“I’m your prisoner, remember?”
“I’m sorry,” Tobey whispered. His lips drew close. I took short breaths. Was he going to kiss me? “Will you forgive me, Lisa?”
“No.” Why didn’t I pull away? Who did things like this? I should hate him. I did hate him. But his arms were so warm and loving. Maybe he was like Charles—a prisoner of Dr. John’s. He had to be. I couldn’t accept any other option. Tobey was more than just a scientist. His heart was full of love and I wanted to be a part of it.
What was I talking about? I knew nothing about Tobey. What sort of spell did he have me under? His hair fell in his face, his eyes so close my vision blurred. I could feel his breath enter my mouth.
“No!” I shoved him. “You don’t get to kiss me. I’m better than that.”
“C’mon, let’s get you cleaned up.” Tobey offered his hand. “I won’t try to kiss you again; I promise.”
I took his offered hand. He tugged me forward, guiding me towards the corridor.
DONNA DENNING—
Donna learns about Rat and his secret…
The door opened and Ally stood, pale and fragile in the entrance. “What’s happening? I couldn’t find Lisa anywhere. Somehow, I fell asleep. I could’ve sworn I saw this weird man in a cloak.” Ally shook her head. “I must’ve been dreaming. Why am I so tired?”
“Alex is getting worse. Do you feel funny, Ally?” Donna asked. She wiped sweat from her forehead.
“What’s on his face and arms?”
“Reggie explained it to me but I wasn’t really paying attention. I remember something about fulgurites and Alex not having a channel for his longevity source or something.”
Ally leaned over her brother. She examined the specs. Her eyes widened.
“What is it Ally? Is he okay?”
Ally stood, pacing with her hands behind her back. “I’ve seen this before.” She tapped her lips with her finger. “Think!”
Rat pressed his paws on Ally’s leg. She gasped. Her eyes widened and her skin grew pale. “It’s impossible, Rat!” Ally shook her head, picking the Himalayan up in her arms. She squeezed the feline tight. “What should I do, Rat?”
Ally stood frozen for several minutes. Donna wondered if she was dead. “Ally.” Donna waved her hand in front of her face. “Are you all right? What’s happening?”
Rat jumped onto the floor. Ally’s eyes blinked and tears escaped. Her chest heaved and when she pointed at Donna, her hands trembled.
“What is it, Ally? Why are you pointing at me?”
“I need your help.” She motioned for Donna to step outside.
“You’re scaring me,” she said, her skin glowing. “I don’t want to make anyone float.”
“Breathe,” Ally said. “I really need your help. You have to calm down or else Alex will die.”
“Die?” Donna wept. “I can’t handle this.”
“Breathe, please!”
She sucked in large amounts of air.
“Now exhale,” Ally said.
“What’s going on?”
“Do you feel calm?”
Donna nodded. “I’m pretty sure I’ll be okay. The breathing helps, I think.”
“It has to work. I need you to focus.” Ally grabbed Donna by the shoulders. “What I’m about to tell you, you can’t tell anyone especially not the other warehouse kids. Lisa and Alex know, but no one else.”
“What is it? What’s got you so freaked? I’m actually speechless, can you believe that?”
“Focus, Donna.” Ally pointed to Rat. “I need you to take Rat in your arms.”
“I’m not supposed to touch the cat. Horrible things happen when you pet the animals. Isn’t that what you’ve always said? Pig kills us. I don’t even want to know what Rat will do to me!” Donna refused, backing away. Her skin glowed and Ally rose off the ground along with a garbage pail. It smacked into the house.
“Rat won’t hurt you! You have to calm down. We lied to you about Rat. Trust me, you’re not going to die. Breathe.”
Donna tried to breathe, really she did. Thoughts ran through her mind. Why would they lie about Rat? What was the big secret? Celeste touched Rat and seemed fine. Didn’t she say she knew the truth? She had to touch Rat!
“Put me down first!” Ally said. “I have to explain something to you before you touch Rat. He might scare you if you don’t follow my instructions.”
“Ally, please,” Donna said. Ally grabbed onto the house’s gutter. “I need to know what it is about Rat. Why would you keep him to yourself? Something about him is valuable. Will he make me like you?”
“Stop it,” Ally said. “Put me down.”
“I need to know why you kept Rat from us. What does he do?” Donna’s skin went back to normal. Ally dropped into the bushes, hitting her cranium on the porch.
She rubbed her head. “Listen carefully.”
Donna turned her attention to Ally. Her eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Rat is deceitful and if you don’t ask him the right questions he will give you answers to things you really don’t want to know. You must be specific.”
“What are you talking about?” Donna rolled her eyes. “Are you trying to tell me the cat can see the future? That’s dumb. You’re joshing me, aren’t you? What sort of joke is this? Why’d you take me out here? I’m going back inside to see if Alex is okay.” She stomped up the steps.
“Rat!” Ally screamed.
The cat ran along the railing and leaped in the air. He flew over the porch swing and landed in front of the doorway. Donna grimaced. “Hello, future teller. What secret can you tell me about myself?”
Rat rubbed himself against Donna’s leg.
DONNA’S MEMMORIES…
Donna couldn’t believe her eyes. She stood inside the old house in the graveyard. This was where Alex and Ally had lived many years before she was ever even born. Dust covered the floorboards and she brushed cobwebs from in front of her face—only her hands touched nothing. Was she in a dream?
“You stole my boyfriend!” She heard Ally shout. Donna ran through the hall and stood in the doorway of a small room. Furniture was covered with rotted sheets and Pig cowered in the corner. Donna saw herself in the opposite corner with her hands over her head. Tears stained her cheeks. Was that really her?
“That’s no reason to have your death dog kill me!” The Donna girl cried. “Now I’m going to die like Frank.”
Had Pig touched her? Why was she still alive?
Alex walked right through Donna. She felt a cold rush of air as he stormed past her. He grabbed Ally by the hair. This had to be the past because Ally still had red strands.
“What did you do, Ally?” Alex tugged her hair, making his sister sob. “This is the last straw. I’m going to kill you.”
“Donna’s lying. It’s not how it seems. Pig was just protecting me. We were fighting and he thought she was hurting me. He was just protecting me. Look at him, he didn’t mean it!”
“This is it,” Alex repeated.
Lisa ran through Donna’s body next. She stood next to the “other” Donna. Ally had always wanted a friend but couldn’t have one. Maybe now, they could be friends. Maybe if things were fixed, Donna and Ally could be friends again—this time best friends forever. Isn’t that what everyone wanted?
Were those Lisa’s thoughts running inside her mind? Donna’s head spun. She watched Lisa reach out and touch the “other” Donna’s arm. A strange current, in the shape of a whirlwind, spun around the room, invisible to everyone else. The current filled the “other” Donna’s veins, infusing her with an energy she’d never felt before.
“You saved me,” The “other” Donna said.
DONNA DENNING—
Back to reality, knowing what Rat is…
Donna shook the flashbacks out of her mind. Pig had nearly killed her because of Ally. “Ally,” Donna said. “Why don’t I remember almost dying because of Pig?”
Ally frowned. “Because each time you do something horrible, A
lex erases your pain.”
“Erases my pain?” Donna couldn’t stand anymore.
“Don’t get upset, I don’t want to float off into space. He did it to me too so we didn’t hurt.” Ally sat next to Donna on the front steps. “We were best friends once, you and I.”
“What happened?”
“We weren’t very good to each other, I guess. I don’t remember everything because Alex erased my pain, too. I do remember when you and I fought about Frank. We started to get in a physical fight. Pig bit your leg to stop you. He was just being a dog; he didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“I went out with Frank Adler?” Donna cringed. “That old man?”
Ally laughed. “He cheated on me with you.”
“I did not!”
“It’s okay, I don’t care. It was a long time ago and Frank is not someone to argue over.”
“Why are you being nice to me? You hate me.”
“No, I don’t. I just know that having a friend is something that never works out for me, so I stopped trying. Lisa is the closest thing to a friend that I have—since you, anyway.”
“What did Lisa mean when she thought in her mind that now you and I would be best friends forever? Then, she touched me and a strange, invisible force cured me from Pig’s bite.”
Ally’s mouth dropped.
“What is it?”
“N-Nothing,” Ally said. “We’re getting off subject. I told you about Rat because I know why Alex is sick.”
“Why’s he sick?”
“Listen carefully, Donna Denning.”
“Stop with the dramatics, Ally. I’m not in the mood. Too many crazy things have happened to me today.”
“Donna Denning, you’re the only one I can trust to help me.” Ally pretended to faint. Donna laughed, shoving her away.
“Okay, stop.” Donna smiled. “Please, just tell me what’s wrong with Alex.”
“Once, a long time ago, I saw someone whose skin grew those same shiny spots as Alex has.”
“What happened?” Donna leaned forward.
“She shattered.”
“Alex is going to shatter?” Donna screamed. “Reggie wasn’t joking! I thought he was making it up! I laughed at him.” Ally floated, hitting her head on the overhang. “What are we going to do?”
“We need to find Lisa. You must take Rat with you. He’ll tell you where to find her. She has to come back as soon as possible. They’re linked, Donna. Without her, Alex can’t survive.”
“I can’t leave Lynn. Maybe you should let Millie go.”
“Lisa can’t leave the original Lynn district, either. You’ll be safe. Rat won’t let you go anywhere you shouldn’t.”
“This is insane!”
“Tell me about it. Here I am being controlled by a warehouse kid.”
Donna narrowed her eyes at Ally.
“Lisa changed you, and if she doesn’t come back—your life, and mine, are also in danger. If Alex dies—we’re next.”
Donna’s heart thumped against her chest. “Rat!” She called. “Show me where Lisa is.”
WHAT HIDES IN THE WOODS
Donna and Rat raced through the woods behind C I N. Her heart pounded. Had she really dated Frank? Why would she have an affair with Ally’s boyfriend? It sickened her to think of what Frank had done.
Rat had revealed that Lisa was Frank’s daughter. He’d raped her mother.
“Where are we going, Rat?” Donna bent low, avoiding a crooked branch. “Saugus is in the other direction. You showed me where they were keeping her.”
Rat flicked his tail, peering back. He cried.
“Is there something else you want to show me?”
They stood in the center of the wooded area. Birds grew silent. Wind blew through the trees, rustling dead leaves. Donna peered up towards the sky. Sun filtered through, warming her face. “This is beautiful, Rat.”
“Yes, I guess I am pretty gorgeous,” Michael said.
Donna twirled around, smacking into him. “Where’d you come from?”
“I hang out here a lot.”
“Why?”
Michael shrugged. “It’s hard being at C I N, watching Lisa with Alex. This place is peaceful and neither of them comes out here.”
“Lisa’s been kidnapped and is in Saugus. I’m on my way to get her.”
“What are you talking about? She was in the garden, causing storms.”
“No, I’m telling you, she’s not there anymore. Rat and I are on our way to bring her back. If we don’t—really bad things will happen.”
“Like what?”
“Just take my word for it.”
“I’ll come, too.”
“Good, there’re a lot of others like us in Saugus.”
“How would you know that?”
“I’ve seen them.”
“How?”
Donna glanced at Rat. He hissed. “I just have. Are you coming or not?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.”
“Here, you can hold this water bottle for me, then.”
Michael refused, putting up a fake struggle.
“How chivalrous you are!”
He jumped back, laughing. “You’re not going to talk about hair and make-up the whole way to Saugus, are you? I don’t think I could handle that.”
Donna tossed the water at him. He caught it, giving her the evil eye.
“We need to follow Rat. He’s the one with the directions.”
“A cat who knows the way.” Michael shook his head, tossing the bottle in the air, catching it. “I’ve heard it all.”
“Stop that. You’ll drop it and it’ll explode.”
“You’re awfully bossy.” He threw the bottle high into the trees.
“Michael!”
“Oh, oh,” he said, dancing around her.
He held his arm high above his head.
“It’s going to explode, Michael!”
The water bottle dropped from the sky and landed in his hand.
“You didn’t even look up. How’d you do that?”
“That’s my secret.” He ruffled her hair.
“Quit it!”
“C’mon, drama queen, let’s hurry up and find Lisa.”
“Maybe you’ll be her hero.”
He nodded, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “That’s the plan.”
LISA—
You’re about to enter level three…
“Come sit over here,” Tobey said. He pulled out a stool, patting the cushion. “Are you okay, Lisa?”
We were inside what looked to be a pub. The lighting was dark and the bar lacquered. There were others watching us while they took chugs out of enormous frozen tumblers. “Where are we?”
“This is our hang out area.”
“Tobey.” I tried to speak.
He brushed away a strand of hair out of my eyes. “What is it, Lisa?”
“I—I want to go home. I miss Alex and even Ally. How crazy is that, right?”
Tobey’s eyes peered into mine. “How can you miss Alex? He’s the most anti-social guy I’ve ever met.”
“You just don’t know him that well.”
“I’ve known him a lot longer than you have. He’s turning on the charm now, just wait.”
“Wait for what?”
“For when the honeymoon phase is over, that’s why Amie strayed. Alex distances himself from people too much. It’s not healthy.”
“Why are you badmouthing him?”
Tobey cradled me against his chest. He stood, rocking me back and forth. I wrapped my leg around one of his. His skin warmed me deep inside. I felt safe and secure with Tobey.
“Tell me about what happened in the training room. Why did you freak out on that Frank guy?”
I looked down at my feet. Tobey forced me up by the chin. “Never lower your eyes from mine,” he said, his lips inches away.
“Why not?”
“There’s no reason to.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before.”
>
“Why are you so jaded?”
“What do you mean?”
“If Alex was so wonderful to you, why do you look broken?”
Tobey was right. Why was I so broken? Was I really happy with Alex? Sometimes, when cradled in Alex’s arms, I fantasied about Michael. He made my heart skip each time he smiled. My body filled with butterflies with just a single touch. But Michael wasn’t who I missed. I wanted Alex, flaws and all.
Tobey held my face in his hands.
I grabbed his fingers, pulling them away. “I’ve got a boyfriend, Tobey. Stop hitting on me. I’m not that kinda girl.”
I wasn’t a groupie. That’s what Alex always said.
“Who said I was hitting on you?”
“You are.”
“I’m trying to console you.”
“I’m not stupid.”
“Lisa,” he said, groaning. “I can’t help it. You’re beautiful.”
Was I blushing? My cheeks were hot. “I need to go home.”
“You can’t. Dr. John wants to see you and make a decision tomorrow. You can sleep in my room tonight—if you don’t want to stay in the jail with Anna and Francisco.”
I gave him my hardest look.
He grinned. “Jail, then?”
I nodded. “What about Francisco. Is Dr. John really going to kill him tomorrow?”
His eyes narrowed. “Francisco is to be eliminated right before Dr. John meets with you.”
“That’s horrible.” I cringed. “This place sucks. I hate it.”
“It’s not so bad.”
“Sure, for non-prisoners, I suppose it’s awesome.” I rolled my eyes. He laughed.
“Stay here, I’ll be right back.” He disappeared down a dark hall. There was a music box next to a row of arcade games. I walked over and read the song selections. How old was the music? I didn’t know a single band on the list.
“You don’t listen very well.” Tobey stood behind me, his chin resting on my shoulder. He held a rose up to my nose, tickling me.
Tobey placed the rose in my hair. “Does Alex dance with you?”
I shook my head.
The C I N Series Bundled Page 29