Page 22 of Trapped: Between Sky And Wind

Bren sits in the sand next to a stack of driftwood and watches me with a serious, calm gaze. When I approach him, my heart is beating wildly in my chest. At this moment, I’m just happy. And all my fear is gone.

Chapter

Five

The next seven days are spent driving along the Pacific toward Seattle. We take our time, avoiding public places as much as possible. We don’t talk about why. It’s like the pact to leave the past in the past lives on now that Bren has revealed so much.

During the day I’m fine, but at night, I dream of the Yukon and the densely packed spruces, and in between, Liv Sullivan and Henry Cunningham haunt the moldy earth, hand in hand and pale as ghosts. Brendan digs a grave by the lake, which his stepfather climbs out of to try to catch me. But then he transforms into Bren, who broke free of his chains during a flash and is chasing me.

That’s when I wake up in a sweat and stare out the window at the ocean, unable to understand the world. I’m not telling Bren about it, it would just complicate things again. Sometimes, he wakes up anyway and, without a word, he takes me in his arms, pulls me to him, and soothingly strokes my hair until I fall asleep again.

When we arrive in Seattle a week later, Bren surprises me by pulling into a gated hotel parking lot. He rolls down the window, talks to a uniformed security guard, and a moment later, the gate opens.

“What are we doing here?” I ask guardedly as we pass a row of luxury cars. Aston Martin, Porsche Spyder, Ferrari… I recognize the three because Jay and Avy think they’re so great. The spacious square is lined to the right and left by majestic royal palms, and on the sides, I discover other security men. Bren doesn’t say anything as he tries to squeeze the RV into the assigned space, which is about as easy as squeezing a watermelon through the eye of a needle.

I lean forward a bit and brush back my sweaty hair. Seattle Plaza—I read the squiggly gold letters on the shiny hotel facade. Is that real gold?

“Bren?” I drawl. He planned something without telling me.

He calmly gets out of the RV, walks around the motorhome, and opens the door for me like a gentleman. “You’re getting a break. And we’ll think about how to continue.”

“A break?” I slide off the seat and the city heat immediately hits me. Speechless, I look up at the glittering hotel facade. It seems to have no end at all. Everywhere windows reflect the sunlight, transforming the wall into an iridescent lake surface. “I thought it was clear where we were going,” I finally say, looking at him again.

His lips form that thin line I already know…he’s made a decision and he’s not going to change it. “Lou, you’re dreaming of the Yukon…and those aren’t good dreams. I hear you talk in your sleep.”

I bite my lip. I had hoped he wouldn’t notice, but as always, I underestimated him. He hears every breath I take. Embarrassed, I look past him toward one of the uniformed men. The man gives us a disdainful look as if we’re out of place. Which is kind of true. With a queasy feeling in my stomach, I stare at the baton on his weapons belt and automatically think of Bren and his stepfather again.

“The Yukon must be full of bad memories for you. I can’t ask you to go back into the wilderness,” I hear Brendan say. His voice sounds gentle.

“You don’t want to go back?” A mixture of gratitude, astonishment, and melancholy rises in me.

“Yes, I do, but it’s not essential.”

“I… I miss the Yukon,” I say hesitantly, looking at him. “At least part of me. I miss the time we were at the lake and the river and you caught salmon for us. We could go and I…”

“No, Lou. Maybe someday, but certainly not anytime soon.” Bren slams the passenger door firmly.

I don’t even try to change his mind because secretly, I’m glad. Nevertheless…that time at the lake that becomes a river and opens up to more water, which I still don’t know what it’s called or where it is, seems like a dream to me. Maybe it’s because I don’t know the names and places. There’s something fairytale-like about it as if it could have happened anywhere and nowhere. And I know it will never be the same again because, despite the horror of the kidnapping and grieving the loss of my brothers, those days were filled with a strange magic that I still don’t understand to this day. “One day, we’ll go back to the Yukon,” I say firmly now.

Bren nods. “We’ll talk about it. But here in civilization.”

I raise my eyebrows. “You mean here, among the upper ten thousand?”

He smiles. “And you can’t ignore Ethan any longer. That wouldn’t be fair,” is all he says, ignoring my comment.

My hand gravitates to the cell phone in my jean shorts. He’s right. I’ve ignored Ethan despite what I thought about him at Walmart. But the time with Bren was worth it. Now I have ninety calls on my smartphone not counting Avery and Liam.

That’s why I keep sending Jay lots of messages and sometimes pictures—snaps of Bren and me, just to show him how happy I am. I texted him to tell Ethan, but of course that’s not good enough for my eldest brother.

Jay doesn’t write anything about his reaction, something that makes me nervous. He only texts me to call Ethan back urgently. Urgently is in all caps and with eight exclamation marks.

I pull out my cell phone. “I’ll text Jay that I’ll get in touch with Ethan tonight.” I quickly type a short message. Staying at a hotel in Seattle, call Ethan tonight! Promise! Also with several exclamation marks.

Bren mumbles something unintelligible, hurries to the side door, and pulls out a bag.

“When did you pack that?” I ask, aghast, slipping the phone into my pocket.

“Last night when I couldn’t sleep.” Grey tries to jump after him, howling, but he locks him in the RV.

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