Page 38 of The Cult

“Don’t bother. It’s going to take a little while. Just rest. They didn’t give you anything that can kill you. It just makes you pretty much a zombie. Give it a few more minutes.”

Tears begin to fill my eyes, but I don’t know if they’re because I’m happy I’m not going to die from being drugged or sad because I’m trapped in this place since someone wants me here under their control. A single tear rolls out of the corner of my eye and down the side of my cheek as I try to figure out who.

Nadine or Micah?

19

Lara

Slowly,the drug begins to wear off, thankfully. First, the ability to move my limbs returns, but as much as I want to get the hell away from this place, I don’t trust my legs to hold me up quite yet. Nash doesn’t seem to be trying to hurt me, so I might be safest right here for now.

I lift my left arm above my head and then lower it before lifting my right leg and setting it down onto the bed. Both sides of my body seem to be working. Now if only I could speak.

All of my other senses seem to be working fine. The woodsy scent of men’s deodorant fills my nose, and when I unsuccessfully try to start talking, I can actually taste the chemicals in my mouth. It’s disgusting, but at least it lets me know that sense is still functioning.

“It’ll be just another minute or so, I’m guessing, since you can finally move. Don’t force it. You’ll be back to normal in no time.”

I draw my eyebrows in and frown to let Nash know how I feel about his casual opinion on my recovery. I may not be able to speak, but I damn well want him to know I don’t appreciate how cavalier he’s being about this.

He doesn’t bother to say anything more or try to entertain me. Instead, he simply sits there watching me as if I’m some curiosity in a zoo or some shop that sells oddities.

Finally, my ability to speak returns out of nowhere. I open my mouth and words start coming out again.

“What the hell is going on here?” I croak out.

Nash reaches over to a table next to him for a bottle of water and hands it to me. “Drink this.”

As much as my throat is dying for even a drop of refreshing water, the last thing I want to do is consume anything more here. I throw the bottle back at him, disgusted with him and everyone else in this crazy place.

“No way. You drink it first, and then maybe I’ll trust it’s not laced with whatever they gave me before.”

The bottle bounces off his chest and drops to the floor with a thud. He bends over to pick it up without a word and holds it out for me again. His expression looks like he’s already tired of having to deal with me. Too bad. I wasn’t the one who shanghaied him and stole him away from his bed in the dark of night.

“I just took you out of that cabin because you were in danger. I could have done whatever I wanted to you for the last half hour and you couldn’t have done a damn thing about it. Does it make sense that I’d be trying to drug you now? Drink the water. It will make you feel better and flush the drug out of your system faster.”

What he says makes sense, but I’m still not sure I trust him. Then again, out of all the people in The Golden Light I’ve met so far, he’s the only one who doesn’t seem to want anything from me.

I take the bottle of water and tentatively bring it to my lips, hoping to God my guess about Nash isn’t wrong. After swallowing hard, I’m desperate for water, so I tip the bottle back and take a big gulp. It tastes like water should, although I would have said the same thing about those cakes and the lemonade.

Before long, I’ve finished the entire bottle, but I’m still parched. Nash grabs another bottle of water and hands it to me without saying a word.

He waits until I drink that one and set the empty bottle on the bed next to me before asking, “Who are you here to find?”

After a night of waking up terrified, being drugged into a zombie, and then rescued and brought here, that’s a hell of a question to start with. Nash waits for me to answer, but I’ve got a few of my own questions I want answered first.

“I’ll be happy to tell you if you explain to me what the hell is going on here. Why is anyone drugging us? And why am I in danger? Is it from Nadine? Micah gave me the impression that he was going to make sure she didn’t bother me again.”

Nash blows the air out of his mouth until there’s not a hint of breath left in his lungs. Staring up at the ceiling, he winces before lowering his head to look at me. “The drugs are to keep you all in line.”

And with that, he sighs, like we’ve just had a long discussion and he’s exhausted.

I wait for him to continue talking, but clearly he thinks we’re done. He’s wrong. I want some answers, and I want them right now.

“Uh, I’m not sure what’s going on with you, but that generic answer isn’t going to be enough.”

Then it dawns on me. Is he worried his room is bugged like the rest of this place?

Leaning over, I get as close as I can to him without falling off the bed and whisper, “Is it that there are cameras recording here too?”

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