Page 44 of Strange Love

This is what Auron does. He tries to make it seem like you owe him something. Like you’re lucky that you’re here instead of living your life. His mind games worked when I was twelve. They don’t work anymore.

I have very little time to figure out how to play this. He knows I’m not accepting his command, but his ego will be honored if I change my mind. It may buy me just a bit more time.

“Of course not. I’m sorry. My purpose is whatever The Voice commands.”

He rubs his chin, feeling pleased with himself. “Good. I’m glad you came to your senses.”

“When does my new journey begin?”

“You will start very soon,” is all he says.

The paranoia that Auron and the others have been showing lately makes me realize that he has become unhinged. It’s terrifying, but it’s also an excuse for me to be able to try and make my escape.

I spend the next few days exhaustively searching for a way out. My brain races with endless scenarios, but each one ends with the same realization— I’m trapped in this hell. That thought alone makes my skin crawl, and my stomach churn. Meanwhile, I work tirelessly in the main building, pretending to be busy while secretly scouring for any opportunity to run.

That’s when they arrive again, the men in sharp suits, their expensive cars gleaming in the sunlight. When they get out of the car, I can see a girl I recognize still inside. It’s Lucy, the girl who vanished not long after I arrived.

The men disappear into Auron’s private office, and I slip outside and creep up to the dark sedan. Gently, I crack open the car door, making sure not to draw any attention to myself.

“Lucy,” I whisper. “It’s Ivy. Do you remember me?” Lucy stares straight ahead and doesn’t acknowledge me until I reach my hand over and touch her leg. This startles her enough to shake her out of her catatonic state. She turns to look at me, but her eyes hold no emotion, just a black, voided space where the light used to live. I know she isn’t the same girl who had left.

“What’s happened to you?” I beg. Her eyes suddenly grow wide and a terrified expression crosses her face. She starts shaking her head back and forth.

“Ivy, you have to get out of here,” she pleads in a low voice. “The things you will be forced to do are worse than anything you can imagine.”

“Is it drugs?” I ask her. “Do they make sure you stay on drugs so you won’t fight back?”

“I can’t talk to you anymore,” she says and scoots across the back seat to the other side of the car, balling up into the fetal position. She’s terrified, and I’m not sure she understands what reality she’s in at the moment.

“Lucy, I want to help you.”

“You can’t help me, Ivy. Help yourself. Get out of here as soon as you can.”

“How? I don’t know what to do,” I plead, but Lucy retreats into herself, avoiding eye contact and refusing to speak further. Her body language says it all. She’s done with the conversation.

I scurry back to the main building and took my spot at the reception desk not long before the men finish their meeting. They are agitated and angry, especially Auron.

“Ivy, find Peter,” he commands.

“Of course, Auron. Do you have any idea where he is?”

“No!” he shouted. “Find him!”

I run out of the building and walk the perimeter where I find Peter standing near the edge of the fence. He’s hunched over something, his body shaking as sobs break free from his throat.

“Peter,” I call, and when he turns to look at me, I can see what he is holding in his arms. It’s the body of his wife. I hadn’t seen Sally around in quite some time, and I wasn’t sure what had happened. Given the way she had been looking before disappearing, I assumed that she had finally succumbed to her addiction.

That may still be the case, but I have a nagging feeling that one of the others made it look that way.

“Peter, Auron is looking for you. He says it’s important.”

He continues to weep over the body of his wife before finally breaking his silence and turning to me.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” he says as he picks her up, cradles her lifeless body in his arms, and carries her to some unknown destination.

I return to the main building and inform Auron that Peter will be with him shortly, and I ask if he knows that Sally is dead.

With a self-satisfied look on his face, he says, “All things turn out the way they should,” thereby confirming my original suspicion that he had something to do with her death.