Vanished (6 page)

Chapter Five

Trin

              Waking up, I hear rain.  Though I have no memory of him coming into my room, I look to my left and see Logan lying on the chair again, arms slung over the side of it, long butterscotch locks falling over his face.
My mind flashes back to the events at the lake, saving the boy, then Collin trying to kiss me and Logan pushing him in the water. 

I think I hear a toilet flush. “Logan,” I whisper, nudging his shoulder with the palm of my hand, “Wake up.”

              He stirs and blinks his blue eyes open, smiles, stretches and looks around at the door, before relaxing and laying his head back down on the pillow, his yellow and red go-tee contrasting starkly with bright white fabric.  “Shoo,” I gesture with my arm toward the door, “If you insist on sleeping in here, you have to leave before they wake up.” I can’t believe I’m saying the words but somehow I feel comfortable talking to him like this. Maybe Madison was right, maybe a mask of beauty can give me confidence. 

              “Does that mean I can start sharing the bed?” He asks, feigning a back ache, without opening his eyes.

              “Go on, get out,” I whisper loudly, nudging him again.

              “I’m starting to get the feeling that you don’t want me around.” He says loudly,
too
loud. 

              “Shut up, they’ll hear you.”

              “You’re paranoid, Trin, no one wakes up this early.”

              “Logan,” a distinctly female voice calls out, as if on cue.

              “Oh shit,” Logan jumps out of the chair and pretends to be leaning in my doorway as Madison comes stumbling down the corridor, her hand blocking the sun from the light coming through my curtains.

              “Hey,” Logan says, almost too casually, “I was just coming to wake you up.”

              Madison blinks at me and then looks back at him, “What the fuck is going on here?” She asks him, point blank.

              I swallow and Logan shrugs, “Just waking everyone up. We’ve got a schedule to keep today.” He looks over at me and actually winks, “So up and atom, Snow, quit your slacking.”

              Saluting weakly I wait for her response. She glares at Logan for about ten seconds then, completely ignoring me, turns away and sways back down the hall, her hand on her head.  Logan shakes his finger at me as if to say shame-on-you, leans over to the chair by my bed and grabs his jacket off the back of it disappearing out into the hall, going the way Madison went moments earlier.

              I realize the jacket, the quilt and the pillow were lying on the chair the entire time Madison was standing there and she didn’t even notice. 

             
I would have noticed
, I think.

__#__

              Ten minutes later I’m just getting out of the shower when Madison returns with her bag of make-up.  She waits for me to towel my hair off.  She’s watching me with a strange expression on her face, “Where did you learn how to do CPR?” She asks, taking me off-guard with the randomness of her question.

              “Um, when my brother’s were born, I took a course.”

              She nods. I wrap the towel around my hair, tighten the strings of my robe and take a seat on the stool.

              Again, we don’t speak as she paints my bruises and scars away.  Her hands are cold but they’re soft and I start to actual relax a little as she adds color to my cheeks and mouth.  “Collin told me about what happened after we went in last night.”

              I stiffen, “He did?”

              “Yep,” she pops the p and turns me toward the wall to work on the back of my hair. “He feels really bad about it.”

              “He does?” I bite my lip.

              I feel her nod behind me. “He’s an idiot but he means well.  He had like twenty beers. I think he
likes
you.”

              The words make me shiver. I do not want to be liked by Collin. Last night he reminded me too much of a feeling I hate, the feeling of helplessness threatens to strangle me even now as I sit here remembering it. “So,” she says in a sing-song way, “What do you think about him?”

              “I’m not really sure.”

              She nods. “All done” she proclaims, turning me back to the mirror.  She’s taken away the scars, the bruise and today the eye-shadow she chose is dark brown emphasizing that brown ring around my irises I didn’t know existed until yesterday.  Today my hair is straightened into a perfect pony-tail.  I wish I knew how she got it so glossy.  Some magic bottle out of her make-up bag. “Thanks,” I say. 

              “Here,” she hands me another stack of clothes, “hopefully these aren’t too slutty for you.” 

              I can see she really did try and go more conservative.  A pair of dark washed out skinny jeans, a milky white t-shirt, a golden brown leather jacket and hiking boots made of supple brown leather that lace up to the knee. 

The out-fit suits the occasion.  We’re going to explore a big cave-system and we’re taking camping gear so we can stay overnight down in the cave. 
              Madison packs up her stuff and leaves so I can change.  Once I have the clothes on, I look in the mirror and a surge of excitement goes through me turning my cheeks pink.  The clothes are comfortable yet sexy at the same time.  They squeeze me in places I’m not used to but they don’t show me off like the clothes yesterday did. 

              I take ten minutes to reorganize my backpack and stock it with the camping gear I’ve been allotted from the Delaney’s garage; a Coleman sleeping bag, an aluminum water bottle, a compass, a tin coffee cup, bowl and spoon, two changes of clothes – provided by Madison – some pajamas, my sketchpad, a couple of pencils, and the purple bikini I stole from mom.

              Pulling the bag over my shoulder, I take my bag downstairs and place it in the pile of other bags by the back door.  Zayn, Jasmine and Collin are sitting in the living room talking about something in low voices. I decide to start carrying the bags out myself.   Opening the garage door, I see it’s still raining. No wonder Madison put my hair in a pony-tail.

              I popped the trunk and started loading it up.  Fitting everything in reminds me of playing Jenga with the twins and my heart hurts just thinking about them. 

              Of course, Logan picks that minute to walk into the garage.  I dab at my eyes and shove another bag up into the car.

              “I’ll help,” he says coming so close that I can feel warmth surging from his body.  Relief that he’s here distracting me from thoughts of the twins courses through me. 
As long as I keep busy, keep my mind in the moment and off home, everything will be oTrin.  For these few days, I can be free
, I tell myself.

              An hour later, after running through a McDonald’s drive thru for breakfast, we arrive at the park entrance, “We walk from here,” Logan tells us, shutting off the car.

              I’m relieved because the only open seat is by Collin and I don’t like sitting next to him, with this awkwardness between us. Zayn puts out his arm gesturing for me to get out before him. He has a strange look on his face like he’s conflicted about something.

              We get out and put on our packs.  “I’ll lead,” Madison declares, marching out ahead of us.  We get in line behind her, going single file down a dirt path, now sort of a river of mud, into the forest.  Rain pelts my face until we duck under the cover of the trees, then it just drips down the collar of my shirt.

I have to keep my eyes on the path or risk falling on my face so I almost miss it when Madison trips and just before she hits the ground, Logan grabs the back of her shirt and pulls her straight again, “Slow down,” I hear him growl, “this isn’t like coming down when it’s dry, everything slippery.”

              “I know that,” she whispers vehemently, looking back at the four of us, dripping wet waiting for her to start moving again, “keep up, guys, it’s just a little ways ahead.” She calls, flashing us a smile.  She puts her hands on Logan’s chest, pushes up on her tippy toes and kisses him on the lips.  She slows down a little though and I find this pace is much less treacherous feeling.

              “Watch your step up here,” Logan calls back to us. 

              I climb over a big log a few seconds later and grab a branch to steady myself.   

              Remnants of Jasmine, Collin & Zayn’s conversation behind me drift up my way and I hear something about a swimsuit followed by laughter and Zayn shushing the other two. Suddenly I get the overwhelming feeling they’re talking about me. 

I stop and turn around.  Collin and Jasmine stop short in their tracks and look up at me, wide eyed, clearly not expecting me to turn and face them. Zayn flashes me an apologetic look before he starts studying his shoes.

              “Trin?” a voice calls.  I look back over my shoulder and see that Logan and Madison have stopped too and are looking back at us “Is something wrong?” Logan yells.  

              I turn back to Zayn, Jasmine and Collin who are looking everywhere but at me.  “Its fine,” I say and turn back around to stomp down the path again. 

              A few minutes later the trees open up to a dark brown rock formation jutting out of the earth in front of us.  To the right of the cave, partially obscured by brush, is a faded, old sign. 

              The group assembles, out of the rain, underneath the lip of the rock formation. I take a step closer to the sign, trying to read it.  “Are you coming?” Madison asks in an annoyed voice.

              “Just a second,” I hold a hand out behind me.  I kneel down and wipe some dirt off the letters but whatever the sign says, it’s not in English.  Rising, I join the others under the lip, “Sorry, does anyone know what the sign says?”

              “Your guess is as good as mine,” Logan answers, “as far as I know this cave-system isn’t on any maps. We googled it.”

              “It’s a secret,” Madison adds, turning towards the entrance, “my father and I discovered it when I was a little girl.”

              We all detach the hard hats and head-lamps hanging from our packs and put them on.  Logan pulls two strands of LED lights from his own bag, keeping one and handing the other one to Madison. 

              I’m not afraid of heights.  I welcome them.  Escape doesn’t come easy where I live, and when you find a refuse, like a shabby old roof, you learn to love it, despite its danger but I recognize the looks of fear in Zayn, Jasmine and Collin’s eyes as they watch Collin and Madison prepare for the climb down.

“The first section isn’t too bad,” Madison shines the flashlight down the hole and gives us a better look.  The light illuminates a wide sloping mouth leading down to pitch blackness below.  Several boulders, taller than me, rest against the left wall about halfway down. 

              We descend into the opening of the large slope and work our way around the giant boulders.  Entering the fissure at the back of the tunnel, our walkway becomes a long, narrow passageway which opens up to an enormous entry room, the ceiling so far up I can’t see it and the floor very, very far down.  I hear water trickling and the air is much warmer than I expected.  “Are we going down there?”  Jasmine asks with a tremor in her voice as she leans forward and looks down into the black abyss below, her curly brown hair blowing back as the wind catches it. She takes several steps backward, her brown eyes wide with fear.

              “There’s a ledge to the right,” Madison turns to face that direction, swiping her thick blond hair, tied in a loose ponytail, over her shoulder, “stick close to the wall, watch your feet…and…”

              “Don’t look down.” Logan supplies.

              “Exactly”

              Jasmine groans, “We’re going down in that pit? I can’t breathe” she fans the air in front of her.  Zayn steps next to her and takes her by the arm.  His dark black bangs fall over his face and he glares at Madison and Logan.  He puts an arm around Jasmine’s shoulder and walks a few feet away with her, murmuring softly.  The rest of us don’t have much to do but stand, awkwardly and wait. 

              “I’ll take these two down, you wait here and when she’s ready you guys meet us down there,” Madison suggests.

              “What’s the rush?” Logan argues, “You
could
comfort her, she’s
your
friend.”  

              Madison smiles sweetly but behind her eyes I see he’s hurt her. “You’re right,” she concedes and brushes past him over to where Zayn and Jasmine are talking.

              Logan kneels down and pulls several bunches of thick, corded rope out of his pack.  “Here,” he hands me and Collin each a bunch, “we won’t need rope for this descent, but as a precaution we should each have some on us. 

              We take the rope and Collin offers to tie my rope to my pack if I do his.  I try not to shudder as I feel his cold, dry hand brush against my arm while he ties it on and I completely avoid touching him when I tie his rope on.