by Angie West
***
We dozed on the ground that night. It was surprisingly soft and comfortable, and I woke up the next morning feeling oddly ache-free and replenished. Juliette and the others had agreed to take me to a spot at the north end of the rainforest, the last place they had seen Mike.
“How long do you think it will take to reach the end of the rainforest?” I questioned Aries as we gathered at the fence to leave.
“About fifteen miles, give or take. Not long at all.”
I smirked. “What are we going to do? Fly?”
She winked. “Something like that.”
“Oh good,” I muttered dryly.
“Come on, it will be fun.” Tara was grinning as she came up behind me.
“Absolutely,” Juliette agreed. “Remember to stay close, ladies.”
Aries brushed the warning away with a casual wave of her hand. “The guards never come out this early. They’re too lazy.”
“The guards…wait, you never said anything about the guards!” I accused Juliette. “No, you can’t go,” I told my new friends. “It’s too dangerous. Just point me in the right direction. Please.”
“Shut up and climb the fence, Claire.” Tara dealt me a playful shove.
“I’m serious. I don’t like this.”
But if they were listening to me, they didn’t show it.
“Grab a vine,” Aries instructed.
“Oh, I don’t know…”
“It’s much faster, trust me.”
I exhaled noisily. “Okay, okay. Fine, I’ll try.”
I took hold of the thick vine and got a running start like I had seen Iris and Tara do the night before. Then I hung from the vine like dead weight after I’d swung a grand total of five feet. Oh, yes, much faster.
The girls laughed heartily at my expense before Juliette sauntered over to me.
“She is going to need a little help,” Iris decided.
“Yes,” Juliette agreed as she blew a kiss my way. “There.”
“I’ll fall behind. I’m no good at this,” I warned.
“We’ll see,” she said. “Let’s go.” She grabbed a vine and was gone before I could say anything more.
“What the hell.” I shrugged and took hold of the vine one more time, throwing my head back and laughing when—somehow, incredibly—I caught up with the group, swinging far and wide from one vine to the next with ease, like I’d been doing it all my life. The feeling of flying through the air while the wind whipped my hair back was magical. Early morning sunshine warmed my face and my body twisted to the left in order to grab the next vine, the full force of my weight going into the jump.
Cheers went up around me when I leaped from the last vine to the ground, stumbling a bit but managing to stay on my feet.
“Oh, my God! That was amazing! You made me fly,” I gasped. “You really made me fly. How did you do that?” I was still breathless, but grinning. The other girls were not the least bit winded, I noticed.
Tara shrugged and buffed her knuckles proudly against the leather at her chest. “Magic.”
“This is it, Claire. We took him this far,” Juliette said after a moment.
I quickly sobered. “Which way did he go?”
“East,” Aries pointed.
“Okay,” I exhaled, still trying to catch my breath from our flight through the forest. “I guess this is it, then, so…” I stammered awkwardly for a long moment. It defied logic that I was finding it so hard to say goodbye to these people that I hardly knew. “Thanks for everything, guys,” I finally managed.
“Let us know if you find him?” Aries asked hopefully.
“I will.”
Juliette saluted and Tara darted forward and enfolded me in a quick, spontaneous hug. Then they turned to leave. The bushes rustled behind them, and, too late, I saw the men.
There were twelve of them and before we could move, they surrounded us. I screamed anyway.
“Get out of here. Now! Go!”
“Don’t move!” Three of the ugliest men I had ever seen barked in unison.
“Stay close. It will be okay,” Juliette whispered.
“Shut up!” a gremlin-looking thug shouted. They carried large machetes and wore puke green uniforms. The ones that were not towering over us had potbellies. They were all unkempt…the guards.
“Oh, Lord.” I didn’t know if I was praying or cursing. Probably a little bit of both.
“Sit down, all of you.” The leader stepped forward…at least, I assumed he was the leader. He carried a wicked-looking spear instead of a machete. There was dried blood on the tip. I closed my eyes.
“Which one, Carlo?” a short, balding man asked him with a leer.
“It’s my turn!” another one whined.
“Shut up!” the tall dangerous looking man rasped. He’d stopped in front of us, I could tell. My eyes were still closed, but I could smell him. It was not a pleasant experience.
“Restraint,” he murmured smoothly.
“I want that one.”
“Take her.”
My eyes popped open. Oh, God. Aries…they were taking Aries. They disappeared with her, behind a cluster of trees several yards away. She didn’t scream or struggle. I saw Juliette grab Tara’s hand and squeeze it until her knuckles were white. Iris was shaking. I felt like I was about to fly apart any second and a sharp metallic taste flooded my mouth. Fear, I thought hysterically. I tasted fear.
We have to do something, I thought, leaning forward. Someone has to help her. They can not be allowed to do this to her, I thought vehemently. There was my gun. I eyed the men. There were too many of them…obviously. I had known that even before counting the ones left guarding us. At most, three or four would be taken out before we were mobbed and probably killed for the effort. Sure, a few of our terrified group might escape. But even that was a long shot. There were just too damned many of them. I would not risk everyone’s life on what was in all likelihood a losing battle. That was not fair to my companions.
Juliette caught my gaze and narrowed her own eyes. A single, harsh shake of her head communicated volumes. Don’t even think about being a hero. That was it then…
I couldn’t help it. I twisted around and vomited into a fern.
The guards grunted in disgust and pain exploded in my side as one of the men kicked me hard. In an instant, I was hauled roughly to my feet for Carlo’s inspection.
“This one?” the ass who had kicked me asked.
“She doesn’t look like the others.” Close up, Carlo reminded me a reptile, or maybe even a shark. His eyes were black and cold, and unblinking. It was like looking into nothing, and it scared the hell out of me. Nausea rolled over me again in sickening waves. The only thing that kept me from throwing up on him was the certain knowledge that he would kill me, or worse, because I considered what was happening to Aries a fate worse than death.
The man holding my arm twisted it sharply. “What is your name?” he demanded.
“Claire,” I gasped between clenched teeth.
Carlo dismissed the man and snatched my bag away from me. I hadn’t even realized I was still holding onto it, and my gun. Well, this is it, Claire, I thought grimly. Kiss your ass goodbye.
Carlo found the gun. He held it up and asked me what it was. I remembered that Faith had never seen one before either, because guns did not exist here. I exhaled with relief. I would have laughed, but none of it was funny.
“It’s my…hair curler.”
When he didn’t respond, I snatched the gun from his hand and wrapped a section of my hair around the barrel.
“You have to heat it up first,” I stammered.
Carlo shook his head and sent a warning glance to his guards, several of whom were now laughing at me. But he dropped the gun back into my bag and tossed the whole thing back to me, evidently determining the contents to be more girly items he did not care to see.
Aries was brought out then. She kept her head down and said nothing.
&n
bsp; “Well?” one of the guards questioned Carlo.
“Take these two. Let the rest go.”
Aries winced when my weight was tossed roughly against her. I straightened and tried to peek under the thick curtain of her hair, grabbed her hand, and held it tight.
“We’re taking the one with the bag? What do we want with her?”
Normally, I would have been insulted by that. Right then, however, was not one of those times, I reflected through a haze of fear.
Carlo shrugged. “She can go in the sale.”
I huddled closer to Aries as we walked. I had been very wrong about one thing, I realized. There was such a thing as monsters.