Atoning (Darkness Rising 3.1)

I trailed off as we stepped into the campsite parking lot. The door on a dark van slid open.

"Th-they're here?" I said, tensing, as if ready to bolt. Rae gripped my elbow tighter.

"That saves us from having to find them then, doesn't it?"

We'd guessed it wouldn't take long for Luke's compatriots to show up at the campsite. Rae and I had been bumbling around--"whispering" as loud as we could, supposedly in flight from the others--for about ten minutes before we'd heard the van arrive and two people come after us, following through the forest, listening to our conversation.

When I faltered on seeing that van, it hadn't been entirely faked. I couldn't help thinking: Isn't this good enough? We had a van full of the enemy, all focused on us. Derek, Maya and Daniel could jump them and--

And then what? Revert to plan A, where we interrogated someone, got answers and took them to Sean to complete clean-up? No. Moreno was right--we had to dispatch this threat on our own. We also had to think of Rae's mother, who was with the enemy. If we gave them time to realize their plan had been foiled, they'd whisk her away as negotiating collateral. Or that's what I'd told Rae they'd do. My fear was that she wasn't worth enough for that.

"I-I'm not sure," I said, poised at the edge of the lot.

"It's okay, Chloe. You want to do this. You need to do it. For yourself and for the others."

"That's right." A dark-clothed woman approached from the van. "This is the best thing for all of you. You know that, Chloe."

"I-I just want to talk. Rae said--"

"We heard what Rae said, and she's absolutely right. We're the white hats here. We've come to help you. Now let's find someplace where we can talk."

"Well, that didn't take long," I muttered when I woke with my hands bound behind my back.

"They're not tied very well," a girl's voice said behind me. "Here, lift your thumb about an inch..."

I glanced back. The room was lit only by light seeping under the door, but I could see a girl with long blond hair and a Minnie Mouse nightshirt.

"Liz?" I whispered.

"The shirt gave it away, huh?" she said with a grin. "I wore it for old times' sake. Thought you'd get a laugh. Of course, I didn't expect to find you out cold, bound hand and foot. Trying on a little nostalgia-wear yourself?"

"Ha-ha."

"Okay, now lift your thumb--"

"Leave it for now," I said. "I can't afford to go off-script just yet."

"Ah." She hunkered down in front of me. "This is a performance piece. Well, that makes more sense. I'd be concerned if yo

u'd really gotten taken captive again. Especially given your cellmate." She waved at Rae, lying on her side on the floor, unconscious. "Care to give me the Cliff's Notes version?"

I did, and then I said, "I kinda expected they'd stretch out their good-guy routine a little longer. The last thing I remember I was in the back of a van with Rae. A woman was talking to me, and then I woke up here. Gassed? Sedated? Knocked out? I suppose it's not important." I blinked hard and looked around. "This isn't quite what I hoped for, but I can work with it."

She laughed, a high girlish laugh. "You should hear yourself, Chloe. Knocked out, tied up, held captive--huh, I can work with this."

"Not quite the girl you met in Lyle House?"

She went serious, pushing her hair back. "Not exactly, but not all that different either. You had guts, even then. You just didn't know how to use them. Now you do. We've all changed. Evolution, though, not devolution. That's what Derek says." She sat cross-legged. "Speaking of the big guy, I'm guessing he followed you here and is lurking around outside."

"That's the plan. Except not exactly as you might--"

A commotion sounded outside the door. Then, a snarled, "Get your hands off me. Am I trying to escape? You made your threat, and I'm coming along peacefully, and if you use that damned cattle prod again..."

I didn't hear the rest of the threat, cut short by Liz's gasp as she said, "Derek?" and then ran through the wall as I hissed, "Stop! He's--"

She was gone. A moment later, the door opened. I'd already dropped to the floor, eyes shut. I listened as they shoved Derek inside, with him still cursing and snarling threats.

"Can I sedate him again?" someone said.