“You don’t know?” she asks with her eyebrows pinched together. “Like… really don’t know?”
“No. Where are we going?”
“Ladies and gentlemen…” Before she can answer I turn to that voice, it’s the girl with glasses. She eyes me longer than the rest when her eyes skim across everyone on board, and then she continues her speech, “Please be seated. You should reach your destination in an hour.”
A few girls start walking over to sit near the guys, who, I might add, are all old. As I take the seat closest to the door, my legs start bouncing in agitation, and I bite my lip as I wait. No one talks to me, and Ruby is sitting on the lap of one of the old men as she blushes at something he says.
The only person who seems to have a cell on them is Atlas’s girl with the glasses, even then she seems to not care about what everyone else around her is doing.
When the plane finally comes to a stop, she walks past me, looking down, and gives a slight shake of her head before she walks off. A few people follow her, but I wait until the very last minute—now being the only one left on the plane.
I don’t want to get off.
I want to go far, far away, and never come back.
When Lucy is safe, and I have done everything I can to help her, I will be doing just that. If she falls back into the same crowd, I won’t be rescuing her again.
They won’t be able to find me to do so.
Maybe I will run away to Tahiti and fall between the cracks.
Live some sort of carefree life on a beach somewhere.
When I can’t postpone this any longer, I know I have to get up and get off, but something is stopping me.
My legs won’t move, and my head is screaming at me to do so, but I can’t. I literally cannot move a muscle. I do not know what awaits me on the outside of this plane, and quite frankly, I do not want to know. I want to go back to my house and never leave, remain safe where I was, not out here not knowing what’s going to happen next.
I want to go home.
“I see your instincts have finally kicked in.” My eyes search for that voice. He stands there dressed in ripped jeans and a white singlet. My head also wonders if it’s the same outfit he had on that night at my house. All his tattoos are visible, and I have to look up to his eyes before I get lost in his body.
Amber soulless eyes greet me.
“Your payment is due, Theadora.” He turns and walks off, but I hear his boots stop. “If you don’t get up and move, I’ll chop one of your sister’s fingers off.” Then he moves, and somehow, so do I. Fast. My feet catch up to him, and when I reach the handles that will help me down the stairs, I manage to look around. White sandy beaches greet me as the sun starts to set, with a crystal blue ocean surrounding us, and I wonder if there is an escape.
When he reaches the bottom, he looks up at me. His eyes search my body—for what, I don’t know—before he walks over to his lady, whoever the fuck she is. He bends down and whispers in her ear before he continues to walk. The girl looks at me and walks to the end of the steps, waiting for me to take that final step down. When I do, she offers me her hand.
“My name is Sydney. If you will follow me.”
Sydney? Never would have guessed that name.
She starts walking, and I follow. My hands shake at my sides as we walk past a pool that has floating candles and naked ladies surrounding it. “Now, you are to be on your best behavior. This is high stakes, and you will spend the next few days here.”
My feet stop at her words. “Staying?” I ask with confusion.
Sydney snaps to a stop and turns to face me. “Yes. You will be staying for the next few days, and there is literally no way you can escape. So, don’t piss off anyone.” Her heels tap when she starts walking again, and we step up to a grouping of small cabins, each one having a name on it. I see mine as she takes the stairs and stops, turning around once she unlocks the door and passes the keys to me.
“I don’t understand why I’m here.”
Sydney snaps her fingers. “You aren’t special to him anymore. You are here to do what your sister was meant to. So, please stop with the questions, because the answers will not come from me. Your first outfit is already laid on your bed, get dressed and get ready. I will be back to collect you in a few hours.” Sydney walks out as I look toward the door.