“Not even two… you’ll be fine, little doe,” he said, before he pressed his hand into my back again.
My eyes finally adjusted, and everything outside became clear again. I looked around, trying to figure out where we were, to take in every detail I could. We were sort of underground, having to climb five stairs before we were on level ground. Once up there, it was an empty field with nothing around us. There was a small area of gravel, where two vehicles were parked. Benji’s red Supra was parked next to a black single-cab Dodge—Quinnlyn’s.
There was a road that led up to the gravel that moved into the woods, which I couldn’t see beyond. Once I was on the ground, beyond the stairs, the building I was in was only six inches above ground. The roof had moss all over it, keeping it quite camouflaged.
I thought back to how he’d opened that door and walked right outside. I wondered whether that door had been unlocked when I tried to escape. Part of me wished I had tried more doors that day, but I’d been sure it was the door at the very end. Would it have been that easy? I looked around and knew that even if I’d gottenout of that door, where the hell would I have gone? There were no houses—there wasn't anything I could see. Beyond the clearing, there was nothing but trees.
Quinnlyn kept his hand on the middle of my back, guiding me to the car. Benji had been walking faster than I and was already at his car, with the passenger door open. I was barefoot, and everything about me felt weak. He had the passenger seat folded up for me to climb in the back. Thankfully, I was still barely pregnant.
“You don't need to sit in the back with her,” Benji said, staring at Quinnlyn.
“Hmm. I don’t need to, but I am,” he said.
I slid to the other side, behind the driver’s seat. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a set of keys, and threw them over the car to Daniel, who stood by the black Dodge.
“Don’t wreck my shit,” he told him, and then climbed into the back, next to me.
I didn’t understand why he wanted to be back there. It wasn’t like there was a car door that I could get out of from the back. He settled into the seat, shifting side to side a couple of times. Benji closed the door, walked around to the driver’s side, and climbed in.
“Seatbelt,” Benji said. I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at him in the rearview mirror.
Quinnlyn growled next to me, and my head twisted to stare at him. As soon as my eyes met his, he reached past me, pulled the seatbelt across me, and clicked it in the buckle.
“Why do you have to make everything so complicated?” Quinnlyn said.
“I could make everyone’s life easier if you dropped me off somewhere far from here and pretended that I escaped,” I said.
“That’s a great idea,” he said.
“Quinn!” Benji exclaimed.
“Yeah… yeah,” Quinnlyn said.
Chapter 7
I wasn't sure how long we drove before we turned onto what felt like the longest dirt road I'd ever been on. I had a general idea of where we were—it was a small rural area where most teenagers around here spent hours driving dirt roads. I was pretty sure Benji took extra roads to confuse me. The road climbed and dipped, curved around bends, and climbed again. Thankfully, the road was well-grated, otherwise I wasn't sure a Supra had any business on it.
We finally pulled up to a large house. It was a big two-story white home, classic-looking, with light blue shutters. There was a wrap-around porch on the ground level, windows all around. A couple of rocking chairs overlooked the driveway.
“Your new humble abode,” Quinnlyn said flatly.
“Cool,” I said to him.
“You always wanted to come to my house,” Benji said.
“Yeah… not as a prisoner,” I said.
Neither of them said anything. Quinnlyn’s truck pulled up behind us. Benji got out of the car and pulled the driver's seat forward. He reached his hand in to grab mine, and I quickly smacked it away. I didn’t need his help getting out of the car.
“Zay,” Benji said in a warning tone.
“I don’t need your help getting out, and I sure as hell ain’t running in the middle of nowhere,” I told him.
Quinnlyn let out a low chuckle next to me. My head snapped around, and I glared at him.
“What is so funny?” I asked him.
“Oh, nothing… Let’s go, climb out of here,” he replied.