Common Ground (The Common Ground Trilogy Book 1) (39 page)

“Why so scared?” I asked aggressively.

Steph’s head turned to where I was standing. I leaped across the couches effortlessly and was immediately on the other side of where she was looking.

“What’s wrong Steph? You look a little flushed,” I sneered. Her head turned back towards me and her face was hidden behind fear.

“Can’t fight fair, c-c-can you?” she stuttered.

Her hypocrisy was the final straw. I ran full speed at Steph and threw her up against the wall that separated the kitchen from the main area. My hands were wrapped around her neck and I lifted her up easily. Her legs were kicking the empty air while she tried to squirm away, without success. Finally, as though the puzzle pieces had all finally fit, I understood exactly what I was capable of becoming.

“You’re going to talk,” I hissed.

“I won’t tell you anything,” she gasped. “Besides, there’s nothing you can do to me.” Even in her position, she briefly smiled.

I took one of my hands off her neck and tossed her across the room directly into the fire pit. Slowly, I walked towards the fire pit where Steph’s motionless body was curled up. As I approached, she jumped up and was holding something in her hand. She was looking all around the room, still unable to see me.

“Come out Zoe, or else,” she said coolly.

“Or else what?” I chuckled.

“Or else this place burns,” she said with a smile.

Her hand extended out to reveal a box of matches. If it was just me and Liam, I wouldn’t have bothered fighting it. But, since Hope was still paralyzed in her chair and the only person who could help her was unconscious, I decided to give in.

I closed my eyes and thought about showing myself to Steph.

“Ah, that was easy now, wasn’t it?” Steph said.

Her eyes locked on me in an instant. “I must say Zoe, that was quite impressive, disappearing like that. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“Drop the matches,” I said. “And let Hope go.”

Steph stood up straight for a moment, looked between Hope and myself and then gave her nasty smile. “Bad choice of words.”

With that, she lit a match and dropped it at her feet in the fire pit. Within a second, the fire blazed in the pit and began to spread rapidly through the cabin. Steph stood in the middle of the fire for a minute, laughing her maniacal laugh.

“Getting a little hot in here, don’t you think?” she laughed. I just stared around the room trying to figure out what to do. “Well, my work here is done. Tell Liam that we aren’t done with him yet!”

With that, she vanished in a wisp of smoke.

The fire leapt out of the fire pit and attached itself to the couches, which caught ablaze at once. My eyes looked over towards Hope, who had started to come around, and Liam, who was still out cold on the floor next to her feet. There wasn’t going to be enough time to get them both out before the place went up in flames. Hope only had seconds left before she burned to death.

In a flash, I sprinted around the fire pit, scooped up Hope’s chair and literally flew through the open wall just as the cabin exploded behind me. It blew me off course, causing my body to flail helplessly in the air before landing hard in between the snow-capped trees. The one thing I didn’t lose what Hope’s chair, which landed hard on the ground next to me. I sat her up and Hope’s wide awake face was partially covered in soot and fresh snow.

“Are you okay?” I panted.

Hope nodded once and tears started to fall down her face again.

“I’m so sorry Hope, we’ll get you some help,” I said.

I stood up and looked back at the burning cabin. Flames were shooting high into the night air, illuminating the dark forest that surrounded us. I started to run towards the cabin to find him when the cabin exploded again, sending me flying through the air until my body slammed into the snow.

Sitting up, I stared hopelessly at the burning cabin. The heat of the fire struck my face and right before I turned to go help Hope, I noticed a dark figure stumbling away from the towering inferno. I ran forward and threw Liam’s arm over my shoulder and helped guide him into the trees where Hope was still frozen to the chair.

Liam slid off my shoulders and landed on the ground. His face was covered with ash but he was awake and alert. Turning my back on him, I tried to figure out how to help Hope. Remembering what Liam did to help me, I went around the backside of Hope’s chair, grabbed her wrists and held them tightly. After a few seconds, Hope’s exhausted body tumbled out of the chair and onto the ground. She laid there unconscious but still breathing. Liam had gotten up and stood behind me while I tended to Hope.

“She can’t remember any of this,” he said darkly. “I’ll make sure she and all the others don’t remember a thing.”

He then went around me and scooped Hope’s body up in his arms.

“You should get her back to camp, I’m going after Annie,” I said.

Liam’s eyes grew wide and he shook his head vehemently. “No. There’s no way you’re going alone.”

“We’re wasting time here!” I yelled. “Annie is in danger and who knows what Damien has already done to her.”

I pulled out the map and looked it over quickly, ignoring Liam’s penetrating glare. Everything was illuminated perfectly and I saw the direction I needed to head to reach the parking lot area. Annie’s car was the only way I could think of to get wherever it was I needed to go. In one swift motion, I folded the map closed and started walking back towards the direction of camp. Liam, with Hope’s body in his arms, bounded after me.

“Zoe, listen to me. Damien is just a pawn in this. Steph is the one we should be worried about. I have no idea where she disappeared to and I don’t like it. Annie could be anywhere, how do you know where to look?”

“She gave me a clue while I was tied up. It was something about hanging out and how the water would eventually break her fall. Since there aren’t many places in the area with water, it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out.”

“This doesn’t feel right,” Liam huffed while we glided through the trees. “Why would she give you a clue so easily? It sounds like a trap Zoe. You shouldn’t go alone.”

“Look,” I snapped. “Are you going to help me figure out where Annie is, or are you going to keep giving me useless warnings? Because if you aren’t going to help me, then you need to leave me alone so I can think.”

Liam walked along for another minute in silence before he heaved a deep sigh. “Do you have ideas where she was referring to?”

I racked my brain, trying to think of any possible places Steph would have taken Annie. There were so few places she could have been referring to, but there wasn’t enough time to try every place I suspected.

“I’m thinking that when she said hanging out, she literally meant that Annie is hanging somewhere. Steph knows how much Annie hates heights, and after listening to her in that cabin, she’s sick enough to torture Annie with that fear.”

Liam nodded slowly in agreement. “I agree. But where around here would be high enough to really scare Annie? The only time I’ve seen her high up was at the water park when we first met, but I don’t think that would be high enough for Steph.”

The water park was the one place I was thinking about too, but Liam was right. Steph’s sick and twisted mind probably had something bigger, more extravagant in mind. There weren’t many other options…

“Wait a minute,” Liam said, stopping dead in his tracks.

I turned and stared.

“Didn’t Steph help Annie plan out your birthday?” he asked.

My eyes widened in understanding and I felt stupid for not having thought of it sooner. It all added up perfectly.

“Hoover Dam.”

Liam nodded. “Annie kept telling me how freaked out she was at that place. It makes perfect sense; it has the sentimentality factor that Steph would just eat up too. I guarantee that’s where Damien is taking her right now.”

I felt a mix of anger and optimism mix inside of me. Steph had been planning this moment for months, but now that I knew where Annie was headed, there was a chance she could be saved. Nothing else mattered anymore except getting to the Dam as fast as possible. I couldn’t think of anything else.

“Get Hope back to camp,” I said hastily. “I don’t have much time.”

Before I could turn and break off towards the parking lot, Liam stopped me.

“Zoe,” he said quietly. “Steph deceived us all, even Simi. And I know how much you hate her right now, but keep your mind focused on getting Annie out of there alive. I have no idea what she has planned, but be careful. Get there, save Annie and get out. Don’t let Steph trick you into losing focus of that. She knows you and what buttons to press. Whatever you do, don’t give in.”

His words of warning didn’t make my task any easier. I was already nervous, but hearing what Liam said added even more pressure to the situation. Annie was my top priority and no other power in the world would change that.

“Make sure the others are safe,” I said, before I turned and ran off through the trees, leaving Liam standing helpless in the snow.

I’d never driven so fast in my life. The drive from the mountains to the Dam should have taken me a lot longer than it did. It was so early in the morning that there were barely any drivers on the freeway and when I arrived at the Dam, it was completely deserted. Small, random lights were scattered along the base of the Dam and along the towers, but other than that, it was dark and menacing.

Realizing that Steph probably had replicated every little detail from my birthday trip with Annie, I turned the car lights off before I entered the area and parked away from the lookout point where I had a feeling Annie was being held. Once I left the car and started jogging, bits and pieces of the Dam started illuminating all around me. There wasn’t another living soul around and with each passing step, I increased my speed.

Right as I started to approach the middle of the Dam, I slowed down to a deliberate walk. I looked out into the dim area that had become lit in my vision and found exactly what I was looking for.  A thick rope had been tied around the tall but narrow tower Annie had used as a gripping post during our trip, which stood about ten feet from the edge of the barrier. It then ran over the balcony and down into the dark, gaping pit. My stomach knotted up as I thought about what was tied up to the other end of that rope. I took a few deep breaths before I finally leaned over the concrete protective barriers and looked for any signs of Annie.

A faint shadow was hanging over the edge, being held up by nothing more than the rope that had been tied around their wrists. I couldn’t see a face, but there was no doubt in my mind as to who it was.

“ANNIE!” I yelled out, not even thinking about the ramifications of such an action.

I immediately sprinted over to the tower where the rope had been tied up. But right before I got to it, a deep, penetrating voice broke the silence around me.

“Stop right there Zoe,” Damien said, stepping out from the shadow of the tower. He had a wide smile on his face, but he looked exhausted and very pale.

“We wouldn’t want any accidents here, would we?” he asked, holding up a shiny, silver object that looked very familiar.

I stared at the object for another moment before I realized what it was. The knife that I had pointed at Damien earlier in the day was shaking slightly in his hand.

“Damien, listen to me,” I said, frozen on the spot. “Think about what you are doing. Do you really want to hurt Annie?”

His smile widened. “Do I want to hurt Annie?” he laughed. “I think you should be asking if I want to hurt her again.”

“That’s not you talking,” I said, trying to remain calm. “Steph has brainwashed you Damien, can’t you see that? Why don’t you give me the knife before anyone gets hurt, and help me pull Annie up? Then we can all get out of here and go home.”

“Steph loves me!” he growled back at me. “And I love her. You have no idea what you’re up against Zoe. It was stupid of you to come here, especially alone. Nothing that you do or say will change what is going to happen. You’ve lost.”

At that moment, a loud cracking sound filled the air. Before I could register what had happened, Damien collapsed onto the ground and was out cold. My eyes stayed on him for a moment until they looked back up to find out who was responsible. A dark figure then stepped out from behind the tower and my heart flooded with joy.

“Liam?” I said hopefully, not sure what to do.

Liam was standing over Damien’s unconscious body with a look of pure anger etched in his face. I could only have imagined what he was feeling. His best friend that he had trusted for years wasn’t who he thought he was. He was betrayed like the rest of us. While he towered over Damien, I leaned over the rails to check on Annie.

“We’ll pull you up Ann, don’t worry!” I shouted.

I then turned back to Liam, who had crouched down by Damien. Right when I took my first step towards Liam, he rose up and faced me.

“Don’t move,” he said darkly.

He walked over to the edge of the barrier, looked down at Annie and then glanced back up at me. There wasn’t any trace of a smile on his face. The same angry look that he had when I saw him hadn’t dissipated at all and with each passing second of inaction, I started to get more impatient. Instead of pulling Annie up to safety, he kept looking down at her, then up to me. It wasn’t until both of his hands reached up and grabbed the rope that his expression changed. A small smile had spread across his lips and I noticed that in one of his hands was Damien’s knife.