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On orders from my masters.
If my masters are all part of a fake cult designed to convince people like my parents to hand over children like me to be controlled, as Cam says, then why? Why would anyone do such a thing to a child, the child I was thirteen years ago? What possible benefit do they find in imprisoning someone like me?
Thank goodness for Cam. He’s telling me all these truths, sharing his own story with me to help me understand all the layers of reality versus lies.
Without Winnie in my arms, I can fall apart, my body trembling, neck going tight, a pain forming between my eyes. Throbbing harder and harder, the ache deepens. A hot shower will help.
If nothing else, I need to cleanse the day from my skin.
I force myself to stand, stomach hollow. I’m hungry but sick. Tired but unable to rest. Angry but resigned. Nothing about this day makes any sense, but I stand and open the shower, reaching for what looks like the dial, hot spray pouring out like rainfall. Steam rises quickly, and soon I remove my clothes, noticing dirt, dark rust stains that must be blood, and something sticky I don’t recognize.
As I remove my shirt, my elbow hurts, the skin around it tender.
The mirror shows me a face I barely recognize, shock turning my eyes empty.
“Who am I?” I ask the mirror, as if it will answer.
As if it will tell me.
As if it will release the secret.
The hot water hurts my feet, my body gingerly stepping back. On the tiled wall, there is a bank of dispensers, each neatly labeled with script font. Shampoo. Body Wash. Conditioner. Moisturizer. Ignoring them, I slowly immerse myself in the downpour and let the steam envelop me, the offer of warm comfort from the water a welcome relief.
Tears don’t come, and that is a surprise.
Instead, I’m filled with an unbearable grief, mind struggling to comprehend what is real. Cam could be lying to me, but why would he? He rescued me from The Basher, caught me before Jason and Malcolm betrayed me, interrupted Makiah before he hurt me, and now – Cam brought me here.
If it’s true I’ve been living in an imprisoned state all these years in a fake cult designed to do something I don’t understand, then he is my liberator.
But how can his words be true? Since I was twelve, I’ve spent every day in training. Been given countless manuals, webinars, and courses. Carefully nurtured by a fleet of bodyguards. Lived in beautiful homes, my body treated with utter reverence. Centuries of prophecy cannot be invented by someone for the sake of power, can they? Perhaps Cam is the one who has been brainwashed.
Misled.
Or he is misinterpreting.
“I am the light,” I whisper to myself, “I am the prophecy.”
Closing my eyes, I let the water wash away the fear, the terror, the confusion, the madness.
I’m fifteen stories underground, surrounded by luxury.
My eyes fly open. Panic shoots through me.
Fifteen stories underground.
Cell phones do not work.
No one knows where I am.
I hope I made the right choice.
I really do.
Because what if – what if – I’ve just traded one prison for another?
CHAPTERTEN
Cam
