Chapter Three
Jordan
Lane’s expression was a comfort in one way, terrifying in another. His words confirmed what his face already said. “I think you’re onto something.”
“But it’s far-fetched, isn’t it?” I said hopefully. “I mean, come on, are we really supposed to think that everybody here is just…stolen or whatever?”
“Not everybody,” he said darkly.
MERCY. There had to be about 200 people working there, friends and neighbors included. Family, even. Lane’s dad. Both of my parents. Were they our parents after all?
I took a second to think: my mom’s hair was perfect honey-blossom blonde, her eyes pale rhinestone silver. I looked nothing like her. My dad had curly sandy-colored hair, blue eyes. Also nothing like me. But kids don’t necessarily look like their parents.
Nothing fit. Was it really the way I thought it was? A mirage? I pulled out the letter, wishing more than anything that I knew who wrote it.
For the second time I thought about it. Someone else was here…
Another thought occurred to me too. “Arie! She called and said she was planning to meet me here! That must’ve been hours ago! We were planning to finish the zip-line today and she--”
“Hey, don’t freak out. Just give her a call.”
I nodded, grabbing my phone from the backpack I’d slumped against one of the chairs. My fingers tapped my jeans while it rang; finally, her voice asked to leave a message. I let it close.
Now that I knew what little I did, this worried me. Of course, I knew it was probably just complete paranoia. But my cousin - no, scratch that, we weren’t actually related - my friend was out there, completely oblivious. “Well let’s go find her. We have a lot to fill in.”
“Are you sure we should tell her?” Lane said, sitting on one of the faded red hammocks. “Maybe we should keep this a secret.”
“We will, but with each other. Arie’s good for her word.”
Lane ran a hand through his mess of dirty-blonde hair, but nodded. His eyes, always changing shades of blue, were a solid navy beneath his furrowed brows. “’Kay. But no one else. Not yet, anyway. Not even our parents.”
“Especially not our parents,” I corrected. “They’ve hidden who we really are this long, haven’t they? Maybe they don’t know…but we can’t be sure yet.”
“This is messed-up shit,” he decided. I had to agree. Of all the crazy games we’d played and far-cornered thoughts and nightmares we could only imagine, we’d never conceived any idea this crazy. I was sure this couldn’t all be in our heads.
But something was eating me away. “Why do you think they…you know, took us or whatever? Can’t they get kids the old-fashioned way?”
“Maybe they’re robots,” Lane suggested sarcastically. “Can’t do it through--”
“Anyway,” I cut in.
He rolled his eyes. “Okay, sorry, taking this seriously. We can’t all be stolen, can we? Maybe only some of us are. But that still leaves us to wonder why.”
“Experimenting.”
“Oh, so I can’t joke but you can?”
“Who said I was joking? I mean, what are they doing in MERCY? Once people leave Mirage, do they really ever come back? Think about it.”
Lane seemed to, but shook his head. “Well, who would come back? It only makes sense that they don’t; this place is nothing but a crummy little town wedged in the middle of nowhere.”
“I love this place,” I defended.
“I didn’t say I don’t.” For whatever reason, his gaze locked on mine with complete seriousness. “There isn’t a place in the world I’d rather be than right here, screwing around in our town’s messy business. But I still think that people can go without being abducted for mysterious experimentation.”
My lips formed an involuntary smile, and only the faint continuing urge to prove him wrong forced it away. “Well I still say it’s a possibility. Do you have another more logical suggestion?”
“Anything’s more logical than that.”
“Well, I know how we can find out. We both have parents in MERCY, and they’re always back before eight, so why not just steal their keys to the place? Your dad’s the manager, so he’s got to have some sort of master-key deal.”
“Okay, I take it back. Anything’s more logical than that, including your whacked experimentation theory.”
I shrugged. “Fair enough. But aren’t you the least bit curious, Lane Sumlin? Or should I be calling you Lane Parks now?”
“I have a party to get to,” he decided quickly, getting to his feet. “This whole thing is just stupid. Figure it out on your own, I’m not in. Maybe I don’t…even care if I was stolen. I’m here now, and I like things the way they are. Besides, what does it matter? If anyone figures out you dug this all up, I mean if you're right about all this, you’re in for it. Let’s let secrets lie. Find out later or never find out at all.”
“I get it. Once a coward always a coward.” I slammed the laptop shut, sliding it into my backpack and slinging it over my shoulder.
“You’re calling me a coward?”
Yes. He was as good as in now. I turned to face him. “Maybe I am. You’re not even brave enough to be seen with me, are you? I should’ve known you couldn’t handle something as epic as this.”
For the longest time, he just stared at me. The fact that I was right, and that he felt guilty about it, was all over his face. It didn’t hurt him that he wasn’t brave half as much as it hurt him that I knew. But of course I knew. After all, I’d been the one paying the price for it.
“You’re so full of it, Jordan,” he said unconvincingly. A familiar crooked smile flicked across his face for the fastest second. “But I’m in. So…we find Arie?”
“We need our brains of the operation, don’t we?”
Lane sighed in disappointment, but sarcasm lit his face as he said, “Darn, always thought that was me.”
“You're more the muscle.”
"I'll take it."
We clamored from the Hideout, heading back towards town. With any luck, Arie would be safe at home.
We wouldn't be lucky.
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