Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
“But then she started making me do stuff because I wasn’t getting anywhere on my own, and since I wanted to be married to him so badly, I went along with it. But now Ryder’s not the same; he doesn’t take the drugs any longer, and he refuses to eat or drink anything I make, so I can’t give them to him that way, and the bitch who did this to me might tell him the truth, and everything will be lost if he finds out. That’s why I have to get out of here soon, so Mom and the aunts can rework the spell, but I have to be there, with Ryder, for it to work this time.”
“I see.” She wrote something down on her little chart, then gave me my daily dose of pills. Thank heaven, the needles were a thing of the past. I swallowed my medicine like a good girl without complaint, and then the doctor came in, another robot this one. I maybe shouldn’t have called him that out loud, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“Well, nurse, how is our patient?”
“She’s ready; we can release her in another day or two.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive, we just had a lovely little chat, and everything seems to be in order.”
I listened to the two of them going back and forth, my only interest in her saying that I could leave.
“You should listen to her, doc; I feel really ready to go home.”
“I’ll have to watch the recording to see for myself just how ready you are.”
“Recording? What recording? No one said anything about being recorded.”
“Didn’t you know? Everything that goes on in this room is recorded, for your safety, of course. None of it will be released without your consent, so nothing to fear, dear.”
I almost panicked when I recalled some of the things I’d said in the last few days until he said that. “Oh, good.”
“By the way, if you’re planning to have any work done on your face, it won’t be that easy. The toxin hasn’t been quite cleared out of your system, and we can’t seem to find the makeup of the chemicals that were used. I’m afraid any major surgery in the area may lead to disaster. We’d have to confer with your doctor on that score, but we can only do that if you sign the release for us to do so.”
“Of course, give me whatever it is that you need me to sign. I can’t walk around with those things on my face.”
“It isn’t as bad as it was when you arrived; you might decide to leave it alone.”
“Let me see.” I held out my hand for a mirror and waited for the nurse to retrieve one. My heart thundered with trepidation as I lifted it to my face, the memory of what I looked like the last time I checked still fresh in my mind.
My gorge rose when I saw the destruction on my face. Sure, the wounds had scabbed over, and the swelling had gone down considerably, but my face was still an ugly mess. I wasn’t too worried, though, because I could have the work done to fix it. Maybe I’ll even look better than before. I had a wild thought that made me feel ten times better. Maybe I can have my face done to look like Elena’s. Maybe then Ryder would fall in love with me. I’ve learned everything else about her already to the point that I could be her, except for our difference in appearance and the fact that she’s a goody two shoes, but even that I can learn to be.
Yeah, that’s a perfect idea… “Who is Elena, dear?”
“What?”
“You said you wanted to look like Elena.” What? This time I wasn’t even aware that I had spoken out loud.
***
*Mary*
Time was running out. I had only one day left before the call came, but I’ve been waffling back and forth. I’d already liquidated some of my assets, and there was still a lot more to come, but now I’ve been thinking that maybe I could call their bluff, whoever this person was. Nothing else had happened since their last phone call; my girls were all still safe, so I was beginning to think that things were not what they seemed. Maybe someone was playing a joke.
But I can’t forget the things they know. That’s still a bother, and my people are still on the hunt for them. I was still a bit out of sorts, though; that visit from Rachel out of the blue yesterday had thrown me off. I’d been so preoccupied that I hadn’t given much thought to Elena and her whereabouts. It seemed like everyone had left town for one reason or another since I couldn’t get ahold of Scott either these days.