Stay by Goodwin Emily

Author:Goodwin, Emily [Goodwin, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Emily Goodwin
Published: 2014-05-18T16:00:00+00:00

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.

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