The Girl In Between series: Books 1-4

by Laekan Zea Kemp

  “You know, grandma, I’m sure we could find another room down the hall,” I offered, desperate. “I think the one next door’s empty. I’ll just run downstairs and—”

  “Oh, don’t be silly, Bryn. I’ll just take the bed next to the window.” She tossed her suitcase on the table, her clothes spilling to the floor. Then she climbed under the blankets and closed her eyes.

  Dani and I just sat there, staring at each other in the silence.

  What the hell, Dani mouthed.

  I shook my head, letting out a deep breath.

  “And no staying up talking all night,” my grandmother said. “I’m exhausted.”

  Twenty minutes later she was snoring and Dani and I were sitting in the bathroom, trying to decide whether or not we could sneak out without her noticing.

  “The problem is getting back in,” I said.

  “I know.” Dani rolled her eyes. “I couldn’t even sneak Felix into my room the whole time she was staying with us. I swear that woman doesn’t sleep.” Dani lowered her voice even more. “She’s probably listening to us right now.”

  There was a loud snore on the other side of the door.

  “Then what do we do?” I asked.

  Dani shrugged. “I mean it is dark outside. How thorough could an investigation really be right now? Maybe we’ll just have to wait until morning.”

  “Wait…?”

  “I know you don’t want to but what other choice do we have?” She lowered her voice. “Unless you think that he might be…in danger. Unless you think maybe we should call the police.”

  I leaned against the wall.

  “Well?”

  I shook my head. All I could think about were the shadows and I knew they weren’t exactly something the police would be able to handle or something they’d even believe. “We’ll wait until the morning.”

  Dani nodded. “Then just try to get some sleep. At this rate we’ll be up at the crack of dawn and then we can say we’re going to do something touristy and we won’t be back until dark.”

  “I forgot you’re the conniving one,” I said.

  Dani reached for the doorknob but I didn’t follow. She slumped back down next to me with a yawn.

  I waved a hand. “Go ahead. I’m just not that tired yet.”

  “Really? Because you look exhausted.”

  “I just know I won’t be able to sleep anyway. And maybe he’ll call. I don’t want to miss it.”

  Dani leaned her head on my shoulder. “Then I’ll wait too.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “You’re not the only one who will probably have trouble sleeping,” she said.

  “Is this about Felix?”

  Dani’s voice was thin. “It’s about everything.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She stretched her legs across the bathroom floor. “You know what I have to look forward to after this trip? Absolutely nothing.”

  “That’s not true.”

  Dani fiddled with a bobby pin she’d found in the grout. “It is. I screwed up, Bryn.” She faced me. “You want to know why I didn’t apply for college? Because I was scared. I was scared that I wouldn’t get in and I was scared that if I did I would have no idea what to do next. I don’t know what I like or what the hell I want to do with my life.”

  “But that’s what college is for. So you can figure that out.”

  “Yeah, and go broke in the meantime. You know how many things I’ve quit in my life? Dance classes, cheerleading, gymnastics, ceramics, karate, soccer.”

  “Debate club,” I added, “the spring play.”

  “See?” Her head fell against the wall with a thud. “I quit everything.”

  “Is that why you’re quitting Felix?”

  “I’m not quitting.”

  “Not yet but you want to.”

  Dani let out a broken laugh. “You know how many times I’ve already tried to sabotage our relationship?” She chucked the bobby pin across the floor. “He doesn’t give up.”

  “And neither should you. He’s good for you, Dani, and I know you love him.”

  “But what good is that if we’re broke and living in a shitty apartment? What good is that when we can’t pay our bills because all either of us have is a high school diploma?”

  “That sounds like an excuse.”

  “Or the truth.”

  “No. Who cares if you live in a shitty apartment and all you have is a high school diploma? You’ll have each other.”

  “I think your relationship with Roman has made you delusional.”

  “And I think your fear has too.”

  Dani collapsed on my shoulder again. “I don’t want to tell him I’m afraid.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because then he’ll try and fix it and he can’t.”

  “You’re right,” I said. “Felix can’t fix it. You have to.”

  Dani yawned. “I know.”

  “And you will.”

  “I…” She yawned again. “I will.”

  I watched her face in the mirror, her eyes drifting closed. They still looked lost but that trace of sorrow, of something sinister that I had seen in them when we’d first touched in the lobby wasn’t there. With every inhale her arm brushed mine but I wasn’t jolted back to that forest where she was twisted in pain and all I could do was watch.

  I tried to breathe in rhythm with her, to relax but all I could think about was the helplessness I’d felt as I’d watched her in pain and how it hadn’t been the first time I’d felt it. My dad’s face had been gripped in the same anguish that day he’d hugged me at the airport. One touch and I’d been transported to a strange place to watch him suffer.

  But it had been weeks and there’d been no tragic news of something happening to him and I hadn’t seen that time or place again. Maybe it didn’t mean anything after all. Maybe it was just another short in the circuit of strange symptoms I’d been experiencing. Maybe the vision of Dani didn’t mean anything either.

  Dani yawned again, part of her still fighting to stay awake. I hooked an arm around her waist.

  “You’ll fix this,” I said. “Starting tomorrow.” Then I led both of us to bed.

  It was a tight fit and I’d shared a bed with Dani enough times to know that not only would I not be getting any sleep tonight but I’d also be nursing some sore ribs in the morning. She thrashed and tugged on the blankets and a second later she was already snoring.

  Hours passed and I rolled onto my side, my arms clutching the edge of the bed so I wouldn’t fall onto the floor, but I still couldn’t close my eyes. It was barely eight o’clock but even if it had been midnight I wouldn’t have been able to sleep. I watched the minutes flash and change on the small alarm clock above the TV. Twenty-three hours and sixteen minutes. Twenty-three hours and thirty-two minutes.

  I tried calling Roman again but this time it went straight to his voicemail. The battery was probably dead by now.

  He’s not dead.

  He’s not.

  Twenty-four hours and eighteen minutes. I watched the clock until my eyes burned. The blankets rustled and I watched my grandmother roll onto her side. She’d finally stopped snoring and in the moonlight pouring from the window her face looked smooth and soft and so much like the one I’d seen in the trees with Sam.

  I replayed her arrival, the things she’d said in the lobby and at dinner. But there was nothing strange about any of it or about her. And yet I knew that she knew something I didn’t. Without an ounce of hesitation I knew that it was her I’d seen.

  I watched her sleep, a strand of hair fluttering near her mouth but all I could see were those eyes, wide and black as they’d glared at us from behind the leaves.

  When I finally fell asleep, I landed somewhere else with a hard thud. I was lying in something cold and wet and when I opened my eyes it was mud.

  “Where—?”

  Sam held a finger to her lips and then she pointed in between the slats of wood just inches from our faces. We w
ere both lying on our stomachs, pale moonlight sifting through clouds overhead.

  I wriggled closer to the gaps between the wood, peering through. People stood around, circling two chairs.

  Chained to one of them was Roman.

  “I figured he was lost,” Sam breathed.

  “How…?” I wasn’t sure which question to ask first—how Sam knew or how I’d ended up there.

  “I’m good at finding things that are lost,” she said.

  Roman shifted, letting out something like a groan. I pressed my hands to the wood, drawing on the strength I’d used to lift the bookshelf off my legs. The wood heaved, a faint crack appearing, and Sam grabbed my wrist.

  “I have to help him,” I whispered.

  She let go of me, eyes wide and afraid. I pressed my hands against the wood again, another seam jutting up beneath my palms. But then the first slat gave way, someone ripping them free from the other side, and before I could scramble out of reach I was dragged through by a bald man with cold hands.

  “Let go of me!” I kicked at him but his arms were massive and they coiled around my waist, pinning my arms down.

  “Let go of her.” Roman thrashed, trying to jump to his feet. “It’s Bryn. Put her down.”

  The man’s grip loosened and I shrugged free, stumbling. He yanked me up by the arm and I swung, catching him in the shoulder. There was no give and my knuckles came back throbbing. He laughed.

  “The famous Bryn.” Another man stepped forward, circling me.

  “What is this?” I turned to Roman. “What’s going on?”

  “I’m Michael.” The strange man reached out a hand but I didn’t take it. “Funny of you to turn up. We were just talking about you.”

  “What about me?” I asked.

  “Bryn, it’s okay,” Roman said, although there was a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

  “Nice to meet a Dreamer who’s still intact these days,” Michael said.

  I stumbled back. “What are you talking about?” I looked to Roman. They know?

  He read my eyes and nodded.

  Michael placed a hand on my shoulder, turning me to examine the room. “I was just explaining to your friends here that we’re standing in a room full of widowed hearts and that Roman just might be next.”

  “Not if you untie me from this damn chair,” Roman growled. “We listened to what you had to say, now let us go and let me take her somewhere safe.”

  “They still don’t trust me,” Michael said, weary.

  “You’ve given me no reason to,” Vogle said.

  “Then trust this—Bryn’s safe for now but not for long. We’re at war and if you want to keep being a self-righteous prick who stands alone, little Curly Sue here is going to die as soon as she reaches her eighteenth birthday. Whatever’s hiding her will crumble and those parasites will snatch her up before you can even manage a spark.”

  “What?” I took a step back, finally reaching for Roman.

  Our fingers touched but then I lurched forward, my knees digging into the floor. My skin was on fire, muscles tearing away from my bones. I was shaking so hard that I couldn’t see and then I was sitting up in bed, Dani’s hands gripping my shoulders.

  “She went downstairs,” Dani said, nodding to the empty bed. “Now’s our chance.” She narrowed her eyes. “Bryn? Are you okay? You don’t…”

  The room was spinning and I leaned over the side of the bed, vomiting all over the floor.

  Dani mumbled something I couldn’t make out and then she was rushing around the room. She threw a towel over the mess before trying to lead me to the bathroom.

  “I’m fine,” I said, my hand clutching the wall. “Roman. I have to go to him.”

  “Bryn, you just coughed up your insides. You’re not fine.”

  “But…”

  There was a knock, the sound a sharp echo inside my head.

  I glared at Dani. “Don’t say a word.”

  “Bryn.”

  “Please.”

  My mom stepped inside carrying coffee and a box of muffins. The smell turned my stomach. She set them down on the edge of the bed and then she stopped.

  “What’s that smell?” She spun in a slow circle. “It smells like…”

  “It’s me!” Dani said. “Sorry, crazy nightmares last night, I was totally sweating up a storm. Actually, I was just about to get in the shower.”

  My mom made a face, confused.

  “Probably some left over stink from the plane ride too. You know, all of those bodies just percolating in that recycled air.” Dani stepped between my mom and the corner of the bed, blocking the mess. “Totally gross, right?”

  “I’ll ask housekeeping to come by and maybe they can…” My mom wrinkled her nose. “Spray something.”

  “Good idea,” I said. “You should go tell them now before grandma gets back. You know how she is about…um…cleanliness. Where’d she go, by the way?”

  “Your grandmother? Probably downstairs complaining about the complimentary breakfast as she shoves it into her mouth.”

  I nodded, simultaneously trying to avoid small talk while also trying to usher my mom toward the door. Just before I eased it closed she stopped.

  “Maybe you should shower too and drop off your clothes at my room before you girls go out so I can take them to the laundry room.”

  I nodded before locking her out, one eye still watching my mom through the peephole. When she disappeared into her room I rushed into the bathroom, searching for clean socks and yanking on my jeans.

  “Bryn, you need to slow down. You might be sick.”

  “I’m not sick. I just…” I leaned over the sink, the room spinning again. But this time the nausea wasn’t leftover from seeing Roman, it was from the fear of what might happen to him if we didn’t hurry.

  Dani twisted on the sink, dampening a rag and handing it to me.

  “Thanks.”

  I pressed it to my forehead before dropping it back into the sink and running my hands under the water. The temperature rose until it was scorching but I stood still, breathing in deep until my skin was pink and I wanted to rip out of it. Because I had.

  I’d been dreaming, a piece of me somewhere else while my body was still in this hotel room. They’d seen me. They’d touched me like I was really there. But when Dani woke me, that transition back into my body like being ripped open and stitched back together, I had a feeling that maybe I wasn’t supposed to be.

  What’s happening to me?

  I remembered the water and suddenly I was trembling from the heat. I shut off the valve, skin still burning, and then I pulled on my shoes, that pull towards Roman that had tugged me out of bed only growing stronger.

  When I reached the door to the hotel room Dani was behind me.

  “I don’t have any answers,” I said, still staring at the door. “But I have to go to him.”

  Dani exhaled. “Then let’s go.”

  Dani held her breath the entire ride down the elevator, watching me and waiting for me to collapse again. But when we emerged out on the street she was the one struggling to keep up. I knew the streets better after the dream with Sam and we travelled them on foot, me leading us from one to the next without any doubt or hesitation. There were drums in my head, my pulse in time with each step as that thrum led me deeper into the city.

  “Bryn, where are we going?”

  “I’m not sure,” I said, honest, though I knew Roman would be there. The knowing was what pushed me forward, a tug that felt like a taut piece of thread between my lungs and his. As soon as I’d taken that first step out of the hotel I couldn’t stop, that ache dragging me forward, my feet sticking and tangling until I was forced to break into a run.

  “Bryn.” Dani reached for me. “Stop.”

  But I couldn’t. I saw the alley first, the trash cans still strewn along the path, some turned over. And I realized that it wasn’t Roman I was being drawn to but the dream, the one I’d had with Sam.

  We approached th
e storefront, the windows busted out, glass glittering in the sun—not shards but a fine powder that clung to the breeze blowing between the buildings. The door was cracked, splintered wood and trash holding it ajar. I pushed it open.

  “We’re going in there?” Dani asked.

  But she was already standing alone on the sidewalk as I wound through the mess on the floor, the shelves still overturned, the floor covered in glass and wood and dust.

  “I was here,” I said. “With Sam.”

  “What?” Dani was tiptoeing in after me. “What do you mean you were here? When?”

  I looked back at her. “When I was dreaming.”

  “What? But—?”

  I spotted the ashen outline where the woman had been that night in the dream, stepping around it as if she might rise up again. The floor was charred black, the silhouette making the hairs on my arms stand up. Dani stared down at it for a long time too, looking confused and even more afraid than she had been this morning.

  “What happened here?” she finally said.

  But I wasn’t listening or even looking at her. My eyes were drawn to the ceiling, to the creep of cold air that was already swirling and black. The shadow slithered down, reaching, and every cut and scab and scar on my body was throbbing.

  “Bryn…”

  Dani waved a hand in front of my face, not trapped by the cold, not noticing it at all. I tried to croak out her name but then the shadow swept across my face.

  “Bryn, are you okay?”

  And then Dani stepped straight into it, the shadow growing long spindly legs and snatching her off the ground.

  34

  Roman

  I lunged for Michael, cuffs snagging on my wrists and ankles, reminding me that I was still tied to the chair. “What did you do to her?”

  Bryn was there one second and then she’d collapsed, folding in on herself with a shudder.

  He pushed me back. “Nothing. Control yourself.”

  “You fucking liar. Where is she? What happened to her?”

  “She woke up.” Valentina stepped between us.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.