Page 61 of The Cult

“Relax. It’s nothing that interesting. He’s the editor at an online magazine. Not exactly exciting, but it’s not a bad job, at least for me. Mario complains all the time since he’s got to deal with staff that can’t seem to come up with any interesting topics for articles, but other than that, he’s a good guy.”

Strangely, my explanation doesn’t make Nash feel any better. Instead of simply sitting back to wait for Mario, he shakes his head like he refuses to believe anything I’ve said.

“This is wrong, Lara. We need to get out of here. Now.”

“Wrong? Where are we going to go? It’s the middle of the night, and we’re nowhere close to my car yet. Just give him a couple more minutes. It’ll be okay. I promise. He’ll take us to Wilmington, and then once I have my car, I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”

In truth, I’m guessing Nash is going to want to stay with me for a little while as he gets back on his feet. I’m fine with that. It’s the least I can do for the guy after he saved me from those crazies of The Golden Light. I’m not sure I’m the right person to help him transition back to living in society, but if he has no one else, I’m happy to step up.

Nothing I say eases him, and when another minute passes, he starts fumbling with the door to get out. “He locked the door. Why would he do that?” he asks, panicked.

“It’s okay, Nash. Newer cars routinely have child locks. I’m guessing too many parents aren’t watching their kiddos, so car companies thought they needed some way to keep the little angels in. I swear, if I ever even tried to open the doors while my father was driving, he would have pulled over and given me the spanking of a lifetime.”

“It’s not okay! Trust me, Lara. This is off. I can feel it. We need to leave right now,” he says as he leans his body through the space between the front seats to unlock the doors on the driver’s side door control panel.

His face just inches away from mine, I can see the terror in his eyes. I don’t understand what’s wrong with him. This is Mario we’re dealing with. I realize Nash doesn’t know him, but I do. Can’t he trust me that I know someone’s okay?

He sits back in his seat only to open his car door a second later. Stunned, I ask, “Where are you going? We don’t even know where we are.”

“I know we shouldn’t be here. Say it’s a gut feeling. Say it’s intuition. Whatever you want to call it, this is not going to end well for us, Lara. Now come on. Are you staying here or coming with me?”

As he stands outside the car waiting for me, I think about what I should do. Yes, I trust Mario, but Nash has shown himself to be a good guy. He seems really unnerved about something, and although I think he’s just experiencing some kind of jitters now that he’s finally free of that farm and those people, I have to believe he’s sensing something I’m not.

I just hope we don’t end up walking for miles in the pitch black. Worse, I hope we don’t get caught by that roaming posse of Micah’s that was shooting at us just a short while ago.

“Fine,” I mumble as I open my door and step out. “I want you to know that if you get me killed, I’m going to haunt you for the rest of your life.”

It comes out funnier than I meant it to, but the horrified look on his face tells me he didn’t get the joke. Taking me by the hand, he begins to hurry me down the sidewalk of whatever town we’re in.

“We need to get out of here. Now. I don’t know this area. Any suggestions as to which way we should go?” he asks, his head swiveling left and right as he looks for which street to take.

“Uh, no. I’m not from here, and this town, whatever it’s called, is nowhere near my house or my car.”

Behind us, Mario calls out, “Lara! Come back! Where are you going?”

I turn to look back, but it’s too dark to see much of anything if you’re not standing underneath a streetlight. Nash continues to walk quickly down the street, pulling me along to keep up with him.

“Lara, wait! Look who’s with me!” Mario yells.

Again, I look back and standing next to his car I see someone who takes my breath away. Tugging my hand from Nash’s hold, I turn my body around so I’m facing Mario.

And my sister.

“Oh, my God! It’s Rina!” I say in utter shock.

Nash stops, but he’s not as happy to see her as I am. “Don’t go back there. Believe me. This is all wrong. What is your sister doing here in some small town in the middle of nowhere?”

I look at him and shake my head. “I can’t go now. My sister, the person I was trying to find, is right there. How can you think there could be anything wrong with that?”

Rina steps up onto the sidewalk underneath a streetlight, and my heart feels like it’s soaring. She’s okay. After all that’s happened, she’s safe and sound. Thank God.

Beside me, Nash whispers, “That’s your sister?”

I nod, unable to stop smiling at how good she looks. All this time, I was worried for nothing. “Yeah. That’s my baby sister,” I say with a chuckle, knowing how much Rina hates when I call her that.

“Lara, listen to me. She’s not who you think she is. Don’t stay here. Come with me. If we run now, we’ll have a chance.”

What is wrong with him? How could Rina not be the person I know she is? And he thinks I’m going to leave my sister? Is he insane?

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