Broken Memories [I Did it for You - Book 2]

34

Yoosung drummed his nails across his thigh, his fingers aching at the constant movement. He'd been doing it nervously since they took off in Emjay's car and followed Vanderwood towards the Mint Eye base.

As much as Yoosung knew how dangerous it was for him and Emjay to stay at the safe house or to go back home and hide until Vanderwood was able to gather more information, he hated the idea of going towards the one place he saw as a personal hell. The last time he went to the Mint Eye base - the cult's old location before they moved - Yoosung had been beaten, kidnapped and then tortured by Saeran for months, and the thought of going to another Mint Eye base set every nerve in his body on fire.

Yoosung didn't like to show his fear in front of Emjay. He had always wanted to be a brave man in her eyes, to be a man who could guide her and protect her in situations that looked huge and overwhelming, but at that moment, Yoosung wanted to cower into a tight ball and beg the earth's crust to swallow him until it was safe to come out again.

Although he wanted to hide his fear, it seemed he didn't need to for his cowardice went unnoticed by a similarly fearful Emjay. As she drove, fighting to follow Vanderwood's car so closely that she almost touched the rear end, Emjay was a nervous wreck. Beads of sweat rested permanently on her forehead, dampening the fringe above her eyebrows and she chewed the fingernails of her free hand with so much desperation that Yoosung was afraid she'd eventually rip the skin off until all that was left was the white-pointed tips of her bones.

"Emjay, please stop that" Yoosung begged, his lilac eyes watching her anxiously as he waited for the first slither of blood to stain her chewed nails.

"I can't help it. I can hardly breathe properly knowing where we're headed" Emjay murmured, her thoughts scattering across her brain as she tried to focus on the road before her. She kept her eyes glued to the bumper of Vanderwood's car, staring at the licence plate for so long that the string of numbers and letters became etched into her eyeballs.

Opening his mouth, Yoosung tried to comfort her, to help calm her nerves, but he couldn't think of anything he could say when he was panicking himself. He desperately wanted to order Emjay to turn the car around and go back to the safe house, but even if it wasn't dangerous to stay there, he knew they couldn't go back. After an hour of tirelessly steering through all the small winding roads they travelled across, the pair would become lost in a matter of seconds. If they wanted to remain safe, they had to stick with Vanderwood.

It was then that a terrifying thought crossed Yoosung's mind.

What if Vanderwood was a believer at Mint Eye this entire time and his whole story with Seven had been nothing but lies? He could have easily been a hacker there, collecting information over the years about Seven until he was able to mound together a story that was believable. The thought sent shivers down Yoosung's spine.

Feeling his chest tighten, Yoosung shook the thought away. He couldn't dwell on that possibility, no matter how possible it could be. He'd only make himself panic when he and Emjay were already in the midst of hysteria.

After another hour, Vanderwood finally pulled over onto the side of the road as far as his car could go, the tyres squishing the dense vegetation and overgrowth until he came to a slowing halt. Behind him, Emjay followed, carefully edging her car behind his before killing the engine. Next to them, from a hundred yards away, stood the ominous Mint Eye building.

Yoosung felt every limb in his body freeze as he stared at the base. It was almost identical to the old base he and Seven had infiltrated that night before he'd been captured and held captive by Saeran.

The building held the shape of a large dome that expanded out into other sections with what looked like small hallways and rooms. The roof was a mint colour, the walls painted white that contrasted heavily with the mint that gleamed in the sunlight, and above the wide double doors hung a large mint and black-coloured eye.