It took a moment for Syd’s eyes to adjust to the dark interior of the barn but once she could see again a relieved sigh slid from her lungs. It looked like the barn was used to store farming equipment. Several massive machines that she couldn’t name took up most of the room. She was just relieved there were no loose animals or people inside. She looked around and thanked whatever deity there was that her streak of good luck was holding out. A tiny bathroom was tucked into the corner of the left side of the barn and she hobbled towards it.
Sydney was too afraid to turn on the light, she had no idea if it was visible from the outside, let alone if there was anyone close enough to see it, but she didn’t take the risk regardless. She lowered the lid of the toilet and sat heavily on the seat. Now that she had a moment of relief the despair that she had been holding back finally let loose. She doubled over and buried her face in her hands against her knees and cried until she couldn’t breathe and her head began to ache worse.
Empty, Sydney sat up and took an unsteady breath. She gathered a handful of toilet paper and held it to her nose. Oh god, this is going to be bad. She put pressure against her face and a thin, high pitched squeal squeezed through her throat. She drew a ragged breath and blew hard. Something inside her nose crunched and stars burst before her eyes. Even though she thought she had no more tears left, more leaked down her face from the throbbing pain.
Running her fingers down the bridge of her nose she realized that the strange crooked part was gone. She had unintentionally reset her nose trying to blow it which lead her to believe it hadn’t been broken as badly as it had seemed. Her nostrils still felt swollen, raw and radiated pain, but felt better than it had before. Sydney’s vision finally cleared enough for her to stand and she hesitated before stepping in front of the sink. She had no idea what she would see in the dusty mirror and she was almost afraid to find out.
Taking a deep breath, Sydney finally worked up the courage to take the two steps that would put her in clear view. She raised her head, expecting the worst. Surprisingly, what she saw wasn’t as bad as she feared. Yes, she had two purple, black eyes and blood was crusted around her nose and mouth. She was dirty and her hair was stringy and matted. But, otherwise, she looked incredibly normal. Her hair was dark—probably dark brown. Her eyes looked blue or maybe green. Her lips were not too thin and despite being chapped they still had a soft look to them and she had high cheekbones and a sharp jaw line. She had hoped seeing her own face would jar some memory or recognition—but nothing. She might as well have been looking at a picture of a stranger. The feeling of being stuck inside a stranger’s body was overwhelming and nearly stole her breath.
Realizing that she didn’t look like a monster, Sydney regained some hope. With a little bit of time she would look normal and wouldn’t stick out in a crowd. Maybe she would be able to hide from whoever was after her. She turned the tap on the sink and after waiting a minute she realized it wasn’t going to get hot. She decided to just be grateful for water, cold or not. A short, painful, time later the blood was washed from her face and the dirt from the bottoms of her feet.
Sydney had hesitated when she looked at the words smeared onto her arm. Part of her felt like she needed to keep the warning. That the message was the only thing protecting her. But she knew she was just being paranoid and using the crusty bar of soap she had found on the sink, she scrubbed the words away.
Taking inventory of her clothes, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to avoid attention dressed like this. Her shirt was a three quarter sleeved blouse and her jeans were dirty and stained but felt thick and of high quality denim. She certainly wasn’t dressed to be wandering in the country and her clothes were in such poor shape she would stick out like a sore thumb. Scrounging around the bathroom shelves she found an unexpected treasure trove of items that usually served as emergency supplies for someone working in the barn. Extra gloves. A first aid kit that she nearly cleaned out of bandages and antibiotic ointment patching up her cuts and scrapes.
But the best find was a pair of extra work boots she found stashed in a corner. After shoving pieces of rags in the toes they fit well enough that Sydney could walk around. It was better than being barefoot. Hanging on a nail just outside the bathroom was a heavy work coat with a hood. She used a string to tie her hair back and began to look around the rest of the barn. Next to the bathroom was a set of wooden, dusty stairs that lead to a loft that was probably used for storage at one time. Now, it was mostly empty except for loose hay that only smelled slightly moldy. She pushed it into a pile to make a decent bed and half collapsing, fell onto the mound and covered herself with the coat before almost immediately passing out.
***
“Can you just take me home?” Sydney finally asked Xander.
“No.”
“Excuse me?”
“Something’s up.” Xander narrowed his eyes but didn’t ask her questions.
“No. I just need some money. And I have to take over for Shay in an hour.”
“Let’s go back to my garage. I’ve not had any calls for a while. I’ll ju—”
“No. I need to get back to the store.” Syd knew how hollow she sounded, but she couldn’t muster any more effort to pretend everything was fine.
There really was no point in sticking around. She had a couple hundred dollars and that would get her a bus ticket far enough away to start over. She was a survivor, she had made it before with a rougher start than she had now. But, leaving her friends nagged at her gut. Fuck it. I’m in this alone and that’s for the best.
She finally glanced at Xander and he was staring at her as if he wanted to say something but thought better of it. “Fine,” he mumbled, turning the truck around.
The rest of the ride was silent and Sydney didn’t give Xander time to say anything before she jumped out and hurried down Clark towards The Bark and Meow. Her heart was a lump in her throat over what she knew she had to do. As she walked she kept an eye out for Short Man but he was nowhere to be seen. She swallowed hard and composed herself before ducking into the store.
“Hey!” Shay called from behind the counter. “You’re early.”
“Yeah. I was walking and got back here quicker than I thought. Why don’t you go ahead and take off. I’ve got this.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Go,” she smiled to put Shay at ease.
“Well, OK. Zak and I are going to Homies again tonight. You should come.”
“Maybe,” Syd shrugged. “The walk wore me out though. I’ll probably just stay in. Maybe go to bed early.”
“Well, we will be out late, so if you change your mind just come find us.”
“Sure.” But Sydney knew she wouldn’t. She would be long gone by the time Shay got home.
Chapter Thirteen
Every time the bell over the door rang, Sydney’s heart lurched in her chest. She was sure it was Short Man and his backup coming to finally take her, kill her, or whatever it was they wanted to do to her. But all in all, the afternoon was mostly quiet. While she knew that she could leave now, shut the store down early and pack a bag and run for it, she didn’t. What she was going to do was bad enough. She didn’t want to add to it any more than she needed to. But she also realized she was hesitating. She didn’t want to do this. She didn’t want to run anymore. Even though her heart screamed for her to stay, her head told her she needed to go, that was the safest for everyone.
Sydney ran her hands over her face and through her hair. Needing to distract herself she opened the store’s laptop and surfed around on the internet for a while. Eventually, she found herself back at Pandaren87’s blog. She scrolled through his older ones but barely gave them any notice. It was only the most recent posts that were of any interest. Again, she thought about commenting on one of them or about emailing him but hesitated. It could all be a trap to lure her out. But they already know where I am, right?
Sydney had to admit she had no idea what to do or what was going on. Stuff like this
wasn’t supposed to happen in real life. That thought lead her into searching around about memory loss. Of all of the medical explanations, the most likely cause, in her case, was a severe head injury. While she didn’t have a giant wound on her head when she woke up by the lake, she did have a busted up face. That was still, technically, a head injury.
But there was still no logical reason why she would have known she was going to have memory loss and as a result need to leave a warning to herself. Not for the first time, she wondered if everything was a colossal joke and someone was going to hop out and laugh at her any moment. There was too much weird stuff happening on a large scale. Multiple people from all over the country were experiencing similar things. And what about Short Man, she wondered. He was definitely terrifying. And while he might have just happened to be nearby this morning, it didn’t feel like that. Sydney couldn’t shake the feeling he was following her. She instinctively knew that he was trouble and she needed to get away from him. Even if he wasn’t going to hurt her directly, he would bring bad news one way or the other.
Sydney started to close the computer, but a new post caught her attention. At first she rolled her eyes at the poster’s attempt at a joke. “Maybe you have Ebola.” But the joke struck her. What if I do have some kind of virus? That doesn’t seem too farfetched. But if Pandaren87, these other people and I, all have a virus how did we catch it? After some googling she found that encephalitis can cause memory loss, but she didn’t seem to be experiencing any other symptoms that went along with the condition.
Finally, Sydney made herself close the computer. Googling was only going to lead to her finding all kinds of things wrong with herself. The theory that she had somehow contracted a virus still plagued her though—pun intended. If she was sick with some kind of rare or new disease, could she have passed it along to Shay, Zak or Xander? They seemed fine.
Syd realized it was five thirty and was relieved to be able to start closing up shop. The last thing she had to do was take the cash from the drawer and lock it in the safe. Shay would balance it in the morning. Her stomach swirled with anxiety as she stared down at the cash. She had intended on taking what was in the register to supplement her meager savings before she ran. The idea of taking Shay’s money almost made her throw up. She couldn’t do it. Yes, she had taken Don’s money. But that was different.
Fuck that, she finally declared before shutting the whole drawer in the safe. She would starve on the streets before she would steal from her friend. With a lump in her throat, she climbed the stairs to her and Shay’s apartment with her entire body feeling like it was made of lead. Her subconscious was weighing her down. Shutting the door, Syd leaned against it for a moment and took a deep breath. In her room, she pulled out the same bag she had arrived with. Originally, she had found it in a dumpster. It had a big hole in the side and she’d had to plug it with cardboard to stop the few things she acquired from falling out of it. After moving in with Shay, her friend had sewn a patch on it. Sydney smiled when she ran her fingers over the old fashioned cartoon patch. She was going to miss Shay.
***
Sydney had woken up in her pile of hay before the sun had even rose. It was the mournful lowing of cattle that served as her warning and alarm clock. Looking through a window at the front of the barn, she saw about fifty cattle gathered by the fence. They were waiting for breakfast. Which meant the farmer would be here soon to feed them. Syd quickly pulled on her boots, cinched her baggy jeans with more twine and zipped up the heavy jacket then covered her hair and most of her face with the hood.
Sydney figured there was no point in trying to sneak off the farm. There were no trees in the fields and she needed to get to the road. Instead of trying, to hide she boldly walked down the gravel drive. She was relieved when she made it to the road before the farmer arrived. She walked as fast as she could in the clunky boots. Her stomach rumbled loudly reminding her she had no idea how long it had been since she had eaten. Her body was sore and she was shaky and needed to find food soon or she would collapse.
Sydney had only walked a short distance before she heard the sound of the tractor approaching. It rose over the hill and she kept her head down, hoping that a person out walking the road this early wouldn’t be too weird of a sight. As the farmer drew nearer she tried to keep an eye on him from the shadows of the hood. I hope he doesn’t recognize his coat and boots. The guy was older, probably early sixties and dressed in the classic overalls and baseball cap. He studied her carefully but didn’t slow down. Before he was even with her he raised a hand in greeting and she returned the gesture and held her breath until he passed. Either he mistook her for someone else, or it was common to see farm workers walking around here. Whatever the reason, she was grateful.
Soon, Sydney caught sight of a white farmhouse. As she approached she saw a woman emerge and climb into a huge car. Sydney suspected that the woman was the farmer’s wife since she was the right age and Sydney assumed that the farmer lived close by. When the woman rolled past she examined Sydney too. Hoping that the wife wasn’t any more curious than the husband, Sidney raised a hand in a friendly greeting. The woman waved back and continued on her way and Syd breathed a sigh of relief.
At the end of the driveway, Sydney stared at the house. She could see a garden beside a small shed and her rumbling stomach urged her to raid it. What if someone is in the house? Sydney realized there was two options. Either someone was in the house or not. She had a fifty-fifty chance of being caught. Realizing that she wouldn’t make it far on an empty stomach, she decided to risk it. She hurried up the gravel drive towards the small garden. She didn’t want to be caught in the act so she would load the coat with food and eat while she walked.
Sydney shoved two tomatoes, some broccoli, and a cucumber inside her coat and hurried back to the road. She had no idea if she liked anything she grabbed, but it didn’t matter. At this point she would eat anything. Her stomach twisted upon itself in anticipation of food as she pulled one of the large tomatoes out of her pocket. She wiped it off on her sleeve and bit into it like she would an apple. Juice dripped down her chin and she moaned with happiness. She wasn’t able to hold back and tore huge bites off the bright red tomato. She barely chewed before swallowing and the tomato was gone before she had made it past the house. She wiped her hands off on her pants and cringed as her stomach rolled.
No, no no. Stay down. Sydney fought back the bile as she realized she ate too fast. Her stomach had been empty for so long that it was reacting badly to so much food so fast. A few more steps and she was forced stop walking and double over as her stomach contents forced their way back up. When she was done she wiped her mouth off on her sleeved and straightened up. She felt like sitting down and crying again, but she forced herself on. Sitting on the side of the road waiting for someone to become suspicious of her wasn’t going to help anything. She pulled the cucumber out of her pocket and forced herself to eat more slowly. She didn’t know where she was going and she had no plan other than to keep moving.
***
A sound from the front of the apartment brought Sydney out of her memories. The hair stood up on the back of her neck and she went absolutely still listening. It sounded like the door closing, and she wasn’t sure she had locked it behind her. And if it was the door, it could just be Shay coming home early for some reason. But Shay never came home quietly. She swallowed hard and stood up. The only way to find out what made the noise was to go see. She left her bag stuffed with all of her essentials on her bed and made her way to her bedroom door. She leaned against it and held her breath.
The apartment was silent again and she was beginning to think she had imagined the noise. She stepped back and put her hand on the cold metal knob. She turned it slowly to be as quiet as possible, but swung it open fast to prevent any hinge squeaks and as a surprise to anyone lurking in the hall. But the surprise was on Sydney. Short Man stood on the other side of the door. Sydney’s heart stopped beating and all the air whooshed from her l
ungs.
His dark eyes were shiny and neutral and he stared at her with no expression on his plain face. The strangeness of his look was as terrifying as his presence in her doorway. She took a step backwards to make room to defend herself but he stepped forward too. Syd kept a small pocket knife in her bag, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to get to it in time. Everything happened so quickly Syd didn’t have any time to think or plan.
After Short Man stepped to her Sydney reacted instinctually. Instead of backing up again, she lunged forward slamming into the man with all of her weight. He was probably heavier than her, but she was taller and had more leverage and surprise on her side. The man was knocked off balance and he stumbled backwards before tripping over his own feet and falling to the floor. Sydney ran through the doorway intending to find a weapon of some kind, or at the very least escape the confines of the apartment.
She only made it two strides before a hand closed around her ankle and yanked her off her feet. She landed face first and her hands slapped painfully against the floor followed by her chin and her teeth to clacking together. She immediately began kicking wildly, hoping she would get a lucky hit in. Satisfaction brought a sadistic smile to her face when she felt her heel meet with something solid. Short Man grunted in pain and let go of her leg while Syd scrambled to her feet. She stumbled, off balance, into the wall and lurched towards the living room.
Sydney had hoped to make it to the door, but she heard the man climb to his feet behind her and realized that she would have to fight instead of run. She slid around the corner into the kitchen and roughly yanked a knife from the holder on the counter. She turned just in time to see Short Man rush out of the hall and lunge towards her.
His face was no longer creepily neutral. Instead, it was twisted into an animalistic snarl and blood poured from his nose. The sight raised even more alarm in Sydney’s gut and she reacted in revulsion and horror. With his hands curled into talons, he fell knocking her into the counter hard enough to bend her spine backwards. It was a miracle that Sydney held onto the knife. And it was luck that his weight pushed the knife into his own chest. His momentum kept him moving forward and he stumbled past her, nearly knocking her off her feet.
Don't Let Them Find You (The Dyian Series Book 1) Page 8