Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 132491 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132491 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
I’m dressed in the clean clothes Ellison left for me. The lightweight gray pants and light blue T-shirt are much more comfortable than my Rising Tide clothes were. She also left me a clean bra, underwear and socks, and a pair of lightweight hiking boots in my size.
This is the cleanest and most comfortable I’ve been in a long time. Marcus seems like a real dick, but Ellison has been nothing but great to me. I’m still not sure about this place, but I’m hoping to see Amira soon and find out what she knows.
But first, I have to get through questioning by Marcus. Ellison leads me from my room, a man following us. The hallway we’re walking down has a concrete floor, and there are simple light fixtures on the walls illuminating our path. The cool air reminds me of being inside a cave.
We reach the door at the end of the hallway and Ellison turns, sighing heavily.
“I’m sorry, but you have to be blindfolded until we get to where we’re going.”
My eyes bulge with alarm. “Blindfolded?”
She purses her lips, her expression apologetic. “I promise I’ll be with you the entire time you’re blindfolded. This is just for the walk to get there.”
My heart pumps faster as the man behind us moves closer, a black cloth in his hands.
“This is Vance,” Ellison says. “Vance, this is Briar.”
Vance has shaggy strawberry-blond hair and a beard. His build is average and he’s about six feet tall. Based on the blank look he’s giving me, he’d rather be elsewhere.
Vance nods at me. “You ready?”
“I don’t want to be blindfolded.” I give Ellison a pleading look. “Can’t I just close my eyes?”
She takes my hand. “I won’t let go until the blindfold comes off. I promise.”
I still don’t like it, but I nod anyway. Ellison patiently fed me when I was too weak to feed myself. She’s cleaned and checked my leg wound every day and made sure I have enough medication to keep the pain at bay. I trust that she doesn’t want to hurt me.
Vance puts the blindfold around my eyes, tying it securely behind my head. Ellison squeezes my hand and I hear the door in front of us being opened.
“It’s not very far,” she says. “We’ll be there in less than five minutes.”
A sense of dread coils in my belly as I walk beside Ellison. My breathing is shallow and I have to force myself to swallow, my mouth like sandpaper. I’m at the mercy of the Dust Walkers. It’s terrifying to be completely in the dark, not knowing whether someone is coming at me with a weapon.
“You’re okay,” Ellison says in a soothing voice. “We’re walking through a room, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Then why am I blindfolded? There’s something here they don’t want me to see. And on this island, where the laws of science don’t always apply, that’s a terrible feeling.
“We’re about to go through another door,” Ellison says.
She waits, and there’s a buzzing sound that makes me jump.
“That’s the sound of the door being unlocked for us,” she murmurs.
I hear her turn the handle and push it open, and then she leads me through. Vance follows, and the door closes behind him.
We’re walking down another hallway. I’m not sure how I know but it feels like a hallway. It’s completely quiet, not a sound in the space other than the hum of a light fixture.
“How close are we?” I clutch Ellison’s hand, my own getting sweaty.
“Very close. Hang in there.”
About ten seconds later, she stops and pounds on a door. It sounds like solid metal. This place feels like a secure military base.
“Come in,” a deep voice calls from inside.
Ellison opens the door and leads me through the doorway. I hear the door close, and then the blindfold is pulled away from my eyes.
“You okay?” she asks me with a smile.
I nod, releasing her hand.
We’re in a room much like the one I recovered in. It has concrete walls and no windows. There are two light fixtures in the ceiling, but the room still isn’t brightly lit.
Filing cabinets line one wall of the room. There’s a desk against another wall, a chair pushed into it. The space is dominated by a long wooden conference table that could easily seat twenty.
Across from me, on one long side of the table, Marcus and Nova are sitting. My knife is sitting on the table in front of Marcus, in its leather sheath. There’s a pitcher of water and several wooden cups off to the side.
Marcus gestures at the chairs in front of me. “Sit.”
I look at Ellison, wary. She gives me a reassuring smile.
“I won’t be staying. I’ll see you soon, though.”
I nod and slide into a metal chair, taking a deep breath. As soon as the door closes behind Ellison, I fight the urge to jump up and run after her.