Page 44 of Controlled Chaos

I spewed everything I’d uncovered about the drug and hypnosis and then everything I’d overheard from his ex-girlfriend and Thaddeus in the forest. The hardest part was telling him what little I’d overheard about his dad’s death and then about the influence they were using on his mom. Spiking the food, dead people, deception. It all made sense now.

Porter had shaken his head the entire time until I was finished. “I don’t believe you. I’m not a victim, and neither is my mother.”

I closed the distance between us and took his hand. My gaze pleaded with him to understand. “Porter, I saw what they were hiding when I was away from you. I’m not lying, and it is the truth regardless of whether you want to believe me.”

A look of despair crossed his face. “My father was a cop. He must have suspected something was going on.”

“That’s not all,” I whispered when he remained silent. “I saw the person behind the gun who kills me.”

“Who was it?” he asked as his jaw tightened.

“It’s you. Only you aren’t the one in control. Thaddeus has a whistle that he uses to control you. He’s going to make you do it.”

“Clara, I would never, not even under hypnosis, do that. If it’s morally wrong, I would fight it. I know that deep down inside.”

“And if it’s devil’s breath he uses to drug you, then you won’t have the ability to say no. You’ll happily do it and anything else he asks. That stuff is lethal if given the wrong dose. It’s horrible, and the worst part is that you won’t remember any of it when it wears off.”

“Explain,” he said.

I spent the next ten minutes telling him everything I knew about the drug.

“And you believe that’s the drug he’s using on the people in the compound? And my mother?”

I nodded. “If I had to venture a guess, it started with hypnosis to help the drug users quit, and then it morphed.”

“And you think they killed my father.”

“I overheard them. I’ve already messaged Fillpot to tell him what we’re dealing with, so reinforcements should be coming soon, but it isn’t safe here for either of us. We should leave.”

“I can’t leave my mother or the others. They trusted him with their demons. There’s no telling what will happen if they even think we know about any of this.”

“Porter, we may be the only ones who know the truth about all of this. If my text didn’t go through, and if you, me and Frankie die, the secret dies with us.”

“You’re right,” he said, bringing my hand to his mouth. He turned it and kissed my palm. “We need to get the proof, and you should go.”

“If what Frankie told me is true, then we already have the proof. I still have the Tupperware from yesterday and brought back one of the deadly seed pods.”

“Good. Yesterday you said that you know how to fly.”

“Yes, but I’m not leaving you.”

“Yes, you are.”

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