“He’s not going to hurt me,” I insisted.
Finn glanced back at the door, and I could tell he really didn’t want to leave. If Matt had just waited five more minutes to check on me, none of this would’ve happened. When Finn looked back at me, he sighed heavily.
“I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you. When you change your mind…” He hesitated for a moment. “I’ll find you.”
“Thanks,” I said.
He looked at me uncertainly, and he was probably fighting the urge to throw me over his shoulder and take me with him. Instead, he climbed out the window and swung back down to the ground. When he started walking to his car, I suddenly remembered something and leaned out the window.
“Hey, Finn!” I shouted, and he turned back to me. “Tell Rhys I’m sorry I took his bike! It’s in town in the impound lot!”
“I’ll collect it for him, and I’ll be sure to pass along the sentiment.”
With that, he turned around the neighbors’ hedges and I couldn’t see him anymore. I kept looking after him, wishing that this didn’t mean I had to say goodbye to him. There were still doubts about what I’d be giving up, but I couldn’t do that to Matt again. The awful truth was that I was more than a little sad to see Finn go. I was on the verge of tears, but I managed to hold them back. Eventually, I shut the window and closed my curtains.
There was a very good chance that I’d never be allowed out of the house again.
After Finn left, I found Matt sitting on the steps, looking bewildered and pissed off. He wanted to yell at me about Finn, but he couldn’t seem to understand exactly what had happened. The best I could get out of it is that he vowed to kill Finn if he ever came near me, and I pretended like I thought that was a reasonable thing to do.
The next morning, Matt didn’t even want to send me to school. He was afraid that I would bolt as soon I got there, and I had to keep reminding him that I had come home of my own volition. If I really wanted to be away, I’d still be away. I neglected to point out that Finn had just recently tried to whisk me away, and I had declined. After far more arguing than the situation called for, Maggie finally convinced Matt to take me to school.
Everyone at school was staring at me like I had three-heads, except for Tegan who refused to even make eye contact. That made me feel a little better, and after spending the night feeling a tad heartbroken about everything, it was a nice pick-me-up.
Patrick bounded over to me like a golden retriever when he caught sight of me. He threw his arms around me and wrapped me an uncomfortable bear hug. From him, I got the explanation about everybody’s attitude.
Apparently, Matt had gone ballistic at the school the day I had gone missing, and blamed everyone there for letting in a “bad influence” like Finn. From the start, he had been convinced that Finn had something to do with it, and I was sometimes surprised about how accurate Matt’s intuition was.
I fed Patrick a similar story to the one I’d told Matt and Maggie. Finn and I had run off to his friend’s cabin on a whim, and then I had come home.
Patrick tried to press for details about the status of our relationship, but I kept insisting that we were just friends. It pained me knowing that we weren’t even that, but it was the easiest explanation I had.
The day dragged on and on. It didn’t help that I found myself constantly looking around for Finn. Part of me kept insisting that the last few days had been a bad dream, and that Finn should still be here, watching me like he always did. On top of that, I kept feeling like I was being watched. My neck got that scratchy feeling it did when Finn stared at me for too long, but whenever I turned around, there wasn’t anybody there. At least not anybody worth noting.
When I walked out to Matt’s car, I was absolutely certain someone was watching me. I looked all over the parking lot for Finn’s car, but there was nothing. At home I felt distracted and ill at ease. I excused myself from supper early and went up to my room. I peered out my curtains, hoping to find Finn lurking around somewhere nearby, but no such luck. Every time I looked for him and didn’t find him, my heart hurt a little bit more.
By the time I went to bed, I had convinced myself that it must be Finn.
Before he had left, he said that when I was ready, he would find me. He was probably still tracking me, but because of everything that had happened with Matt, he had to keep at a distance. But he was out there, and I knew it. I tossed and turned all night, trying to decide what to do.
The horrible truth was that I missed Finn, a lot more than I should. I didn’t know how much longer he’d be hanging around. Even if I was some princess, there could only be so much time he could devote to tracking me.
Eventually, he’d have to move on and find someone else. I wasn’t ready for that. I didn’t like the idea of him moving on when I hadn’t.
Around five in the morning, I gave up entirely on sleep. I looked out the window again, and this time I thought I saw something. He was out there, hiding nearby. I couldn’t take it anymore. Matt and Maggie were still sound asleep, and it wasn’t like I was running away this time. I just needed to go out and talk to Finn, to make sure he was still there. I didn’t even bother changing out of my pajamas or fixing my hair. Since I was falling for Finn, and he wasn’t feeling anything for me, I probably should’ve tried harder with my appearance, but I was in a hurry.
Hastily, I climbed out onto the roof. Once again, I tried to grab onto the branch and swing to the ground like Finn had. As soon as my fingers grabbed the branch, they slipped off and I fell to the ground, landing heavily on my back. All the wind had been knocked out of me, and I coughed painfully. I would’ve loved to lay in the lawn for ten more minutes and try to ease the pain, but I was afraid that Matt or Maggie had heard something. I scrambled to my feet as quickly as I could and rounded the hedges towards the neighbors’ house.
Nobody was there. The street was completely deserted. I wrapped my arms tightly around myself to ward off the cold that was seeping in and looked around. I know he had been out here. I had seen something. Maybe my fall had scared him away, like he thought it was Matt or something. I decided to walk a little farther down the street, investigating everyone’s lawn for a hidden tracker.
My back ached from the fall, and my knee felt a little twisted and weird. That left me hobbling down the street in my pajamas at five in the morning. I had truly lost my mind.
Then I heard something. Footsteps? Somebody was definitely following me, and based on the dark chill running down my spine, it wasn’t Finn. It was hard to explain how exactly I knew it wasn’t him, but I knew it just the same. Slowly, I turned around.
A girl was standing there, a few feet behind me. In the glow from the streetlamp, she looked ravishing. Her hair was cut in a short brown pixie cut and stood out all over. Her skirt was short and her black leather jacket went down to her calves. A wind came up, blowing back her coat a bit, and she reminded me of some kind of action star, like she should be in The Matrix. But the thing that caught my attention the most was that she was barefoot.
“Okay… um, I’m going to go home now,” I announced. She was just staring at me, so I felt like I had to say something.
“Wendy Everly, I think you should come with us,” she said with a sly smile.
“Us?” I asked, but then I felt him behind me.
I don’t know where he had been before that, but suddenly, there was presence behind me. Cautiously, I looked over my shoulder. A tall man with dark, slick-backed hair was staring down at me. He was wearing the same jacket as the girl, and I thought it was neat that they had matching outfits, like a crime fighting duo. He smiled sinisterly at me, and that’s when I decided that I was probably in trouble.
“That’s a really nice invitation, but my house is like three houses down.” I pointed towards it, as if I didn’t think they already knew exactly where I lived. “So I think that I should probably just get home before my brother starts looking for me.”
“You should’ve thought of that before you left the house, shouldn’t you?” the guy suggested wickedly. I really wanted to take a step forward so I’d be away from him, but I thought that would only make him pounce on me. I could probably take the girl, but I wasn’t so sure about him. He was like a foot taller than me.
“I just needed a little breath of fresh air,” I explained lamely. The girl laughed lightly, and I couldn’t stop thinking of her bare feet. I suddenly thought of Elora, and the way she’d been barefoot, and the way I had no shoes in my closet. “You guys are trackers?”
“You’re a quick one, aren’t you?” the girl smiled wider at me.
“But I already told Finn I wasn’t going back!” I protested, feeling irritated. Finn had promised me that he’d respect my decision, but apparently he’d run and narced on me, so they’d sent these two clowns to bring me back.
“I want nothing to do with you guys or Elora or anything.”
“Finn?” Her smile twisted into something surprised and pleased. She licked her lips and looked past me at the tracker standing behind me. “I told you it was her.”
I might have said too much. These two were trackers, but maybe not the same kind as Finn. Maybe they were bounty hunters or kidnappers or just big fans of chopping up girls into little pieces and disposing of them in a ditch.
Fear was creeping through me, but I tried not to let on. If they were actually tracking me, they would be able to sense my distress anyway, but I did not want that at all.
“Well, this has been a blast, but I have to get ready for school. Big test and all that.” I started taking a step away, but the guy’s hand clamped instantly on my arm in a very painful fashion.
“Don’t damage her!” the girl insisted, her eyes flashing wide. “She’s not to be hurt!” Not to be hurt. Okay. That’s a good thing. I can work with that, at least. Maybe I could use it to my advantage.
“Yeah, easy on the merchandise!” I tried to pull my arm from him, but he refused to let go.
I had already decided that I wasn’t going wherever these two wanted to take me. Even if it was just back to Förening with Elora, I still didn’t want that, especially if I was going to be forced. Since they were under some kind of instruction not to hurt me, I thought I might have some leeway with fighting them. I only had to get a few houses down, then I’d be at home, and Matt kept a gun under his bed. He was ridiculously protective of me.
I elbowed the guy in the stomach as hard as I could. He made a coughing sound and doubled over but didn’t let go of my arm. I kicked him in the shin and raised my arm so I could bite his hand that was gripping me. He yowled in pain, and then the girl was in front of me. He had let go of me, and she tried to grab me, so I punched her. Unfortunately, she dodged it, so my fist just connected with her shoulder. Then I was off balance, and the guy grabbed me around the waist. I started screaming and kicked at him as hard as I could.
Apparently he got tired of that, so he dropped me on the ground. I was on my feet instantly, and he grabbed my arm again and turned me so I was facing him.
He raised his hand and slapped me harder than I had ever been hit before.
Everything went white and there was a ringing in my ear. He let go of me, so I collapsed backwards on the grass behind me.