The Torn, Book One of the Holding Kate Series (5 page)

“On the third morning, just as the sun broke over the horizon, I saw some movement in the water. Not wanting to alarm the girls unnecessarily, I didn’t say anything until it passed right next to us.”

“What was it?” Caitlyn whispered.

“Oh, just a freakin’ slithering sea serpent!” Pinky spat out.

“It started circling our island, closer and closer.”

“I don’t want to go through it again.” Tara jumped up and strode into the cabin.

“Then what?”

Kail watched Tara stalk away and his eyes burned with the memory.

“She was amazing.” He nodded toward Tara. “A real fighter, thinks on her feet.” His smile faded into the memory.

“What happened?”

“She saved our lives,” he nearly whispered. “More than that. She made me realize how much I wanted to live.” His eyes fell to the ground.

The fire popped and crackled in the silence, sending sparks wafting into the air. Kail’s eyes seemed to be made of fire, he was so intent.

“The serpent grabbed Pinky and started taking her out to sea. Tara grabbed his tail, climbed up to his head and attacked the monster with a pocket knife thingy, rammed it straight into his eye and green smoke puffed out of him. Then, Tara rescued Pinky from the ocean and did this awesome life guard CPR stuff right in the water.”

“A sea serpent?”

“It doesn’t seem possible.”

“You’ve got to be kidding?”

“No way! You must have been hallucinating.”

“They didn’t all hallucinate the same thing, dufus.”

Silence fell. All eyes turned to Kail.

“So how did you get back?” Joey asked.

“Another sphere appeared over us and dumped us in the terminal, gate Chartreuse 52,” Kail mimicked the terminal voice. “Then we were probed and prodded by some medics, rammed through a car wash contraption, given new clothes and packs, psychiatrically cleared and Mel came to get us.”

“So that is what a jump is—a trip to a deserted island?” Caitlyn purred and her eyes landed on Navarro, a tall reedy kid with bronze skin and long black hair. I grinned at her and she bobbed her head and swayed her shoulders.

“No.” Donnie shook his head. “They are all different, you’ll see.”

“It wasn’t exactly a vacation!” Pinky snapped. “The pain was real, we could have died.”

I leaned my head into hers and hugged her arm. Caitlyn dropped her eyes, then sent an apologetic expression to Pinky.

The reality of the danger of the jumps pressed in on us and Mama Ty’s words to open up and share weighed heavy on my mind. Evidently, I was not alone in those thoughts. One by one, those who had not yet shared their stories began opening up and telling their heart wrenching tale. Each story spoken challenged my preconceived mindset about the story teller. I began to see them as individuals. Something wonderful started happening between us. A bond was forming, encircling us in a mutual string of need and a common thread of sorrow. My feelings for the people in the circle seemed to bloom as I watched the firelight dance in their eyes and tears spill down their cheeks.

While everyone shared, the circle drew tighter around the fire pit. Hands reached out to comfort and souls knitted together until all the words were spoken and silence gathered us together to share in the kindled warmth of friendship.

“So what now?” Trip softly spoke and sat up to rest his arms on his knees. I noticed how muscled his arms were and how prominent the veins stood out. I wanted to run my fingers over his arms. I laced my fingers together until my knuckles turned white.
Get a grip, girl.

“I think we need to get them to the Scriptorium sooner rather than later,” Mel said to Donnie.

“Yeah, it doesn’t seem like we’re gonna have time to train them. Four more spheres fell in the camp since our group left.”

“Four!” Mel started. “In the last three hours?”

Donnie nodded.

“Jeez!” She bolted up and slapped the dust off her pants and barked. “Okay, everyone, get your packs, stick together and follow me.”

Mel set out
on a brisk pace and we scurried behind her trying to keep up. We marched past the tennis courts and behind the main village, skirted the pumpkin patch and descended into the valley toward the heart-shaped lake. We got to the edge of the lake, and Mel started dragging a boat to the edge of the water.

“Come on, pile in the boats, everyone, we need to get to the center.”

I peered into the dark water and saw a ghostly white image floating at the center of the lake.

“The Gazebo?” I whispered. I remembered seeing it when we passed the lake on our way into the village.

While the team struggled with the canoes and boats, Trip dragged me to the shelter of one of the weeping willow trees. When we were out of sight, he grabbed my arms and spun me around to face him.

“Whatever happens, we stick together, right. Don’t walk even three feet away from me. Promise.”

I nodded. This was the closest we had come to being alone and my heart stuttered. The thought seemed to cross his mind too and a tender intensity passed across his features as he gazed down into my eyes.

He tightened his grasp around my arms ever so gently and leaned in until we were a breath apart. I folded my eyelids as the air between us thickened. When I couldn’t hold a second longer, I closed the distance between us and his soft lips touched mine. I melted into the tender kiss and felt something awaken inside of me. Trust was seeded in that moment and I knew this protective boy would never abandon me.

He lifted his lips from mine and tilted back to look in my eyes. I was a mess, wrapped in the spell of his kiss and the protection he offered. Our breath mingled, ragged and brimming with the trust his kiss inspired.

“Where did Kate and Trip go? This is the last boat!” Pinky called out.

“Come on.” Trip grinned and we stepped into the moonlight and ran toward the boat Pinky struggled with.

“There you are. I can’t really manage this by myself.” She fumbled with the paddle. “My hands won’t stop shaking since the jump,” she said before waving at Kail, Caitlyn, and Navarro who had started paddling back to get her. “It’s okay, you can go on.” She gave me a knowing look and bit her cheek, trying not to grin.

“Get in, Pinky. We’ll row.” Trip handed me an oar and helped Pinky into the center of the boat. He motioned for me to take the front and he climbed into the back. I turned around to judge the distance between us and felt very uncomfortable with just those few feet separating me from him. I glanced around, but saw no signs of a sphere, so we paddled quickly to the center of the lake.

The rest of the team had already reached the gazebo, evidenced by all the boats tied to it, but only one person stood at the center of the gazebo instead of the eleven that should have been there.

“Hey, where is everybody?” Pinky leaned forward and murmured in my ear.

I shook my head and then threw the rope to Donnie who moved to the edge of the opening of the gazebo. As we neared, I saw a head disappear into the center of the gazebo.

“There’s a trap door,” I called over my shoulder.

Donnie helped Pinky out of the boat, then Trip and I clambered out behind her. Trip locked his hand around mine as we descended into a narrow stairwell that wound down into darkness. The stairs were made of cement at the surface, but dropped into carved stone steps as we entered an underground cavern.

I quaked with each step as we faded down into the darkness. We wound through rough-hewn corridors, descending all the while. Each step into the blackness became more and more difficult. I hugged Trip’s back as he followed Pinky into the inky black depths. The only sensory input was the warmth of Trip’s body with his hand in mine and the scuffle of foot steps ahead of us and Donnie’s behind.

The walls closed in tighter and tighter and cool wet trickles dripped onto the tops of our heads. The pressure of tons and tons of lake water threatened to bury us in the deep recesses of this dank dwelling.

“Trip,” I whimpered, when it became too much to bear.

He whipped me in front of him and wrapped his arms around me and whispered in my ear. “Steady, there, Katie girl. Not much further.”

The warmth of his cheek pressed against mine and the solid and strong arms that cradled me stayed the panic, but caused an entirely different physical urgency. I clung to him as fear and desire flashed through me.

What was the deal with me? I wasn’t this girl who kisses boys she just met and falls head over heels in love with strangers. I didn’t even believe in love anymore, not after what Daddy did to Momma. Even the connection I felt to Pinky and Caitlyn seemed unreal. Four hours ago we were strangers. Now they felt more like family. Weird!

But here I was with this gorgeous, protective boy wrapped around me in a dark chamber, whispering sweet words in my ear and—was that?—Yep, kissing my hair and cheek. Chills slid down my arms and fire coiled in my middle. This was getting too intense. I was going to jump his bones if he didn’t let up.

“What the—” Pinky’s string of expletives pierced the moment and we all laughed nervously.

I used the moment to put some distance between me and Trip. It felt wrong being out of his arms, like I left a part of me with him.

Uh No! You didn’t just say that.

I heard his huff of disappointment, or maybe it was a sigh of relief.

“We are almost there, jumpers. Just stay close.” Mel’s voice echoed back to us from somewhere far below. “Donnie?” She called.

“Yeah, here.”

“Is everyone in?”

“Yep, I am bringing up the rear.”

The floor seemed to level out and I sensed we had all gathered in a larger room. There was a scratching noise, and then a torch flared to life in Mel’s hand throwing dancing shadows on the walls around us.

I pressed into Trip’s side and looked hungrily into his face. The shadows exaggerated his angles and I swear he looked like some kind of avenging angel. He eagerly wrapped his arms around me as if he couldn’t stand the vacancy I left him with.

I glanced across the circle of familiar faces and noted Caitlyn was holding hands with Navarro. I arched a brow at her and she swayed her head over her shoulders in her hip hop way. I stifled a giggle. Pinky jabbed me in the ribs with her elbow.

“You are about to enter the Scriptorium.” Mel spoke in a hushed voice. “You may enter two at a time.” Her eyes were large and round. “This is the most important thing you will do to prepare for the jumps ahead. Memorize everything you see. You never know what you will need the most.”

“What’s in there?” Ash asked.

Mel cut her eyes to Donnie. “Only what you will need to survive. Nothing more.”

Donnie walked over to a pedestal that supported a basin of black water. The torch light danced over the mirrored surface. He lifted the basin and moved to stand in front of Ash.

“Leave your packs here. Take one stone and hold it in the palm of your hand.” We shrugged off our backpacks and set them aside. Donnie passed in front of each of us and we took a turn plunging our hands into the black water and coming up with a stone. Mine was about the size of a quarter, and appeared to be a soft blue color, but in the torchlight it was difficult to tell. Veins of darker striations covered the stone.

“Now, we wait.”

We stood there for a few minutes, staring into each other’s confused faces.

“What are we…ow!” Corey began. “It’s hot!”

I gasped! The stone in my hand began to glow like a coal. I opened my palm.

“The first pair is chosen,” Mel said. “Step forward. From this moment on you two will be team leaders.”

I gaped at her. Team Leader? I was not leader material. I had no desire to lead anyone anywhere.

Let me bring up the rear, in the safe footsteps of someone smarter and stronger!

“Enter the Scriptorium.”

I shook my head at Trip with a confused deer-in-the-headlights expression. His grasp on my hand tightened.

“Go on. Corey, Kate, you will go first.”

“Wait a minute.” Trip countered. “Why can’t we choose our own partners?”

“It is not for you to decide. The Scriptorium knows what each quest holds and who is best equipped to ensure your survival.”

“You mean she has a better chance of survival with Corey, than with me?” He cast an appraising scan over Corey.

“Evidently.”

“Oh.”

“Trip?” I whispered.

“It’s okay, Kate. It’s better this way. Safer for you.” He looked at Corey with a piercing stare. Corey shifted and looked down nervously.

Mel pointed to the stone wall beside her and I moved toward it flicking my eyes between her and the roughly hewn surface. I met Corey and threw a confused face at him. He shrugged, just as lost as I felt.

“Place your stones against the wall. Together.”

We held out our stones and pressed them against the hard rock surface with a click. For a split second nothing happened, then in a flash the wall seemed to engulf our hands and we were violently sucked into the rock like fuzz bunnies into a vacuum cleaner.