Beautifully Unnatural: A Young Adult Paranormal Boxed Set

by Amy Miles

  He looked baffled by my question. “Are you telling me you don’t know who Devin is?”

  Great. Please don’t tell me this Devin guy’s an ex of Lynn’s too. Did the woman ever hear of playing hard-to-get? “I’d never even heard of Devin until tonight, er, this morning. What time is it anyway?”

  I looked up at the dash where bright blue numbers displayed 1:42.

  Huh. The fear of death must get the adrenaline pumping because I felt wide-awake for this time of night. I thought about Trip again, guilt squashing through me as I willed him to be okay. Willed Lynn to get her hands free and call an ambulance for him. Thinking of Trip made the dark walls of the van seem to close in around me. My heart pounded and I felt desperate to get away.

  Focus. Concentrate on the case. “So, Charlie. Who’s this Devin guy? My long lost cousin?”

  Charlie seemed to have lost interest in our conversation. He put a hand over his bicep, made a fist and started flexing. “Not hardly, kid. Try your long lost daddy.”

  I shook my head and gaped. What? When’s the last time I’d used a Q-tip? “I’m sorry. But, it sounded like you said this Devin guy is my dad and, sorry to break the news to you, but I already have a dad. You clearly have the wrong mind reader and might want to drop me at the next exit.”

  “You heard me right.” He rubbed his bicep and flexed a few more times. “Devin’s your old man. Stuart ran off with your mom after Devin knocked her up.” Charlie shrugged as Bishop pulled off the freeway. “Better get used to the idea fast. In about ten minutes you’re going to meet him.”

  Stuart Bates wasn’t my real dad? Devin, a freaking mob-boss-kidnapper-loser was my biological father? If my nerves weren’t so raw that my stomach had started heaving, this is the point where I would’ve passed out. That would’ve been my preference. Pass out and forget everything I’d just heard. Instead, my belly rolled over once, twice, and then I threw up all over the crappy uncomfortable back seat.

  “I told you not to talk to her,” Bishop snapped. “Now look what you’ve done. Idiot.” Bishop blasted the fan and waved a hand angrily in the air. “This is why I didn’t want you to come.”

  I held my stomach, lifted my head and watched the two of them in a daze.

  Charlie no longer flexed his muscles. In fact, he looked pissed. “How was I supposed to know she’d toss her cookies? Ah, man. You got any air freshener or something?”

  Stunned, sick, and disoriented, I wiped my mouth on my shoulder. And as everything I knew, everything I’d ever been crumbled around me, Bishop handed Chuck a travel-sized bottle of pine tree spray.

  ****

  Bishop pulled into a gravel driveway somewhere in the Sierras and it was too dark to see much beyond the trees, but they had to be taking me to see that Devin guy. My . . . father? My insides churned suddenly, bringing me to the edge of puking again.

  Wait a minute. Was I seriously taking Chuck’s word that Devin is my long lost dad? Like a guy who kidnaps teens for a living would be a trustworthy source. He was so obviously a liar and I was a moron for taking him seriously. My stomach calmed somewhat, leaving me bitter about what he’d just put me through. “We going to meet my dad now?” I said, sarcastically.

  “Shut up.” Apparently Chuck no longer thought I was funny. Guess humor doesn’t run that deep in the family. Or barf’s stronger than blood in his book.

  I decided not to push. He did have a gun after all.

  Bishop stopped the van at the end of the drive, grabbed a knife and cut the tape off my hands and ankles. He gripped my elbow and tried to pull me from the van. “Get out.”

  “No way.” I struggled as the reality of the situation hit me full force. Fake father or not, who knew what this guy Devin was planning to do with me? My feet hit the gravel driveway and skidded across the rocks as Bishop dragged me toward some kind of wooded cabin, reminding me of where we’d found Amanda—left for dead. “Let me go!”

  “Don’t give me any more grief, kid.” Bishop’s voice held significant warning. “You’d better start cooperating. I can do worse things than kill you.”

  My body went limp and I stopped fighting. I didn’t want to die and I certainly didn’t want to know what else he could do to me. My heart pounded as he dragged me up the wooden steps toward the front door of the house.

  “That’s better.” Bishop lifted me up the last step by one arm and my body felt similar to a rag doll at this point.

  What would Trip do if he were here? Concentrate on the surroundings. Look for any clue that might help. That’s what he’d do and if I’d listened to him in the first place I wouldn’t be here. Quickly, I soaked in everything around me. As far as houses go, my expert opinion was that this one was old. The log wood exterior looked rotted and in desperate need of oil, sanding, or . . . something. Not like I was a carpenter and really knew. I wondered if this was where they’d been holding Amanda before they dropped her off the side of that dirt road.

  My breath caught as we burst through the front door. I so did not want to meet Devin. Anybody who goes to this much trouble to snatch me has to be a whack-job.

  Thankfully, the only thing that greeted us when we walked in was a mangy couch, a coffee table, and a stand with an old TV.

  “Call Devin. Let him know we’re here.” Bishop gestured to Chuck, then pulled me down the hall and opened the door at the end. He shoved me into what appeared to be a bedroom.

  I gasped. Tied to a chair by the window was the girl I’d met at the hospital—she was still wearing the same black outfit but her blonde hair with black tips looked in desperate need of a shampoo. “Drew?”

  Upon hearing my voice, she looked up slowly, like she thought she might be hallucinating. The heavy make-up she’d been wearing at the hospital Friday night had faded and only crusty black smudges remained around her eyes.

  Even though we were prisoners, I was relieved to see her. At least she was alive. What freaked me out though was the look she gave me. Gone was the spark that had ignited her eyes. Gone was the tough girl who could take on the world. She appeared scared, defeated, and totally out of it. Rage surged through me. “What’d you do to her?”

  “Shut up.” Bishop shoved me so hard into a metal chair that pain shot up my spine.

  I grunted. “You could’ve just asked me to sit.”

  “You’re a pain, kid. If it were my choice, I’d shoot you right now and be done with it.” Bishop’s voice was dry, flat, and there was no way he was bluffing. He taped one of my ankles to the chair, none too gently, and then he did the other. “You’re lucky Devin’s paying me so much or I’d have beaten that smart mouth right off you a long time ago.”

  The 4.0 part of me decided not to make a clever retort. Even if a stack of cash was on the line, there was no telling how much control a murderous creep like Bishop had.

  “Now sit tight.” He wound the roll of tape around my wrists, stomach and arms, pressing me to the back of the chair—way tighter than necessary—and then left the remainder of the roll hanging there like he couldn’t be bothered to cut the piece off. He slammed the door on his way out.

  All was quiet in the room now as his footsteps retreated down the hall toward the living room. I wondered how long until Devin arrived. We had to make a plan of escape, fast.

  I looked at Drew. “Lynn said she hadn’t seen you since the hospital. I was worried they might’ve . . .”

  She stared at me, her eyes glazing over. “How did they find you?”

  “Don’t ask.” I pulled at my wrists to see if I could loosen the tape. Drew had been taken because of me. I had to get us out of here.

  Drew gaped at me with those vacant eyes. “Tell me how they got you.”

  “I found them. How stupid is that?” I used my leg muscles to try to wrench my ankles from the chair. The tape stretched slightly and bit into my skin. “I went to Lynn’s house and knocked on her door, not realizing Chuck and Bishop were already there. They took me at gunpoint and brought me here.”

  Th
at may be the nutshell version but we didn’t have time for the long one. No matter how scared I was, I couldn’t let myself sink into depression and become useless. We needed to think, focus, find a way out of here. Darn ankles were strapped too tight. “Agh!”

  Drew was just sitting there, limply.

  “Snap out of it, Drew.” I didn’t know how long she’d been here or what they’d done to her, but I needed her help if we were going to break free. “Scooch your chair over here and see if you can reach the tape on my wrist.”

  She stared at me vacantly, making no attempt to move.

  Great. It was all up to me. I threw my body upward and my chair moved a fraction of an inch in her direction. I did it again and again as I pondered how to get that fighting spirit back in her. Maybe if I pushed the right buttons, her attitude would come back.

  “I know we didn’t start out on the best of terms, but pull it together.” My chair creaked an inch closer to her. “Considering the way you treated me in the emergency room, I never pegged you for a quitter.”

  “W-what?”

  “Perhaps you forget jumping out at me in Amanda’s room? You laughed at me, remember? Pretty rude since you didn’t know me, but did that stop you? No. You just got your thrills off harassing me.”

  Her eyes widened. Probably wondering how I could throw put-downs at a time like this but I needed her obnoxious fighting attitude.

  I writhed left, then right. But it wouldn’t budge, darn it! “This is hopeless.”

  I took a deep breath and remembered what my dad always told me when I felt sorry for myself, ‘You can laugh or you can cry.’ It gave me renewed strength. Even so, I needed Drew to join my team. “It was obnoxious of you to scare me in Amanda’s hospital room. You could at least say sorry.”

  Something flickered in her eyes then and I was encouraged. She wasn’t over and out, just worn down. I’d get her back.

  “I’m here because of you.” She’d whispered, but her voice had a steel edge. “They found me at the hospital and I told them I was the mind reader so they’d leave you alone.” An irritated look crossed her face. “It wouldn’t kill you to show a little gratitude.”

  She’d done that for me? I shook my head. Have to acknowledge it later. Right now, we needed to focus on escaping. “Look, we need to join forces to find a way out of here.” I threw my weight up again and the chair moved slightly in her direction. “Can you buck up and help or are just going to sit there like dead weight?”

  “You ungrateful twit.” Her low voice was laced with venom. Then she threw herself toward me, bringing her chair half an inch my way. “I don’t know why I protected you.”

  “Hey, don’t blame me if you can’t look in the mirror.” My chair moved closer to her with a loud squeak and I cringed, hoping Chuck and Bishop hadn’t heard it. I waited a few seconds but didn’t hear footsteps. “My dad’s a psychologist. Any one of his psych books defines your attitude problem by chapter two. Can you say, crying out for attention? I bet you’re hiding a piercing. Probably a tattoo as well. Tell me I’m wrong.”

  She straightened, balled her fists, and narrowed her eyes. Then with one giant thrust, her chair was beside mine and she flipped her fingers toward the tape on my wrists trying to work it apart. “You’re such a goody-goody know it all, aren’t you? You with your happy life and perfect grades.”

  “How do you know about my GPA?” That threw me a little until I remembered that wasn’t the point. Drew was back and fighting, although maybe I’d prod a little more just for fun. You gotta take the joy where you can when you’re tied up and being held captive. “You’re right, I have a 4.0 and can read minds. Jealous much?”

  “Of you? Ha!” She thrashed in her chair and the tape holding her wrists loosened allowing her to move her hands in little circles. “Your life is so boring I almost fell asleep when Lynn told me about it. Not to mention what a whiny freak you acted like after finding out you can read minds. Oooh, like it’s so scary.”

  My eyes narrowed. She was back. The Drew I’d first met. I also remembered why I didn’t like her. “Whiny? Me? Hardly.” I curled the tip of my boot up under the tape around her ankle and tried to lift it off.

  “Don’t try to deny it, cousin. You’re not the only one with power. I can feel everything you’re feeling.” She looked quite pleased with herself.

  Maybe that’s because I’d stopped struggling and my body went into shock mode. “What did you say?”

  “That’s right,” she said, pulling her ankle away from the leg of the chair so I could once again work to pry the tape loose. “When you were trying to help the police find Amanda, I could feel it. Your wimpiness. Your hesitation. You wanted to wuss out on reading Aaron Bishop and abandon Amanda, because you were so scared for yourself. Boo-hoo.”

  Guilt flooded through me as I secured the pointy part of my boot under the tape and tried to break it off. “Not true.”

  “Is so, babe. Can’t lie to me.” She smiled smugly. “Who do you think prodded you along that day in the police station? Lynn and I were sitting outside in the car when Officer Collins and Officer Williams brought you in to read Aaron Bishop’s mind.”

  “You were?” I wiggled my toe further up under the tape and I recalled how scared I felt that afternoon before reading Bishop. Hard as it was to admit, I had hesitated and for a moment thought about leaving the station.

  “See?” She gave me an ah-ha look. “I’m right.”

  Could she feel what I felt right now? Creepy. And totally not fair. I had to touch someone to read their thoughts. I threw my toe upward and the tape stretched but didn’t break.

  “So, little Miss Perfect.” Drew thrashed her ankle around and tried to rip the darn tape once and for all. “Who do you suppose talked you into staying that day at the station?”

  My body went numb. “Nobody talked me into anything. I decided myself.”

  “You’re so in denial. That must be chapter three of your dad’s psych book.” She laughed at her own joke. “In that moment when you were ready to quit, I sent you a mind message. That’s what made you stay and read Bishop.”

  “Is not,” I said, wiggling my wrists again, trying to remember.

  “Still can’t accept it, huh?” She grunted and threw her leg outward, stretching the tape even more. “Think back, babe. You were ready to bolt. I sent you the message that changed your mind. I said ‘you’re the only one who can save her’.”

  Prickles ran up my spine as the words echoed in my head. Drew’s voice. Drew’s words. Nobody else could’ve known that. “That was you?”

  She nodded smugly. “And you got some guts, thanks to me.”

  Tears welled and I studied my knees a moment. It was hard to admit my moment of weakness. Especially in front of the ever obnoxious Drew. “I thought that was my conscience.”

  “You wish.” She arched her butt up in the air, trying to work on the tape around her waist now since her ankles clearly weren’t budging. “You ready to thank me now?”

  “No,” I said, able to look up at her again. Her eyes were strong now, tough, but there was also a tinge of softness in them. “Maybe later.”

  She gave me a half smile. “Kylie?”

  “Yeah?”

  “How are we going to get out of here?”

  I sighed. It was about time she asked that.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “All right.” I considered, once again, what Trip would do at a time like this. Start from the beginning and piece everything together. “Let’s see. We’re both tied up and the tape seems pretty much unbreakable.”

  “Observant,” Drew said.

  I ignored her. “We must be able to use something to our advantage.”

  “4.0, huh?” She scoffed. “Do they hand those out at your school? Can’t say your brain skills are all the impressive.”

  It clicked. “Brain skills. That’s it!”

  Drew sighed. “If you had any.”

  “But I do.” First time I felt happy to be poi
nting this out. “You do, too. I’m a mind reader and you’re a mind . . . messenger, or whatever. What do you call yourself anyway?”

  “Don’t put a label on me. That’s so . . . commercial.”

  “Whatever.” Why’d she always have to be difficult? “The point is you can send mind messages. You can call for help. The police will come and we’ll be saved.” Relief swept over me. “Bet you’re appreciating that 4.0 brain now.”

  Instead of being impressed, her face scrunched up. “Do you really think it’s so simple? Like I can just tap into the phone line and dial 911 with my mind?”

  I stared at her blankly as my plan evaporated before my eyes. “I’m guessing no.”

  “Bingo.”

  She was so not giving me anything to work with. “How do you send mind messages then?”

  “Very carefully,” she said, and I assumed I was supposed to be impressed. “Plus, I need to either be touching the person—”

  “Me, too.”

  She glared at me for interrupting. “Or be holding something of theirs.”

  “Huh.” I knew it wasn’t the time or place, but I couldn’t help wondering if I could read minds by holding an object of someone’s. “Wait a minute. You sent me a mind message.”

  “Oh, great. Here we go.”

  I stared at her, wondering how she could’ve done it. “But you weren’t touching me and you didn’t have anything of mine.”

  She looked slightly embarrassed. “Actually . . . that’s not true.”

  “I think I would’ve noticed if you’d been in the interrogation room with us.”

  “No duh, genius. I meant I have something of yours.”

  I frowned. “What?”

  She peered down in the direction of her wrist and my eyes trailed to where her arm was tied to the chair.

  Wrapped around her wrist was my mother’s silver bracelet. “I’ve been looking for that.”

  “Now you’ve found it.”

  Confused, I stared at her wrist. At the delicate figure-eight shaped links that held the bracelet together. Goosebumps pricked up my arms. Infinity symbols. “Did my dad give that to you?”