Shadowed Eden (12 page)

Erin didn't protest so they made a beeline for the creek in the jungle. The path was well worn by now. They chose a spot down creek from where they gathered their water in the mornings, and everyone pitched in to dig out a pit that was big enough for swimming.

Avery pulled brush away from the shoreline so they could make a clearer path, but her foot got stuck in the mud. She tugged at her leg, and her foot came loose with a sickly slurping sound. She tumbled toward the ground, fast.

The splash into the water was enough to get everyone's attention. She sat, blinking back the droplets that had sprayed into her eyes. At first, no one moved, but then Luca chuckled and shook his head. “You couldn't wait?”

Avery smiled and scooped an arc of water towards him.

He didn't need any more provocation. Jumping in, he made a splash big enough to drench anyone standing nearby.

Everyone followed his path then, and before long they were laughing and having fun. That was a first since they'd arrived.

Avery kept an eye on Luca while they goofed off, but he didn't seem to pay any more attention to June. He caught Avery looking, and she blushed and turned away. They used to have all kinds of fun together like this, but that was before their lives went down the tubes. Before Luca turned into a 'rabid dog', as Daddy called him.

But maybe the old Luca was still in there. Somewhere. Maybe he just needed help finding his way out.

By the time they finished, everyone was cooled off and happy. They marched back to the tree line, all dripping wet.

“It's a good thing you brought our luggage back from the van,” Avery said.

Luca smiled. “Yeah. Too bad I don't have any.”

“You can borrow some of Benny's. It might be a little tight.”

He snorted and shook his head, then moved away to talk to David. Luca was taller, but David's clothes would be a decent fit.

Avery looked around at their shelters and the box of food near a small fire pit they'd dug into the sand earlier. This wasn't so bad. They could last here another night or two. She glanced toward the desert and thought of Bradley's group. Where were they now? For their own sakes, Avery hoped they'd found the village.

14

The bite of the morning air was twice as bad when she was waking up to it without the shelter of the van. Avery groaned and rolled over. There was no use trying to sleep longer and stay warm if she had no blanket to cuddle.

A few others were already out of their rickety shelters, and Benny had started a fire.

Out of habit, Avery looked for Luca. He still slept in the boys' shelter. How could he sleep in when they were stuck in the desert? She smiled and turned away, but her heart pumped in confusion. They'd had fun last night swimming in the creek, and afterward, as everyone ate real food for the first time in days, she'd felt normal with him. She missed that feeling.

She and Luca had been best friends since they were little. Wherever Avery had been, Luca had been there too. All through elementary and middle school, and then through high school.

Things hadn't turned romantic until about a year ago, as they realized high school would be over soon, and they'd be moving into the big, bad world on their own.

Avery hadn't been able to imagine life without Luca.

At least until their dads had messed things up for them—hers by wanting to keep her out of public sight like he was embarrassed by her “episode,” and Luca's by taking his own life.

Forcing the thoughts out of her mind, she moved to sit by the fire. She could revisit her decisions later, once they were home. For now, they needed to focus on staying safe and getting out of here. She grabbed a piece of the fruit they'd brought in from the night before.

They'd spent a few hours in the jungle and she hadn't gotten confused even once, so maybe she wasn't crazy.

She glanced at Erin who woke up and grabbed one of her water bottles from home. Last night, Erin had sat by while everyone else had fun. That was unlike her—at youth group she was always jumping in to whatever activity was on the agenda. Erin was obviously way more tormented by whatever it was that was making Avery feel off balance.

Avery finished her fruit and made her way to the youth leader. “How are you this morning?”

Erin finished a long drink and glanced up at Avery. “I feel my best in the morning, thanks.”

Avery smiled and offered her a pear. “Can I ask you a question?”

Erin nodded so Avery squatted beside her in the sand. “You said that
he
warned you we wouldn't get out of here. Who were you talking about?”

Erin's face darkened so fast that Avery turned to see if something had happened behind her. The area was empty. She turned back to Erin, anxious to hear what she had to say.

Erin shook her head. “I don't want to talk about that.”

“I'm sorry to bring it up. I only ask because…” she swallowed hard and looked down. Would Erin think she was crazy? Considering Avery's history, it was really hard to admit what she'd seen. She took a deep breath and plunged ahead. “I ask because I saw someone, too.”

Erin's eyes widened. “What?”

“I saw him the day I got lost in the jungle. He said he'd helped Gabby and Katelyn, and he would try to help us leave. He made it sound like he wasn't sure he could do it. He said he lived here.”

Erin's nostrils flared, and she shook her head. “That's not the same person I see.”

Avery stilled. Even her heart seemed to stop beating. “The person you see? Do you see him often?”

The youth leader's eyes closed, and when she opened them, her face had gone as white as a wedding gown. “I see him almost every moment of every day.”

Avery gasped. “What does he look like?”

Erin shook her head vehemently, her hair waving around her face. “I don't want to talk about it. He's not here now, and that's all I care about for the moment.”

“Does he live here? Rae said he lives here.”

“What are you talking about?” Luca demanded.

Avery spun around. She hadn't meant for him to hear about Rae. She quickly stood to face him. “There's something strange about this place. I was just talking to Erin about it.”

“Who is Rae?” His eyes seemed too watchful, too suspicious. He was angry she'd kept this from him.

“I met him in the jungle the day I got lost. He said he lived here, and that he'd try to help us get out of here.”

“No one lives in this jungle.”

She put her hands on her hips and tried to keep her anger down. “Someone was in the jungle. Katelyn saw something, and Erin too. I'm not crazy.” The last sentence came out a little too forcefully—and loud.

His haughty façade faded away and he shook his head. “I know you're not crazy.”

Avery stood awkwardly, not sure how to respond. She glanced around and a few of the others stared at her.

June, Gabby, and Katelyn didn't know the significance of her statement, but the others in her youth group did. They looked away guiltily, and she looked at her feet, unwilling to meet Luca's eyes.

“I didn't say you were crazy, but I wish you had told me you saw someone. I saw something too.”

Her head snapped up. “What?”

“The first day we were here I saw something at the tree line. It was a flash of white, but it looked like the form of a person.”

Chill bumps raced up Avery's arms. “Rae said he lived here, but when I told him he had to come back and help us, he said he couldn't come with me. Do you think that's who Katelyn saw?”

“I don't know,” Luca said. “She said that whoever she saw was all white. What was this guy wearing?”

She frowned and tried to think back, but everything was a blur. “I don't know.”

Erin stood up behind Avery.

“You see it too?” Luca asked.

Erin shook her head, but she didn't speak.

Poor Erin.

“She said whoever she sees is different from what we've all described. She doesn't want to talk about it.”

Luca didn't seem satisfied with that answer, but he let it drop.

“Do you think we should go look for him?” Avery asked. It was what she had wanted for two days now. She hoped Luca would agree. “If he really does live here then he should be able to help us.”

Luca frowned and stared at the jungle for long, torturous seconds. Finally, he sighed. “I don't know if it's the right thing or the wrong thing, but if there's someone who can help us then I think we should find him.”

“It won't help.”

They both turned to Erin. She stood in the sand staring past them, almost as if she was looking at someone behind them, but no one was there.

“He says it won't help. He says we need to go deeper. We'll find answers there.”

Luca spun around, his nostrils flaring and his anger showing. “Leave her alone!” he shouted at the open air. “We don't take orders from you.”

Erin chuckled and shook her head. “Don't worry about me. I think I'm beyond hope.” She took the few steps back to her shelter and climbed inside.

Avery's heart clenched. There had to be something she could do to help. They had to find Rae. “When can we leave?”

Luca glanced around. “It's not like we have anything else to do. Let's see who wants to go with us.” He led the way to the others and filled them in on the plan.

Benny volunteered right away.

Katelyn quickly stepped forward, too. “I want to see him again. He was really fascinating.”

With Katelyn coming, Gabby signed right up.

June stepped forward, too. She stood near Avery and offered a small smile. “I'm not real thrilled about this, but if there's some dark force floating around Erin then I'd rather not hang out with her.”

Avery hadn't thought about it like that. She glanced at Erin, worried about leaving her alone, but the youth leader seemed to be asleep again.

They started toward the jungle as a group, but Avery kept her head down as they walked. Everyone must have heard the conversation between her and Luca. Now they all knew she'd seen some random guy. What did they think of her? Especially the kids from her own youth group.

She chanced a glance at the others, but no one seemed to care about her one way or another. That eased some of her anxiety, but it felt like the day her mom left all over again.

Inside the jungle, even the morning air was hot, and sweat quickly pooled on her back, forehead, and neck. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

That was when she saw the first black bug. It skittered across the path in front of her, barely missing Luca's feet.

Avery shuddered and pushed ahead.

“What if we see another monkey?” Benny asked.

“Or another snake?” June wrapped her arms around her waist.

Luca shook his head. “We've done OK so far. I'm not worried about that.”

Right now Avery felt she could deal with a snake or a monkey. What she was worried about was seeing another black beetle. She watched the others' faces as they hiked deeper into the jungle, waiting to see if anyone else saw the things she was seeing, but no one seemed to be freaked out like her.

After a half hour of walking, the group paused for a break and passed out the water bottles.

Avery took a long drink then glanced around the jungle to figure out where they were. She recognized the location immediately. “I think we should head that way,” she said, nodding to the left. That was where she had seen him.

Luca frowned and looked toward the direction she pointed. “It doesn't look like there's a path that way.”

“I've been there before,” she said quickly.

He nodded. “OK. We can check it out.”

They finished their water and turned to the left, beating out a path as they walked.

Excitement built with each step Avery took. Who was Rae? Did he live nearby? Could he tell them where they were and how to get out? Where to find help?

Who was sabotaging them?

Regardless, he might know where they could go to get out of here. Since none of their phones seemed to work, he might know of a place they could call for help.

The thought brought her up short. “Luca!”

The entourage stopped and everyone looked at her, waiting.

She couldn't keep the smile off her face. “We're in the jungle! When we got back yesterday, well, we all got caught up in building shelters. We never checked for signal on Benny's phone.”

Luca's face lit up and he spun to Benny. “Did you bring it?”

Benny frowned but pulled the phone from his pocket. “Yeah, but the battery is just about dead. I'm not sure how much you'll be able to use it.”

Luca grabbed the phone and Avery pushed in closer to see whatever he saw. He powered up the phone and waited for everything to load. One green bar indicated the tiniest of signals.

Avery glanced at Luca in excitement. “See if you can call my dad.”

He shook his head. “What if your dad is lost, too? We would waste what battery we have left.” As soon as he'd finished speaking, the phone chimed.

Plug into charger. 4% battery power remaining.

Luca typed in a different number—Avery recognized his home number—but when he hit the call button, a message flashed that there wasn't sufficient signal for the call to go through. Luca growled.

“Try the internet,” Avery said.

“Here.” Benny pushed past her. “I have a maps app.” He touched the screen, and a new app opened.

Avery leaned in close. She was familiar with maps of the Middle East. Daddy had been digging there since she was a little girl, and she'd seen dozens of maps of the place. She recognized Baghdad right away, and a few other Iraqi cities. They were all very far away.

Odd, since the village they were going to was only a two-hour drive from the airport in Baghdad.

A small, blue dot blinked for their location, and they seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.