Cecelia Ahern - Perfect

“That’s Tina,” Stacey says quickly, eager to get out of there, after their unprofessional acts with me only moments ago. “I’ll get her.”

Linda clears her throat nervously. “I’ll come, too.”

Kate follows them. As soon as the three have left the room, the second Whistleblower lifts his helmet and I see Carrick. My stomach leaps. Then the last Whistleblower reveals herself. Juniper.

I gasp.

“Rescue squad is here,” Juniper says, jumping into action. “We have to be fast. If anyone contacts the castle we’ll be in trouble. Quickly, put this uniform on.” She starts to strip off.

Carrick looks away.

“Juniper! What the hell are you doing?” I ask.

“Taking your place.”

“What? You—”

“No time to talk,” she says urgently. “I’m doing this, no discussion. You disagree, you get us all into trouble. Stick to the plan.”

I can’t believe it. I can’t let this happen. I can’t abandon my sister in this place, not with what they’re about to do to me in the operating room.

“I’ll delay them. It will give you time to do what you have to do. Stand up. Take off the gown,” she says, annoyed now.

“I can’t!” I say.

“Of course you can!” She raises her voice.

“Shh!” Carrick says.

“No, I mean, I physically can’t . Crevan injected me with something. I can’t move my legs.”

They both look at me then, and I see the fear in their eyes. The plan must be abandoned. How can we all walk out of here if I can’t walk?

FORTY-FIVE

“WE’LL CARRY YOU OUT,” Carrick says. “Keep going.”

“Carrick, don’t be stupid, they’ll ask questions. It won’t work,” I argue.

Juniper lifts the gown over my head.

“Please don’t do this, Juniper.”

“Stop, Celestine,” she snaps, annoyed. “It’s the only way.”

“But Mom and Dad will never forgive me.”

“It was Mom’s idea. She would have taken your place herself if she could.”

Juniper removes her clothes and helps me dress. I can put the jacket on, as I can control my upper body, but the combat pants are awkward because I can’t lift myself. Carrick rushes over to help. I think of yesterday, when his eyes and hands were on my body. Perhaps he’s thinking the same thing because our eyes meet. Green eyes, hazel flecks. He didn’t abandon me after all. Juniper looks from him to me, then smiles happily, and I know she knows about us. They slide the red combat trousers over my legs, the boots on my feet, no time for socks.

The pins and needles are spreading down to my knee.

I see the F brands on Juniper’s temple and palm.

“Mom did it,” Juniper says, out of breath, nervously as she moves. Then she looks at me softly. “All six of them.”

She knows; it’s the first time we’ve ever discussed the six brands.

Trust Mom and her makeup skills to pull off such authentic scars. As a famous model, Mom has been exposed to the best makeup artists, particularly for her wilder shoots. She’s managed to make Juniper’s brands look authentic, bubbling wounds newly scabbed over.

Carrick pulls me up, but I can’t stand on my own. I’m numb from the knees down now.

Juniper sees Gavin, Logan, Natasha, and Colleen in the front row. “Good,” she says, a hardness in her eyes.

“Thank you,” I whisper, leaning in to kiss her.

She wraps her arms around me tightly and hangs on. “I owed you, now go save the world, baby sister,” she says, and I see tears filling her eyes when we pull apart.

When I returned home after my branding, I waited every day for Art to visit or contact me. He didn’t. I noticed that Juniper was disappearing from her room late at night, and one night I discovered them together, in our secret place on the summit. I jumped to the wrong conclusions. I believe now that it was entirely platonic. Neither of them had wanted to get me into any further trouble, but it took me a while to realize that. I thought they had both betrayed me. Juniper and I already made up over this, but I know she feels she needs to redeem herself. This act of love is way beyond what I thought she’d ever do. This is dangerous.

Juniper places the helmet on my head while Carrick holds me up under the arms.

Kate returns with Tina, who looks nervous. Stacey and Linda tag along, watching it all unfold, curiously. I hope Carrick and Juniper have a plan. I hope that Tina can protect my sister. I discreetly pass Tina her car keys and she quickly pockets them. Tina hands me a slip of paper.

“A message for Highland Castle,” she says firmly.

“We’re ready to move out,” Kate says, moving to the door.

Carrick pulls me up beside him. The guards view me suspiciously.

“Stupid bitch kicked me,” I say, disguising my voice as best I can, leaning all my weight on Carrick.

They immediately look away from me to Juniper, in the chair, staring lifelessly at the TV. They ignore us as we exit and instead study Juniper.

“ Kicked her,” Linda says. “I told you she looked at me.”

“Does she look different to you?” Stacey asks.

“Famous people always look different in the flesh,” Linda replies.

“I better get her to the bed for her operation,” Tina says. “Help me lift her into the wheelchair.” She lifts Juniper under the arms and the others hold the wheelchair in place. Juniper does a good job of looking like a rag doll as she’s lifted.

We march together down the corridor toward freedom, and I feel the greatest pain in my heart at leaving Juniper behind. Carrick holds me up and I attempt to move my legs to look like I’m walking. I know he’s using all his strength to keep me upright. The two Whistleblowers who were guarding the door follow us, and I try to guess who they are. Fergus and Lorcan would be too risky to bring to a place like this; perhaps it’s Mona and Lennox. One is definitely female. We all walk together out of the facility. I feel fresh air on my skin. We can’t be getting away with this, we just can’t.

We reach a Whistleblower van and I recognize the driver: Marcus, Professor Lambert’s Whistleblower and Kate’s husband.

Inside the van we all sit tight as we approach the security gates. I realize that we’re at Creed Barracks, the Whistleblower training college that is the national center for Whistleblower training and education. Set on ten acres and named after the town in which it’s located, Crevan has created his own facility away from the main headquarters, to hide the people who threaten him. He won’t be able to keep this up for too long—my sister is in there, people who tried to help me are all in there. My heart pounds as we slow at the gates, as Marcus lowers the window.

He holds out his arm and waves confidently to the guard in the security hut.

Everybody is silent. A collective intake of breath.

The guard leaves the security hut and makes his way to Marcus.

“Can you open up the van? I just need to take a look. New rules.” He looks at Marcus like he appreciates these rules as much as a hole in the head.

“Sure.” Marcus unlocks the doors. “What are you looking for?”

“Extra bodies.”

“Not a bad idea. We need them. It’s getting wild out there,” Marcus says.

“Tell me about it.” The guard slides open the door and takes us all in, like he’s doing more than just counting us. I feel like I’m going to vomit.

Kate lifts her helmet off. “Hi, Ryan,” she says casually.

He nods at her. “Hey. Okay. Thanks.” He slides the door shut, gives it two bangs with his hand.

The gates open. I will Marcus to drive away at top speed, but he can’t raise suspicion. He takes his time.

Far enough away from Creed Barracks, the two mystery Whistleblowers remove their helmets and Mona and Lennox grin at me.