Faery Worlds - Six Complete Novels (32 page)

Calm yourself, breathe.
"Not much. No guitar?"

"Nah. I wasn't sure what the rules were on bringing music, so I left it hidden in the warehouse."

Jared was the last one in. He didn't say anything, just nodded at Tony and me, choosing a seat in the back next to Chase. I was glad he came. His crew functioned better with him around, and if this test required teamwork, they were going to need his leadership. I could tell, though, that he was bummed, which I could understand. If Tony hadn't been accepted I would have been in the same predicament. I wasn't sure if I would have been on the shuttle without him, so I was glad I didn't have to worry about that.

The van delivered us to the Miami Executive Airport, and we all got out. Mr. Dardennes was there to meet us. He walked us through a reception area to the plane that was sitting out on the tarmac.

I'd never been on a small airplane before, so it was pretty cool. But then again, there was also that issue of us dropping out of the sky. I was worried about this heavy machine's ability to stay up in the air. I'd heard about plane crashes in the news, it was usually a small one involved. I sent a small prayer out into the universe for our safety. I felt a gentle breeze on my face, as if it were answering me back. I didn't know why, but that made me feel just a little bit better.

We climbed up the stairs to the jet. As I entered, the first thing that came to my mind was, 'Holy shit, I'm on an episode of
Criminal Minds
.' The jet was super posh. Cream-colored leather seats in groups of four, with real wood tables in between, filled the spacious interior. The plush carpeting underfoot make our steps soundless, muffling the noises of our boarding. I was willing to bet that those chairs could recline all the way. This is about as far from coach class as I was ever going to get. I grabbed Tony's wrist and squeezed.

"Wow, this is nice," he said, sounding a little in awe. "This One Eleven Group must have a lot of money to be able to afford to fly this thing."

Similar comments came from the others as they entered. We all slowly took our seats. It kinda felt like a dream, the way we were being whisked away from the streets of Miami in a chartered executive jet to ... to ... I had no idea where. I settled into my seat, trying to keep the feelings of uncertainty at bay. I calmed myself by thinking that no one would go to all this trouble and expense just to kidnap a group of homeless teens. Whatever this study was, it must be pretty valuable.

Mr. Dardennes' buff assistant was the last person onboard, entering immediately behind Mr. Dardennes who was standing in the open cockpit door, speaking to pilots I couldn't see. I turned around in my seat as far as I could, but the secretary guy was blocking my view. He stood in the entrance as the stairs were taken away and the door closed. I couldn't see what he was doing exactly, but it sounded like he was securing the big locks. Apparently, he's not only a secretary, he's a flight attendant, too. He also looked like he'd be a pretty good bodyguard, now that I thought about it.
Handy guy to have around.

The plane rolled away from the hangars. I could hear the jet engines whining higher as they powered up, moving the jet forward. The plane bounced a little as it went over seams in the pavement, making me feel like I was riding across a patchwork cloud.

Mr. Dardennes spoke while walking towards the back of the plane. "Hello, everyone, and thank you for coming." He stopped at the last chair, turning to look at us. "We are very excited about the testing that will be conducted over the next three days. We will be arriving at our destination in no time at all. Mr. Nischa will be with you in just a moment with refreshments. I will answer all of your questions when we touch down, and the test will begin soon after landing." He turned and walked into a room at the back of the plane, closing the door behind him.

I leaned over and whispered in Tony's ear, "Was that the bathroom he just went into?" I giggled. It struck me as funny that someone would do a welcome speech and then make a grand exit into a toilet.

"No, I think it's an office," Tony whispered back. "The bathroom's up front." He twisted around and pointed to a door we had walked by when we came in.

"Ahhhh." I was so friggin' sophisticated sometimes I couldn't stand myself.

Spike raised his eyebrows at me a couple times. "Nice, eh?" He was sitting across from Tony and diagonal to me.

I smiled back. "Yeah, not bad." Especially since I was going to be looking at Spike for the entire trip.

Chase was running his hands back and forth on the leather armrests, of course not saying anything.

"I could get used to this," said Finn, grinning from across the aisle.

Becky was sitting next to him, smiling her face off - nothing unusual there.

Jared was sitting across the aisle from me, an arm's length away, next to Chase. He looked thoughtful. He'd been really quiet ever since we'd left the warehouse and Samantha behind. He wasn't the most talkative guy anyway, but this was too much. When Jared was acting weird, it made everything else feel a little off. Maybe in another time and place, he could have been a pretty influential leader. He had some sort of extra special charisma - like Martin Luther King or Bugs Bunny or something.

My thoughts were interrupted by the guy we now knew as Mr. Nischa, the bodyguard/secretary/flight attendant. He was walking down the center aisle, carrying a tray of amber-colored drinks - one for each of us, plus one extra. After we each took one of the tiny shot glasses - which were heavy crystal and not plastic - he took the last one and stood in front of us, holding it up and clearing his throat.

He spoke in a scratchy voice. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am Mr. Nischa. Congratulations on being selected for this very important study. In my country, we celebrate honors with a toast and a special drink. It is mildly alcoholic, but do not worry, it will not affect you in that way. It is traditional to say 'Skal' and then drink it in one, quick swallow." He raised his glass in a toast, waiting for us to do the same.

I looked around and saw everyone complying, so I did the same ... but hesitantly. Why was this guy all of a sudden being so friendly? Why wasn't Mr. Dardennes doing the toast with us? Alarm bells were ringing faintly in the back of my mind. Tony looked sideways at me from the neighboring seat, probably picking up on my nervous vibe. He elbowed me gently, telling me to settle down and drink up.

Mr. Nischa gestured his drink towards us. "Skal!" he said, and then quickly put the shot glass to his lips and threw it back, drinking the deep-amber liquid in one gulp.

Everyone else around me was responding in kind. I lifted my glass and said a weak 'Skal' along with the rest of them. They were decidedly more enthusiastic than I was about the whole thing. In my peripheral vision I saw glasses being tipped back and then set back down on tables. My hand was frozen in place, the glass not quite touching my lips yet.

Tony's hand whacked me on the arm. "Ouch, Tones, watch it!" I turned to give him my bitchy look, but what I saw shocked me out of bitch-mode and into scared-shitless-mode, instantaneously. His eyes were shut and his mouth was hanging open; he was out cold. I heard a clank and a crash as someone else's shot glass fell and hit the table. I looked over and realized that everyone but me was unconscious, some of them obviously going into that state before they had even put their glasses down.

I lowered the shot glass away from my face and looked at Mr. Nischa with narrowed eyes. He was standing in place, still in front of the office door, no expression on his face.

"Skal, Miss Jayne," he said, his voice casually menacing.

"Fuck
that
," was my very firm response.
Skal my ass.
I put my arm across Tony's chest to keep him from falling forward and set the glass down on the table in front of me. "I don't know what the hell you think you're doing here, but I am
not
drinking that shit. And you'd better stay the fuck away from me. I don't care how big you are - I'm not going down and neither is Tony." I could actually feel the adrenaline rushing into my bloodstream, and my heart felt like it had jumped into my throat. I had to swallow hard to make it easier to breathe.

Mr. Nischa reached his arm up and tapped on the door behind him with his knuckle.

Mr. Dardennes stuck his head out. "Yes, Ivar?"

Mr. Nischa said nothing - just gestured at me with a nod of his head.

Mr. Dardennes looked over. "Ah. I see we have a problem." He opened the door the rest of the way and stepped out. "Jayne, you did not participate in the toast with your fellow passengers ... how unfortunate. We really do need you to drink what's in your glass before we go too much farther into our little trip."

I picked up the glass and dumped the contents on the nice, cream-colored carpet. "Whoops, I spilled it. Bummer. Guess I'll have to sit this one out." I figured I might as well go full-on rebel with this. Drugging test subjects never meant anything good, so I knew I was already pretty much dead or sold into slavery anyway ... might as well go down fighting. I unbuckled my seatbelt as casually as I could. I needed to be able to get up and kick some balls if necessary. I wondered if it was a man or woman flying this luxurious kidnapping mobile. If the pilot had testicles, I had a much better chance of getting the hell out of there alive.

Mr. Dardennes smiled - a kind of tired smile. "Jayne, I know how this must look to you, but we find these measures necessary to protect the confidentiality of our operations. All will become clear to you in due time. I ask that you just trust me in the meantime, and take a drink as Mr. Nischa has asked."

I looked at him incredulously. This guy was obviously off his rocker.

"You know, you really had me fooled in the meeting and interview; I had no idea you were a completely insane sex slave trafficker. You can tell your pilot to turn this plane around and go back to Miami because I'm
not
drinking that poison and I will
never
trust you - you can bet your sweet ass on that."

Tony began snoring softly next to me.

"The drink is a sedative so you will sleep until we land. It will not harm you at all. The flight is quite long. You will be much happier to sleep through it, I assure you."

"Yeah, um, no thanks. Just take me back to Miami. I'm not interested in your test anymore."

Mr. Dardennes sighed. "Ivar, bring her another drink. Make sure she drinks it, but don't injure her." He went back into his office and closed the door.

I shook my head.
Boy
,
does that guy have a lot of nerve.
And Ivar Nischa was gonna be seriously sorry if he even thought about trying that shit on me.

Ivar walked past me, back towards the cockpit. I feverishly looked around, searching for some kind of weapon to use. None of us had brought anything but changes of clothes in our backpacks - I'd watched everyone pack. Tony had left his gun at the warehouse up in the rafters. I reached down and grabbed a shard of Jared's broken shot glass. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

Ivar returned with a crystal carafe of the amber liquid and another little glass. He sat down in the empty seat across from me and set the carafe on the table between us. "You need to take the drink, Miss Jayne." He had no expression on his face and no anger in his voice. Just certainty.

"You need to get the fuck away from me before I make you sorry you ever lived." I lifted my eyebrows for emphasis, my false bravado nearly even fooling me. I was trying like hell to keep the shaking out of my voice. I couldn't let him see me sweat.

"This will be much better for you if you just comply. I do not want you to be hurt. You are very small and I am very big. You will either drink it or I will inject it into you. Come ... let us be adult about this."

"Adult?
Adult?
You want me to be
adult?
How about this: adults don't drug children and kidnap them, at least not high-functioning, sane ones. Why don't
you
be the adult here, and I'll just be the kid."

Ivar reached up and took the glass stopper out of the carafe. He lifted it by its neck, pouring out a shot. "Last chance to do this the easy way," he said quietly, almost sadly, sliding the drink towards me to let it rest a few inches from the edge nearest me.

"Go
fuck
yourself." I quickly swiped my hand across the table, sending the glass and its contents flying onto the carpeted aisle. A little bit splashed onto Jared, but I knew he wouldn't mind.

Ivar jumped up from his seat so fast, I didn't even see it coming. I didn't even have a chance to cut him with my weapon. The last thing I saw was his sad but determined face, less than an inch away from mine, the smell of sweet alcohol on his breath. The last thing I felt was a stinging sensation in my arm.

"You bastard ... you stuck me ... "

And then everything went black.

Chapter Ten