Lost in Purgatory

Chapter 5

Quick note: Reiter (the guy in charge who's growing the weird poppy hybrid to make a new drug) has a bundle of twigs he uses as a mystic lie detector. Yes, I know.

Going back to the camp was the hardest thing Felicity had ever done, and all the way there she wondered over and over if she'd made the right choice. She kept sneaking glances at the impossibly handsome man walking at her side, and still wasn't sure if she could trust him. It had never been a real choice, though – the ones that ended with "or death" never were. Once he'd offered her a chance, she'd grabbed it with both hands, not really thinking what it involved, and now she winced. She was going to have to lie, and lie convincingly, to the only person who'd really helped her after she'd arrived in this hellhole.

"What's wrong?"

She stumbled over a rock, and miraculously didn't land on her face, thanks to the arm holding her up. She looked up at him, exasperated. He waited until she was steady on her feet, and shrugged.

"You were thinking really loud," he continued.

She felt her lips pulling into a reluctant smile, and yelled at herself for opening up to this guy. You don't know him, Felicity! He could be an axe murderer! He could be making suits out of human skin!

He quirked an eyebrow. "I ... don't know how to respond to that."

Too late she realised she'd said most of that out loud. She groaned.

"My verbal filter has decided to trust you and is now in off mode," she hissed, careful of the fact that they were getting closer to the camp. "The rest of me is having second thoughts. And I don't know how I'm going to convince Tatiana you're my sugar daddy when I practically puked every time Conklin glanced at me ..."

She glanced at him again, and stuttered to a halt, running out of words. He was smiling. And not in a creepy 'I've got you now, my pretty' way. It just looked like she was actually making him smile, and he looked really different when he smiled. Younger, for one. Not so menacing. He noticed her looking, and the smile fell off his face. Wow, he was good at this, at pulling the mask over his face.

Maybe she should have asked for a few pointers at the cliff – no. Scratch that. The longer she stayed there, the more she was tempted. She shuddered at the memory, and walked on, lost in thought, and trying not to stumble in the dark. When he spoke, she realised he'd been seriously considering what she'd said, half of which she'd already forgotten.

"First of all, don't call me sugar daddy. Second, and this is gonna sound awful, but here you kind of need a man to take care of you? And Tatiana might understand it if you explain it to her like that – she has a brother to take care of her. But you don't. She's still gonna spit in my face, though," he concluded, brooding.

"Oh, poor you," she mocked. "But you're right – she might accept it that way."

They'd arrived on the outskirts of the camp, and fell quiet as he escorted her to the hut she'd been sleeping in. They exchanged a look before she went in – the plan was she'd pretend to go back to sleep, and he'd just lurk around until the missing cake of slam was discovered. Conklin would probably organise it to happen before dawn, so that it could be found next to her. Asshole, she thought as she snuck in. I'm looking forward to seeing the look on his face when they find it behind his hut.

"Felicity?"

Oh, shit. Lying to Tatiana would have to start sooner than she'd anticipated. The woman had tears in her eyes, and for a second, Felicity was ashamed of what she would have to do. No, no. Come on, Felicity. Survive, right? That's one of the things Oliver had told her to do, along with 'breathe'. Oh, he's 'Oliver' now, is he, her inner voice asked nastily. Shut up, she told herself, trying to concentrate on what Tatiana was saying.