Revealed (The Found Book 1) (2 page)

“No need to get weirded out Sam, we aren’t,” Riley said with a laugh.

Sam looked at the youngest of the bunch and saw nothing but a kid who looked up to him. What’s more, he knew Riley was more religious than the rest of them.

“You’ve saved our asses time and time again. I talked to my Dad about you. He said yours is a gift from God.”

“Everybody has gifts. I talk women into bed. Mine is a much better gift.” Nate said winking at Sam. “But Sam can definitely tell us where the bogeys are, and he will be able to find Kelly, so this is one lucky girl. Especially because I can give her my gift when she’s recovered.” Everybody laughed. Sam, laughed along, but gritted his teeth—Nate really wasn’t that funny—then another jolt of pain shot through him.

* * *

Jerked awake, Kelly thought her arm was being ripped from the socket. Another set of hands lifted her from the other side. Her head lolled against her chest, swaying, and the nausea roiled and she gagged. Needing to puke she clenched her teeth, making her head hurt even more. Then she was flung onto the familiar metal table.

“The bitch is going to end up killing her.”

Kelly couldn’t hold back her scream as the raw skin on her wrist was scraped when they pulled the zip tie restraint tight.

“Yeah, that’ll be a shame, I’ll miss the paycheck.” Someone yanked open her jaw and shoved the rubber bit into her mouth.

“I don’t get why she keeps at it. It’s obvious this girl doesn’t know anything. Nobody could have withstood this much pain and not cracked.”

Kelly moaned around the rubber in her mouth as her other wrist was slammed down and tied.

“It’s what the Iron Lady wants, she wants her to crack. I heard her talking to someone on the phone saying the pain was a stimulus and would help dig out buried memories or some such shit. Not the nicest cure for amnesia if you ask me.” The talking abruptly stopped as Kelly heard the click of heels on cement.

“Lester, hook her up to the monitor, you’re in charge of watching her vitals. I’m sick of her passing out, if she does, it’s on you.” They ripped off the bandage on her upper arm and adjusted the shunt on her shoulder, connecting it to the machine. They were using some technology she didn’t know about. It all seemed too surreal. “Axle, here’s a new solution I want you to administer in quarter doses throughout today’s session. I’ll tell you when to inject the second dose, and you’ll do it immediately, do you understand me?”

“Yes ma’am,” he stuttered on the word ma’am.

Kelly jerked away as soft fingers caressed her cheek. “Sweetness, your job today is to absorb the pain, let it take you far away from here. Can you do that for me? Can you go far away and tell me about it?” They applied the gel to her temples.

“Tell me where you came from. Just drift back and remember.”

Spasms wracked her body as Kelly tried to block out the smell of her burning flesh, and the tearing sensations in her wrists as she pulled against the restraints. She smelled copper from the fresh blood oozing from her wounds, and her nose. Would she ever get rid of these smells of pain and torture?

* * *

Oranges and vanilla. She smelled oranges, vanilla and cloves. Nana was baking a treat! Jumping out of bed, the rubber soles of her sleeper keeping her from sliding across the wooden floor, she scrambled to the kitchen. She burst into the room and shrilled with glee as her grandmother caught her from behind and gripped her in a tight hug.

Kalani breathed in the scent of flour, vanilla, cloves, and something distinctly Nana. She was safe. For a moment she clutched the woman tighter, not wanting to leave, knowing she wouldn’t always be safe where she was going.

“It’s okay baby, I feel it too. I know this is right. It’s not always going to be easy, but remember I’m always with you. I’ll always love you and you can always reach me.” The words drifted across Kalani’s mind as reassuring as the smell and the warmth of her grandmother’s arms.

Chapter Three

“Are you fucking stupid!?” Kelly shook from the ice water dripping off her body.

“Even if you get her to remember, you have her gagged, how in the hell is she going to tell you anything? I told you to wait for just two weeks, but you couldn’t, could you? Jesus Tara, go get a cat from the pound to torture if you need a fix that bad. We need this girl alive and talking.”

“Jared, I…”

“Shut up! You two, unstrap her. Get her cleaned up. Get her warm. And you, you dumb bitch, follow me.”

Kelly tried to breathe through the pain as the wrist and ankle restraints were removed from her raw flesh. The cell
, thank God
, she was going back to her cell. This time she wasn’t dragged, someone carried her like she was a child. It must be because of the yelling man, Jared, his name was Jared. Trying to figure out the reasons for changes in her routine were just little ways she tried to stay sane, ways she tried to remain connected to the here and now. No matter how happy those hallucinations made her, no matter how comforting she found them, she had to remember they weren’t reality.
They were not real
.

* * *

The vibration of the Black Hawk at his back kept him centered, kept the pain at bay. Helped to stop the rising panic. Two images merged in Sam’s mind. He saw the glossy picture the admiral had passed around of Kelly Wachowski, a family photo, showing her laughing at a family gathering, her straight white blonde hair flying around her face in the wind. She had the fair skin of a Scandinavian, but in this picture she was pink from the cold, and her eyes were a navy blue. Sam had another image of Kelly in his mind, it was of her as a small child, laughing up at him, teasing him, calling him Noah. Another jolt of pain, and he closed his eyes, knowing he needed to rest before they landed.

* * *

“Noah, are we going to a good place?”

“Yes, we’re going to a good place.” He crouched down and hugged the little girl who was his best friend. She was so bright and happy, and even though she was five and he was nine, she was still his favorite person to play with, to spend time with. His older brothers teased him for having a little girl as his best friend, but he didn’t complain. She always made him smile.

“I’m going to miss Nana but you’ll be with me, right?”

“Not to begin with. For a long time you won’t even remember me. But one day we’ll find one another. Remember, they told us. We have to wait until we’re grown-ups.”

“But you promise, right?”

“I do.” Noah looked around the stadium. It was filled to the brim with people to see them off. Looking at the other children, many of them mirrored his expression—sad to go. He would miss his family, but was excited for the adventure and opportunity to help. Noah squeezed Kalani’s hand, and as their damp palms touched he finally admitted he was also scared. It was the right thing to do, and he needed to be strong for Kali. One of the older children came over and put his hand on his shoulder.

“Are you ready?” Noah nodded, reminding himself he would have a good home, a good life. He would make a difference, and in twenty years he would find Kali again.

“I’m ready.”

With a flash of white light they were gone.

* * *

Sam’s eyes shot open as the helicopter touched down.

“Did you see any heat signatures from the air?” he asked Nate.

“Negative. We’re blind. Do you have any ideas?” Sam nodded. He knew exactly which building they needed to go.

They disembarked in silence. It was twilight, the helicopter hardly made any noise, and what noise it did make the tree line muffled. Sam looked at his team and pointed at the building closest to them. “That one.”

The Black Hawk hovered just above the canopy of trees. The team rappelled to the ground. The helicopter would be able to land in the clearing or on the rooftop after the enemy was eliminated, but for now they needed to go in unseen. Sam and Nate took point. As they ran, Sam stumbled, pain shooting through his temple.

“Are you all right?” Nate whispered.

“We’ve got to hurry, she doesn’t have much time.” Nate gave him a sharp glance and they both sped up, the others following at breakneck speed.

When they made it to the door of the building it was secured.

“Back up,” Sam shouted. Shooting through the lock, he didn’t care who heard them, they had to get to Kelly.

* * *

Pain. Needle hot spikes of agony sliced through her brain. Tentacles slithered underneath the soles of her feet. The pain curled around her toes, and spread to the top of her foot. It would to keep on coming, she knew this from past experience.

“Explain it to me Kelly,” the voice came from the dark, the dispenser of the pain. If she could focus enough on it maybe she could get it to stop.

“Explain what?” How often had she asked that question in return? Had it ever really stopped the pain? The fire raced higher, stroking around her ankles, her calves.

“Where did you come from? Where were you before Mike Wachowski found you?” It was the same question, and no answer had ever been right. This pain was going to continue until she died.

“I don’t know, for the love of God, I don’t know.” The flames were spreading, crawling past her knees. This time she really begged for death,
please let this be the last time
. No more questions, no more pain, just let her go. If there was a before she couldn’t remember, maybe there would be an after where she wouldn’t have to feel this agony. She concentrated, not on trying to bring up those long forgotten memories, she searched for the after.

The darkness behind the voice, behind the pain, she spiraled away from all of it. She was flying and looking at the softest pink. In front of the pink sky, she saw herself, arms spread wide in welcome.

“You’re safe now, you can come home Kalani. We missed you.”

Kelly walked on her feet, surrounded by wild flowers, in glowing air. She saw something sparkle, shimmering to her right, but she couldn’t keep her eyes off the vision that was her, but not her.

“Where am I?”

“You’re wherever you want to be, wherever you need to be.”

Kelly let herself be enveloped in a hug smelling of orange, vanilla and cloves. After some time, they linked arms and walked across the soft green grass towards the others who were waiting.

* * *

“I need you to wake up now. Come on honey, please Kelly, wake up. Please, open your eyes. You’re here, I can feel you. I need you to open your eyes and look at me, and then I’ll let you go back to sleep, but you have to come back from where you are. Please Kali, please.”

It hurt, it was too far to go. Kelly didn’t want to leave knowing there was going to be more pain and she couldn’t take it. She couldn’t survive any more, it would kill her very soul. If she didn’t stay hidden they would kill everything that made her Kelly, and then she would never be able to put herself back together.

“Please baby, just for a minute, I need you to open your eyes for one moment, then you can go back to sleep I promise. Just for this one instant, I need you here with me, back here with me.”

It was the voice, she’d never heard it before, but…she’d been waiting for it. Just that voice. She took a deep breath, and tried to open her eyes, ready for the pain to start again. They fluttered open. There was hardly any light in the room. At long last, the bright overhead lights were gone. Soft brown eyes looked at her, filled with pain and concern.

“Thank God. She’s awake, we haven’t lost her.”

Kelly groaned at the newest voice that was pitched too loud for her sensitive ears.

“Kelly, this is going to hurt.”

Oh no, now he was going to hurt her too? Too tired to struggle, a tear leaked down her temple.

“No, baby, it’s okay, we’re going to get you out of here.” Maybe this man wasn’t lying to her, she wanted to believe his voice, those eyes.

Sam couldn’t believe the shape she was in. Her eyes were almost completely swollen shut. He’d been lucky to get her to open them just that little bit. Her wrists and ankles were meaty pulps where she had struggled against the restraints. If he could kill the three people in the room again, he would, only much slower.

“We gotta move man.” Sam watched Rydell cut through the last of the ties holding her down.

Sam gently lifted her off the table, trying to block out her scream of pain. As he stood, she spasmed and then went limp.

“Jonah is landing the helicopter on the roof, it’ll touch down in two. We gotta move, Son. We found the communications room and they sounded the alarm. People are on their way.”

Holding his special cargo, Sam followed Rydell, easily keeping up with his fast pace. As they crashed through the door to the stairwell, Sam threw a quick thanks to the universe that Kelly was unconscious and didn’t feel anything as he repositioned her over his shoulder into a fireman’s carry. It was four flights up to the roof and it wasn’t until they hit the cold night air that she started moaning.

Mathers and Kota were already onboard and pulled her into the belly of the helicopter. They placed her on the cot and Kota started to strap her in. Then all hell broke loose. Sam watched in horror as her bloody hand shot up and contacted the side of Kota’s face. Her panic and rage must have blocked what had to be excruciating pain as Kota grabbed her wrist to stop her from hitting him again.