Untaken (31 page)

If there were no stars to look at, then Jake really was Locked in here.

And there wasn’t much time left. Jake knew that. Soon it would be too late, and he’d be Locked in here forever.

Tears ran down his face and he wiped them away, angrily.

He curled up under the chair, trying to make himself as small as small could be.

Dog crawled in next to him. Her long pink tongue licked the tears from Jake’s face and, unable to bear being inside his own misery any longer, he sent his mind out to ride on dog’s until the salty taste of the tears filled his mouth.

Gracie

waited outside until it was dark. The snow fell harder. At least a foot had settled, with no sign of letting up anytime soon. I tried to remember if Brandon had been wearing his snow boots. If he’d even been wearing his coat.

Not that I should care, anyway! I’d been worried that he’d side with Doc and Terry, but I couldn’t believe he’d left us like that, just stormed off in a sulk, like a little kid Jake’s age.

Maybe I’d pushed him, talking about The Center and bringing up his dad, but it was important. We couldn’t lose Jake just because Brandon was still living in a fantasy land where the good guys came in and saved you.

Every now and then, the hateful face of Doc appeared in the window. I knew I’d have to go inside eventually.
I’d
been sensible enough to dress for the weather, but even still, the cold found all the little gaps in my clothes and made me shiver. The wind blew great swirls of shaggy snowflakes into my eyes and mouth making me choke and blink back tears. Brandon’s tracks were long covered, and he was so lousy with directions that I wondered if he’d be able to find his way back without them.

If he meant to come back at all.

Doc shoved the back door open, fighting the drift of snow that had blown up against it.

“You really should come inside now. Unless you mean to sit out here all night.”

I didn’t want to do anything he said, but my hands smarted and tingled with the cold, and my fingers had become so numb I had difficulty moving them. If anything happened to me, then Jake would be all alone with these assholes.

“Jeez, this is bullshit,” Terry was saying as I stamped the snow off my boots in the hall. “They’re never gonna get through this by tomorrow.”

“Who?” I asked, suddenly all ears.

“Mind your own business,” snapped Doc. He wasn’t even trying the dumb wheedling tone he used when Brandon was around, and I was glad.

“I guess you mean your army buddies. They’re coming for us, right?”

Terry ignored me and stamped off to the kitchen to crack open a beer, but Doc stared at me coldly.

“I’d much rather talk about your buddies than mine. Where’s Brandon?”

I shrugged. “How should I know? He’s your new best friend.”

“It’s not safe for him to be out in the storm. He won’t find help out there. We
are
the help. I hoped I had gotten through to him.”

I had to laugh at that. “You have. He didn’t run off on your account. I told his dumb ass some stuff he didn’t want to hear is all.”

“It puzzles me that you think he’s the stupid one, when it’s you who refuses to listen to what we’re telling you.”

“Let’s see. You steal our car and all our stuff. You smash up my tablet, and you lock Jake up. You’re right! I trust you completely.”

“Jeez,” muttered Terry in the next room. “If I were your boyfriend I’d head for the hills, too.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said, going red. “He’s just—”

“Quiet, Terrance,” said Doc. “You’re obviously an intelligent young lady. What do you hope to gain by acting like a foolish child?”

“You’ve treated us like foolish children! You haven’t told us what you’re planning to do with us. Just a bunch of vague bullshit to make us go along with what you want.”

Doc raised an eyebrow. “Fine. Details. We are part of a military initiative, investigating the extra-terrestrials. We need Jake because we need to understand the enemy. The more we learn about them, the more chance we have of defending ourselves against them.”

“Yeah, I know. You want to cut Jake up.”

“There is no ‘Jake,’ except in your mind. He is not a little boy. That thing is an alien intelligence using the body of a human child as a host. And, er, ‘cutting him up,’ as you put it, is the last thing we want to do. Of all the specimens initially acquired by the powers that were, only a few remain. The initial reaction to them was…heavy-handed. The program of study has been taken over by the military, and we need living specimens in good condition. If they are cooperative, all the better.”

“Jake isn’t a ‘specimen.’ He’s our friend. I don’t care what you think he is. He hates being locked up. He’s scared. He wasn’t hurting you. None of us were. If you wanted to help us, you’d let us go.”

“You know why we can’t.”

“There’s nothing else to talk about then, is there? Just leave me alone.”

“You’d be saving lives. Human lives,” said Doc. “What do you owe his kind? It was them that destroyed everything you had. We are the ones trying to fix things. If you’d only trust us.”

“No,” I told him. “It seems like ever since this started, people have been telling us what the best thing to do is. Telling us if we trust them things will be okay. And you know what? Every single time, the opposite happens.”

“But—”

“But nothing. Ask Brandon to help you. Pin some dumb army medal on him and he’ll do whatever the hell you ask him to.”

Doc shrugged. “Think it over. As long as this storm holds up, we have nothing but time. I’m sure you know that we will do this without your help, but the less stress placed on young Jake, the more useful he will be to us. You could help us with that. Help him.”

“Help
you
, you mean. Terry already let slip that they kicked you guys off the base. I guess you think you can buy your way back in with Jake. Just because Brandon only hears what he wants to, doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten.”

“So it’d be a win for all of us,” said Doc. “And speaking of the storm, I think it’s time we found out what happened to young Brandon. You’re angry at him now, but I don’t think you’d feel good about yourself should he freeze to death.”

I watched through the window as Terry took the car—our car!—out of the garage. He swore as he fitted a snow plow to the front of it, and chains to the tires. If I could distract him, take the car…

But of course, Jake was still locked up, and Doc was never far away.

The headlights of the SUV illuminated a million dancing snowflakes as Terry pulled out of the drive. The tail lights winked and vanished into the stormy night.

Brandon had probably found shelter. And it wasn’t my fault. I’d said what I had to say, and that’s all. I wasn’t responsible for Brandon.

Ugh!
My boyfriend.
Gross.

I went to Jake’s room and pressed an ear to the door. “Jake? You okay?”

Paws padded toward the closed door. A collar jingled, followed by a soft whine.

“Shut up, Dog,” I hissed. “Jake?”

Nothing.

“Jake, if you can hear me, come to the door.”

Still nothing.

“Fine. I’m about done with both of you.” Slow footsteps scuffed toward the door. “Jake?”

Four little pink fingers appeared in the gap between the bottom of the door and the ugly brown carpet. I reached for them, then stopped.

“He’s not a little boy.”

I was being dumb. And if being an intergalactic overlord was contagious, I guess it was too late to worry about it anyway. I laid my fingers on top of Jake’s.

“It’s okay, Jakester. We’ll figure out a way of getting you out of there.” Silence, then a voice so small I had to press my ear right up against the door to hear it.

“I thought you were Locked.”

“Locked?”

He paused, and I imagined the way his face screwed up with concentration as he searched for the right word.

“Dead.”

“No one’s dead. No one’s going to
be
dead. It’s okay.”

“Where did Brandon go?”

Great, he’d heard everything we said.

“He’ll be back soon.”

“Can we leave this place?”

“Yes.”

“Gracie, I’m scared.”

I gave the fingers a squeeze.

“Don’t be scared. We’ll figure it out.”

If only I knew how.

Terry was clambering down from the driver’s seat of the SUV when I shoved past Doc and ran out into the snow. For a second, I could only see Terry, and a horrible bolt of fright flashed through me, but then I spotted Brandon, slamming the door shut on the passenger side. The snow was knee-high, and I almost fell as I ran toward him.

“What in the hell, Brandon? You could have died!” I didn’t know whether I wanted to hug him or pop him one. Brandon grinned over at Terry in a goofy way. The stink of liquor wafted from the car.

“Chill, Gracie. I’m fine. You’re right, it was dumb to run off, okay?”

“Come on, bro,” said Terry, like I wasn’t even there. “Let’s move this party inside.” He lugged a box out of the back seat of the SUV, and bottles clinked together.

“Seriously? You’re getting drunk again? That’s awesome, Brandon.”

He shrugged. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t.”

“I thought that Jake and me might be a good reason
,” I wanted to say, but why should I give him the satisfaction?