Chapter 5: Chapter Five

I woke up with a chipmunk sniffing at my ear. His little paws and his cold nose pressed against my cheek.

“He wanted to meet you,” Pepper said, standing over me.

I smiled. “Hello, Twix. I’m Willow. But you can call me Will.” I plucked him from my face and moved so he could sit on my lap.

Pepper handed me a tray of food. “They brought this. I ate my half. No poison.” She smiled. “It doesn’t taste very good, though.” I didn’t feel like I could turn my nose up to the PB&J, small water bottle, or apple, so I started eating.

Pepper told me that the tests they’d run on her matched the ones they ran on me. They’d grilled her, but she’d given them nothing. In return, they hadn’t told her anything, but they wouldn’t have told her anyway. She already knew she was a demon and how to use her powers. What else did she need?

“That man came back,” Pepper said. “The big one. He told me to let you know you had more tests coming.”

“Not you?”

“Nope,” she sighed. “I’m done for now, I guess.”

That made me both worried and happy. Happy because she might be safe and worried because that meant I wouldn’t be. I doubted she’d stay in the cell for much longer. I feared where they would take her next. And where they would take me next. Did I have a life of being a lab rat ahead of me?

An hour after I finished eating, the door opened again. Fitz marched down the stairs with a wide smile.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

My chest tightened as I rose. I didn’t bother fighting. I’d weaken myself in the process.

When he sat me on the paper-covered exam bed, he smiled. “Ah, wasn’t that so easy?”

I kept my face blank.

I stared down at my legs as we waited for the doctor.

“What are you guys going to do to me?” I asked in a small, terrified voice.

“I told you, more testing.”

“Not that. I mean when the tests are done. I take it I’m stuck here for the rest of my life. What’s the long-term plan?”

He took a deep breath. “I honestly don’t know.”

My mouth dropped open. “You don’t know why they want me, but you were more than willing to kidnap a teenager? Why would you do that to me?”

“You belong to us,” he said without emotion. “You belong here. It’s better for you.”

I scoffed. “Better? You don’t know what’s better for me. Being with my family is better for me, but you guys killed my parents.” My voice cracked and I hated it. “I don’t understand a thing about what I am. All I know is that my mom and dad died for it. They’re gone and it’s all my fault.”

The emptiness in his eyes left for a few moments. “Your parents are dead? Both of them?”

I nodded.

“They didn’t tell me that,” he said. No obligatory ‘I’m sorry.’ No sympathetic eyes. Nothing but those five words.

“Why would they?”

He looked away from me and spoke in a bored tone. “I thought they would.”

We didn’t talk after that. I went back to looking at my feet and he went back to being an ass.

“Willow, Willow, Willow.”

My name fell from Crane’s mouth as he entered the room. He didn’t look up from his clipboard. He had clothes in his hand.

“Ya know,” he said lazily. “There’s this willow tree out behind the candy shop. Big and ancient-looking. I hear your name—” he looked at me and flashed that Cheshire cat grin “—and I think of it.”

Fitz rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

“Kay,” I said.

“All right,” Crane breathed. He tossed the clothes onto my lap and went to the edge of the bed, starting to fiddle with something. “We need to do a full exam. I need you to remove all of your clothing and put that gown on. Then,” he said as he pulled stirrups out from the sides of the bed, “hop up on these.” He moved back to the counter and started writing on his clipboard.

Nope, not happening.

I looked to Fitz, my only hope, but he had no reason to help me. My panicked eyes met his cold ones and they pleaded with a devil. “Please,” I whispered. “Don’t let him do that to me.”

He set his mouth in a hard line as he breathed sharply out of his mouth. “Did my father order this exam?”

Father? Is Felix his father?

“No,” Crane said as he turned. “I figured he might, so I wanted to jump on it.” He smiled with self-pride. Then he looked at me. “Start changing.”

I didn’t. Instead, I looked back to Fitz.

“Why do you need this to be done?” he asked the doctor.

“We need to get a full work up. We need to know more about her body.”

“I’ll tell you anything you wanna know,” I pleaded. “You don’t need to do that.”

“It’s the only way I’ll get the information I need. I can’t risk you lying to me.”

“I didn’t lie yesterday! I told you everything you asked.”

He stepped forward, stopping in front of me and dipping his head to eye level. “I asked you to undress for me. Do it or I’ll sedate you and do what needs to be done.”

As a Hail Mary, I looked to Fitz again. “Please,” I cried.

“All right then,” Crane said as he held me down on the bed with one hand. With the other, he reached into his pocket and took out a syringe. He pulled the cap off with his teeth and held it up.

Fitz grabbed his wrist and took the syringe away. “Not happening.” He threw it on the floor. “If my father didn’t order it, then you’re not doing it. We’re not wasting time on tests we don’t need.”

Crane pulled his hand back and let go of me.

“We do need it. We need to know every inch of her body if we’re going to—”

“No. I’m going to talk to him and if he thinks we need it, then I’ll have one of the female doctors do it. There’s no reason for it to be you.”

Crane looked angry. “I’m the best doctor you have.”

Fitz snorted. “No, you’re not. You’re the one that wasn’t busy today.” He grabbed my hand and hauled me off the bed. “You’re going back to your cell.” He started dragging me out of the room.

I knew I should thank him. He’d gotten me out of something awful, but his cold eyes stopped me. I didn’t think a thank you would mean anything to him.

Screw it.

I stopped and put my arms around his midsection, since I was too short to get them around his neck without using my tiptoes. “Thank you.”

He didn’t touch me, but he made a confused sound. “What the hell are you doing?”

I left the side of my face against his chest. “Thanking you, dumbass.” I tilted my head up until my chin pressed against him. “You helped me.”

He pushed me back. “I saved time. I wasn’t doing it to help you.” He swung me around and grabbed my hands. “No more touching.”

“All right,” I said. “But just so you know, we are, in fact, touching.”

He sighed and I knew he rolled his eyes. He pushed the door open and started leading me down.

Someone else stood in the room. Blond, a little taller than me, curvy. She faced Pepper, but I knew. No way…

“Juliet!” I shouted. She turned sharply and her eyes widened when they landed on me. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Home, sweet home, huh, Juliet?” Fitz said.

“You live here?”

“I can explain.” She held her hands up. “I—”

She never got to finish the sentence. I broke away from Fitz and launched myself at her. With great ease, I knocked her to the ground and held her down by the neck. “You told them where I was! You got my parents killed!”

“Fitz, a little help,” she choked as her nails dug into my wrists.

Fitz stood against the wall. “Nah, I’m good.”

Juliet muttered some things I couldn’t understand, followed by, “Prick.” She turned all kinds of colors when she said, “I… can explain.”

I loosened my grip enough so that she wouldn’t die. “How! How can you explain? You got them killed and you got me locked up. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

“I’m sorry, Willow. I did my job. I didn’t know that they would kill your parents. They were supposed to get you and leave your family alone.”

“Oh,” I huffed. “You were going to hand me over. I guess I should forgive you then.”

She started crying. “I’m gonna fix it.”

“You can’t bring the dead back to life, Juliet. You can live a thousand years and you will never fix it.”

“Let me try,” she begged.

I could kill her, but it wouldn’t be right. Killing her wouldn’t fix anything and I didn’t need her blood on my hands. I moved off her and stood. She sat up on her elbows and took a few seconds to breathe.

“All right. Fitz.” she panted while getting up. “I need a minute with her.”

He didn’t budge. “She needs to go in the cell. She can overpower you.”

“Clearly,” she sighed and walked over to the panel. She hit the button and the glass opened. “Get in.”

My hands went to my hips. “Are you kidding?”

“Willow.” She said my name with gritted teeth. “He won’t leave unless you get in there. Don’t you wanna know where Phin is?”

My stomach dropped. I hadn’t even thought about that. I refused to believe he had been killed, too. Phin wouldn’t let that happen.

But I needed to know. I moved into the glass cage and waited for it to close. Pepper moved next to me and took my hand again. I looked down at her and gave the most reassuring smile I could fake. She returned a heartbreakingly real one. She thought I could protect her.

“Go, now,” Juliet ordered Fitz.

He glared at her as he walked out of the room.

The familiarity only surprised me for a few seconds. Mom’s journals had said that kids grew up there. Fitz and Juliet must have known each other for a while.

Juliet approached the glass and spoke quietly. “Phin is fine. He’s at a motel in Seattle. He kicked me to the curb.”

I blinked. “What?”

“After Fitz took you and I left, I told Phin I drove away because I was scared, and I didn’t want him to get hurt. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth. Phin figured out that I knew it was gonna happen. He broke up with me. I came here to get you back for him. It’s a long story, and I need to tell you when we get out of here.”

“You’re getting us out?” Pepper whispered.

Juliet looked at her. “I’m getting Willow out.”

I squeezed Pepper’s hand. “I won’t leave without her.”

Juliet looked frustrated. “Getting just you out is a suicide mission. Getting both of you out is—”

“Happening,” I finished. “You want redemption? Start here.”

She considered it for a few seconds before she said, “Fine! You,” she said as she looked at Pepper. “What are you?”

“Demon,” she answered.

“Are you good at your specialty?”

“Damn good.” She smiled.

“Good. Use it when the time comes.” She walked over to the wall and put her hand on the panel. “The second I hit this, Fitz and god knows who else will hear. Then it starts. Ready?”

Pepper and I nodded, and Juliet hit the button. The glass opened, and we stepped out as Juliet grabbed a chair leg. We all stood in the middle of the room when the door opened, and Fitz stepped in. Two other men followed, neither half his size.

“What’s going on?” Fitz asked, already knowing.

“Go!” Juliet shouted at us. She took the chair leg and stabbed it through one of the men’s chests. He died in a second.

I froze at the sight. Pepper screamed my name as she tugged on my shirt. Juliet fought with the other man while Fitz came for us.

He reached out for us, but I dodged him. Juliet killed the other man and yanked the chair leg from his chest before cracking it against Fitz’s head. He stumbled and Juliet pushed him against the wall. She started running up the stairs, leaving Fitz alive.

Juliet got in front of us and pushed the door open. The hall was empty, but it wouldn’t stay like that for long.

Sirens blared and the noise almost broke my eardrums. Over it, Juliet shouted, “Follow me!”

We moved down the hallway, and I could hear people behind us.

We took a sharp right into a hall already full of people. They didn’t see us until Juliet opened a door and shoved us into a stairwell.

Pepper ran in front of me, while Juliet brought up the rear. We made it to the top of the stairs, and Pepper opened the door. We found ourselves in a little room that had few doors. Juliet jammed the one we’d just come through when I spotted a door with a window in it. Through the glass, I could see the candy shop.

A side door opened. The woman who had watched us when I’d first arrived ran through, knife in hand.

“Kelly,” Juliet said with fear. “Please, let us go.”

The woman looked at her. “After everything we’ve done for you. You betray us.”

“That’s not what this is—”

She stopped when Kelly grabbed her. Before anyone could make a move to stop it, the woman dug her knife into Juliet’s stomach and wrenched it to the side. Crimson poured from her gut and stained her white shirt. She sank to the floor and started gasping for breath through cries of pain.

Pepper looked angry as she threw her hand out. The blade vanished from Kelly’s grasp. It reappeared in Pepper’s hand, confusing the woman for long enough to give my friend the upper hand. She stuck the knife right into the center of the woman’s chest and shoved her to the floor.

“Get her,” she said as she turned.

Pepper and I lifted Juliet to her feet, and she whimpered in agony. We each put one of her arms around us and hurried out of the building.

We found a car in the lot— the only one— and it had been left running. I assumed it belonged to Juliet.

“Hurry,” she struggled to say as we got her in the back seat. “Vampires… they c-can’t follow. Sun…”

I hadn’t read anything about what the sun did in the journals, but I had read that it could be fatal. That might’ve taken care of the vampire guards, but it did nothing about the demon or human guards.

“I can’t drive,” I said in a panic as I remembered.

“Don’t worry, I know how,” Pepper said as she ran to the driver’s seat.

I got in the back with Juliet, and Pepper jumped into the front seat.

She stepped on the gas and shot out of the place at sixty. I held onto Juliet so she wouldn’t get jostled. Her skin had become shiny with sweat, but she felt like ice.

“Don’t die,” I pleaded as I held my hand against the wound. It did nothing but cover me in blood.

She shook her head. “Don… don’t worry… about it.”

“How the hell do you suggest I do that?”

She choked on a laugh. “You’ll… s…” Her head rolled to the side and her chest stopped moving.

“Juliet!” I shouted at her. I said her name a couple more times. I didn’t want to believe it, but she had become so still. She couldn’t be dead. She just couldn’t. I couldn’t lose my parents and her. Even if she had betrayed us. She saved us in the end.

Pepper had put twenty miles behind us before she caught wind of what happened. She took a sharp turn into the woods surrounding us and drove deep enough that we could go unseen by anyone passing on the road. She shut the car off and turned around. Her gaze hit Juliet and her face sank.

“She’s dead,” I said.

Pepper chewed on her nail. “What do we do now?”

I tried to think past the shock. I’d never had to deal with a body before.

We couldn’t leave her there. Not with animals around that would eat her. She didn’t deserve that. Juliet had done her best to make up for her sins.

“Should we find a place and bury her?” Pepper asked.

“No,” I said quickly. “My brother… I think, even with everything, he would want to be there for that.”

“What are you saying? We can’t drive with a dead girl in the backseat.”

I cursed. “I know.” A sick feeling came over me when I found a solution. “We put her in the trunk. We go find Phin, then we take care of her.” Both me and the car had blood covering us, but the leather seats could be cleaned. I could change.

Pepper popped her door open. “Okay.”

Together, we got Juliet in the trunk. She had her bag in there and a little cash. I took out a new shirt and a pair of shorts and pulled them on. I used the dirty clothes to soak up the blood and a bottle of water to clean myself. I tossed the clothes in the trunk and closed it.

I sighed and looked down at Pepper. “Where the hell did you learn to drive?”

She snorted. “I didn’t.”

My eyes popped wider. “What?”

She shrugged. “Yeah, I lied. We needed to get out of there. Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered. One pedal for go and one for stop. Easy.” She pulled her jacket open and checked on Twix.

“Covered…” I whined.

“What now?” she asked.

“Now… I call Phin.”