Page 53 of The Cult

Shaking his head, he softly answers, “You know that’s not possible, Lara. You’re here because you need to be here.”

I jump off the bed and rush toward him. Grabbing his arm, I look up into his eyes and hope he understands how desperate I am right now. If I had an actual weapon, I’d kill him and get the hell away from this place today.

He looks down at me with pure terror and tries to yank his arm away. I can’t let him go before I say something else, though, so I hold on tightly to keep him there so he must listen to me.

“I don’t need to be here! I know I have greatness in me. I knew that before I came here. Just let me go. I don’t want to be here with you and all these people who believe every syllable you utter. I don’t belong here. Why won’t you listen to me?”

Micah plucks my fingers off his arm one by one and sighs. “You’re so much worse than I thought when you got here. I want to help you. I truly do. I just don’t know if you can be helped. God help me, but I don’t know if you can.”

“I don’t need help! Why do you keep acting like I need this? Just let me go. Please!”

He shakes his head and hurries out of the room as he mumbles something about me not having a grasp on reality. Is he kidding? I know what’s real. I haven’t been consuming all that drug-laced food and lemonade he’s been feeding everyone. I’m as clearheaded as I’ve ever been. Things don’t get more real than how I feel right now.

And then, right before my eyes as the door slams shut, I see Rina standing there staring at me. She’s not here, though, so is this my imagination? Oh, God. Maybe they did give me some of the food without me realizing it.

“Rina, I don’t know where you are, but I came here looking for you. I’m sorry I thought you’d believe any of this bullshit. I should have known better.”

She doesn’t answer but shakes her head as she backs away from me. In her eyes, I see pure terror. I turn around to see what’s behind me that could be scaring her, but there’s nothing. When I turn back around to face her, she’s not there anymore.

My shoulders slump in defeat, and I sadly hang my head. It was all an illusion because of the drugs in my system. Damn Micah and his people!

All I want is to see Rina in person. Not a figment of my imagination. Not a dream. I want to see her in flesh and blood so I can know she’s okay.

I sit down on the bed as an uneasy feeling settles into my brain. Rina isn’t okay. I don’t know how I know, but I do. Something bad has happened to her.

God, I need to get out of here so I can find her and save her from The Golden Light.

25

Nash

The buildingwhere they hide the phones should be at the far end of the farm, but I can’t find it now. That’s crazy, though. People don’t go around just moving entire buildings around, so I must be mistaken.

I take a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Let me think for a minute. I’m sure I can remember where it is.

Two women walk by and smile, which is good because that means Micah hasn’t told the others to shun me or kill me. He was acting very weird at lunch today. And what’s with the clothes he was wearing yesterday?

Something strange has happened here. I just wish I knew what was going on.

I shield my eyes from the bright sun and look around at the buildings in front of me. None of them look like the one where they hide the phones.

This heat is crazy today. I rub the back of my hand across my forehead to catch the sweat forming at my hairline. It’s got to be in the mid-nineties already. I suddenly feel woozy. Walking toward the shade from the building to my right, I nearly collapse as the heat quickly saps me of all my strength.

Damn, that happened quick. It must be even hotter than I think today. But that doesn’t explain how everything seems to be swimming in front of me. Or maybe it does. I’m not sure. All I know is I felt fine up until a minute ago.

Then a tiny flame of understanding ignites in my mind. It’s not the heat. I only ate a single piece of bread and drank a little bit of lemonade, but that would be enough if they drugged it. That explains why my eyesight is playing tricks on me.

He drugged me. Guards are never fed that stuff. My heart skips a beat as reality sets in.

I must not be a guard anymore.

Closing my eyes, I hope this feeling goes away now that I’m out of the sun. Yes, I know it’s not that making me sick, but it wasn’t helping. Taking a deep breath in, I wish the air wasn’t so thick, but beggars can’t be choosers. I take a second breath in through my nose and let it out of my mouth, calming myself and actually making me feel better.

Okay, I can find that building. I just need to think.

A banging sound distracts me from figuring out where it might be, and I open my eyes to look around for where it’s coming from. It sounds like someone’s locked themselves in a room and they need help.

The problem is I don’t see anyone when I scan the area. Am I hearing things that aren’t there now? Knowing what those drugs do to the women around here, I wouldn’t be surprised.

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