SCARLETT
I couldn’t stop running. The stitch in my side slowed me down, but I wasn’t going to stop until I found a town. I promised Noah I would keep running, and that was exactly what I was going to do. But I also wanted to go back for him. I was scared about what they’d do after he turned his back on their sick cult.
My feet hit the ground, crunching the crisp leaves beneath them as I went. Sunrise was just around the corner. Between the trees, I could see a glow of orange starting to appear. I had to have been running for two or three hours at least. I hadn’t stopped at all, just slowed down to grab a bottle of water from the bag.
I was hungry, thirsty, and tired, but I wasn’t going to stop. They could be anywhere in the woods. I was terrified that I’d run into one of them. As far as I knew, I’d been running straight, but without being able to see, I could have easily veered off to the left or right. I just wanted to find someone who could help and get me back to my parents.
I wanted to be safely in my mum’s arms. Before I was taken, I had been so angry with them for lying to me. Now I understood what they were protecting me from. I just hoped I got the chance to tell them how much they all meant to me—even Jeremy.
Noah was nowhere to be seen. I half expected him to pop up and tell me to run faster. They loved him, so I wanted to believe that they would never hurt him, but I wasn’t so sure. They’d done something to Seamus and Bridget at the house and they were completely innocent. That wasn’t supposed to happen. If we’d have known they would do something like that, we’d never have gone there.
Tears leaked from my eyes, rolling down my face. I felt awful for them. They were nice, decent people who had taken us in, and they didn’t deserve anything bad. When was it going to end? Who else was going to be hurt over me?
Continuing to run became increasingly difficult. I could feel the fear and heartache slowly start to pull me under, digging its ugly claws into my skin. If I’d just handled my parents telling me the truth better, I wouldn’t be here now. If I hadn’t fallen in love with Noah, then it never would have happened.
Then I lost my footing on damp, slippery leaves and crashed to the ground. I threw my arms out and pain shot through my wrist. “Ahh,” I cried out, instantly stopping myself by slapping my good hand over my mouth.
Sitting on the damp floor of the forest, holding my screaming wrist, I had never felt so alone.
Get up. Keep moving.
I took a few deep breaths and battled the urge to cry. I’d done something to my wrist and while I was at it stretched the cut on my forearm too. Everything seemed hopeless. I forced myself up, crying silently as I hobbled forward again, trying to work up to a jog. My muscles and bones screamed at me to give in, and I almost listened.
But from somewhere, I found the strength to keep going.
Every step sent sharp pains the full length of my legs. I didn’t know how much I had left inside before I gave in to the need to curl up and for it all to be over one way or another. But then I heard something. I froze, gripping a dead tree for stability.
Road traffic. I had never been so happy to hear cars before, but I wasn’t so stupid to go straight out in case one of the Eternal Light was in it. A shimmer of hope was all I needed to keep going.
I stumbled forward, barely having the energy to move anymore. I saw houses first, on the other side of a road, and burst into tears. The area was built up, and to the right of the housing estate were shops. There must be a police station nearby. Please. Sobbing, I ran faster, stopping briefly to make sure there were no cars coming.
I ran along the street, probably going no faster than a walk, desperately trying to see through tear-filled eyes. People stopped and looked, a few pointed, and at the end of the road, two police officers did a double take and then ran toward me. They knew who I was. Oh thank God.
“Scarlett Garner?” one of them said as they approached.
I cried harder and collapsed into his arms, nodding my head. He scooped me up and turned around, walking back the way they’d come. “It’s all right,” he said. “You’re safe now.”
They had me bundled in the police car within seconds. I rambled about everything—the cult, almost dying, but mostly about Noah. Where was Noah? Even I knew I wasn’t making sense, but I couldn’t stop the jumbled words flowing out of my mouth.
The officer that sat in the back with me placed his hand on my upper arm. “Scarlett,” he said.
I looked over my knees from where I was huddled against the door and finally spoke my only legible word, “Yeah?”
“I need you to calm down so we can find out what happened and help you. Can you do that for me?” I nodded. “Where are they?”
“I-In the forest. Noah’s still out there. You have to find him.”
“Noah? The one who took you to Ireland?”
I knew how it looked. “Yeah, he was the one who helped me escape in the end. He turned his back on them, and now he’s out there, and if he didn’t get away in time…” I took a deep, shaky breath. “They found us in a house, and I don’t know what they did to the people living there, but Bridget screamed for Seamus and then Noah made me run. Please. Please go back to that house, check that the old couple is okay, and find Noah.”
“Okay, shh, calm down. We’ll have people check that out. Don’t worry. Are you hurt?”
I shook my head, even though I was. My feet ached and stung from running barefoot for ages, pain throbbed through my wrist, and the cut to my arm had started to hurt too. But I didn’t want to go to the hospital first. They would make it all about me. I needed to go to the police station and tell them what happened so they could find Noah and arrest every crazy member of Eternal Light.
“No, I just need you to find Noah and that house.”
He nodded once. “All right.”
When we got to the station, I was helped to freshen up in the bathroom, given a hot drink and biscuits, and provided with a blanket to wrap around myself. I sat in a room with my hands hugging a steaming mug of coffee, trying to keep it together long enough so that I could go over everything—again.
“Hello, Scarlett. I’m Detective Crossby but you can call me Adele, and this is my colleague Detective Long. We need to speak to you and ask you a few questions if that’s all right?”
I nodded and sat up in the seat. “Do you know where my parents are?”
“They’re here in Ireland. We want to have a chat with you first.”
Thank God. It was a good sign that they were free to go wherever they wanted. “What do you want to know?”
She scratched the back of her neck, probably not knowing where to start either. There was so much. “Your family said you’ve no memory before the age of four. Is that correct?”
At least she was still referring to them as my family and not making them out to be child-snatching criminals. “That’s right. Want to start from the beginning?”
Detective Crossby smiled and tilted her head in a nod, making her short, black hair slide into her eyes, and I went right back to where I could remember—waking up a scared and confused four-year-old girl.
When I’d told my story, every detail, right up to escaping, two hours had passed. It was the same story I’d already told the police, but they had been lucky enough to only need the condensed version. Naturally, she had a lot of questions.
“So, you were never told where you were really from? You knew nothing of Eternal Light?” Detective Crossby asked.
“No, I only found out…um, a few weeks ago, I think. It was recent anyway, not long before Noah brought me to Dublin. Listen, I know in the eyes of the law my parents did wrong taking me, but the Eternal Light was going to kill me. They saved my life, and I just want to see my family again.”
“We understand, Scarlett, but we need to establish all of the facts and make sure you’re protected.”
“Everything I told you is true, and my parents protect me. They could’ve left me and lived a normal, lie-free life, but instead they risked everything to keep me safe. No one else out there is going to go to those lengths for me. You have to believe me.”
“We do, Scarlett. We just need to hear your side of things, that’s all,” Detective Crossby said.
“Now you have, can I please see my family? Please?”
She smiled. “Absolutely, in a little while. I promise. We need to take you to the hospital and get you checked out first though.”
“Why? I’m fine.” I want my parents.
“You’ve been through a terrible ordeal. You’re exhausted and probably in dire need of some pain medication, especially for that wrist,” she said, lifting an eyebrow.
How did she know my wrist hurt? I’d thought it would have gotten better after a while, but it hadn’t; it was throbbing.
I pursed my lips. “But what about—”
She held her hand up. “We’re taking you to the hospital to get checked out and then we will call your parents and get them to meet you there. Okay.”
It was an order not a question.
Nodding, I replied, “Yeah, okay.”
Detective Crossby drove me to the hospital and had me checked out. I had a sprained wrist from the fall and minor cuts and bruises on my arms. The cuts to my feet stung now and walking was slow, but it wasn’t too bad.
I was finally given a bed, had an IV for pain relief, a drink, and toast. It was now just after six in the morning, and I’d been awake for twenty-four hours. I felt like putting toothpicks in my eyes just to keep them open.
“Thank you, Adele,” I said as she handed me another cup of coffee.
She’d stayed with me, asking the occasional question, while I waited for my parents and Jeremy to arrive. I’d asked for an update on Noah every five seconds, but they hadn’t found him or the rest of them yet. It’d been hours. He should’ve been found by now.
“Are they here yet? Has Noah been found?” I asked, feeling my eyes getting heavy. I yawned and blinked hard. There was no way I was going to sleep until I knew how he was. If I found my way out, then he should’ve done it by now. I didn’t want to think of any reason why he wouldn’t be able to find his way out.
“You’re exhausted, Scarlett. Please try to relax. Your parents are due here any minute now, and I promise you as soon as we find Noah, we’ll tell you. Now drink your coffee if you won’t sleep. I’ll wait outside your room until your parents get here.”
I waited until she got outside before I collapsed against the pillows. Please hurry up. All of you.