11

Avery

Their words gave Avery goose bumps, but not in a bad way. Maybe she wasn’t crazy after all—someone else had seen Rae.

Something irked her, though. He’d been a vision to Katelyn. A hallucination. He hadn’t spoken to Katelyn or given his name.

Why had he talked to Avery? And more, what was he, if Avery could hear him and Katelyn couldn’t?

She turned away from the group, trying to gather her thoughts.

The van purred behind them. The sound was sweeter than the water from the creek, but still.

She spun back to Luca. “Will we be leaving now?”

Luca paused mid-sentence.

Oops. She should have waited.

“I think the guys are working out a plan. We should get everything repacked, and maybe gather some fruit and water.”

That’s what she’d hoped. Water meant going back into the jungle, and going back in gave her a chance to get a few answers. When the plans were made and it was determined a couple teams would go back for water and fruit, Avery was first in line.

June tugged on Avery’s elbow. “Come on. We’ll go with you.”

Benny stood at June’s side, looking less than enthused about it all.

Avery managed a smile, even though she wished she could go in alone. “Thanks, June. I guess we should get some water bottles.”

They moved toward the van where Luca had left the water supplies. Someone had cracked the windows, letting the air circulate. They would all appreciate that later.

Every bottle they’d filled that morning was already empty, so she stuffed them all into Luca’s bag and hefted it onto her shoulder.

As she turned to go, a foot on the back seat caught her attention. She craned her neck and saw that Erin lay stretched out, her arm over her eyes.

Avery frowned. Whatever was bothering Erin was something she wasn’t willing to talk about, but she was the youth leader, and their only authority figure for the time being. Avery glanced toward Luca, but he was still talking to the other guys. She climbed toward the back of the van. “Erin? Are you OK?”

Erin’s chest rose and fell with each breath she took, but she didn’t answer.

“The missing girls are back, and the van is running. We should be leaving soon. We’ll get out of here and find my dad and Chad.”

The arm came down and Erin stared at Avery with bloodshot eyes. “It’s not going to work.”

Avery paused. “Of course it is. We’re almost ready to go.” But inside, Erin’s words made Avery shake. What if it was true? What if it didn’t work and they were stuck forever? What if they never went home, and Avery never got to prove herself? Never got to win Daddy’s approval. Never went to college, got married, or had kids.

She swallowed hard and said it again. “It will work.”

“You’ll see.” Erin put her arm back over her eyes. “He’ll be right. I can feel it.”

Goose bumps were back. Avery climbed further into the van until she was leaning over Erin. “Who are you talking about? Who said that?”

“Never mind.” Apparently, Erin wasn’t talking anymore.

Avery glanced at her hands and realized they shook. Erin’s eyes were closed, but Avery couldn’t forget her words. It was time to get out of here.

She slipped out of the van without another word to Erin, and made her way back to Benny and June. “Let’s make this quick. I’m ready to get out of here.” Erin’s warning gave her the creeps.

Maybe Avery and Katelyn weren’t the only ones seeing people—or a person? Maybe Rae was only pretending to help while he was simultaneously torturing Erin.

A few others were heading into the jungle at the same time, going to look for fruit.

Avery glanced at the sun as they passed under the first few trees. It was making its way closer to the tree line, and soon it would be dark.

Everything looked normal as she walked. Tall trees, green leaves, thick brush. No giant black beetles or boys dressed in white. The gurgling creek came into view, and Avery handed Benny and June a few bottles each.

They all bent at the water and began filling.

The quiet was only broken by the running water and a few jungle sounds, but Avery’s nerves were raw. “So, June, how many kids from your group came on this trip?” She needed to talk about something. Anything.

“Besides me, Gabby, and Katelyn, the other van had two girls and a youth worker.”

“No guys?”

She smiled and shook her head. “They were all too busy to go on a mission trip and help little kids.”

“Yeah, I was surprised we had so many guys show up.”

“Hey,” Benny said. “I came, didn’t I?”

June screwed the cap on the last bottle. She stood up. “Why did you come? Why not stay home?”

Benny paused. He glanced between them, then shifted from foot to foot. Finally, he smiled and forced a laugh. “I’d rather be just about anywhere than home.”

Avery’s heart squeezed. She’d seen his grandparents once or twice, and she had to admit, they didn’t seem like the nicest people. Once, after church, she’d seen Benny’s granddad smack him in the back of the head. She needed to be nicer to Benny from now on. It wasn’t that she wasn’t nice to him back home, but she’d grown used to no one talking to her and her talking to no one in return.

They stuffed the bottles back into her bag, and Avery waved her arm for them to lead the way back. Benny took front and she brought up the rear. Her gaze roamed from tree to tree as she tried to find anything out of place, particularly shifting air or a boy in white. The closest she came to something odd was a bright yellow lizard with neon blue spots.

Her blood pulsed through her body, her heart thundering louder with each step she took toward the desert. If they left, she would never know if this place was for real. She wanted to see Rae one last time. She wanted to find out if he was real. Did he live here like he said?

And had he talked to Erin?

That was her biggest question. Someone told Erin they wouldn’t be able to leave. Someone had spooked her, and they must have done it as soon as the group had been stranded because Erin had acted strange ever since they’d arrived.

Avery frowned. Who else had been seeing things and keeping it to themselves?

She shuddered. It was best if they got out of here as fast as they could. Forget Rae. Something was definitely wrong with this place.

They marched back to the desert, and she took one last look at the inner jungle. Rae didn’t appear, and she didn’t see him hiding behind any trees. He was nowhere. He may not even be real. And now she would never know.

She stepped into the desert, ready to haul the bag of water back to the van.

The sun had already dipped behind the trees, and shadows danced across the sand. The food group had returned with fruit, and someone had repacked the luggage on top of the van.

A group of teens gathered around Luca at the hood of the van, and their voices carried in the late-afternoon air.

June frowned. “Do they sound angry to you?”

“I’m afraid so.” Avery closed the distance between them and dropped the heavy backpack. “What’s going on?”

“Your boy here thinks we should wait until morning to get out of here. The rest of us want to go now.” Bradley scowled at Luca.

Avery ignored Bradley’s used of your boy. “If Luca thinks we should stay then there has to be a good reason.” Even though she couldn’t think of any.

“I’ve explained all of that,” Luca said impatiently. His red ears gave away his frustration. “It’s getting too dark. We’ll never find the road before night fall. Even Sam admitted he doesn’t know where we are.”

Avery glanced at the van driver—whose name was obviously Sam. “What’s the harm in waiting until first light? We can get a good night’s rest and leave in the morning. I think the plan is solid.”

Bradley didn’t acknowledge that she’d spoken and she rolled her eyes.

“I’m not keeping us here to be a jerk,” Luca said. “Can anyone even see the sun now? Because I can’t. We won’t make it a few miles in this sand before we won’t have enough light to guide us. The headlights will only get us so far when there are miles and miles of sand in every direction. At least right now, we have food and water. What if we get stuck out there with nothing?”

Avery held her breath, but no one argued with him. He made legitimate points, and she hated to admit she was relieved. Something drew her to the jungle. It was almost as if they weren’t supposed to leave, not yet.

“Maybe staying until morning is best,” Tasha said. She, Mallory, and Brittany huddled together at the corner of the van. Her dark skin glistened with sweat, and she wore her ball cap pulled low over her face.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Bradley looked at every member of the group, but no one met his eyes.

No one except Avery. She wasn’t afraid to tell him he was being a jerk. Not that he cared about her opinion all that much.

He held her gaze for a few moments and finally growled. Kicking at the sand as he spun on his heel, he stomped away—at least as well as he could stomp in shifting sand.

The others broke up and headed for the protection of the tree line.

Luca looked to her. “Got any water in there for me?”

She pulled a bottle from the pack on the ground and handed it to him. “Are you sure about this?”

“Are you doubting me, too?”

“Of course not. I just want to make sure we’re not doing anything stupid. Right now, we’re all together, and the van runs. We’re not jinxing ourselves, are we?”

His face fell and he scowled. “Jinxing ourselves? Are you superstitious now?”

“Of course I don’t believe in jinxing. It’s just an expression.” Apparently, he wasn’t up to having his decision questioned. Not that it was really his decision to make.

Erin hadn’t been in his little pow-wow. Maybe because she knew they weren’t going to leave.

Uneasiness settled over Avery. It was almost as if Erin’s warnings were coming true.

No, not Erin’s warnings. His warnings.

Rae said he was trying to help them leave, but he’d also said he was waiting for her, and he’d given Avery the creeps. What if he was trying to keep them here instead of trying to help them leave?

The uneasiness turned to panic when she remembered what else he’d said. He’d implied that their leaving wouldn’t be easy.