Free The Mind Games by Lori Brighton Page B

things that had happened to me. I shook off my dread, replacing it with a driving need to save Lewis. “I have to go.”
    Nora opened the bedroom door. “Then let’s go.”
    “Wait a minute. Go where?” I demanded, confused.
    “Shhh,” she whispered as she moved into the living room.
    With a frustrated sigh, I followed. The house was silent. Mom and Aaron were sleeping in the other guest room. Gross. I prayed they were just sharing the bed as friends. Sierra was somewhere, probably talking to spirits, meditating or something equally as spiritual.
    “The pain was unbearable,” Nora whispered, scooping up the car keys Mom had left on the coffee table. They clanked together, the sound so loud it made me cringe; I was sure we’d be caught. I glanced at Mom’s door, but the room remained silent, thank God.
    “I lost count of how many times I blacked out,” she continued. “They broke into my mind, shifted through my memories to find answers. It was like a rake clawing over your brain.”
    Bile rose in my throat. I didn’t want to know any of this, yet I couldn’t help but ask, “And Dad knew about the breakins?”
    She released a soft chuckle. “He planned them.”
    I wasn’t sure if I could believe her. Yeah, Dad had his issues, but torturing his own daughter? I wondered if there was more to the story, and I wasn’t sure who to believe. She started to the front door and I followed, wondering where the heck she was going.
    “How’d you escape?” I whispered.
    A dark look hooded her gaze. A weary look, as if she’d seen too much in life, experienced too much. “I had help. There was no way I could have escaped without help.” She paused, her hand on the doorknob. “You won’t have any. If you go, you’ll be totally alone.”
    I gave a quick nod. “I understand, but you haven’t talked me out of anything.”
    “I know.” She opened the door, a breeze of early morning air sweeping inside. “My point wasn’t to talk you out of going, it was to tell you that if you love Lewis, truly love him, you have to save him. Injured, he won’t last long. He certainly won’t last if they do to him what they did to me. We need to leave now.”
    My mouth dropped open as she moved onto the front stoop.
    “Wait, we ?” I started after her, but came up short when she stopped.
    “Sierra,” she said in an overly cheerful voice. It was obvious she wasn’t expecting the old woman. “Good morning.”
    Oh hell, Sierra? I inched around Nora. Sure enough Sierra was seated on the front stoop looking fully awake and cheerful, a cup of tea in hand and two brown lunch bags at her side.
    “Lovely day, isn’t it?” She clutched the bags and lifted them toward us. “Breakfast. I didn’t want you to leave hungry.”
    I slid Nora a glance. She hesitated, then took the bags, the paper crinkling in her hand. “Thanks.”
    Sierra had known all along I was going to leave, but why hadn’t she warned my mom? Did she actually want us to save Lewis and the others?
    “Go on then, before your mother senses your energy.” She turned and made her way toward the boardwalk and around the house.
    “Weird,” I whispered.
    “Totally.” Nora shook her head as if shaking off the experience, and headed toward Mom’s car. “Get in.”
    I hesitated for the briefest of moments. The plan wasn’t to take anyone along. But I could admit I needed the help, even if it was just a ride to North Carolina.
    She pulled open the driver’s side door, tossed the bags inside, and glanced expectantly at me. “Come on.”
    Hey, if she wanted to offer help, who was I to deny her? Shrugging off my backpack, I pulled open the passenger side door and settled on the leather seat. When she started the car and we drove away from the cottage, I could finally breathe with some normalcy. We’d escaped the house. Next on the list… break into the compound. As we headed away from the island and back toward Savannah, I opened Sierra’s breakfast