"You want to dump Kara here?"
"Seems like a good as place as any?"
I shook my head. Lincoln had detoured off the highway, driving aimlessly on the desert planes for over an hour, just before I nodded off. Lord knows how much further he drove while I slept.
Leaving Kara out here was a death sentence.
"She"ll die," I said.
Lincoln sighed. "She"s lucky she"s even getting this chance," he said. "Remember the motto of the Midnight Society? We don"t forgive, nor forget our enemies."
"The Midnight Society"s dead," I stated. "It"s only us now."
I could tell that my words were like a slap in his face. He opened his mouth, ready for retaliation, but then closed it.
He took a deep breath, shut his eyes and gathered himself. "As long as Shadow and I are both still breathing, the Midnight Society is not dead," he said. "It"s just undergoing a restructuring."
I shook my head, "Fine. Whatever."
Did this stupid clubhouse really mean that much to them? You"d think after watching the deaths of everyone close to them-close to me-it was enough turn them off the idea of secret societies altogether.
It certainly did for me.
"We"ll leave her here," Lincoln stated. "We"ll give her enough supplies for a few days. Whether she can find her way back home will be up to her."
I followed him back to the car. He opened up the glove box and handed me a plastic bag.
"What"s this?" I asked.
"Balaclavas," he replied, "To conceal our ident.i.ty."
"I hate to break it to you Lincoln, but Kara has already seen us," I pointed out.
Lincoln grinned. "She"s seen Lincoln and Aria," he stated. "But she hasn"t seen Jesse and Lucy."
He was referring to our makeovers and our new personas. I had to admit, he had a point. With the tattoos, new-haircut, and the shades of the blonde facial hair he was growing, Lincoln looked like a different person.
I could barely recognize myself in the mirror either, with my red hair and light complexion from the makeup job.
I opened the plastic bag and saw two ski masks inside, one pink and one black.
I took the black one.
"That one is mine," Lincoln said, as I handed him back the plastic bag with the other ski mask inside.
"Black"s my color," I said.
"Yes, but it"s mine also."
I cracked a smile. "Be a gentleman," I replied.
"I thought I told you before, I"m no gentleman."
"What"s the matter? Not confident you can pull off pink?"
Lincoln sighed. "You"re always being difficult," he said. Finally giving in, he grabbed the pink ski mask, shrugged and pulled it over his head.
I started laughing. He looked ridiculous, like a Pepto-bismal criminal.
"Well, I"m glad someone"s getting some enjoyment out of this," he said, a smile peeking through the mask.
I wanted to respond, but continued giggling.
It felt good to laugh again.
I pulled the black mask over my head and steadied myself, preparing for the rather grim task at hand-leaving Kara in the middle of nowhere and letting her fend for herself. It was hard for me to forget the kindness she showed me when we first met. I tried to remember that she had a hand in Calisto"s master plan.
She played a part in Justin"s death.
Lincoln walked over to the trunk and opened it.
Kara, m.u.f.fled by the gag in her mouth, began to panic and scream as he lifted her up from underneath her armpits and dragged her out of the trunk, tossing her onto the ground.
He pulled the gag from out of her mouth and removed the blindfold covering her eyes. He left her hands and feet bound by the duct tape.
"I think it"ll be a beautiful night tonight," Lincoln said. "Perfect for sleeping out under the stars, don"t you think?"
Kara blinked twice before her eyes finally focused in on him.
She gave him a bewildered look. "Lincoln?"
"Hi," he replied.
"What the f.u.c.k..." she began to mutter, her words a blended mixture of fear and confusion as she stared at his pink mask.
"Sadly Kara, this is where our little journey comes to an end," Lincoln said.
"Why are you wearing that pink mask? I already know what you both look like."
Lincoln shrugged. "My face was getting cold."
"Are you going to kill me?" Kara cried. "I already told you everything I know."
"You"re lucky," Lincoln said. "Your story checked out, which is why instead of digging a six foot hole right now, I"m taking you camping."
He opened the back seat door of the car and pulled out a large back pack, a couple of steel poles, and a large tarp.
"I think you"ll have all the supplies you need," Lincoln said. "Food and water for at least five days-unless you decide to gorge-a tent and some blankets to keep you warm."
"Where is this place?" Kara asked.
"Narnia," he replied as he began rummaging through his own back pack. "Ah," he said as he pulled out a Swiss Army knife and tossed it within Kara"s reach. "That should help with the duct tape."
"You can"t leave me here," Kara said. "I"ll die."
Lincoln ignored her. "The Big Dipper points north," he said. "I suggest following it."
"Did you hear me?" Kara said. "I"ll die out here."
Lincoln shook his head. "Stay positive. I"ve looked into it. From this very spot, it should take you four days to find your way back into civilization. You have five days" worth of food and water. The rest is really up to you."
I felt pity as I watched Kara break out into a whimper first, which turned into a full-on cry.
Lincoln turned and looked at me. "Are you ready?" he asked.
I nodded.
We both entered into the car and drove off, leaving Kara behind us. We left the desert just as the darkness chased away the brightness of the purple sky.
"I"m tired," I stated as I sat in the pa.s.senger seat of the prehistoric Oldsmobile, listening to faint sounds of jazz push through the static of the FM radio.
"Go to sleep then," Lincoln said.
"No, that"s not what I mean," I said, flatly. "I"m tired of this bulls.h.i.t that Shadow"s putting me through."
"Oh?"
"It"s not fair that he"s treating me like this," I said. "If it"s over between us, I want him to tell me it"s over so I can prepare myself to move on. If he still loves me, I want him to tell me that, so I can welcome the thought of returning to some semblance of life with him when all this is over."
"Just be-"
I interrupted Lincoln before he could finish his sentence. "I"m done being patient with him. Shadow doing a hit and run on my v.a.g.i.n.a was the final straw."
"He wouldn"t have done it if he didn"t love you."
"Do you love Juno?" I asked.
"No."
"You nailed her anyways," I pointed out.
"That was different. I"m a degenerate. Shadow"s not like me."
I paused. "No...he"s not."
"So that"s it then with Shadow?" Lincoln asked.
I nodded confidently. However, my mouth squeaked out the unintended words of, "I don"t know."
Lincoln looked at me incredulously. "Uh-huh. Sounds like a cla.s.sic case of heart and head disagreeing with one another."
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "It"s all so f.u.c.ked up."
There was a brief moment of silence. "I can"t disagree with you there," Lincoln finally said.
"The more I think about the foundation of our relationship, the more I realize how flawed it was," I continued.
"You"re overa.n.a.lyzing things."
"Shadow was brainwashed into falling in love with me," I explained. "I was at an emotional low point in my life. My best friend-my only friend-told me he didn"t want to see me anymore. My dad pa.s.sed away a couple of years ago, and I still haven"t completely gotten over that. I was just so d.a.m.ned alone. And then suddenly, in comes tall, dark, and handsome. Shadow came at me with his six pack abs, chiseled face, and that s.e.xy, dangerous mystery that seems to intoxicate us vulnerable girls. The next thing I knew, we were tongue-wrestling in the middle of the streets of Cambodia while the Backstreet Boys crooned in the background."
"A cla.s.sic," Lincoln grinned.
"I fell in love way too fast," I said. "The more I think about it, the more I realize that it just wasn"t natural. I was in a vulnerable place at the time. It was like I was rebounding."
Lincoln sighed. "Love doesn"t follow any timeline. Sometimes, it just happens."
"Do you think Shadow would have fallen in love with me, if Calisto didn"t f.u.c.k with his mind?"
Lincoln shrugged. "It"s not my place to say. The only one who knows for sure is Shadow."
I nodded. "Maybe this time apart is good for us," I said. "He can work out his "I"m an angry brooding man" bulls.h.i.t, and I can figure out what I want to do with whatever pieces of life I have left."
The static from the radio was beginning to wear on my nerves and I switched it off.
Suddenly, a light bulb went off in my head. "Hey, I still have two questions I get to ask you regarding the Midnight Society," I said, referring to the agreement we made on the plane ride over to Cambodia. I was going to sweet talk Calisto into falling for Lincoln in return for answers to any three questions I asked. I still had two questions left.
Lincoln raised a brow. "You"re kidding right?"
"Why would I be?"
"Seeing as how the object of my affections forced me to murder my friends..." he paused and cleared his throat, "...and then called me a c.o.c.kroach. I think the terms of our agreement have changed significantly."
I shook my head. "A deal is still a deal," I replied. "I kept my end of the bargain. Not my fault that the object of your affections turned out to be a complete megalomaniac psycho b.i.t.c.h. Besides, the Midnight Society is just you, Shadow, and I now. I"m one-third of this enterprise. I deserve some answers."
Lincoln"s baby blue eyes remained glued to the road as he leaned back in his seat. I stared at the profile of his face and was amazed by how much his appearance had changed over the past few days. He went from the suave suit-and-tie business guy to a rough, tattooed bad-boy that was every father"s (with daughters) worst nightmare.
He was a chameleon, changing-no, evolving into what he needed to be.
My entire empire was built on the concept of trickery, Lincoln had told me. I believed him.
"So what do you want to know?" he asked.
Finally, some answers!
My mind raced with the hundreds of questions, buried in the back of my mind like diamonds in a mine. I needed to unearth the biggest one and get the best bang for my buck.