The Dreamer, J.M.Hurley [english novels for beginners txt] 📗

me up and out of the basement as if I weighed nothing more than one of her shopping bags, setting me down gently into a patch of flowers.

“Um, thanks,” I whispered and she shot me a sarcastic smile.

“Please! I deserve more than, ‘Uh, thanks’,” she finished imitating my voice in a low, manly tone. I rolled my eyes at her then remembered just who else had been down in that basement with me.

“How will Zane get out?” I asked and no sooner did the words leave my mouth did I see two hands grip the windowsill and Zane pulled himself up and through the small window, his muscular build just barely fitting through.

“Get up!” Stephanie whisper-yelled at both of us. “We have to get out of here or we will all die!” Zane and I exchanged glances then everyone sprang into action.

Zane ran over and helped me up, “Do you need to be carried?” he asked and I shook my head.

“No I can walk,” I insisted and Stephanie turned around and addressed Zane.

“Carry her,” then turning towards me she added, “Sorry, but it’s not walking that I’m worried about and I’m not risking my life just so you can show some independence.”

Zane scooped me up into his strong arms, and then took off running after Stephanie. After about 5 minutes of running the trees began to clear and we found ourselves in a field.

“Over here,” Stephanie called from our left. We looked over and saw she was hunched down and pointing to something hidden behind vines and shrubs. “There’s a break in the fence! All we have to do is crawl through!” She said with excitement and Zane quickly ran over and crouched down next to her.

“Can you crawl?” he asked me as he gently set me down onto the soft grass to give his arms a rest.

“Yeah, I can manage,” I said and Stephanie turned around to face us.

“I’ll go first, don’t crawl until I reach my hand under again, we have to be sure you won’t get caught,” she said then pointed her polished finger at Zane. “You, take up the end, we have to have her surrounded,” she said and he gave her an understanding nod. Stephanie took a deep breath then got down on all fours and pushed herself through the brush and under the tiny opening at the bottom of the fence.

Zane and I waited patiently, holding our breath, as every second ticked by that her hand didn’t pop back through. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity but was probably only a few minutes, her small hand shot under the fence and gave us a thumb up. “Coast’s clear,” she whispered and a smile lit up my relieved face.

I inhaled deeply then pressed my stomach to the soft ground and pulled myself through the rough brush. The branches and shrubbery caught my hair and branches cut my face but I continued to crawl until I reached to gap in the white wooden fence. I pushed myself lower to the ground and pulled myself under it, my slim build making it out easily. I sighed out of relief as my feat cleared the fence and I was sitting next to Stephanie.

There was a rustling behind the fences and then Zane’s head appeared through the fence. “What are you waiting for?” Stephanie asked and he looked up her with confused eyes.

“You don’t honestly think I’m fitting through that tiny space, do you?” he asked and she let out a giggle.

“Well stop working out then! That solves our problem,” she said sarcasticly as she broke off pieces of the fence to widen the space for him. Once it was big enough, he sighed and pulled himself through cleanly.

“Let’s go!” Stephanie said grabbing Zane’s arm and giving me an agitated look. We began to run and soon after I was tripping and falling, tears running down my face from the pain of running on my swollen feet. Keep going!

I told myself as I got up and spit dirt out of my mouth, running to catch up with them only to fall again. Zane slowed down and bent over by my side.

“Are you okay?” he asked in a concerned voice. I gave him a weak nod and tried to smile but he shook his head and used his finger to wipe away some of the tears streaming down my face.

“Hurry up!” Stephanie called behind herself as she sped forward, racing to get to the car.

“Kay!” Zane called after her as he picked me up, yet again, into his warm, muscular arms.

“Thanks,” I whispered into his ear and he gave me a tiny smile as he took off running towards the vehicle. Stephanie reached it first and yanked the driver’s seat door open, hoping in and pulling it forward. She sped over to where we were stopped and Zane opened the door and set me down in the back. Then, he opened the shotgun door and as soon as he shut it behind himself, we were off.


Chapter 40

Stephanie floored it, breaking the speed limit twice over. The streets weren’t busy, lucky for us, so we didn’t have any trouble with traffic. “Where are we going?” I asked finally as Stephanie took another corner on two wheels.

“Back to school, you can pack some stuff and then we’re off.”

“Off? Off to where?” I asked looking back and forth between her and Zane.

“We’ll explain later, for now, all you need to know is that you’re not safe here anymore,” Zane replied and I turned away from him with a sigh. I’m so tired of everyone keeping secrets!

I thought to myself as I absentmindedly played with the pendant hanging from my neck.

We pulled into the school parking lot and we jumped out. “Where’d you get the car from?” I asked Stephanie as she put her key into the door and locked it.

“I said I’ll explain later Summer,” she said as she dropped the key back into her purse she gave me an impatient eye roll. Footsteps nearby caused us all to whip our heads around. Lance jogged over to us with a huge smile on his face.

“I’m glad you’re safe, I‘ve got the passports all ready. They’re in my bag,” he said as he pulled Stephanie into a loving embrace.

She blushed at my raised eyebrows as Lance planted a kiss on her lips. She kissed him back lightly then put on her hard exterior again. “Alright let’s get moving guys! Summer, I’ll come up with you to help you pack. Lance, you and Zane need to scout out the area and make sure no one dangerous is lurking. Understood?” she asked and we all nodded in agreement. “Can you walk?” she asked me as the boys took off to patrol the school grounds.

“Yeah, my feet are feeling a little better.” That was a lie, they weren’t feeling better, they were numb from pain, but that was beside the point. I could walk, even though it was painful, and that was what I was going to do.

We jogged slowly up the steps and when we reached my room my feet seemed to cry out with relief. I whipped my room key out and flung open the door. I heard Stephanie gasp behind me as we surveyed my room. The cabinets lay on the floor, their drawers scattered around the room, clothing items and bed sheets cluttered our surrondings, and Sierra lay unmoving on the floor.

“Oh my god!” I exclaimed as I bent down next to her and prayed she was still breathing.“Is she still alive?” I asked Stephanie as she bent down next to me. She held her polished finger steady under Sierra’s nose and nodded her head.

“She’s still breathing,” she confirmed then, just to be sure, she picked up her wrist. “She has a pulse too; she’s most likely just knocked out.” I let out a sigh of relief and pulled Sierra’s limp body onto my lap.

Stephanie grabbed my bag off of my bunk and began to shove clothes into it furiously.

“Wait what are you doing? We can’t leave anymore!” I yelled at her but she continued to shove clothes into it, pausing only for a few seconds to give me a bored look.

“And why is that?” she asked as she went to our bathroom and began shoving toiletries in.

“We can’t leave her like this! I

can’t leave her like this!” Stephanie paused and let out a laugh, as if I’d just said something humorous.

“Of course we can’t!” she yelled back at me, as is there was something blatantly obvious that I was missing.

“Then…Wait, we’re taking her with us, aren’t we?” I asked and Stephanie stopped her packing to come over and crouch down next to me.

“We have to-”

“What if she doesn’t want to come?” I asked, cradling my roommates head in my arms.

“Don’t cut me off, you know I hate it,” she said as she got up and brushed herself off. “She can either come with us and live, or stay here and die. Which do you think she’d prefer?” she asked sarcastically and I gave her a look of shock.

“You’d kill her?” Stephanie turned to me with an amused expression on her face.

“Wow, I don’t know what they drugged you with, but whatever it was, it must kill brain cells because you’re acting even more stupid than usual.”

The corners of my lips turned down, “That’s not funny.”

She sighed, “Whatever and no it’s not me we have to worry about. Since she’s close to you, the Tanghar would kill her. In fact, I bet they thought she was dead tonight, and were just too stupid to check her pulse.”

A knock on the door interrupted our conversation. Stephanie’s blonde hair whipped around her face as she turned her head quickly towards the sound. “Hello?” she called tentatively and I felt myself squeeze Sierras cold hand out of nervousness.

“You guys ready to go? The coast’s clear,” Lance’s voice called through the wood as Stephanie let out a sigh of relief and opened the door. “Whoa what happened in here?” Lance asked as his eyes scanned my mess of a room.

“Nothing, take these down from me,” Stephanie said pushing two large bags into Lance’s arms, “thanks,” she added, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Lance smiled back and hurried out of the room with our luggage as I widened my eyes at her.

“So Lance knows too?” I asked and she blushed pink in her cheeks.

“He’s not really supposed to know, but I knew how much he could help me," she caught herself, "I mean us, out with the tech stuff,” she said and I gave her an encouraging smile.

“It’s fine, it’ll be good to have more than one normal person with us,” I said, looking down at Sierra’s pale face.

“We should probably head down,” Stephanie said as she stared at me with an odd expression.

“Oh okay, yea-What?” I asked as I caught sight of her questioning look.

“That necklace,” She began.

“Oh isn’t it pretty? Do you like it?” I asked as I shifted uncomfortably under