Free The Haven: A Novel by Carol Lynch Williams Page A

didn’t answer. Just kept walking. I had no choice but to follow—or go back to our room alone. Then, when would I tell her and Gideon to stop meeting? I might throw up right this second. Instead, I followed after Abigail, who seemed to know how to disappear into the night.

 
    10
    Abigail walked longer than forever. When I tried to talk to her, she shushed me. Down stairs, down more stairs, down we went. The hallways growing colder, then colder still, until far ahead I saw a thin strip of light, the color of warmth. Like a fire burning.
    “We’re almost there,” Abigail said. Without warning, she came to a halt and I almost ran into her. My already upset stomach turned over and I had to think positive thoughts to keep what was left of dinner down.
    “What is it?” I asked. What did she see? Someone coming to get us? The Thing?
    Abigail faced me. “This is all going to sound unusual, Shiloh. What you hear tonight will make you feel as though you are deceitful.” I heard her swallow. “But I want you to really listen.”
    I nodded even though I knew she couldn’t see me that well. I was here to save her. I could listen to what Gideon had to say.
    “Okay.”
    Abigail didn’t move. My unsettled guts twisted.
    “This could mean our lives, Shiloh. Yours and mine and Gideon’s and…”
    In the dark Abigail looked ghostlike, half there.
    “… and the rest of the Terminals.”
    An odd emotion bubbled up in my chest. “ He’s said that, Abigail,” I said. I pulled courage from somewhere near my toes, where it had hidden, during the walk. “That doesn’t mean anything.”
    Abigail said, “Promise me you’ll listen. Promise me, Shiloh. With your head and heart. Promise to hear Gideon out.”
    Her tone, her intensity, alarmed me.
    “Okay,” I said. “I will.”
    She gave a quick nod. “Let’s go.”
    I followed her though my body, my head (maybe even my heart—as she said?) didn’t want to.
    I heard the low mumble of voices.
    Pain pounded behind my eyes.
    “Ready?”
    Nodding once, I followed her into a room so small, it wasn’t more than a closet.
    “Took you long enough.” There was Daniel. I saw the tiny TV he stared at reflected in his glasses.
    “You, too, Daniel?”
    He sighed like he was tired of me already. “Yes, Shiloh. I’m here for the Cause. Just like you.”
    Pictures flashed through my head. Waco burning, smoke pluming into the sky. Photos of Terminals’ parted-out bodies slumped in filth and squalor. Lines of families, dead. The Whole and Terminals alike had stood for causes. With causes. I shuddered.
    “I passed you in the hallway,” Daniel said. “Followed you awhile, then slid by. Made sure you didn’t tell.”
    “How were you going to stop me? Run over me?” It felt like ants crawled around in my stomach.
    Abigail let out a sound I had never heard anyone but the Teachers make. Her voice lilted up almost too high, the sharp sound cackling from her.
    I covered my ears. “Stop!”
    “She’s laughing, Shiloh,” Gideon said. “It’s something you can’t do, because of the Tonic.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    Abigail leaned near me but I stepped away, bumping into the desk. It was too hot in here and I felt ill at ease. The noise, the laughing, made me even more agitated. “We can laugh. We can smile.” She made her face edge up, showing her teeth.
    “Don’t.” I looked at the top of Daniel’s head.
    The walls moved closer. I’d find out what this was about first. Then I’d go.
    “Don’t check up on me anymore, Daniel,” I said. I felt ruffled, like the wind had blown the wrong way through my hair.
    “He’s joking, Shiloh,” Abigail said. “It’s another thing that comes with the Tonic being out of your system. You can tease. Have fun.”
    Pressure overwhelmed me. I wanted to get away. Concentrate .
    When I left, I would take Abigail with me. I didn’t care what happened to Gideon and Daniel. Abigail and I would go and hope we never fell ill