The Tens by Vanessa Jones (tharntype novel english TXT) 📕

an undercover operation to bust apart a camp that I found your name associated with. Unfortunately, that meant I've had to be under the guise of friendship whilst I collected more information about these bastards. Although I wish it wasn't. We're gonna get you to safety real quick but can you do me a favour and tell me which way you came from?'

Sophie wept and pointed back into the trees where she came from and watched four indistinguishable police officers trot off in that direction. Bree winced as she spotted Sophie’s burnt hands.

'It's okay Sophie, you're safe now. I'm sorry that this escalated so much before I stepped in. You've been missing for a few days and it was never my intention to let it get so far before I pulled the plug on their bullshit.'

Sophie could do nothing but cry, her tears falling heavy to the dirt below her.

'Let's get you into the vehicle and check those injuries out. I'll ride with you.'

Bree looked back to Sophie who was slumped in the back seat of the police car on the way to the hospital, her palms face up and looking angry with tangerine-coloured blisters.

'I must say our timing is exquisite, hun. We've been scouring around the area for about twenty-four hours now and there was not a trace. If it wasn't for me hearing you laughing to yourself, I may be searching for you for another day or two. I'm so glad we found you.'

Although Sophie felt duped by the charade that Bree had put up with her to find The Tens, she felt like she was in safe hands. Anything to be away from that camp. She thought of Abigail and whimpered softly as she realised that Abigail could have been freed anyway if the police came upon them.

Bree looked down at her phone and thumped the dashboard with excitement. 'Just got a message hun, they've got them! You helped us, you really did. We've been on this hunt for years.'

‘You mean you’ve arrested them? All of them?’

‘Yep, all of them will be taken to the station for questioning and I’m confident the leaders, at the least, will be charged.’

They weren’t going to come after her. Sophie was safe from them. She could return home and finally get better now that no one was poisoning her or trying to make her crazy.

'Why did you give me Carla's card that time?' Sophie was perplexed. How far back did Bree’s influence go?

'I'm sorry that I had to throw you into the hornet's nest like that. But we weren't getting anywhere and we already had eyes on her but couldn't quite pin her for anything. I honestly didn't think they would go to such extremes. I thought you'd just give me snippets of information about her whenever we caught up for coffee. But you've helped us more than you can ever know. You truly have.'

'There's a baby.'

'What's that, hun?'

'They have a baby with them at the camp. They wanted one of the girls... they wanted Abigail to burn her in the fire. You'll find Abigail's body there. She... you'll find her body there,' Sophie gulped back her words as she watched the scenery blur past her window.

'Oh, hun. You're going to be okay now. Our officers will make sure everyone is as safe as they can be.'

'Bree?'

'Yes, hun?'

'I think they also killed my parents too.' Bree mouthed silently, 'I know' and her face crumpled at Sophie.

As they pulled up to the hospital car park, Sophie noticed several white vans, cordoned off by police tape and a handful of officers casually waiting nearby. They looked up when they saw the car approaching. 'Did you...,' Sophie sighed to herself, self-conscious that her mind had been wobbly for so long. But she didn't have a lot to lose. 'Did you ever come by my house? With the van, I mean?'

'Yes. We did. And look, I'm sorry if this unnerved you, if you ever saw us. We tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. But it was part of the operation. We had to keep tabs on you. Initially, we weren't quite clear on the extent of your involvement.'

'I see.' Sophie should have been furious but all she felt was unreserved relief. She didn’t hallucinate any of it: the van at the front of her house, the woman following her in the car, Bree giving her the cold shoulder when Sophie had busted her following her out the front of Carla’s office. There was nothing wrong with her.

'Let's get you inside. There's a doctor waiting to see how much of the skin on your hands we can save. And a psychiatrist should you need one.'

For the first time in ages, Sophie felt like she was in her right mind. Even after all that she had been through.

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

Sophie only allowed herself to watch a small bit of news coverage: the same footage they kept repeating which became synonymous with the arrests. A trail of people looking sheepishly at the ground, as they are walked towards vans, their hands cuffed. They all looked ridiculous in their matching jumpers, most of them barefoot and powerless, without the protection of their isolation and idiotic practices.

'A cult has been discovered in the woods of the farming region, known as The Tens, who have long believed that the planet Venus is going to somehow fuse with earth and become one planet. Police have uncovered an illegal camp and have reported that cult members were consciously trying to poison themselves with the mineral copper, in order to prepare themselves for what they have dubbed, The New Way,' the incredulity of every newsreader that reported the story said it all to Sophie. She was never the crazy one.

'Yoohoo,' Bree rapped at the front door.

'Coming,' Sophie announced from the kitchen where she stood in the warm glow of the sunshine and was smiling