Fleeting Moments (24 page)

The sob comes again.

I feel around until I find a small lamp, and I carefully turn it on.

I gasp at what I see.

Lying on the bed on her stomach is Hayley. There is dried blood all around her and her back is exposed, revealing very similar markings to what Heath has on his, only hers are raw and bleeding. My tears flow again as I rush over, gently moving her hair from her face. “Hayley, hey, it’s Lucy. You’re okay.”

She looks up at me, her eyes red and swollen. “Lucy?” she croaks.

“I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. Let me help you.”

“Help me,” she sobs. “Please help me. I’m sorry.”

I stroke her sweat-dampened hair. “Don’t be sorry. Can you walk?”

“No,” she sobs. “It hurts too much.”

Dammit. I can’t just walk her out of here, but I’m terrified to leave her again.

I may not have a choice.
“Hayley, do you trust me?”

Her eyes find mine, so broken. “I don’t . . . I don’t know.”

“I need you to, okay? I’m going to get you out of here, I promise you that. I just need you to stay here and pretend you never saw me, and I swear to you I’ll be back in a matter of hours. Do you believe me?”

Her eyes are so broken, so scared, yet she nods.

I lean down and kiss her forehead. “I’m coming for you. Be strong, sweetheart.”

I turn and rush out, hurrying back to the trees. Josh says he’ll let me out of here, but I don’t believe he’ll do it easily. I rack my brain as I run to try and figure out a way to get out of here without raising alarm. I glance into the dark trees—I can’t climb the fence again, not with a broken wrist. Can I get close enough to call out to whoever is waiting on the outside for me, or do I attempt to ask Josh to leave?

I don’t know.

God.

I don’t know.

I move back to the camp and quietly join the group that has gathered around the fire pit. Josh doesn’t seem to notice me come back, and I’m thankful for that. His gaze finds mine about five minutes later, and he smiles. I want to rip his eyes out and stab him in the face, but instead I force a smile and a small wave, then disappear back into the people. If I just walk to the front gates, will I be able to get out?

No. They’ll be locked.

Heath said he’d have someone outside the compound at all times. I think that’s my only chance. I move back into the trees and go as deep as I can until I run into the perimeter fence, then I use one hand to guide myself around the front, following it until I’m far enough away from the music and dancing that I know I’m nearing the back. I keep moving, my fingers grazing the wire. I see a small light about fifteen feet ahead, and I pray it’s them.

“Hello?” I call as loudly as I can, but it isn’t very loud.

They’re too far away and can’t hear me.

Dammit.

“What’re you doing?”

I flinch and spin around to see Josh behind me. I didn’t hear him approach. He has a flashlight, but it’s so dim I can hardly see it. Dammit. Shit.

“I was looking for a way out . . .”

“What for?” he asks, stepping closer.

My heart pounds. This is not good. “I . . . want to go home.”

“It’s the middle of the night.”

“I just . . . I’m tired and—”

His eyes move past me and he squints into the distance. “Are they out there? Is this some sort of trap?”

“What?” I cry. “No.”

“What’s that light in the distance then?” he growls.

Oh no.

No.

I reach for the camera in my pocket and curl my fingers around it. I’m can’t let him know I’ve got it. I have to think quickly. I’m wearing a thick bracelet around my wrist that’s made up of leather and cotton and a few intertwined chains. I carefully shuffle it off by moving my hand behind my back and rolling it down over myself until it rolls off and is in my hand.

“Well?” Josh barks.

“Please, I don’t know. I just wanted to get out.”

“You’re a liar!” he snarls, grabbing my arm. “You’re lying. This is some sort of trap.”

“No,” I plead, jerking my arm from his grip and pressing my back against the fence. I wrap the USB into the bracelet and shove it through the wire. It balances on it, and I can only hope that it’s going to hold so that when I do what I’m about to do next, it’ll draw attention to this spot and they’ll find it.

Then I take a deep breath and risk everything.

“Help!” I scream in the loudest, shrillest voice I can muster.

The light shines our way.

Josh raises a hand and lands a punch across my right cheekbone so hard my world goes black.

~*~*~*~

I
wake facedown on a bed with my arms bound behind my back. I know immediately where I am, and I know the danger I’m in. I know it down to my very soul. I try to move, but I can’t—I just can’t. Tears well up and I turn my head to the side and see Josh sitting by the bed, staring at me. One of my eyes feels as though it’s swelling closed, and there’s a dull throb in my head that reminds me of his savage punch.

“You made a big mistake.”

I swallow down my tears and croak, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Why did they send you in here?” he demands.

“They didn’t,” I protest.

“They did!” he roars. “Why?”

“They just want to know what you’re doing.”

“I searched you. Where’s the recording device?”

My heart pounds, but I don’t flinch. “What device?”

“They wouldn’t have sent you in without one.”

I narrow my eyes. “They did.”

“Bullshit.”

“Well if you’ve searched me, you’ll clearly see I don’t have one.”

“You’re a poor liar.”

“I’m not lying.”

He stands and slams his hand down on the bedside table next to me. “Where is it?” he roars.

“I don’t have one.”

He reaches down, curling his fist into my hair and jerking my head back. I scream in agony as my body is wrenched into a painful position. “Where is it?”

“I don’t know,” I scream. “I don’t have anything.”

“You’re going to pay for this,” he snarls, leaning down close. “You’re going to suffer for this mistake.”

“I didn’t do anything,” I try again, but even I don’t believe me.

He raises a hand and clicks his fingers. “Mathew, call in eight men. This girl needs to be purified.”

Purified? What the hell does that mean?

“Let me go,” I scream, trying to get my knees up beneath me.

Someone takes my legs and jerks them down, tying them to the bed. Josh forces my face into the pillow so hard I can hardly breathe, then he jerks my dress up over my waist.
No. God. No.

“No,” I scream into the pillow. “No, please.”

His hand comes down over my bottom so hard the slap radiates through the tent. I bite the pillow to stop my shriek of pain. I keep trying to fight, thrashing my body as best I can, but I have nothing, I can’t fight when I’m restrained like this. Josh’s hand goes back to my hair, and he jerks my head back again. “You’re going to wish you didn’t do this. Mathew, you can go first.”

Go first.

No
.

“Please,” I beg. “Please, don’t.”

Fear unlike anything I’ve ever felt gets trapped in my throat, I can’t breathe. I can’t think. I can’t move. I’m helpless and he’s got all the control. I wish I’d never come in here. Heath was right—this was a deadly and stupid idea. What did I think I was going to achieve? Who did I think I was going to fool? Tears run down my cheeks and soak the bed, and I plead over and over for them to stop.

They don’t listen.

Someone touches my spine, running a calloused hand down until they reach my bottom. I beg and plead, my voice hoarse, but there’s no point—it’s as if they can’t hear me. The sound of a belt buckle undoing can be heard, then I feel his pants brush my legs as they are drop to the ground. Vomit rises in my throat and fear prickles my skin as I internally plead for a miracle, for something to come along and stop this moment, this awful, life-altering moment.

My prayers are answered.

Shouts can be heard in the distance and the presence of the vile man behind me disappears. My skin is left cool and exposed as frantic voices can be heard around me—Josh’s mostly. I hear the word “cops” and then “Heath,” before they all disappear out of the tent, leaving me tied and alone.

“You need a warrant!” I hear someone shout. “This is private land.”

Sirens fill the space, and my tears turn to broken sobs.

The tent flaps, and a familiar voice rasps, “Jesus Christ.”

“Tank?” I croak.

“I’m going to pull your dress down and cover you up,” he says, his voice hard and icy. “I’m sorry.”

He quickly covers me with my dress and then makes light work of untying me. The second I’m up, I throw myself into his arms. He catches me. I don’t think he wants to, but he has no choice the way I lurch towards him. His arm goes around my waist, and I shove my face into his chest.

“You came.”

“One question before we do anything else,” he says, his voice so scary I flinch. “Did they hurt you?”

“No,” I whisper. “Not like you think—you came just in time.” I lean back and look up at him.

He hisses when he takes in my face. “Who did that?”

“Josh.”

“I’ll kill him. I’ll fucking kill him.”

He scoops me into his arms and strides out of the tent.

And right into chaos.

M
oments are strange in the sense that they happen so quickly.

One second I was about to have my life forever altered, and then I was being carried out of the tent by a man I’m not even sure likes me.

Police are everywhere, throwing cuffs on any man who gets in their way. Women are huddled by two officers, and they look terrified. I feel for them, because sadly they believe that their entire worlds are being turned upside-down right now. They don’t truly understand that what’s happening is their lives are being saved, because they love this world and would honestly tell you they don’t want it to change.

Josh is nowhere to be seen. Neither is Heath, and that scares me.

“Put me down,” I say to Tank.

He obliges, placing my feet firmly on the ground.

“Go to the police; they’ll keep you safe. I need to see if there is anything I can do to help,” he orders, and then rushes off.

I duck behind a tent and fix my dress, then I crouch low and run from tent to tent, looking for Josh. Has he made an escape? Have they already taken him?

I peer back out and see Tank looking around, desperately. I can only assume Josh is still out there. I turn and glance into the thick trees when I hear the grunting sounds coming from my left. I spin around and see they’re coming from the woods beside me.

I rush in and stop dead when I see Heath and Josh in a full-on wrestle on the ground. Fists are flying, blood is everywhere, and they’re without a doubt in a death match. My heart races and my eyes dart back and forth as I try to find something to stop this—anything. Aside from a few large logs, there is nothing. Josh is on top of Heath now and as if in slow motion, I watch him reach into his shirt and pull out a knife.

“No,” I scream, rushing forward.

He raises it just as I slam into him from the side, taking the full force of his thrust into my stomach. Pain unlike anything I’ve ever felt in my life rips through my body and I topple backwards, mouth open, silent scream on my lips. Heath roars and then cops are everywhere, three of them tackling Josh to the ground. I can’t move. I can’t breathe. I can’t even feel my body anymore.

“Lucy, no,” Heath gasps, crawling to my side and lifting my head into his hands. “Baby, say something. Please say something.”

“We got him.” I gasp, and it comes out gurgled. “We got him.”

Then I let darkness take me.

~*~*~*~

“W
hy won’t she wake up?”

“She will when she’s ready.”

“The doctor said she should be awake by now.”

“She’ll wake up soon. Stop stressing.”

“Both of you stop stressing. Let her rest.”

The faint sounds of my mom, Dad and Heath’s voices flitter into my mind as my body slowly starts becoming aware of what’s happening around me. I hear beeps, and I can smell something that resembles a chemical of some sort. It takes another few moments before I can feel my body and I curl my fingers, making sure this isn’t a dream.

“Lucy?”

It isn’t.

I focus on my eyes, begging them to open.

They do.

“She’s awake. Get the doctor.”

“Lucy girl.”

Heath.

My eyes move in the direction of his voice and slowly he comes into sight, silver eyes locking with mine.

“Hey,” I croak.

His face looks pained, but he smiles. “Hey yourself, honey.”

“What . . . what happened?”

He narrows his eyes. “You don’t remember?”

I close my eyes a second and small snippets of memories come flooding back. They flick back open, and I look to him. “Josh . . . is he . . . is he . . .?”

“He’s locked away and facing some charges that’ll make sure he stays that way.”

“And everyone else?”

“Hopefully getting the help they need, though it can’t be forced on them. At least they’re free of his brainwashing now.”

“Hayley?” I croak.

His eyes grow sad. “She’s okay. In a bad way, but okay. She’s in here and so are a few of the other girls.”

“Can I see her?”

“I’ll find out.”

“Will she be all right?” I ask, my eyes begging with him to say she will.

“I don’t honestly know, but she’s going into the care of a wonderful older couple who have years of experience with traumatized kids. I think it will all work out.”

“And all those other kids?”

“Child services has stepped in. That’s all I know so far.”

I nod, swallowing the thick lump forming in my throat.

“What I do know is that if it wasn’t for you, none of them would be where they are now and they’d still be being subjected to that horror. You saved their lives, beautiful girl.”

Tears roll down my cheeks.

“I was so fucking scared when I saw that knife go into you. I thought . . .”

“Hey,” I whisper, reach up to cup his cheek. “I’m okay.”