Page 56 of The Cult

Quietly, I tell her what will really happen if she doesn’t eat or drink for a few days. “They’ll force feed you if you get to that point.”

She stops dead on the other side of the room and stares at me in horror. “I won’t let them do that.”

I don’t have the heart to tell her she won’t have a choice. I’ve seen it before. Every so often, a new recruit doesn’t handle the drugs well, but they never think that’s the problem. They blame not feeling well on the food here, so naturally, they ask for something else. When they don’t get it, they stop eating to avoid the discomfort.

What happens next is as horrible as my time in the box. Guards hold the woman down and jam a tube down her throat to force the food into her stomach. I’ve witnessed it, and the sound of the women’s screams of terror will never leave my memories.

“Tell me when. I’ll do whatever I can to get us out.”

I’ve reached the point of no return. From this point on, everything about The Golden Light is on borrowed time.

26

Lara

Outside my window,people walk around like everything’s fine. I know they aren’t, though, and tonight I’m going to leave this place and all its madness. Nash and I have a plan, and this time it will work.

It has to.

Every time my thoughts go to what may happen if they force me to stay here, I want to cry. I don’t, though. I can’t be that weak. Micah and Nadine may think they have control, but not over me and not over Nash. They could just let us leave, but since they’ve decided they won’t, we have no choice.

At least Rina never got tangled up with these Golden Light people. I should have known she wouldn’t fall for their crap, but I was worried about her. I bet she’s back in her apartment right now on the phone with our mother listening to her complain about how she’s tried to call me dozens of times and I never pick up. They’ll both tease me about that the next time I see them.

I look around this stark white room and see nothing that’s mine. They took everything from me, even my clothes, so when I leave here tonight, I don’t have a single thing to carry with me.

That’s probably for the best anyway. Running away doesn’t really work when you have to drag a suitcase along with you as you flee.

Nash has been here for much longer, though. How is he going to handle leaving everything he owns behind?

A knock on my window tears me from my thoughts about how hard that’s going to be for him, and I turn around to see him holding something up in front of him. I hurry over to see he’s got a key in his hand.

I can’t understand what he’s saying, so I wave him in. A few seconds later, he walks into my room wearing a smile from ear to ear.

“Notice I didn’t have to break that handle this time?”

“How?”

Nash dangles a keychain from his fingertip. “With this. It’s a master key. It opens any door here.”

My mouth drops open as shock fills me. “Where did you get that? I hope nobody saw you, or they’re going to put you into the box again.”

With more confidence than I’ve ever seen in him, he laughs and sits down in the chair near the door. “I was careful. Now we can leave without having to worry about all these locked doors.”

It seems too good to be true, but I trust Nash. After what he did protecting me from Nadine and her guys, I have to believe he’s not like Micah and the rest of them here.

He stands up and takes my hands in his. I no longer see fear in his eyes and know he’s ready, just as I am.

“As soon as it gets dark, I’ll come get you. We’re going to do this!” he says with a smile.

Suddenly, I remember the cameras everywhere on the farm and look up toward the ceiling to search for a tiny red light. But there are none in this room.

“We are! See you in a few hours.”

Nodding, he takes a deep breath and lets it out in a rush. “I wonder what the outside world is like now.”

I hear the hint of fear in his voice, so I chuckle and say, “Same as before but with more cell phones. And more social media. You’re a guy, though, so you probably won’t care much about that. Don’t worry. You’re going to fit in fine.”

Sighing, he nods again. “I hope. I guess I just needed to hear someone else say it too. Remember, when it gets dark, be ready.”

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