SCARLETT
I felt a rush of adrenaline as we got off the bus at the port. It had been a four-and-a-half-hour bus ride and now we had a three-and-a-half-hour ferry ride, but I didn’t care because we were free until tomorrow morning.
Imogen was covering for me if my mum called her. Noah said he’d asked Chris to do the same for him. Neither of them knew where we were. We’d just told them we were spending time together and they had to cover.
Im was too busy telling me all about how I was going to lose my virginity to bother with any other details anyway. Little did she know I’d lost it on Wednesday. It had been perfect. Noah had been perfect, and I felt even closer to him than I did before.
Mum didn’t take long before she’d agreed to let me stay at Imogen’s for the night, but she never did. I was pretty sure both my parents would be glad to have me out of the house. Dad had said the space would do us good and he was right. We needed to not be under each other’s feet for a day, and then maybe, when I got home, we could talk and sort everything out. I was ready for things to be normal with them now.
We’d get the ferry back at two in the morning and be home by eleven, when I could claim to have come from Im’s. It was going to be a long two days, but I needed to get away for a while, and spending time with Noah—alone time—was an added bonus.
Noah had our passports—I’d snuck mine out of the drawer last night—and led us through the port. It was obvious he’d done this quite a few times before; he knew exactly where to go. It didn’t take long, and we were soon sitting in the café. After the long drive, I needed a coffee. Noah had caffeine-free green tea. I had no idea how he coped without caffeine.
“You okay?” I asked.
He stared at his mug and nodded. “I’m fine, just tired.”
“Me too. Are you excited to see your aunt again?” It wasn’t that long ago that he was there, but this time he was bringing his girlfriend home. It was a lot different.
Smiling, he nodded and sipped his tea. “I am. You excited to meet her?”
“Excited and nervous. You’re sure she won’t call your parents?”
“Everyone will love you. I promise. And no, she won’t. I’ll get told to never go behind their back again, but she will be fine.”
“Wait, everyone? Wow, how many people am I meeting?”
“Just a few cousins and my aunt’s boyfriend. They are all nice, so you’ll be fine. She can’t wait to see you.”
“You told her much about me?”
“Maybe.”
“Like what?”
“Like how amazing you are and how much I love you.”
Yeah, that’d do. I grinned and was pretty sure I blushed as well. Noah was so sweet. Some of the lads at school would never say things like that to their girlfriends in front of people. Noah said it no matter who was around.
We got off the ferry and were officially in Ireland. If my parents found out, they were going to freak and probably ground me until I was thirty. “We’ll definitely be home in time, right?”
He nodded, not meeting my eye. The closer we got to Ireland, the more distant he’d become. He usually held my hand, but he’d dropped that an hour into the ferry ride.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Let’s get a taxi,” he said, taking my hand and ignoring my question.
Frowning, I followed. Something wasn’t right. He was never off with me, and I was worried he was having second thoughts about me meeting his aunt. Maybe it was a too big a step for him and he hadn’t realized until now?
“Noah, have you changed your mind? If you’re not sure about this, we can do it another time. I don’t mind.”
Shaking his head, he opened the back door of a black taxi. “Get in, babe.”
I did as he said and he climbed in beside me. I looked at the driver and froze. Shaun. What was his dad doing here? Noah hadn’t told me he was coming too, and why wouldn’t he have taken the same ferry? Were we being busted? My heart sank. If Shaun told my parents, I would be in so much trouble.
“What’s going on?” I asked, gulping and looking between the two men. They watched each other through the mirror. He wasn’t here to bust us?
Noah took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and looked out of the window as Shaun locked the doors and sped off. I gripped the seat in front of me as Shaun’s erratic driving had me falling to the side. He leveled off and started to drive properly. My heart was rattling in my chest. This isn’t right.
“Noah!” I said. “Look at me! What’s going on?”
He refused to face me, but I could make out him squeezing his eyes closed as he leaned against the window. I started to feel sick. Noah had never made me feel anything but safe and loved before, but right now, it was like I was sitting next to a different person—one who scared me.
“Shaun, what’s going on?”
“We are taking you home, sweetheart.”
Beside me, Noah’s body tensed.
“Home? What do you mean ‘home’?” We weren’t getting back on the ferry. “Shaun, what do you mean?”
“Eternal Light, Scarlett. We are taking you home.”
My eyes widened. What? “I don’t…”
Suddenly everything slotted into place and my world spun off its axis. They are part of it. Whimpering, I pressed my fist to my mouth as bile shot up my throat. No, no, no. He lied. All that time, Noah had been lying to me.
I couldn’t believe he was taking me back to them. After everything my parents said, after everything he knew about them, he was taking me to them. They were part of that cult and had come to England to get me.
“Noah,” I whispered, tears rolling down my face. “How could you?”
His jaw tightened. “Hurry up, Dad.”
“I can’t speed, Son, you know that.”
“Shaun, please,” I said, poking my head between the seats, desperate to get him to listen to me. “They’re going to kill me. You know they are. Just let me go and I promise I won’t tell anyone. Please, I just want to go home. You don’t have to do this.”
“Sit tight, Scarlett. It won’t be long until we are back.”
I shook my head, hair flying around my face, sticking to my tears. Neither of them cared that I was going to die for no reason. Falling back in the seat, I looked at Noah. Had everything he said been a lie? He told me he loved me, but he couldn’t.
“Why did you pretend to love me?” I asked, sobbing. It hurt so, so bad. He might as well have been stomping my heart into the ground. “You didn’t have to take it that far. Did you want to hurt me before they murdered me?”
He stared out of his window, clenching his fist against his forehead.
“Noah!” I snapped. “You at least owe me an explanation. You didn’t have to take it that far! Why? Answer me, damn it!”
“Settle down, Scarlett,” Shaun said. “Noah had his instructions.”
“Instructions!”
“Shut up!” Noah shouted. “Both of you. Please, just stop talking.” He rubbed his forehead roughly.
“Did you ever live on that island?”
He shook his head.
“Always in Ireland?” He didn’t have the Irish accent.
“Since I was seven.”
Wow. He made up a whole life. Just like my parents. Was there anyone in my life who didn’t lie?
“Was any of it real?”
He turned back away, and I wasn’t sure if that was a yes or no. As much as it broke me, I wanted to believe no; it was easier than thinking he loved me but was doing this anyway.
“You’re going to be fine, Scarlett. Your parents will explain better than we can, so just sit quietly until we get there,” he said.
“But I’m not going to be fine. You know I’m not. My parents told you what those people are going to do.” He blinked a few times, looking down at his feet. The blood drained from my face. He knew before that. “No,” I whispered, and his eyes closed again.
Noah knew they were going to kill me all along and he still brought me here. I pulled my legs up, curling into a ball and cried. My heart was splitting, pieces breaking off. Everything he’d said, we’d done, we had, was set on fire and burned to ashes. None of it was real.
He’d played me, and I’d fallen for it.
I held myself tighter, holding my body together. How could he? Did he even care about me at all, or was it all one big, fat lie to get me to his cult?
“Scarlett,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”
Sorry would never be good enough. I would never forgive him for what he’d done. He always seemed so mature and levelheaded. How was Noah in a cult?
“Don’t talk to me ever again,” I said, sobbing around each word. I was done. No matter if he felt guilt or not, we were done. Sighing, he looked away and I cowered back inside myself, burying my head between my knees and wrapping my arms as tightly as they’d go around my legs.
I didn’t know what I was going to do or how I was going to get home. How stupid was I to go off somewhere without my parents knowing, even if it was with someone I trusted? I was so upset with them for lying to me that I’d compromised my own safety.
All I wanted was to be home. I wanted to forget Noah ever existed. It was too good to be true. I should’ve known I wasn’t going to be lucky enough to find the one in school and be childhood sweethearts. Noah’s betrayal was already killing me.
I had no one to blame but myself.