Shattered Girls (Broken Dolls Book 2) (14 page)

“I… I don’t want money.”

“What? Speak up.”

“I don’t want money,” I speak louder. “I just want them back.”

“How far would you go?”

I blink, not understanding the question. “To Canada, I suppose.”

“Oh for fu—I mean emotionally! What are the lengths you’d go to save them?”

The answer is easy, but I don’t know if it’s something I should divulge to a mysterious voice.

“Ella? Are you there? I don’t have time!”

“I’d die for them,” I blurt.

“Good. That’s all I needed to know. I better make arrangements then. I’ll get your family back if you can take the fall. Money’s not an issue, so I’ll set something up for you.” The voice grunts. “Get Sianne to unlock the front door. She’s forgotten I was coming.”

I freeze. “What? You’re downstairs? I’m not opening the door!”

“Didn’t say you had to. Get Sianne to come down. We made an arrangement to keep Gabby safe.”

“No! You’re not coming in!”

I scream when someone violently knocks on the glass. Hanging up, I slide down the table leg and run to Gabby, who is still out like a light. I wrap Gabby’s hair around my body, trying desperately to ignore the yelling from downstairs.

Sianne hurries down the hall, her footsteps like an elephant’s. “Coming!”

“No!” I whisper, pulling away from Gabby. I don’t even get to the top of the stairs when Sianne opens the door and embraces the figure in the black hoodie.

“So wonderful to see you again!” she says.

“Yeah, yeah, you too.” It’s the figure who was at the police station. She pulls off her hoodie and looks up at me, her cheekbones prominent and her gaze cold. “Hello, Ella.”

Lisa… I think that’s what Gabby said her name was. She scares me, but there’s a sense of familiarity. Her jeans are ripped, and her hair is in a ponytail this time.

I hide behind the banister and peer out through the gap. Lisa doesn’t take her eyes off me. She hurries up the stairs with Sianne following close behind, chattering like well… a chatterbox.

“You look so great, Lisa! I have everything set up ready to go. Have you been watching my Twitch streams lately? I’m up to twelve followers, you know!”

“Hey, Ella.” Lisa crouches down to my level. “So we have a verbal agreement, don’t we?”

“I… I don’t know what that means.”

She smiles, but it’s not warm. “These morons who are turning people into dolls were the same morons who started the epidemic. Although, you probably already know this. For once you finally know something, eh? Then the professor comes along saying he can cure illness. That’s the opposite of what they want. How else would they make money? So they held him against his will and stole his idea. I worked for this outfit. Ah, you know this, too. But did you know I even suggested that they use this town for their testing ground?” She beams, then affects a sad face I don’t believe for a minute.

“But now, I have seen the light. I don’t want to be part of them anymore. They’re
evil
!”

And… you’re not?
Luckily, I know enough not to say that aloud.

“So, I have devised a way to stop them,” she burbles on. “But I could go to prison if I try, especially considering I’m still technically under contract. We can help each other, but only if you take the fall. You’re a cute little doll, right? What could they possibly do to you?”

“But I’m bringing her back to life!” Sianne says. “My experiment is finished! It works!”

“It works?” Lisa’s eyebrows rise. “So it’s all fixed?”

“Yep, yep, yep! Didn’t stuff anything up! Not this time!”

“Ha. That’s great. I have a few men still on my side; I’ll get them to make the transport tomorrow.” Lisa redirects her attention back to me. “We’ll move your body elsewhere, Ella. Might be safer not having you here if they find out we’re in cahoots, if you know what I mean.”

I shake my head. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Ugh.” Lisa rolls her eyes and stands. “Sianne will run you through what you need to do in New York. If things don’t go to plan, deactivate, and I’ll meet you in the pub.”

“A pub?” I can’t go to a pub! Not alone. “Deactivate? What plan?”

“I haven’t got time for this. Just meet me at the pub if the first plan doesn’t work out. I get the feeling it won’t. So, we’ll go to plan B, it’s fine. Sianne, where’s Gabby? We doing this or what?”

Nothing’s making sense. Maybe I’m dreaming. At least,
that
would make sense. I stay by the banister as Sianne leads Lisa to Gabby’s bedroom. There’s a low murmur and within seconds, they’re carrying Gabby out of her room.

“Where are you going?” I ask timidly.

“Shh! You’ll wake her!” Lisa snaps.

“Nothing can wake this one,” Sianne says. “But, I’ve got a sedative in my pocket if she stirs.”

I follow them down the hall and stop as they go into the lab.

“Go to bed, Ella,” Sianne says. “Don’t mention this to Gabby. It’s the only way we can protect her.”

She closes the door behind her, leaving me in silence. I sit down, and sitting I remain, for hours, cringing at the dust piling up on the architraves. We really need a cleaner.

Times stops when the lab door bursts open. Lisa comes strutting out with a grin on her face.

“What happened?” I ask gingerly.

“Hey, Ella. Good news, the operation was a success.”

Op… oper… I’m too horrified to even pronounce the word in my head. “What did you
do
?”

“Potentially saved Gab’s life, nothing big. Anyway, I’m out of here. Go to bed; Sianne will be a while before she brings Gabby out. It’s always good to help a friend out. Anyway, remember if things go awry, deactivate and meet me at the pub. Ciao.”

She pulls on the hoodie and walks herself out and into the icy night. This sucks. I close my eyes then quickly open them, hoping that it’ll wake me up. But it doesn’t. Of course, it doesn’t. Take me back to the Australian beaches and the library. Take me back to the days when Gabby and I had a normal life. Take me anywhere but here.

Feeling useless, I slump back to Gabby’s bedroom and close my eyes. Why can’t I control and get proper answers out of people?! But what else can I do?

I’m just a stupid, worthless doll.

abby is beside me when I wake up. The morning’s rays creep through the holes in the curtain, lighting her face up like an angel’s. At first, I think she’s not breathing, but her eyes fling open and she greets me with a smile.

“Good morning,” she says. “Any dreams?”

“Uh… I’m not too sure,” I say. “You?”

She thinks for a moment, unblinking. “Nah. Nothing. Come on, let’s get ready for school. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave.”

“Can’t we just skip it?”

“No. Sianne’s right. We can’t raise any suspicions. Nothing will happen to us in class. We’ll just go, suck it up, and when she’s ready, we’ll hit the Big Apple.”

Her hair is uncharacteristically neat given that it’s morning and… she’s already dressed. In bed. What the bleeping bleep?

“Hey, Gabby?” I begin, but I can’t bring myself to say anything. “Did… I mean, are you sure you feel all right?”

“Yeah. Why? Do I look all right?”

I tilt my head to the side. There’s something…
different,
but I can’t put my finger on it. “I’m not sure. It’s like… you’re not real or something… but you are real, right?”

“Weirdo. Come on, let’s get breakfast.”

Downstairs, the kitchen is a mess, but nobody’s around. An entire loaf of bread is wedged in the toaster, and the fridge and microwave are wide open. I glance up at the ceiling to see pancakes stuck. Looks like Sianne attempted to cook this morning.

“Right…” Gabby says. “Denny’s it is.”

Denny’s is closed this morning. Which makes sense. Farah was his world, and his world was snatched away from him.

“There goes that idea,” Gabby says. “Ah well. I’m not hungry anyway.”

“You feel different, Gabby.” I prod her skin. “You’re not as squishy.”

“I guess, I feel a little different. Maybe it’s all the stress.”

Or maybe, it’s because Lisa and Sianne did something to her. I wish I knew what it was, but she’s not herself. But it’s not like me to rebel. Sianne told me not to say anything, so here I am… not saying anything. And what could I say? If something were wrong, wouldn’t Gabby
know
?

“I don’t feel safe,” she whispers when we enter the school gates.

“It’s high school. Of course, we’re not safe.”

“No, I mean, more than usual.”

I give it another look. Okay, the way the kids march robotically inside
is
unnerving. No one wants to talk about the kidnappings, so no one talks at all.

“Hey, you!” Dev runs up from behind, pulling Gabby back when she tugs on her bag. “Thank goodness you showed up! I’ve been texting you!”

Gabby sweeps her hair behind her ear. “Yeah, I saw. I finished the assignment.”

Dev’s nostrils flare when she purses her lips. “I don’t care whether you finished it. I care if it’s
good
.” She leans in, glancing at the passing students. “Gabby, you don’t understand how imperative it is for us to do well. You can’t jeopardize this for me. Running out like that the other day was messed up. Dad nearly had a fit. I had to cover for you and say that you’d finished and weren’t feeling well.”

Gabby’s eyes flash when Dev mentions Officer Bloom. For a moment, I think she forgets how to speak. “You needn’t lie. The assignment will be A-plus worthy.” She’s ice-cold.

“It better be!” Dev is oblivious to Gabby’s tone. “Come on, Science is first up!”

“Yippee,” Gabby says sarcastically, allowing Dev to pass into the school. Gabby doesn’t budge; we just stand on the steps leading into the hall.

“Did you really finish the assignment?” I ask as Maddox bumps into Gabby. He doesn’t apologize; he just keeps his head down and charges through.

“Nope.” She smirks. Tapping her backpack straps, she leads us inside. “I’m tempted to see what happens when we fail.”

The corridor is empty now that everyone is in class. There’s only Maddox, who is leaning his forehead on his locker. I cringe.
Such
a bad time. If they never ran one another alone again, I’d be happy.

But sad, too. Maddox was never exactly cool, yet craved popularity like nobody’s business. I still can’t get over the way he treated Gabby at the formal. He thought it’d make the cool kids like him, but fortunately, they grew bored of the little twerp the second Gabby ran out of the hall crying.