The Hollowing (COYWOLF Series Book 2)

by Abby Tyson

  She'd hardly finished the sentence when her mom said, "You're lying."

  Still in the doorway, Savi blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall. "I honestly didn't even know it was in my room," she said.

  "The other night wasn't food poisoning, was it?"

  Savi stared at the bottle. "No."

  Her mom's look of betrayal and disappointment gutted Savi.

  "Did Marley get this for you? Did he get you drunk?"

  "No," said Savi quickly, meeting her mom's furious gaze for just long enough to show she was telling the truth. "No, it wasn't Marley. I got that after our date was over."

  Chloe got up to put her sandals on. Grabbing Savi's arm, she pulled her outside.

  "Where are we going?" asked Savi. Her mom didn't answer. "Are you taking me to see Dave?"

  "No."

  Savi kept her eyes down as her mom dragged her like a toddler past countless residents all the way to the medical center. A few people greeted Chloe when she walked in, but she ignored them, still gripping Savi's arm and pulling her deeper into the building. They passed a few empty examination rooms and came to a locked door. Chloe pressed the buzzer and announced herself, and a nurse on the other side unlocked the door for them.

  This section of the building was much more like a hospital, whereas the rest of the center resembled a walk-in clinic. There was a desk in the center of a large space, while the perimeter consisted of rooms with hospital beds. About half of the rooms were empty, but Chloe brought Savi to a closed door.

  "What are you doing?" asked Savi, trying to pull away.

  Opening the door, Chloe pointed into the room. "This is what will happen to you if you don't stop this now," she shouted, heedless of the half-dozen nurses within earshot. "Is that what you want to become?"

  On the bed lay an unconscious woman with mustard yellow skin. Tubes stuck out of her mouth and nose, and her stomach bulged grotesquely from her otherwise skeletal body. Savi tried to turn away from the ghastly sight, but her mom seized her shoulders and spun her back around.

  "This girl is twenty-eight years old. Her liver has stopped working because she's consumed too much alcohol. Her body is overfull with fluid that it can't pass. She will die unless she gets a transplant." Her mom's words were getting choked up but she didn't stop. "She has a five-year-old son who has to live with his wheelchair-bound grandmother because she is too busy killing herself to care for him."

  Chloe let her go, and Savi slowly turned around, hardly able to meet her mom's fierce expression as she said, "I will not let you do this to yourself."

  "I'm sorry," whispered Savi, collapsing into sobs. "I'm so sorry."

  "You damn well better be," said her mom, wrapping her arms around Savi.

  "Remember this," said her mom, holding her close. "Tell me you'll remember this next time."

  "I promise I won't --"

  "Just tell me you'll remember," her mom said, her voice wavering with emotion.

  "I'll remember," Savi whispered.

  Savi and her mom remained locked in their embrace until a light cough gently reminded them of their surroundings. Chloe pulled away and put her arm around Savi's shoulders, leading her toward a hallway on the other side of the space. As they walked, an alarm went off: two quick siren wails, then a moment of silence, then the two sirens again.

  "What's that?" asked Savi. "It doesn't sound like a fire alarm."

  "Emergency," said Chloe, guiding her to stand against the wall. "Someone's coming in with a life-threatening injury. I'll go see if I can help. You can go on to the bathroom -- it's down the hall on the right."

  Savi watched as the nurses at the desk dispersed and prepared for the new arrival, then she turned and went down the hall. She tried the first door on the right, but it wouldn't open.

  "What are you doing?" asked a woman rushing down the hall toward her. "Get away from there."

  "I was looking for the bathroom."

  "That's not it," she said brusquely, inserting herself between the door and Savi. "Next door down."

  "Oh, sorry." Savi attributed her curtness to the impending emergency and went down the hall. The nurse remained standing in front of the other door, her key poised over the locked handle, watching Savi.

  "Go on in," the nurse ordered.

  Savi did as she was told, and a minute later her mom joined her, looking perturbed.

  "What's the emergency?" asked Savi.

  Chloe started washing her hands. "I wouldn't know," she said. "They rushed me out of there before I could get a good look, but there were three kids -- one of the nurses said she recognized them as graduates of the program here. They were retching and shivering as if they had the flu. When I mentioned that it might be withdrawal symptoms, they told me they didn't need my assistance and to get out of the way."

  "What's in the room next to this one?" asked Savi.

  "I don't know that either," said Chloe, drying her hands. "I was told on my first day that room was off-limits. They keep it locked at all times."

  They went back out into the hallway. The nurses were all occupied administering to the three patients. Savi stopped outside of the room, giving her mom a pointed look and touching the handle, hoping that perhaps the nurse had forgotten to lock it in all the chaos.

  The door opened.

  Holding it slightly ajar, Savi nodded to her mom to slip inside. Chloe glanced at the frantic nurses, then, her face set with determination, went inside.

  The nurse who had stopped Savi before appeared around the corner. "What are you doing?" she snapped.

  "Waiting for my mom," said Savi, pointing to the bathroom.

  Narrowing her eyes, the nurse took a few steps toward Savi.

  An agonized cry sounded from one of the patients. "Need a hand here!" shouted one of the attending nurses.

  After another long glare, the nurse spun around and rushed over to help.

  Savi knocked softly on the door, and it opened behind her. "What was it?" asked Savi.

  Her mom didn't say anything, but took Savi's hand and led her out of the hospital wing. Once they were outside, Savi asked again.

  "That room was full of nothing but painkillers," whispered Chloe. "Morphine, fentanyl, oxycodone -- all of them."

  "Doesn't it make sense that a hospital would have those?"

  "There were shelves and shelves of it. I couldn't find anything else in there. There's no reason to have an entire room of that stuff, especially in the middle of a rehab clinic. All of those drugs are severely addictive."

  "I wonder if that's connected to what Berto's doing with the people after he alters them," said Savi.

  They walked in silence to their cottage, the brick path bathed in the orange light of the quaint iron street lamps. They were a few houses away when Chloe stopped.

  "I don't want to go in there," she said, glaring at the house. The curtains were drawn, but light still filtered through, evidence of their hasty exit.

  "Why not?" asked Savi.

  "I hate this place," she said. "I've been trying to make the best of it, but now, knowing that nothing we do in there is private, every time I step foot in that house I feel like there's a hand around my throat."

  Savi gently took her mom's arm in hers and tugged her forward. "We'll get through this. Our plan will work, and we'll all be living happily back in Egremont by the month's end."

  Chloe rested her head against Savi's for a few steps and sighed. "At the very least, I like to think that this whole terrifying experience has brought us closer together." She stopped again and held Savi's face in her hands. "No more lying, okay?"

  "Okay."

  Her mom hugged her and they started toward the cottage.

  Is now the time? thought Savi. Was Marley right -- is their love strong enough to handle it?

  Not only did she need to tell her mom about Monty, she also hadn't revealed what she'd learned about Grandma Claudie. Every time she thought about it, something inside of Savi broke a little. It was such a
cruel thing to do to a child, to set them apart, make them feel unwanted, abandoned. What kind of mother would intentionally do that to her daughter?

  "I don't remember closing the curtains," muttered her mom as they stepped onto the front porch.

  Now or never.

  "Hey, Mom?"

  "Mm-hmm?" she said, opening the door.

  "There's something else I want to tell you."

  Savi was still on the stoop when her mom let out a gasp. Moving behind her to peer through the doorway, Savi's thoughts of her dad vanished. Dave, tied to a kitchen chair, had a napkin stuffed in his mouth, blood dripping from his cheek. Pearl stood behind him, holding a gun to his head. Lying on the couch, grinning and waving both hands at Savi, was Amber.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  "Come on in!" said Amber, skipping over to them. "I love your hair," she said to Savi, taking them both by the arm and pulling them into the house. "Is this your mom?" she asked. "She doesn't look anything like you -- she's so pretty!"

  "What is going on?" asked Chloe, her eyes locked on Dave.

  "How did you find me?" demanded Savi. "How do you keep finding me?"

  "You haven't figure that out yet? You're slower than I thought." Amber sighed. "We hacked your credit card, stupid!"

  Savi thought back to all the times they'd found them: the motel -- Savi used her card to book the room; Alligator River -- Savi charged the canoe rental. She'd used her card multiple times to fill up on gas or buy food along the way, and to buy produce at the Den market. It was so obvious now.

  "I thought you were in jail," said Savi.

  Amber gave a look of disgust as she sat on the arm of the love seat. "Too muggy up there. It's not much better down here, but at least there's a breeze." Then she hopped back up and gave a little curtsy to Savi's mom.

  "My name's Amber, and this is Pearl." She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her lighter. "And this is my new favorite toy." Flipping the cap back, she struck it against her tattered jeans and brought the small flame close to Savi's neck. "Not much hair left for me," she lamented.

  Chloe struck Amber's arm, knocking the lighter to the ground. "That's enough!" she cried.

  "Feisty," said Amber. "I like you." Her smile never wavering, Amber slapped Chloe across the face.

  "Hey!" Savi cried, but Amber threw her mom on the ground, trapping her with a knee on Chloe's back. Savi lunged for them, but Amber was too fast. She snatched the lighter off the floor and brought it barely an inch from her mom's face.

  "Uh-uh," she said. "Make one move, he's dead and your mom's toast." She didn't even laugh at her own bad pun.

  I hate this girl.

  "You know why we're here," Amber said. "Where is she?"

  "I told you --"

  "If you say one more time that you don't know where the torra is, this whole house is going up in flames, with you three in it." She brought the lighter closer, and her mom winced. "All I want to hear out of your fat lips," began Amber, drawing out every word and pinning her mom's face against the floor, "is where the hell the torra is."

  Savi's mind raced, searching for a way to keep everyone safe. If she told Amber about the torra, Berto would know too because of the cameras, and that would put Rudy and everyone else at Alligator River in even greater danger. Was there a way out of this?

  Her mom let out a cry as the flame began to burn. "Alright, alright!" cried Savi. "Get off and I'll tell you!"

  "Uh-uh," said Amber. "Tell me first."

  "Alligator River," Savi screamed. "They're at Alligator River."

  Bringing the lighter incrementally away from Chloe, Amber said, "Back in North Carolina? You're the idiot here, not me."

  "I swear," said Savi. "It's a colony of them or something. That's why we were there -- she needed to talk to them. I saw two of them change."

  Amber studied her for a moment, then gazed into the small flame. Wrapping her hand in Chloe's hair, she jumped to her feet, dragging Savi's mom up with her.

  "Pearl," she called, lifting her hand up and nodding at the gun. Pearl tossed it to her, and Amber held it out, studying it.

  "I really don't like guns," she said. "Fire is so clean, leaving only a black blanket of ash. Guns, though... they're so... messy. They are, however, effective."

  She put the gun against Chloe's temple.

  "No!" cried Savi. Dave started making gurgling noises and shaking his chair. Pearl pushed down on his shoulders.

  "Where are the torra?" demanded Amber, her red handprint still sharp on Chloe's pale cheek.

  "They're at Alligator River!" yelled Savi. "I told you! Let her go!"

  Amber shoved Chloe away and hit Savi in the face with the gun. An explosion went off in Savi's head, and she tasted blood. Her legs started to give way, but Amber grabbed her arm before she could fall and started dragging her to the door. "You're coming with us. If we don't find any torra, you're going to wish I'd set you on fire."

  "No!" cried Chloe.

  "And on the way," continued Amber, "you can tell us all about why your boyfriend isn't dead. Come on," she called, as if summoning a dog. Pearl followed, her eyes on the floor.

  As they walked to the front door, it slammed open and two men ran in with guns raised. "Freeze, or I'll shoot!" shouted one of the men.

  Amber kept walking Savi forward as if they weren't even there. "Hey," she said with a grin. "About time someone else joined this party."

  She shoved Savi at the men and bolted for the door. Pearl chased after her, but one of the guards caught her around the waist. She wailed on him until he let her go, then disappeared into the night.

  Chloe ran over to Savi and hugged her. "Are you okay?" she asked, eyeing where Amber had struck her.

  Savi touched her cheek and winced. When she brought her fingers away, they were bloody. She started to speak, but opening her mouth hurt. Nodding, she managed to eke out between barely opened lips, "You?" Her mom's nose was an angry red and already swollen on the tip.

  "I need to put something cold on it." Chloe laughed through her tears. "I must look like Rudolph."

  Dave, who had been untied by one of the guards, embraced her and said, "You're beautiful."

  "You'll have to file a report," said the guard, "but it can wait until morning."

  "Go to the security station first thing," said the other. "Anyone there can take it down."

  "Thank you," said Dave, his eyes cold.

  The guards nodded and left.

  Savi went to the sink and rinsed out her mouth, then took out a bag of frozen peas to press against her cheek. Running into her bedroom, she texted both Marley and Ren's phones, letting everyone know that not only did Amber and Pearl know about Alligator River, but Berto did now too.

  When she came back out, her mom was in the kitchen and asked, "Who were those two?" She reached for the freezer, but pulled her hand back and clutched it to her chest.

  "You okay?" asked Savi.

  "My hands won't stop shaking," she said, her face draining of color with every word. She grabbed ahold of the fridge handle and clung to it. Dave and Savi were at her side instantly.

  "Come on," said Dave. "Let's get you on the couch." He put one of Chloe's arms over his shoulder. "Savi, can you get another bag out of the freezer and wrap it in a towel?"

  Savi did as he asked, and brought it over to her mom, who was sitting on the couch with her head between her knees.

  "How about we get ourselves cleaned up?" said Dave, kneeling in front of Chloe and rubbing her shoulders. "We could all use a bite to eat and a good night's sleep. We can talk about who's who tomorrow on our way to the station."

  Dave looked at Savi knowingly, and she understood that he didn't want to talk about it in front of the cameras.

  "Good idea," she said. "I'll put a pizza in."

  The next day, on their way to the security building, Savi tried calling Marley's phone, but no one picked up. Then she told her mom and Dave about Amber and Pearl, and the origins at Alligator River. They all
agreed to continue acting like they didn't know they were being watched, and to tell the security team that Amber and Pearl were some kids from Savi's high school who were taking their bullying to a fanatical extreme.

  Even when she told her mom and Dave about Ebony, Savi didn't reveal the connection between Ebony and Monty. Now, in the early morning light, it didn't feel like the right time, especially with Dave there.

  I'll tell her soon, Savi promised herself. Next time it's only me and her, I'll tell her.

  She glanced at her mom, walking between her and Dave with a worried expression, and felt a pang of guilt as she prayed that time would never come.

  After lunch, Savi took the van and met Ren at an off-road bike trail park. She'd called and asked him to meet so she could talk to him about Baxter. She could have told him over the phone, but any excuse to get out of the Den was welcome. As she pulled in, she saw Ren perched on a wooden rail fence that encircled the otherwise empty lot.

  "Hey," Savi called as she got out of the van. Though her jaw was sore, she could talk more easily today. "I thought Nissa and Glenn were coming too."

  "They went on up the trail --" Ren cut himself off, jumping down from the fence when she got close enough for him to see her scabbed and slightly swollen face.

  "What happened to you?" he asked.

  Savi's first instinct was to say that she didn't want to talk about it -- didn't want to think about it. If she didn't talk about it, maybe she could pretend that it hadn't ever happened, that her mom hadn't been tortured in front of her, that her house hadn't yet again become a place of danger instead of comfort.

  But she couldn't keep pretending. She couldn't keep blocking everyone out. She couldn't keep acting like all of this didn't affect her.

  So instead of fighting back the tears, she let them fall. She sank against Ren, closing her eyes and sobbing on his chest. After a moment, he put his arms around her, and they felt so much like Marley's arms that she cried even harder.

  Neither of them moved or spoke until the storm passed and Savi pulled away. "Sorry," she said, laughing at the big wet mark on his shirt.