Mine First

by A. J. Marchant

  Lori rubbed feeling back into her hands, silent and hoping that Em thought she was considering it when really she was trying to figure out how to get Addy out of there alive, how to get all of them out of there alive. She held her hands up to show she wasn’t trying anything, just standing, slowly. Blood rushed to her legs, and it took a few unsteady steps to walk over to the window.

  Outside, golden light coloured the ground, flooding through the trees. The sun was rising. Lori pictured a map of the amusement park and estimated the distance to the fence. It was far away on the other side. Doable. But impossible if Addy was still unconscious when the time came to run. Digging back in her memory, Lori tried to think of other ways out, but the fence surrounded the whole campground and amusement park.

  Em had to have driven in through the camping entrance, but Lori couldn’t picture where the cabin was or what direction to run in to get to the gate.

  The only way was over the fence where Marina had shown her. The only way was to get Addy awake. Somehow get out. Lose Em in the park. Make for the fence. Then the road. And hope that someone drove by before…

  Getting too far ahead of herself, Lori focused on what to do next. She needed to get Em away from Addy, away from the door.

  ‘When was the last time we were here? Do you remember?’ Lori glanced over her shoulder at Em, then back out the window. A moment later, Em was by her side.

  While Em was talking about the holidays they’d spent there as kids, Lori’s focus was on the knife in her hand. If she could just get it away from her…

  Lori listened, waiting for the right moment. Realising there wouldn’t be one, she shot her hands out. Em wasn’t expecting it and she wasn’t ready, but her grip was tight. They struggled over the knife, Lori gripping as tight as she could, squeezing Em’s fingers into the handle. At first she thought she was winning, could feel the handle moving under her grip, but then the blade was biting into her palm. Em was stronger. Despite Lori’s efforts to pry Em’s fingers from the handle, the blade was moving. The tip of the knife pressed against her stomach.

  Last hope slipping away, Lori glanced over at Addy. Em glanced over as well, and Lori took her chance. She stepped back, turning and twisting her hands and wrists to the extreme, trying to break Em’s grip but keep her own.

  She almost had it. Until Em shoulder-charged her. The shudder of steel sinking into skin brought them both to a standstill. Both frozen in shock.

  Em stumbled forward, knees buckling. Lori was still holding the handle of the knife in both hands when Em stepped back, convulsing as the blade reversed out of her stomach.

  They stood there, dumbstruck, looking at each other and then at the patch of blood growing and spreading across Em’s front.

  Em doubled over, stumbled, and fell to the ground with a thud and a groan. Shock blanked Lori’s mind of what to do next. She stared at the knife in her hands, at Em on the floor. At the blood…

  ‘Lori… Lori.’

  Lori thought it was Em saying her name. But Em was staring at the blood on her hands, looking up at Lori with her mouth wide and unmoving, confusion in her eyes.

  ‘Lor—’

  Lori turned. Addy was up on her elbow, trying to get her legs up and under her. Lori dropped the knife, shoved the chair out of the way as she ran to Addy. Without stopping to explain, Lori untangled the rope from Addy’s ankles and untied her wrists. Pulled her up. Hauled her towards the door. Almost dropped her when Addy’s legs collapsed under her own weight.

  There was no time to waste. Em was using the chair to drag herself up off the floor as they ran out the door. Addy got her feet under her just before they tackled the steps, taking them without hardly touching them as they flew down.

  Addy was struggling, but Lori focused on getting them out, getting them down the steps, half stumbling, half jogging. Focused on pulling Addy along faster than she could go, around the side of the cabin and towards the trees. Focused on getting as much distance and gaining as much cover as they could. She hurried and urged Addy on when she heard Em calling out behind them.

  82

  RUNNING THROUGH THE trees in half light made it hard to keep from tripping over roots and sticks and rocks and holes. Rushing out into the open grounds of the amusement park, Lori paused for a second, long enough to hear Em barreling through the trees behind.

  Addy was breathing hard, exhausted, dehydrated, her cheeks hollow. They needed to find cover. Lori grabbed Addy’s hand and started for the exit of the maze.

  Addy pulled back. ‘We need to get out, not lost.’ Panicked, she pointed towards the sign at the front gate, far off on the other side of the park.

  ‘It’s okay. Trust me.’ Lori didn’t wait for Addy to decide, just pulled her along. She hoped that she remembered the maze enough to get through it backwards, hoped that Em hadn’t been through it since they were kids, since before they changed it.

  Lori glanced over her shoulder just before they reached the maze. Em was at the tree line, heading straight for them. Swearing under her breath, Lori led Addy in, taking her through turn after turn.

  Soon her own heavy breathing drowned out Addy’s rasping breaths. Their hands separated as they settled into the rhythm and pace of each corner, fingers brushing along the bristling wall of groomed hedge.

  Lori wasn’t even sure if they were going the right way. Nothing looked familiar. The landmarks she’d used to make it through with Marina were now a jumble of animals, their directions getting mixed up as she tried to reverse them in her memory.

  At the spiral she paused, not remembering what had come before it. The spiral was in the middle of the maze. That meant they’d made it halfway through. More than anything, Lori dreaded taking the wrong turn when they were so close to getting out.

  She turned to check on Addy, and that was when real dread set in. She wasn’t there. She wasn’t behind her. How far back did she lose her? Shit. Where was she? Shit. Lori growled, fighting to stop herself from yelling, calling out to see where she was, in case Em heard.

  She thought she’d been pushing herself before, running as hard as she could. But Lori sprinted now, retracing her path. Back through the spiral, her hand grabbing the brown bear as she launched herself through the diagonal gap in the hedge. She pulled up, collapsing to her knees in relief when she saw Addy up ahead, bent over with her hands on her knees.

  ‘I just need to catch my breath.’ Addy’s sharp exhales were coming out in puffs of steam, her shoulders heaving.

  Catching her own breath, Lori got up and hurried towards her. ‘We can’t stop, Addy. We have to keep moving.’

  A blur of movement coming up behind Addy urged Lori on. ‘Addy, watch out—’

  But Em reached Addy first, and a moment later had her in a hold, stopping Lori mid-lunge at the sight of the knife at Addy’s throat. Blood glistened on Em’s hand, on the knife, soaking dark and disturbing through her shirt. She stumbled, her feet dragging, jostling Addy. Her unsteady hand pressed the blade against Addy’s skin, droplets of blood forming along a small cut. Addy was shivering, losing her strength, panic and pleading in her eyes.

  A strange moment of stillness came over Lori. She noticed the sky above them, orange and red lines of cloud, the pale sky behind. The snow whitened, the green hedge bright. The rest of the park could have dropped away, the world gone. This was it. All that existed in that moment was what she could see.

  Lori stepped forward, hands up in surrender. Em flicked her attention between Lori and the knife at Addy’s throat, rocking her weight from left to right. Edging closer, Lori caught her eye, locking her in. ‘You were right. I’m sorry. I choose you, okay? I need you, I need your help. But you have to let her go. We can walk away, okay? Just drop the knife. I need you to help me out here, because if you kill Addy, if she dies because of me, I’ll never be able to live with myself. She doesn’t deserve to die because of me—’

  ‘What about your parents? They deserved it, right?’ Emmie’s voice was getting rough, weak.
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  ‘My parents?’ Lori stopped, her hands dropping back to her sides.

  ‘Don’t you think it’s weird? That you haven’t heard from them after all these years? That no cops have come and told you they were in trouble or they’d been arrested or anything?’

  ‘You—you killed them? How? When?’

  ‘About a year after you came to live with us. They showed up wanting money. Didn’t even ask about you, just wanted us to pay them as if we’d taken something from them… It’s surprising how easy it is to get a junkie to overdose. They went easy, too easy. They should have suffered—’ Emmie coughed and stumbled, and the knife dropped away from Addy’s throat.

  Everything slowed. Unable to do anything, Lori watched on as Addy pulled back from the knife and knocked Emmie off balance, moving with her, still wrapped in her arm. She watched as Addy spun away and stumbled, heard a gasp. The breath was knocked out of her lungs as Addy launched into her, away from Emmie. She felt a hand on her arm, turning her around and pulling her.

  ‘Run.’

  Time sped as Lori’s mind caught up, her legs pumping, her arms aching as she struggled to hold on, to keep Addy upright and moving. They didn’t look back. They just kept moving. Lori didn’t even think, just took each turn as it came, instinct shoving aside any fear of making the wrong turn.

  They tumbled out of the entrance; the world opening up again. Addy’s legs went out from under her and Lori couldn’t keep her up, both of them falling to the ground.

  Untangling from Addy, Lori went to push herself back up. She stopped, startled at the bright red handprint she’d made in the snow.

  Addy was pale and her face was a grimace of pain. Her breathing was shallow, her body curling into itself. Lori touched a hand to Addy’s side, cringing at her yelp.

  Her palm came away wet, bright red. Looking behind them, she saw they’d left a trail of blood in the snow.

  83

  THERE WAS NO time for the zipper, so Lori pulled up the bottom of the heavy plastic over the carousel. As soon as Addy was under she let it fall, doubling back and kicking snow over the drops of blood that would have given away their hiding place.

  Em was calling out again, out of sight but getting closer. Lori scurried back to the carousel and under the cover, putting her hand over Addy’s mouth as footsteps crunched closer. A dark shadow moved across the hazy plastic, stumbled. A silhouette of a hand reached out and ran across the cover, leaving behind a smear of blood. The unsteady shadow moved on and the footsteps faded, but still they didn’t move.

  Addy’s breath rushed warm against Lori’s palm. She didn’t dare move her hand away, even as she skirted around behind Addy, giving her something soft to lean back on instead of the hard edge of the carousel. A silent conversation floated between them as Lori lifted the hem of Addy’s shirt. Lori softened her touch but kept her hand at Addy’s lips until she nodded, understanding that she needed to be quiet.

  Shivering from both cold and shock, Addy bit down on a groan. Lori peeled the wet and sticking fabric away. There was a cut that ran from the back of Addy’s ribs around to the front of her stomach and down along her hip. It was long and deep, and Lori could have sworn the white corner of her hip bone was visible under all the blood.

  ‘Okay. Hold on, just—’ Lori looked around for something to stop the bleeding, finding nothing. She pulled off her jumper, bundling it up and trying to get it to cover the whole cut.

  Addy growled in pain as Lori pressed the jumper into her side. Her eyelids fluttered, and she almost lost consciousness, her body going limp against Lori.

  Lori’s arms were shaking. It took all the strength she had to hold and press the jumper to Addy’s side as she worked her way through their options. Climbing the fence was out. There was no way Addy would make it up and over, and she wouldn’t make it running around the park looking for another way out. Leaving Addy there and going by herself was an option. But Lori couldn’t bring herself to think on it too long. She already knew she wouldn’t be able to bring herself to leave Addy there alone. What if Em found her, what if she bled out…

  Addy was trying to say something. It came out less than a whisper, more like a breath. Lori leaned forward.

  ‘Phone…’

  Lori sat back, looking at the plastic cover and the blurry shapes on the other side. There’d have to be a phone in one of the buildings. Lori lifted the jumper away from Addy’s side, replacing it and doubling her pressure as blood pooled in the cut. It wouldn’t be long before Addy would lose consciousness, then moving her would become impossible. They had to go now.

  84

  LORI EASED HERSELF out from behind Addy, leaning her gently back on the carousel. She crawled over and lay on her stomach, steadying her hands as she edged the zipper up, one millimetre at a time and hoping it wasn’t as loud as it roared in her ears.

  All around remained quiet, and she split the cover open, holding it just wide enough to look out. Daylight had come quickly, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the bright glare of the snow. The nearest building had to be at least a hundred metres away.

  Any other time and she wouldn’t even have to think about it. But right then, with Addy bleeding out and Emmie stalking around the park looking for them, it seemed too far. But there was no other option.

  There was no way she could help Addy walk and hold the jumper to her side with enough pressure. Her eyes caught on a set of hooks near the controls, hung with little straps of leather belts used to secure the smaller kids during the ride.

  Lori grabbed a handful of straps, connecting and wrapping them around Addy’s torso and the jumper. She apologised, giving Addy a two-second count before she pulled it as tight as she could. Warned or not, Addy yelled out and writhed, trying to roll away as Lori fastened a knot to hold it all in place.

  There was no time to let her get through the pain. ‘I’m sorry, but we gotta move.’ Lori bundled her up, took a breath and held it as she ripped the zipper up the rest of the way. Pushing out, she ran, dragging Addy alongside her.

  Lori scanned the surroundings as they moved. They reached the first door and found it locked. ‘Shit.’ Of course. Stupid. Should’ve known they’d be locked. She kept one eye scanning as she adjusted her grip on Addy and took more of her weight, helping and guiding her around the building. She tested windows and doors, each one locked and each one lessening her resolve. Breaking the glass would make too much noise, and she didn’t have the strength to smash her way through a wooden door.

  They rounded the last corner and Lori sent a silent prayer up to the sky at the sight of a sliding door. Addy was barely conscious as Lori leaned her against the wall. She grabbed the handle, palmed the glass and pushed up. It lifted, but she lost her grip before she could get the door high enough. Her hands were slippery with blood, gaining no traction against the smooth glass.

  ‘Lori!’

  Lori turned, followed Addy’s pointed finger to see Em coming towards them. A walking nightmare. Blood stained and disheveled, her face white as the snow on the ground, the blade of the knife shining red in her fist. Lori moved with an even greater sense of urgency, wiping her bloody hands on her shirt and putting her whole body into lifting and pulling the door off its tracks. It took two tries, but then the lock popped and the door catapulted open. Lori could see Em’s silhouette, reflected in the glass, and was strangely thankful that blood loss made her capable of nothing faster than a stumbling walk.

  Lori pulled Addy inside. Set the door back on its track. Shut it. Locked it. Addy slid down the wall and sat on the floor, eyes closed and her chest hardly moving with each shallow breath. Lori checked the leather straps were tight, holding the jumper in place. There was no blood soaking through, which was at least a sign the bleeding had slowed, if not stopped.

  Lori stood, searching. It looked like a break room. There was a set of lockers on the far wall, a table in the middle, fridge and counter. Bingo. At the end of the counter, hanging on the wall, was a landline,
the old phone sitting in its cradle. She held the handset to her ear, checking for a dial tone, had a finger hovering over the buttons when a knock came on the door, rattling it in its frame.

  Em had a bloody palm pressed to the glass, her other hand holding the knife with a finger looped through the door handle. They stood, staring at each other. Lori couldn’t understand how Em was still standing. She was so pale, there was so much blood.

  The dial tone urged Lori to move. Three numbers and the green button, easy. But Lori couldn’t look away. As much of a stranger as she’d become, Em’s eyes still held a spark of the person she once was, a hint of hurt and confusion and love. Lori couldn’t move.

  Em tapped the knife tip against the glass, her voice blunted. ‘You should have killed me, Lori. I’ll find you one day, and you’ll never leave me again.’ She turned away from the door, her palm screeching across the glass and leaving a red streak, mixing with Addy’s blood smeared in the shape of Lori’s handprint; a pact, sealed in blood.

  Lori dialled, holding the phone to her ear. She didn’t hear the voice at the other end, watching Em walk away, getting smaller and smaller and then out of sight.

  85

  A MONTH LATER…

  Lori had packed what little she had accumulated over the last month up in boxes, mixed in with Addy’s stuff. Moving in, they’d sprawled those boxes throughout their new house. It seemed like they’d made little progress and would take days to unpack. It didn’t help that it was unbearably hot. Every window on the top floor was open and every ceiling fan spun like crazy. Finding a box full of clothes in a stack in the kitchen, Lori lugged it upstairs and into their bedroom.