Mesmerized by Julia Crane Page B

without the code."
    She slowly ran her hand down his chest. "What’s the number?"
    "3294#" 
    "You have been very helpful." She met his light brown eyes. "You will stay asleep, and not recall this dream when you wake up. Do you understand?"
    "Yes, I understand. I don't want you to leave."
    "I will be back." Through her mind, she watched him roll over on his side. 
    Her eyes snapped opened. She needed to get the keys and get them out of there before anyone really woke up. 
     
    Lily jumped up and hurried out of the closet. She glanced back and noticed her necklace in the corner. She reached over to grab it, allowing the calmness to wash over her body.  She snuck past the guard who had fallen asleep and hurried to the kitchen. The bowl was sitting on the counter like he had claimed. There were two sets of keys, so she grabbed them both. Shoving them in her pocket, she went back to find Jake. 
    He was still laying on the floor just as she had seen in her dream. 
    “Jake,” she whispered. “Wake up. We have to get out of here.”
    Jake stirred a little.
    Lily shook him. “C’mon Jake.”
    His eyes fluttered. “Lily?”
    “We don’t have much time. We have to go.” She pulled on his hand. 
    “What’s going on?” he asked slowly.
    “I’ve got the keys. Everybody is asleep. We have to go now.” She yanked harder.
    His eyes were open now and he forced himself up. Lily put his arm around her shoulders and tried to keep him upright. “Everything’s blurry.”
    “Don’t worry, I’ll drive.” She led him out of the house and into the car. Thankfully, the first set of keys she tried worked. She started it up and very slowly drove out of the driveway. Once they were on the street, she leaned on the gas, and they sped away. 
    Lily had no idea where they were. She just kept driving. Jake was slumped over in his seat, his head against the window. She could hear him breathing, which brought a sense of comfort to her. He looked pretty banged up. It was a good thing he couldn’t be killed or else he probably would have been beaten to death. She wondered how long it took his body to heal. 
    The sun was just starting to rise. She figured they were still in Florida. Since she had been blindfolded for the drive there, she didn’t know for sure. She’d head home to Texas, which meant she had to go west. Glancing in the rearview mirror, she searched for followers. She was terrified they would catch up to them before she made it home. 
    “Hey,” Jake said, his voice hoarse. 
    Lily looked over and smiled. “Hey yourself. How do you feel?”
    “My head hurts.”
    “Yeah. Mine too.” She rubbed the back of her head. It was still tender from hitting the wall.
    “How did we get out of there?”
    “I convinced one of the guards to give me the keys.”
    “Lily, you didn’t have to do anything...” his voice trailed off. He didn’t want to think of what she might have done to get them out of there.
    “No. Not like that,” she responded. "I went to him in a dream. It was pretty crazy. I realized that if I take the necklace off, my power is stronger. I can't believe I can enter someone’s mind like that." 
    “I'm glad. I hate the thought of those creeps touching you. Where are we going?” He squinted and glanced out the window. 
    “Home,” she said, “to Texas. Before you say anything, my parents will help. They’ll know what to do.”
    "We should switch cars." Jake was starting to get his bearings. He wondered how long they had been on the road.
    "I was waiting for you to wake up. We'll pull into the next store and swap out. Are you hungry?"
    "Yeah, starving actually."
    "Me too." 
    Lily pulled into a Burger King parking lot and waited for a man to come outside. She handed Jake the necklace and got out of the car. 
    The guy looked to be in his late twenties. She bit her lip as she walked towards him, then slowly glanced up at him. She was surprised to feel herself getting slightly aroused when she made