12. Hellena

12

HELLENA

“ D ay seventeen of total isolation. I'm starting to forget what the outside world looks like. What nature smells like.” I sigh, staring up at the ceiling.

“It's hard to even remember trees, the environment. What did fresh air feel like on my skin? Perhaps someday, I'll make it out of here. Or maybe I’ll die here, all alone, never to see the world again.

“Alone… alone… alone…”

“Shut the fuck up!” Tell laughs, appearing in my view, leaning out over the banister above me.

“I’m starved for social contact. Starved for affection and sunshine.”

“Get up off the floor and we can go for a walk.”

“Too weak. I’m a flower, wilting in the cold.”

“You’re a drama queen. Open a window. Go out back on the patio.”

“You just want to keep me locked up as your sex slave!”

“Yes. I do. But you can totally go for walks.”

“Alone?” I sit up, getting excited.

“Sure. As long as I’m with you.”

“UGH!” I throw myself onto the couch. “Don’t forget to write down the door code, just in case.”

“If I write down the code, that sort of defeats the purpose of a secret door code.”

“So I’m just supposed to remember it?”

“Yes.” Tell grins, leaning down to kiss my forehead.

I try to pout, but his smile is contagious. “You’d think the six deadbolts would be enough. Captain Overkill, Gavin Rorshak, reporting for duty.”

“I think he was an SOO, not a captain.”

“Do not tell me he’s shared military stories with you.”

“ Just a few.”

“BETRAYAL! He hasn’t told me any.”

“Maybe try getting him drunk?”

“You’ve been drunk with Gavin, too?” I’m exaggerating, being ridiculous.

But I kind of mean it.

Gavin is going to get an earful when he gets back.

“We had a few a couple of nights after you were stable.” Tell shrugs, looking sheepish.

“I am over it. Go buy me food. Just be super careful, okay? I’m worried about Gavin and Evan enough already.”

“Who’s being overprotective now?” Tell cocks his hip.

“Says the overbearing nanny who's been up my ass for the past two days.”

“Hey, I'm just trying to make sure you eat right.”

“And?”

“Sleep right.”

“AND?”

“Get lots of sex.” He smirks.

I open my mouth to protest again but clamp it shut. “Be that as it may… I am perfectly capable of going for a walk to clear my head, agreed?”

“Fine. Just don’t go far. Or stay here and meditate?”

“I’m tired of meditating.”

“That’s not what you were saying last night…”

He's not wrong. Our meditative states have been adding a whole new level to our sex. I think I might finally understand what they mean by ‘tantric’.

Nevertheless, it’s a spiritual experience, to be sure.

Tell is bottled lightning.

It's like every time I'm with him, he tries something new, switches it up on me completely. If I didn't know any better, I would almost think I'm with a different version of him every time. It’s unbelievably hot.

“I should get going. Gavin and Evan might come back today, so keep an eye out.”

“Why haven’t they called?”

“No signal.”

“They could call the landline.” I found out the phone is locked in a cabinet for emergencies.

“The landline could be tapped.”

“I’m sick of spy paranoia and subterfuge.”

“I love you. Stay paranoid for just a little longer for me, okay?”

“Hmm. I love you too,” I grumble, letting him drag me to my feet to kiss him goodbye. It turns into more of an embrace, our arms wrapping tightly around one another for several seconds, our tongues just as entangled.

With a wink and a slap on my ass, he’s gone.

The absence is stark at first, the silence in the house oppressive.

But then it settles over me like a blanket. Alone. I have a little time to myself.

It’s something I have been sorely missing. That, and seeing Evan. I miss his stupid, arrogant face.

Hopefully, I’ll get to see that stupid, stunning, smokey-eyed gaze later.

For now, I have things to do.

I’m up the stairs and tearing through the suitcase full of my clothes as soon as I hear the car pull out of the drive.

The run up the steps doesn’t even wind me anymore, even if my side still aches a little when I breathe deeply. All that sparring has helped immensely. Tell is pretty savvy himself when it comes to fighting, it turns out.

Jeans, a flannel, a light scarf, and a beanie, and I’m bolting back downstairs, snatching my shoes and slipping out the door. I pause, holding it open, mentally forcing myself to remember the code.

“Got it!” I plop down on the porch, sliding on my shoes and tying them up. I’ve been thinking about this for days, especially since my shorter walks with Gavin and my longer walks with Tell.

Stretching out, I let the sun soak into my skin for a few moments, savoring the sweet, fresh air. Summer is coming on fast, but it’s always complimented by a cool breeze in the mountains.

Pent up energy has me bouncing down the drive, keeping an eye out for passing cars as I reach the old road at the bottom. It’s a country road, barely used, but I would be a fool to get spotted and blow our cover.

Slipping my cell phone out, I turn it on for the first time in ages, testing for a signal. Nothing. Figures.

“So much for catching up on gossip,” I murmur, trotting back up the long driveway.

That wasn’t the purpose of my outing, anyway.

The real draw is an old pamphlet I found stashed in the coffee table drawer of the safehouse. It’s a map of the surrounding trails from back when there was a functioning Parks and Rec department in Severance.

Heading off around the side of the house, I scramble up the scree lining the property and onto an old trail that leads up, up, up. There’s an overlook nearby that I am determined to check out.

Every step away from the house is like a battery recharge, taking me higher, deeper into the trees.

I’ve never been much of an outdoorsy person, but I’ve also never spent so many days cooped up in a house with nothing to do.

Thirty minutes later, however, I’m feeling a bit peaked, the incline forcing me to take a break. According to the map, I should be close, but close is pretty relative, I guess.

Maybe I bit off more than I can chew.

Slugging some water, I sit on a rock for a bit when I feel a buzz in my pocket.

I forgot to turn off my phone.

Several notifications go off in a row before I can unlock it to look.

And just as I do, the single bar drops back to zero.

“Shit!” I’m on my feet, heading up the trail.

Several more minutes of walking like an idiot with phone out in front of me, and I get another bar, just for a second. Every thought of exhaustion flutters away as I swipe through a few emails, mostly junk.

It’s the social media notifications that really have me jonesing, though.

Yes. I am an addict like the rest of the world.

I just want a little, just a tiny bit of garbage culture to swipe through.

Maybe a stupid reel or story from someone I know. I’m so distracted that I barely notice when I clear the trees and step into open air.

Looking up, I stop dead in my tracks.

“Holy. Wow.”

The valley stretching out below the overlook is unbelievable.

Trees, green and lush, along with glittering lakes and a river, sprawl out as far as I can see. A fine shimmer of dust hangs just faint enough to see for miles and miles, all while accenting the sun and layering the sweeping hills and mountains behind in a surreal haze.

And there… nestled off to my left in the crags of the rolling mountains, a cluster of buildings, punctuated in the center by a bright red brick building with a clock tower.

It’s beyond picturesque, like every box I needed checked all at once.

Easing down onto a huge, flat rock, I kick my feet out, basking in afternoon bliss.

Maybe I should do more hiking when we get back to Sanctum.

If we get back to Sanctum.

The thought is sobering, stifling a bit of my peaceful mood. Nothing could completely ruin this moment for me, though.

Note to self: Make this hike every day until it's easy.

I linger at the overlook for a while, snapping a few photos that will never do it justice.

Ding.

Another notification. Then another.

Two bars, then three.

“Wow. Who’d have thought I’d get a signal up here?”

Could be clearing the tree line that did it, but I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. I scroll through several friends’ pages, idly fidgeting with it for a few minutes.

Most of the posts are benign, everyday nonsense.

Until I come across one from my old friend, Jake. The video plays, showing him standing outside a huge house, a moving truck in the background. I knew his parents were well off, but damn…

“Yep. That’s a wrap, SH! DJ Jakey’s hitting the road with the fam. Dad says it’s all going up in flames. Countdown to the apocalypse and shiz! Hope you all stay safe. These streets are getting dangerous. Catch you later Sang Har!”

He grimaces and throws up a fist before the video cuts off.

Several more pop up in the feed, more people leaving. Some are crying about lost jobs.

The more I dig, the worse it gets.

People are leaving Sanctum in droves. Crime is at an all-time high.

Tell told me some, but it was distant. It wasn’t real.

“Eh. Enough of that.” I set the phone down, feeling a pit in my stomach.

I debate texting Jake, texting anyone.

No. Too risky.

And I have no clue what I would say to any of them.

Besides, I am supposed to be in hiding. The less anyone knows or thinks about me, the better. The less chance Marco will have of finding me.

Still, I can’t help wondering, to what end?

Hopefully, when the guys get back, we can actually decide on a plan of action.

Because I can't keep staying out here. I can't keep doing nothing. Not when there's crazy shit going down in town.

A feeling blossoms in my chest, something I can’t quite put my finger on. It’s wriggling, like anxiousness, but more insistent.

Standing, I shake off the excess nerves, taking one last look out over the valley before turning back toward the house. Tell might be back soon.

The trek down is always easier than the hike up.

In no time, I spot familiar signs, turning onto the final slope down to the house. My phone dings again, and I pull it out to turn it back off when I almost trip.

The location tag is flashing.

The location tab that I made sure was off.

A little thrill of panic shoots up my spine as I trot the rest of the way down the trail. I hop the back fencepost and slip and slide down the gravel slope behind the wide, cement patio. My legs shake a bit as I head around the side of the house.

It’s fine. Phone is off. It was only on for half an hour. An hour, tops.

But the sinking feeling chases me along, making me regret leaving the safehouse at all.

“Fucking stupid move, Hellena,” I growl, fidgeting with my hands.

Stop. Nothing happened. I made it back. Just have to get inside and…

Turning the corner, I stumble at the edge of the porch.

There, sitting right on the doorstep, is a box.

It’s small, long, and flat.

And horrifying.

Nothing has been delivered the entire time we’ve been here. No one is supposed to know this place exists.

“Please be from Ora, please be from Ora,” I keep the mantra going as I gather my courage and step up to the door, snatching the box tentatively and punching in the code.

As soon as I’m inside, I collapse onto the couch, setting the box on the coffee table like it’s full of snakes. The paper wrapping is plain. Brown.

And on the front, scrawled in marker, it just says Hellena .

No address. No sender.

Tell is going to freak. Gavin is going to have a meltdown.

Just like that, it hits me. I need to get rid of it. I need to hide it.

But something else inside me says I need to know what’s inside it first.

With quivering fingers, I tear the paper, hesitating at the seam in the box. It’s light. Probably not a bomb.

It could be poison, though. Or sleeping gas.

Or…

Geeze. Get a grip, Hellena . Shaking the box, I hear a light crinkling. Like paper.

Popping it open, I sigh as a simple slip of parchment slides into my hand.

“See? Nothing to be paranoid about. Except getting in debt to drug dealers, putting my aunt in mortal danger, working for a bookie who deals in favors, living with an ex-hitman, getting sold off to my mobster stepfather and shot…”

A hysterical laugh slips out as I turn over the page, unfolding it.

It’s handwritten. A simple message.

Hellena Michaels,

I know where you are. I would like to speak with you. If you want to know more about your father, meet me at the address below. Tomorrow.

Come alone.

Or else.

-Foxglove