by ID Johnson
As Cadence sat looking out the window, Aaron nudged her and asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she assured him as she turned back to face him. “Just thinking about the last time I saw Gibbon. It wasn’t a whole lot of fun.”
Aaron nodded. “Maybe he’s matured a bit these last few months and doesn’t act so much like a wild animal.”
“I doubt it. As far as we know, he’s been on his own. I think the only thing that’s kept him from just walking around out in the open killing anyone and everyone is that he seems to be afraid of the light.”
“I’ll give you that. I remember how he looked at that helicopter spotlight when he came out of the tunnel, like it was the sun about to burn him to smithereens, like in the old Vampire movies.”
Cadence hadn’t seen that because she didn’t get a chance to chase him. She was still lying in Giovani’s underground cell with a broken knee. Thoughts of the pain she’d gone through that night made her reach for her leg. Jamie had replaced her ACL a few days afterwards and it had healed by the next day, thanks to his talents, but she’d been in a lot of pain by the end of that hunt. “I just want to keep everyone safe this time.”
“We will,” Aaron said with a smile. “As soon as we get there, we’ll meet with Andrew and make sure we have everything we might need available to use. Then, hopefully, we’ll be able to go check out the location tonight.”
“It would be great to get it over with that quickly. I only hope that Gibbon is still there.”
“If he’s not, hopefully your sister will be able to get a location on him again. But something tells me he will be.”
***
Gibbon heard voices above him and knew that the people were still there. Without a window, it was difficult to tell if it was night or day. He tried not to go out of the room in the daytime anymore since the boy had seen him, but the burning in his throat was getting almost unbearable, and he was afraid he might have to go out and check to see if the darkness had fallen yet.
The bodies in the corner were beginning to pile up, but they didn’t really bother him. He’d always been fascinated with death and dead bodies, especially since the first time he held a lifeless figure in his hands, blood still squirting from the slash in her neck. The feeling of watching the light fade from a person’s eyes as they transitioned from one world to the next made him feel completely omnificent, and even though he knew he was not the same as he was before meeting that man who claimed to be his father, the effects were the same.
Unfortunately, the thirst in his throat kept him from enjoying the experience as much now as he used to. Now, the overwhelming sensation of the blood pouring down his throat was all encompassing, and he often looked up to find his victim had expired before he even had the chance to enjoy it.
Likewise, he could no longer choose the same sort of victims. Here, he had to take whatever he could get without being caught. So far, he was fairly certain the only one who had seen him was the boy—and the other one like Gibbon himself, but that one was not a threat; surely she would not reveal his location to anyone else. As long as he continued to be careful, to choose his victims under the cloak of night, he should be able to stay here for as long as he liked.
It was not ideal, however. A cell designed to house the worse criminals in all of Pennsylvania, and he now lived there by choice. At least the doors were unlocked and he could come and go as he pleased, both out of the hole itself and the passageway that led down here beneath the prison.
When the pain in his throat became completely intolerable, he decided to have a peek outside. It had been nearly three days since he fed, and he knew if he didn’t get some blood soon, he would begin to lose the tiny scraps of sanity he’d manage to hold onto this long. If only he knew how his father had managed to keep the nurse and detective alive for so long without killing them. It would’ve been nice to have some sort of guidance, but fear of the woman with the long brown hair had caused him to flee, and he didn’t even know if his father had made it out of the tunnel alive, not that he honestly cared either way. Who chained their son to a wall in a prison cell?
Since he’d been keeping the door closed, no one ventured down here. Sometimes he heard them outside, but they rarely even tried to see if the door would open. Today, he was hoping someone might come along and test it. That would make it much easier to feed.
It was nearly pitch black in The Hole with the door closed, but when it was open, he would be able to see if it was daylight. He stepped to the door and waited, listening to see if anyone was nearby. He didn’t hear anything so he cautiously pulled open the door. No longer pressed to the back of the cell in the shadows, he would be much more visible should anyone come by, and if it was a large group of people, he’d have to run—leaving his fortress of solitude behind.
Once the door was cracked, he stepped outside. The sun was up; he could see light coming in at the end of the passageway by the stairwell. Cursing beneath his breath, he stepped back in and closed the door. He’d wait and bide his time. Maybe someone would venture by soon. Otherwise, he’d be forced to return to what was left over from his other victims, which couldn’t be much. He took pride on being thorough. One thing was sure, as soon as night fell, he would be scrounging for something to soothe the burn in his throat.
***
The usual conference room that the Philly team met in was not large enough for the group Aaron and Cadence had assembled, so they met in the gymnasium where training was held instead. The entire Philly team, which consisted of ten Hunters and fifteen Guardians, as well as the Kansas City contingent, Cale and three of his people, and Morgan and five of hers, gathered together on folding chairs, though many of them sat back on the periphery so that the leaders could discuss what needed to happen next.
Andrew Cooper had been apologetic when he met with Cadence and Aaron before the large assembly, saying none of the disappearances had been reported to him, and even though he’d been hearing about some of them on the news, he didn’t think it fit Gibbon’s MO. The Leaders saw no reason to go into why it fit his MO quite well—they could cover that later. For now, they just wanted to take Gibbon out once and for all.
There was no projector available in the gym, so Aaron and Cadence had to rely on sharing maps and pictures with the assembled group through the IAC, which was less than ideal because it made it difficult to see who was paying attention and who was not.
It was nearly 3:00 in the afternoon when Aaron finally started the meeting, sitting next to Cadence and Andrew with Cale and Morgan nearby, as well as the key players from his own team: Jamie, Christian, Hannah, and Elliott. Everyone else was within earshot but knew they would be there mostly to listen.
“I want to thank everyone for meeting with us this afternoon,” Aaron began as the crowd started to hush around him. “We know that capturing and destroying Steven Gibbon is just as important to every one of you as it is to Cadence and I, and we are hopeful that tonight will be the night we can do just that.
“We have information from what we believe to be a reliable source that Gibbon may be hiding at Eastern State Penitentiary,” he continued. “Specifically, we think he could be in the solitary confinement cell in the depths of the prison. While it would be nice to think we could simply show up there this evening, raid The Hole, and then come back with a pile of ashes, we are fairly certain it will not be that simple. So we feel it is necessary for everyone to have a pretty clear understanding of the entire layout of the prison in case we end up chasing Gibbon around. Also, those of you who will be asked to maintain the perimeter will have a very important job. If Gibbon is allowed to escape the confines of Eastern State, we will essentially be starting from scratch.”
Looking around the room at the various nodding heads, he could see that his teammates understood the importance of containment. “Now, I’m going to let Christian go over the layout, so please make sure you are paying careful attention to the maps he has provide to you as he’s discussing the variou
s obstacles we may encounter this evening. Christian?”
Christian went into a detailed discussion about the layout of the penitentiary, including how it originally had seven spokes but that two more had been added on later. Some of them were two stories while others were not. In the center was an observation room, though the additional wings had made the system nonfunctional. There were several outbuildings as well, including greenhouses, a large watchtower, and many smaller structures in different degrees of disrepair where Gibbon could potentially hide. The complexity of the mission was overwhelming, and they would all have to work together to ensure Gibbon didn’t make it over the wall.
When Christian was finished, Aaron went over assignments. Most of the Philly team and the extra personnel Morgan and Cale had brought would be setting up the perimeter with the Kansas City team taking the lead. The faces of some of the locals were telling; clearly, they thought they should be more involved. But Cadence and Aaron both agreed that, if they had wanted to run this hunt, they should’ve been more responsive when people started to disappear.
“Does anyone have any questions?” Aaron asked once he and Cadence had finished with everything else they needed to talk about.
Ashley raised her hand, and Aaron nodded at her. “In this type of a situation, would you expect a Hunter or Guardian to engage Gibbon or would it be better just to take the shot?”
“It’s always better to take the shot if you can,” Aaron replied, looking at her scrutinizingly as he wasn’t sure where she was going with this.
“Oh, okay. I just wasn’t sure, since on one of our training missions, things sort of didn’t go quite the way we’d talked about,” the blonde said with a little laugh at the end.
“That was a training mission,” Aaron reminded her, “and even then, Cadence had a clear shot and took it, which is always the safest thing to do.” Ashley had gone on a few more training runs without Cadence while she was gone so that she could qualify to go on this hunt and had seen other Hunters engage in combat, so it wasn’t quite clear why she was asking now.
“Right,” Ashley nodded. “I just wasn’t sure. Since it’ll be dark in there, and there’s a possibility of crossfire.”
“We definitely need to be careful,” Cadence spoke up, her eyes narrowed, “but I think Gibbon will probably be a very difficult mark to catch. So if someone has a clean shot take it. Otherwise, there’s a good possibility that several of us will be engaged at some point or another.
“He’s extremely strong,” Christian chimed in. “Unbelievably strong. I seriously thought he was going to rip my arms off during the last encounter I had with him. So be careful.”
“And that’s why we’re positioning Cale, Jamie, and Scarlet in the center of the main building, so if there’s any problems, they can get wherever they need to as quickly as possible,” Aaron concluded. “Now, if there are no more questions, I suggest everyone go carefully check your equipment, go over the maps, talk to the team members you’ll be stationed next to, and we’ll meet in the parking lot at 1:00 AM.”
While many of the team members broke into smaller groups and started heading for the door, a smaller band of individuals formed around Elliott. They were mostly people he’d worked with before, but a few of them had never had a chance to meet him and wanted to marvel at the man brought back from the dead. Aaron watched for a moment as Elliott began to tell a story, and soon everyone was hanging on his every word. Aaron laughed under his breath. It was nice to have him back, though he still thought the cost was going to be higher than anyone yet realized. Still, going into tonight’s hunt knowing Elliott was with them would make it a lot easier.
“He’s quite the entertainer, isn’t he?” Cadence asked, her hand on his shoulder bringing him out of his darker thoughts.
“Yeah. Always has been. He was telling a story when I met him. Hasn’t stopped since.”
“You know, I have no idea how the two of you met. You’re going to have to tell me about it someday,” she replied, thoughtfully.
“You should ask him,” Aaron said, pointing at Elliott with his head. “His version has to be more entertaining than mine.”
They were on their way out of the gym when they heard a familiar voice calling their names and turned to find Cale jogging to catch up with them, Morgan right behind, though walking at a more leisurely pace.
“Hey, Cale,” Cadence said with a smile. “What’s up?”
“Morgan and I just wanted to double check a few details with you, if you have a second,” the doctor replied. He ran a hand through his hair, and when Morgan arrived a few seconds later, he slipped the same arm right around her shoulders.
Aaron noticed Cadence’s eyebrows shot up before she caught herself and said, “Yeah, sure. What’s up?”
Morgan, the Montana Area Leader, was a short, flirty brunette who happened to be very good at her job. She was a details person, so it didn’t surprise him when she asked several questions about the precise layout of the central building, where she would be stationed. Aaron did his best to answer them but he also pointed her toward some videos that Christian had sent out to everyone. “Those YouTube videos should give you a pretty decent perspective.”
“I think you’ve answered most of our questions,” she replied, with a smile that made Cadence clear her throat, and Aaron looked from Morgan to Cale and then at his fiancée, wondering what he was missing.
“It is going to be difficult to stay out of the fray,” Cale added, as if he hadn’t noticed the sound. “I’m going to want to give this bastard a piece of my mind.”
“With any luck, our team A will get in there, get him, and everyone can go home without you having to do any medical work at all,” Aaron replied. Of course, he knew that wouldn’t be the case.
“I guess we’ll see you in a few hours,” Morgan said, flashing her million-dollar smile again, and then, perhaps making a different kind of statement all together, she turned to Cale and said, “Come on, babe,” kissing him lightly on the cheek as she pulled him along toward the door.
Aaron turned to look at Cadence who was watching them go, her arms crossed in front of her. “What’s up, babe?” he asked, emphasizing the “babe.”
“Huh?” Cadence asked, shaking her head as if she was trying to clear her thoughts. “Oh, nothing. I just… I knew he had a girlfriend. I just didn’t know it was Morgan.”
“Oh,” Aaron replied, running his hand through his hair. Elliott was still telling his story, and the room was growing noisier with laughter. “Does it matter.”
“No,” Cadence replied, shrugging and spinning to face the door. Aaron started to follow but then she stopped abruptly and said, “Yes. It matters. Morgan is… I don’t know. I just never trusted her.”
Aaron nodded, knowing that wasn’t it, but saw no reason to say more, not now anyway. “Well, you better trust her tonight. We are all going to have to trust each other if we’re going to get this done.”
“Right,” Cadence said, but her eyebrows were still united and her arms still crossed, a sure sign that something was bothering her, and Aaron began to wonder what exactly happened when she was in Reno.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“It’s pretty simple, Cass,” Cadence was explaining, sprawled out on one of the beds in the hotel room she would share with her sister for as long as they were in Philly. “You just stand there between Elliott and Jamie. If either one of them has to come help, you glue yourself to the other one. If both of them come to help, then you switch to Cale or Scarlet, the Healer from Philly. That’s it. You just stand there.”
Cassidy sighed. She was pacing the room and had been for over twenty minutes. She was doing her best to convince her sister that she needed to be more involved, but so far Cadence wasn’t buying it. She wasn’t letting her little sister get sucked into the battle this time, not when there were so many others there to protect her, and Cassidy hadn’t even finished her training yet.
“But what if I can convince him to come to m
e?” she asked. “What if I give him the idea that I’m on his side? Then, you could swoop in and get him while he’s distracted.”
“And what if he rips your leg off of you and uses it as a club to beat you with? Jamie’s a pretty damn good Healer, but I don’t think anyone’s gonna be able to reattach your severed leg without an operating room,” Cadence countered.
“Argh!” Cassidy groaned, dropping herself onto the window sill. “This is so unfair!”
“Cassidy Elizabeth!” Cadence shouted, shooting up to a sitting position. “Listen to me, young lady. I got you what you wanted. You’re here, aren’t you? If you want to go on this hunt at all, then you will listen to me. Just be thankful that I convinced Aaron to let you go. If you’re going to be living with me soon, then you’ve got to stop arguing with me all of the time!”
“God, you sound like Mom,” Cassidy whined. “Only meaner.”
Cadence knew what her sister said was true, and she wasn’t exactly happy about it. No one wanted to sound like their mother. Still—she was right, and Cass needed to let this go. “Listen, if you don’t want to take my word for it, ask Elliott. He will tell you the same thing. It’s going to be a madhouse in there. You have no training. Stay where I say, or you don’t come on another hunt. Ever.”
“Listen to your sister,” Elliott’s deep voice sounded through the door, and a few seconds later he was standing between them.
“What—were you eavesdropping?” Cassidy asked, her attitude slowly starting to mellow.
“Yes. Always,” he replied as if there was absolutely nothing wrong with that. “Cass, this is going to be the wildest hunt any of us have been on in a while, and you’re gonna help us figure out where he’s at if you can, but you can’t get in the way. And if you move two inches away from me, I’m going to use these.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. “And I just might have to handcuff you to someone other than myself—someone less fun. Like… I don’t know, Mickey.”