Page 21 of I Will Mend You

I stiffen. “Um… Yes? No? I don’t know.”

Xero crosses the room and crouches in front of where I’m lying. His pale eyes bore into mine with the same level of intensity as the times he disguised himself as a wraith. I swallow hard, my pulse quickening.

“This isn’t a dream. Dolly isn’t a monster or a doppelgänger, but an identical twin.”

“I don’t have a?—”

“Listen to me,” he snarls. “You have a twin.”

“How?”

He taps the side of his head. “You’ll have to work that out for yourself. Dolly knows you. She thinks you stole from her, and she’s brought you here to die. Just like Lizzie Bath.”

“And you’re here to help me escape?” I whisper.

His eyes soften, and the look he gives me is so pitying that I squirm within my straitjacket and bandages.

“I’m dead, remember? You broke a bottle of somnochloride over my head and set the crawlspace on fire.”

A sob catches in my throat, and my eyes sting with tears. “Xero, I’m so sorry. I thought?—”

“Save your apologies for later. You need to focus on escaping.”

I give him a shaky nod. “Do you know where we are?”

“Anywhere within the United States. Based on the amount of time you were on the plane, we could even have made it to Canada.”

“Okay.”

“The surroundings are familiar. This is certainly where they took the polaroids. Are you getting stronger feelings of déjà vu?” he asks.

My breath shallows. “I think so.”

“Listen, Amethyst. The time for hiding behind excuses is gone. You’re about to face unimaginable torture and pain, but you might have a chance of escaping this ordeal with your life.”

I scoot forward, my heart pounding so hard that every inch of my body throbs. “What do you mean?”

The door opens, and the large man in white from earlier steps into the room. I want to shrink away from his touch, but my body still feels numb. He lowers a double dog bowl on the floor, with one side containing water and the other some form of mush.

Even though his face is partially obscured by a white surgical mask, I still recognize his gray eyes.

“Fen?” I whisper.

He pauses, his gaze meeting mine. “It’s Grunt,” he replies, his voice muffled. “Eat.”

Straightening, Grunt turns on his heel and exits the room. I stare at his broad back, wondering if Dolly relegated Fen to being my caretaker. Xero and I remain silent as his footsteps disappear down the hallway.

“Don’t trust him,” Xero says.

I nod. Everyone who associates themselves with the likes of Dolly and Delta is automatically deemed as evil.

“Xero, why can’t I move properly?”

His face tightens. “You don’t remember?”

“Remember what?”

“Kicking Delta in the balls,” Xero replies with a chuckle. “Locke had to administer a neuromuscular-blocking agent to stop you from tearing down the rigging.”

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