Half truth

Chapter Twenty-Two

The look on my face must have said all the things my voice couldn’t, because Nolan stopped walking and set a hand on my shoulder. Despite the sympathetic look he was giving me, my fight or flight response was kicking. Adrenaline coursed through me, the way my martial arts instructors had often described to me, but I never actually experienced until this very moment.

“Relax. We’re not going to hurt you.” He gri

“I’ll scream.”

“Scream.” He shrugged.

“I’ll fight.”

“You think you can take all of us?” As he asked that, five figures appeared out of the shadows behind him, walking toward us in unison, all wearing black but not cloaked, no longer cowering beneath sheets.

In the darkness, I couldn’t tell who was who. I could only tell there were also women amongst them and I could only pray that a woman wouldn’t let them hurt me, not physically anyway. I met Nolan’s gaze.

“What’s the game? What are you going to do to me today? Lock me up in another dungeon?”

“Of sorts.”

“Of sorts,” I repeated the words back slowly, fighting the fear they brought with them. “What does that mean ‘of sorts?’”

“If it makes you feel any better, we’ve all done some version of the things we expect you to do.”

“It doesn’t.”

“Well, you won’t be alone tonight. Maybe that’ll make you feel better.”

“It doesn’t.”

“Then you’re shit out of luck. Let’s go, Bastón.” He turned around, facing the others. “You want answers, we got them, but you need to play our game.”

He didn’t make an attempt to grab me or carry me or anything that I expected. Instead, he walked, leaving enough room between them and me to make it clear that I was free to make the decision. With words like those, it was impossible for me to just go home right now. Following them into the dark seemed crazy, and a part of me argued that it was stupid, but another part of me, the part vibrating with adrenaline, wanted to chase after him. I hesitated for a second.

Thanks to Lincoln and his little “let’s lock you in the dark closet” games when we were kids, I wasn’t just afraid of the dark, I was terrified of it. I was also the kind of person who ran toward things that scared me, not because I wanted to get over my fears, but because I’d been so sheltered my entire life that I felt I had something to prove to myself by conquering small feats. It was that thought that made me take a step forward, toward the darkness, toward the row of strangers dressed like they were going to a funeral, and for all I knew, it would be mine.

Three of the five in front of Nolan walked in another direction, not bothering to turn around to say goodbye. Nolan glanced at me over his shoulder.

“You’ll meet everyone when the time comes. For now, onto the first challenge. It’ll be easy.”

He led me through an archway between buildings that led to a park I hadn’t seen, not that I’d ventured out much. There were two more people dressed in black. Logan. My pulse spiked when our eyes met. I wanted to punch him for telling me to stay away from the cloaks and not admitting he knew what the calling card was when he saw it that night. For all I knew, he was the one putting them on my doorstep. I glared.

They led me to a spot in the grass that had cones all around it and a big bright light—like the ones you see in outdoor arenas—shining over it. I almost laughed. Were they going to make me do drills? I wasn’t sure I could do any drills right now.

“If you look closely, you’ll see that the grass is covered with blades,” a guy I didn’t know or recognize said.

He waved me to walk forward. I moved forward and saw some sort of iron square laid out with what looked like pieces of shards glittering through, each of them placed like stakes coming out of the ground. They were placed on the iron in a way that made it impossible to do a drill around them, not a fast one anyway. You would have to meticulously step in order not to drive one of them into your foot.

“What is it that you’re asking me to do?” I looked between Nolan, the guy, and Logan.

“It’s a trust drill. We expect you to go from point A to point B by following your guide’s instructions,” Nolan explained.

I balked. “Without looking down?”

“Yep.”

“Yeah, right.” I started to laugh nervously, but stopped when I realized they were serious. “Is that even physically possible? At one point I’ll look down. It’s human nature.”

“You won’t be able to look down,” Nolan said. “You won’t be able to see anything at all.”

“What?” My jaw dropped. “You’re going to blindfold me?”

Nolan nodded once.

“How am I . . . who’s going to . . . I don’t think I can . . . “

“I’ll lead you to the other side,” Logan said, his voice ringing clear in the silence.

“You expect me to believe that you’re going to get me to the other side unscathed? While I’m blindfolded?”

“I do.”

“And why would I believe that?”

“Because I’m telling you I will.”

“What if I asked you to take my place in this drill? Would you trust me to lead you while you’re blindfolded?”

“Yes.” He didn’t hesitate, but he had to be bluffing.

“Have you done this?” I asked, and he nodded. A part of me—a really stupid part of me—didn’t want to ask who he trusted enough to lead him to the other side, but I had to ask anyway. “Who got you through your drill?”

“Your brother.”

I took a step back. I had not been expecting that.

“Are you doing it or not?” That came from one of the other guys.

They all looked so damn sure that I’d hightail out of there. It was probably the only reason I stepped forward with a nod. I was doing it. I looked at Logan. He didn’t look any more impressed by my confirmation than anyone else did. He looked bored. As he walked over to me with the blindfold in his hand, his expression was all business. He put it over my head and placed it on my forehead, his eyes on mine.

“You’re going to get the urge to reach up and snatch it off. Don’t.”

“I don’t know if I can do this.”

“You can. I’ll be on the other side guiding you.”

I looked behind him, at the trap on the ground that looked like a serial killer’s idea of a good time. When my gaze met his again, I saw concern in his. I thought he was going to talk me off the ledge, or reassure me that I would be great at this. Instead, he tapped my head and started walking away.

“She’s ready.”

I opened my mouth to say I wasn’t, but closed it again. They explained the object of the game again: get to the other side with my partner’s help. Rely solely on him, without giving in to the urge to yank the blindfold off. The area was quite small and without the blades, I could get there in four or five steps. With the blades there, it wasn’t simple at all. Without relying on my own sight, it seemed impossible.

“We’re going to do this in counts. Like this—” He picked up his right leg and moved it slightly without setting it down. “This is one count.” He moved the same leg a little further out. “This is two counts. We’ll do it like that—one count, two counts, two counts, one count,” he said as he demonstrated. “You understand?”

“Do I understand that you want me to die tonight?” I nodded. “Yep. Crystal clear.”

He rolled his eyes. The rest of the guys chuckled before going silent.

“Take one step forward,” he said.

I did. I wasn’t in the actual square yet, but my palms were already sweating and my knees were already shaking.