AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You should,” I said soothingly. “You obviously need to get it off your chest. It’s hurting you.”
“I know.” Her head jerked upward, and her hands dropped back into her lap. “But it’s so fucked up.”
“Let me help you, then.”
“I don’t know if you can. If anyone can.”
“At least let me try,” I said, softly rubbing her leg again. “I hate seeing you like this.”
Tears began to splash down Piper’s cheeks. She let out a tiny groan, her face scrunched up in anguish. Then there was a sharp exhalation followed by a long, slow intake of breath. “God, I must look like a total fucking mess,” she finally muttered. “Do you have any tissues?”
“Yeah.” I pointed at the glove compartment. “In there.”
“Thanks,” she said, leaning forward. She paused for a second, fingertips lingering on the button. “You’re seriously going to think I’m crazy if I tell you this stuff.”
“I promise I won’t.”
Piper sucked in another deep breath and opened the glove compartment. “Something really fucked up is happening in this place. You won’t believe it,” she said in a tremulous voice. “I didn’t even believe it when they first told me. But they managed to convince me it was a good—”
She froze, words drying up on her lips. I followed the direction of her gaze and inwardly cursed. Shit.
I’d completely forgotten about the Rosmerta meeting invitation. After I found it in my locker the other day, I stuffed it into the glove compartment to keep it away from prying eyes. But now that Piper had yanked out the tissue packet above it, the golden cornucopia logo on the bottom of the letter was sticking out like a sore thumb.
I knew she was already paranoid about the society after all the dirty tricks Amerie and I had played recently to make her think she was in deep trouble with them. Now that she’d seen a letter with their logo sitting in my car, she was probably paranoid about me too. She’d think I was out to get her just like the rest of them. She might even think the higher-ranking members had sent me to keep an eye on her and test her to see if she’d spill anything to me; a test she’d almost failed a split-second ago.
“What were you saying?” I asked, hoping she’d tell me anyway.
“Oh. It’s nothing, really,” she muttered, stuffing the tissues in her pocket. “A couple of my friends stole an exam paper so they can cheat, and they want me to do it too. It’s stupid.”
Fuck. “Right,” I muttered, shoulders sagging. “Just say no, I guess.”
“Yeah, I will. Anyway, I better go, or I’ll be late for homeroom,” Piper said stiffly, eyes not meeting mine. “Thanks for the ride.”
She practically fled the car after that, leaving me sitting in the driver’s seat, slamming my hands on the steering wheel with frustration.
I was so close to getting her to crack. So fucking close. Now it was all ruined due to my own stupidity, and she’d probably never speak to me again.
Gritting my teeth, I looked back at the Rosmerta invitation haphazardly sticking out of the glove compartment. I still had no idea why the higher-level members sent it or what they wanted from me on Friday, but I knew I had to go to the meeting. Firstly, it would seem suspicious if I failed to show up. Secondly, I knew they were responsible for taking Amerie, but I had absolutely no idea where they’d taken her.
This meeting might be my very last chance to find out.
Amerie
I slowly opened my eyes, blinking away the sleep as I surveyed my surroundings. Sunlight streamed in from a casement window several feet to my right, casting a warm glow over the unfamiliar room. It was large and beautifully-decorated with pastel colors and elegant furnishings. On the far side of the room, a massive flatscreen TV hung on the wall.
Although the space appeared to be clean and safe, a sense of trepidation stirred my heart as I took it in. My memory was hazy, so I couldn’t recall how I ended up here, but I knew something bad had happened. I could feel it deep in my gut.
As I sat up, my eyes darted to the left and fell upon some medical equipment that had been neatly arranged near the bed. An ultrasound machine and heart monitor sat on a nearby table, their wires snaking across the polished wooden floor. An IV stand was tucked into the corner as well, along with a metal rolling table loaded with tubes and bottles.
The sight of the equipment brought my memories back to me in a deluge, like a dam had suddenly broken in my mind. A masked person had broken into my bedroom in the middle of the night and stuck a needle in my neck. While I was unconscious, they brought me to this place. It had to be the Rosmerta-owned baby farm, affectionately known by the members as the Playground.
“Stupid fucking name,” I muttered, wincing as I swung my aching legs over the edge of the bed so I could stand up. There was no joy or laughter in this place. No children. No game-playing. Just a bunch of pregnant slaves, doomed to serve the society in perpetuity.
I trudged over to the window and peered outside. The view was breathtaking. A vast and beautiful farm stretched out before my eyes, with endless rows of grapevines and crops gently undulating in the breeze. The sound of birds chirping in a nearby nest filled the air, adding a sense of tranquility that seemed ill-fitting for such a sinister place.
I gnawed at the inside of my cheek and frowned, wondering exactly where this place was. Obviously, it was a farm with a large vineyard, but that didn’t tell me much because Massachusetts had thousands of farms. I couldn’t see any landmarks in the distance that gave anything away, either. Still, the sight of the crops and vineyard shook something loose in the back of my mind. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, though. My brain was still too foggy from the drugs.
A noise at the door startled me. I hurried back to the bed and pulled the blankets over my legs, as if that could somehow protect me from what was coming. The door opened, and Zara and Dr. Carmichael stepped inside, flashing warm smiles in my direction.
