Stay(64)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE





“ADDIE,” JACKSON’S DEEP voice whispered, waking me up the next day. “Addie, wake up,” he said again and set a basket full of clean laundry on the floor. “You’re having another nightmare.”

He came over to the cot and knelt down, putting his hand on my shoulder. I shot up, breathing heavy. Jackson jerked his hand back, but I caught it, lacing my fingers through his.

“Thanks,” I panted and let go of his hand. I put my head in my hands and rubbed my eyes. I could hear Phoebe shuffling around near the shower. I sat up and blinked in the dim, late morning light. I noticed that Jackson looked absolutely ragged. “Are you okay?”

He slowly blinked, looking as if he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. He nodded. “I’m really tired. Nate wouldn’t let me sleep until those bushes were dug up.”

“Oh,” I said, not knowing what else to say. I slowly shook my head. “That’s horrible!” I finally said. “Why didn’t he make me go out and help you?”

Jackson shrugged. “He said he was punishing me for something I did. That, and I think he’s afraid you’ll try to run again. It’s hard to find people in the dark.”

“I will run again,” I said with no hesitation. “The next chance I get.” I bit my lip and looked at Jackson’s tired face. I whipped around to face Phoebe. “We should leave. The three of us,” I whispered. I turned back around and locked eyes with Jackson. “There’s three of us and two of them. We can do it. We can leave.”

Jackson’s jaw tightened, and he crossed his arms but something sparkled in his eyes, bringing his run-down face back to life.

“Addie,” Phoebe said, her voice monotone. “There no way to leave. We all try, and we all get hurt. It better to stay.”

My eyebrows furrowed. “No! I’m not for sale. You’re not either. Phoebe, don’t give up.”

She gave me a feeble smile. “I no want to get hurt. Not anymore.” The smile faded, and she shook her head. “We have no choice.”

I stood up, my hands curling into fists. “Yes, we do! We always have a choice.” I shook my head, causing my hair to fall into my eyes. “Okay, maybe we don’t have a choice in what is done to us, but we can chose to not give up!”

Jackson took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders. Despite looking like he wanted to fall to the ground and sleep for twelve hours, he nodded. “I wish we could, Addie, but it’s not that simple.”

“All we need is a head start.” I continued.

Jackson crossed his arms, deep in thought. “Maybe if we—”

“No!” Phoebe said suddenly. “It won’t work. It never work! You try, I try, she try. We all caught!”

“If we have a plan,” Jackson said, “it could potentially work.”

The basement door slammed against the stairwell. We all jumped, wondering who opened the door so quickly. Rubber soles echoed as someone descended down the stairs. The door clicked shut behind him.

“What’s going on?” Zane asked, his voice smooth and seductive.

Jackson tensed and picked up the laundry basket, taking a few steps toward the dresser. I hoped Zane would think Jackson was only down here to do laundry.

“Nothing,” he mumbled.

“Really?” Zane questioned. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs. He was holding a white plastic bag. I recognized the logo to be that of a pet store I used to frequent. Scarlet loved when I took her inside. “Because it sounds like you were talking to the girls.” He stepped closed to Jackson. “Did I say you could talk to the girls?”#p#分页标题#e#

Jackson’s cheeks flushed as he shook his head. I sensed that he didn’t like me seeing him submit to Zane.

“Good. Put those clothes away.” Zane then turned to face me. “If I’m not mistaken, I believe I heard this one talking about running away. Again.”

I squeezed my hands shut, digging my fingernails into my palms so hard it hurt. “I will run away,” I said through gritted teeth. “And turn you in.”

Zane laughed, dismissing my threat as if it was nothing. “Sure you will.”

He brushed past me and set the bag on the card table. He pulled out two plastic dog bowls, making a show of slowly placing them on the floor. He opened a can of dog food and plopped it in one of the bowls. Then he pulled out a metal choke-chain and a brown leather leash.

“You,” he said to Phoebe. “Fill this up with water.” He pointed to one of the bowls on the floor.