on the second ring. Before I can say anything, a woman’s voice filters through the night air.

  “Adam?”

  I stiffen, listening to the operator ask if everything is okay. “No,” I whisper.

  “I know you’re out here,” Alaina’s mother calls.

  Shit.

  “I know all about you.”

  Swallowing hard, I work up the nerve to glance around the side of the house again. She’s standing on the steps of the church wearing all white, which leads me to believe that she wasn’t the one dragging Drew a few minutes ago.

  I duck back and press myself against the side of the house again. “They kidnapped my friends,” I whisper into the phone.

  “Sir, you’re going to have to speak up. I can barely hear you,” the Operator says.

  Frustrated, I hiss a little louder, “Shiloh compound on route 19. Send lots of cops.” I don’t wait for a response. I don’t even hang up. I just shove my phone back in my pocket and wait.

  “I know why you’re here,” Alaina’s mother continues. “But you can’t have her.”

  This woman is nuts. I could take her. I could just rush her, tackle her, force her to show me where Alaina and Drew are. But if she’s not working alone… I need to figure out who else is out here and where they are.

  “Found him,” a man shouts from somewhere behind me.

  I glance to my right in time to see a shovel sailing toward my face. I duck out of the way and it hits the side of the house hard enough to stick in the siding. A shadowy figure struggles to pull it free and I use the opportunity to run.

  There’s nowhere to go, though. As soon as I emerge from between the houses, the woman in white, Alaina’s mom, is waiting for me.

  “Don’t run, Adam. There’s nothing to be afraid of.” she says. “I’ll take you to her so you can say goodbye if you’d like.”

  Goodbye? Holy shit! Are these people planning on killing me?

  I shake my head and turn to run in the other direction. I don’t make it more than a few steps before Shovel Guy appears in front of me. I take short, shallow breaths, sizing him up for a fight. We’re about the same height, but he’s bulkier. And he’s got a shovel.

  My thoughts are scattered. Do I rush him? Could I take him? Is it worth the risk of taking a shovel to the face?

  “Okay,” I say, turning back to Alaina’s mom. “Take me to her.”

  The woman nods once and then turns her back, heading back toward the church.

  Shovel Guy nudges me in the back. “Go on,” he says.

  Inside, the church is lit by hundreds of candles. If it weren’t for the strange symbols painted on the walls with what looks like blood, I’d think I was in a regular, small town church.

  Following
Alaina’s mom toward the pulpit, I glance at the pews, expecting to find Drew laying in one of them. They’re empty, though.

  The woman glances back at me. “I hope you understand I’m only trying to do what’s right for Alaina.”

  She looks so much like Beth, it’s uncanny. “Right,” I say, shrugging one shoulder. “Stalking and kidnapping your daughter is like, the epitome of good parenting.”

  Her eyes flash in the candlelight. She doesn’t say anything, though. Instead she leads me through a door behind the pulpit that opens to a flight of stairs lit by even more candles.

  “You got her locked in a tower?” I ask. “How cliché.”

  “It would be in your best interest to stop talking,” she says.

  Shovel guy presses the shovel into my back as a warning as we begin to climb the narrow, steep stairs. The adrenaline that got me this far starts to wear off and my body trembles. As much as I want to find Alaina and Drew, I don’t want to find out what’s at the top of these stairs.

  An idea pops into my head. Not a good idea, but it may buy me some time while I wait for the police to show up. As we climb higher, I slow down so Shovel Guy is pretty much breathing down my neck.

  “Let’s go,” he says. The stairs are too narrow for him to use his shovel to push me up the stairs.

  “Sorry. Just a little winded,” I say taking a few more clumsy steps.

  Frustrated, he stomps up the stairs until he’s directly behind me, and that’s when I turn on him, shoving him hard with both hands on his chest. Face to face for the first time, I realize this guy isn’t much older than me. His eyes widen and his hands fly out in an attempt to steady himself, but I shove him again and he loses his footing.

  His body topples down the ancient wooden stairs and his shovel goes with him, taking out a couple of the candleholders along the way before landing on top of him at the bottom of the stairs.

  “Elder Hanson!” Alaina’s mother starts down the steps, but stops when I turn to her. Her jaw clenches and for the briefest moment, fear flickers across her face.

  I start up the steps and she hesitates before turning and running the rest of the way to the top with me gaining on her as I run up two at a time.

  At the top of the stairs, she pushes through a door and tries to bar the way, but I’m just quick enough to get my foot in the door.

  “No!” she screams, throwing her weight against it.

  “Alaina! Drew!” Maybe if one of them hear me they can help. She may not be a particularly large woman, but she’s a lot stronger than she looks. I shove my shoulder against the door and push with everything I have until it opens just enough that I can wedge more of myself inside.

  Suddenly, the door swings wide open with no resistance and I fall inside the cramped, dusty, candlelit room. Before I can right myself, she swings something at me and catches me in the side of the head. I stumble to the side, my vision blurred momentarily.

  “Let the wicked and the unrighteous become a feast for the birds of the heavens,” she says, swinging again.

  This time I’m ready for her and block with my forearm. Pain shoots up my arm like lightning and I grit my teeth before charging forward, knocking her back. She goes down and the broken broom handle she was wielding falls to the floor and rolls, resting against someone’s shoes. Drew’s shoes. He’s slumped over next to a dusty file cabinet, bleeding from a gash in his forehead that disappears into his hairline.

  Still woozy from the initial blow, I blink and glance around to get my bearings. The room is cluttered with old furniture, crates full of old junk, and boxes stacked on top of each other, and pushed against the walls, collecting dust. The only wall in the room that isn’t stacked with crap is the far wall where there’s an arched stained glass window. Directly in front of the window, in a chair with her head drooped forward and her hair obscuring her face, is Alaina.

  My first instinct is to go to her. To drag her and Drew out of here. But her mom is on her feet again. “The Lord has given me a gift, Adam. He has made me His hand and given me prophetic visions.”

  I back away as she creeps toward me, smiling in a way that makes my skin crawl. “That’s…neat, I guess. What does that have to do with Alaina?”

  Across the room, Alaina’s head lifts and she groans.

  “She isn’t your concern,” her mother snarls. “Alaina has a higher calling. A bigger role to play and if I could just get people like you and my sister to stop filling her head with lies, she’d be able to see like I do.”

  She backs me into a pile of old boxes. Over her shoulder, Alaina’s wide, terrified eyes meet mine before they drift to where Drew is, still unconscious.

  I’m not sure what to do now. I can’t just punch Alaina’s mom in the face right in front of her. Even in this totally bizarre, fucked up situation where it would probably be totally justified, I can’t bring myself to do it.

  Outside the door, there’s a dull thud, followed by a metallic scraping.

  Shit. Shovel Guy is up.

  Her mother’s eyes go to the door and she takes a step back. “If you move, I will kill you,” she says, poking me in the chest. “Do not test me.” Taking another tentative step back, she keeps her eyes on me as she reaches for the door and opens it. “Elder Hanson? Is that you?”

  His reply is muffled and she frowns before slipping out the door and pulling it shut behind her.

  I waste no time. I cross the room and kneel at Alaina’s side within seconds. “Are you okay?” I ask. Her hands are tied behind her back and the rope has been looped around the back of the chair, binding her to it. I pull at the knots.

  “You shouldn’t have come.” she hisses. “She’s crazy. They both are.”

  I free one of her hands and work on the other. “I noticed.”

  “She thinks the Lord is speaking to her.” She glances at Drew and her face crumples. “Is he…?”

  “Not sure,” I whisper, pulling the final knot out of the rope. I can’t think about that right now.

  “How will we get out of here? She’ll never let us go.”

  I kiss her and press my forehead against hers as I pull my phone out of my pocket. The call is still connected and I hand it to Alaina. “I called the cops. They should be here any minute. We just need to buy some time. Do you know the address here?”

  She shakes her head, staring at the screen.

  Noise on the other side of the door startles both of us.

  “Hide that,” I hiss, gesturing at the phone. “Pretend you’re still tied up.”

  She clasps her hands behind the chair, still holding the phone, and not a moment too soon.

  The door flies open and Alaina’s mother helps Shovel Guy inside.

  “I told you not to move!” She barks at me, abandoning Shovel Guy, who collapses against a rotting bookshelf.

  “Mother, please,” Alaina pleads. “Don’t hurt him!”

  Her mother thunders across the room and kicks me square in the chest, knocking me onto my back. All the air goes out of my lungs. “He’s evil, Alaina! A vile, wicked sinner who wants nothing more than to turn you from your true calling!” She kicks me again, this time in the ribs and I wheeze, doubling over. I should’ve punched her when I had the chance.

  “No! He…” Alaina’s eyes shift to me. “He can be saved!”

  “I decide who is worth saving, not you! And if you contradict me again, you’ll regret it!” She turns to Shovel Guy. “Get another chair.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  ALAINA

  It’s agonizing having to sit still and watch Mother and Elder Hanson mistreat Adam. They tie him to a chair with an old extension cord that Elder Hanson found in one of the many old crates in the room and set him directly in front of me. I hold his phone in my unbound hands, silently praying that the police show up soon.

  Elder Hanson punches Adam. “That’s for pushing me down the stairs!”

  Adam blinks, but doesn’t say anything, even when blood starts to trickle from his lip pier
cing. He keeps his eyes on me and I know that when this is all over, if we survive, he’ll never want to see me again.

  “I want you to understand something, Alaina,” Mother says.

  I can’t bring myself to look at her. I can’t look away from Adam, even when my vision starts to blur behind unshed tears.

  “You are better than this.” She nudges his leg with her foot. “This boy doesn’t love you. He’s using you. They all are. Disguising themselves as saviors, telling you that they have all the answers.”

  “That’s not true,” I say, shaking my head.

  She leans down until she’s an inch from my face and smiles. “It is true. Ask him. Ask him if he loves you.” She straightens and I blink back a fresh wave of tears.

  “No,” I whisper.

  She laughs. “Of course! Because you already know! No one loves you except for me.”

  “Beth loves me,” I say.

  “Beth was being paid by the state to take care of you,” Mother snaps. “She loves that monthly stipend she gets for letting you live in her house. She doesn’t love you.”

  I falter. Does Beth get money for keeping me? Is that how she was able to buy all those clothes for me? And why she insisted it was no big deal when I got fired from my paper route? Did she agree to take me in for material reasons?

  “I bet she didn’t tell you about that, did she?” Mother walks behind Adam. “You see, Alaina? They’re all liars. They turned you against me, turned you against the Lord, for their own selfish gain.”

  A fat, hot tear rolls down my cheek as I stare at Adam. I don’t want it to be true, but it almost makes sense.

  He shakes his head slightly. “Don’t listen.”

  Elder Hanson hits Adam again and I push the doubts out of my head. Not everyone who showed me kindness had something to gain. Jacki, for one, was kind when she had no reason to be. The same for Serena.

  I glance at Drew’s lifeless body. This boy that I barely know, have never spoken to directly, risked himself for me. No, Mother is definitely wrong. “Why are you doing this?” I ask, narrowing my eyes at her. “Why not just let me go?”