by Shay Lynam
My lips felt like two sausages. “Uh…” Slowly the memory came to the surface like the die in a magic eight ball. My blood pulsed in my ears but I tried to ignore it and concentrate. “We were six,” I wheezed trying to pull air into my shriveled lungs. “And…and you got the hang of it right away.”
“And you?” Ben urged me on.
“I…” This was hard. “Dad had to hold onto me all the way down the driveway…and down the block.” I pushed the air back out shakily, trying to get it all out.
“Good,” he said steadily. “Keep going.”
I pulled more air into my lungs, trying to fill every inch. “Uh…then I told him to let me go…and he did.” I let the breath out. “And I pedaled faster cuz you were way ahead of me.” In. “And when I was almost caught up, you turned right.” Out. “And I crashed into a mailbox.”
Ben snorted as he tried to hold in a laugh. “Then what?”
My heartbeat was finally starting to slow down. “Dad came over and picked me up.” I could see it all happening now behind my closed eyelids like a movie. “I split my hand open on a rock when I fell and it hurt…but mostly I was just embarrassed. And Dad held onto me until I stopped crying.” I opened my eyes and sat back on my knees. “Then we went inside and Mom freaked out.”
“Yeah, and they grounded me for making you crash,” Ben muttered.
I felt a smile pull at my mouth and I sat back. “I’m not useless,” I said quietly.
Ben got to his feet with a grunt. “No. You’re not.”
Neither of us said anything for a minute. Finally, I pushed off the wall and stood up. Checking out the window again, the alley was still deserted and everything was sparkling with frost. Winter was definitely on its way. “We should probably get going,” I said.
“I need to rest a minute,” Ben replied causing me to turn to look in his direction. The light from the streetlamp didn’t quite reach him. “I feel like you punctured an organ.” Then he stepped into the light and I got to see the damage I’d done for the first time.
“Holy…”
Blood crusted just above his top lip in two trails from both nostrils. His bottom lip had a deep split in it with another blood trail that dripped down his chin. One of his cheeks was bright red with a painful looking cut right on the bone and the bridge of his nose was also split and bloody. I didn’t even realize I had hit him so hard. Or so many times. “Sorry,” I muttered. “I didn’t mean–”
Ben cut me off. “Yeah you did. But it’s alright. I deserved it.”
“Shouldn’t we go after Hailey?”
“Not yet,” he said trying to wipe some of the dried blood off his face. “They’re coming after us now.”
I shook my head. “How do you know?”
Ben leaned back against the wall next to me and slid down to the floor. “In London if there was ever a threat, we eliminated it before going after the patient. And I’d say we’re a threat.” I could hear the smugness in his voice and pictured the smirk on his face.
I slid down to the floor beside him and looked up at the walls surrounding us. They no longer looked like they were going to topple in on me but I still didn’t like how close together they were. I felt like I was sitting at the bottom of a well and I really wanted to leave, but Ben insisted we stay. Especially since I was still freaking out a bit. The jerk. I would have been freaking out more though if the suits were still after Hailey. Instead, knowing that Ben and I were now their number one priority, it oddly enough put my mind more at ease.
Ben ended up falling asleep about an hour later after the two of us had been silent for a while. I, however, stayed awake until the stars faded and the sky started getting light. I could finally make out some of the weird shapes in this place we had taken shelter in. The wall Ben and I were against was pretty bare aside from the window and a few shelves with boxes on them. The wall opposite us was covered with tools on pegs. Hammers, levels, some menacing looking saws that could have sheared our faces off if we’d stumbled into them. A push lawn mower and a weed eater sat in the corner along with a gasoline canister. This place was all kinds of dangerous. But it felt safer than if we were out being pursued by those suits. Finally, as the streetlamp outside turned off, I closed my eyes and fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
I didn’t feel like I’d been under for very long when my brother shook me back to the surface. “Wake up,” he hissed, his bloodied face coming slowly into focus.
I blinked hard a few times then sat up. How long had I been out? Judging by the long shadows cast on the walls by the other objects in the shed, I’d say it was already three or four in the afternoon.” I rubbed at my eyes groggily. “Why did you let me sleep so–”
“Shh.” My brother covered my mouth with his hand.
I watched his eyes confused as they darted up to the window above me. The faint sound of crunching gravel entered my ears. Slowly, Ben stood up and craned his neck to look out the window. Someone was out there. I got up clumsily and looked out with him. There was no one there at first. Then two dark figures came into view and Ben pulled me down out of sight of the window.
“We’ll worry about those two later,” a familiar voice grumbled. “Right now let’s see about getting the car back.”
“Yeah, alright,” another agreed unenthusiastically. “Maybe there’s something in theirs too.”
Just then I remembered our backpack was still in the car. I only worried for a second before I remembered there wasn’t really anything in there that would help them out. Unless they thought a bottle of bleach and a couple fake ID’s would be particularly useful. We waited until they’d gotten all the way down the alley before either of us said another word.
Then Ben opened the door flooding the place with light. “We need to go,” he said.
The icy air made the small place even colder, if that’s possible, and I buried my hands deep into my pockets. “Do you really think they’re going to find anything important?”
“I don’t think so,” he replied. “But they may end up going after Hailey anyway if they don’t find anything.”
“So what do you suggest we do?” I asked following him back out into the alley.
My brother turned to look at me and smirked, splitting his lip again where I had hit him. “We follow them.”
chapter ten
Every time we went around a corner, I could feel my body tense up. I was just waiting for the moment when I’d turn to find a gun pointed in my face…again. Having seen the two agents only about an hour earlier, we knew – and I felt relieved to know – that they were still after us.
We trailed after the suits, managing to stay about a block behind them, ducking into doorways or shops whenever we felt like they were about to spot us. My chest was still hurting from my panic attack the night before and the freezing air was not helping one bit. I wished this cold had a throat I could wrap my hands around and choke to death.
The setting sun was glaring in my face by the time we reached the impound. From a diner across the street, Ben and I were able to watch the suits as they rummaged through our car and turned up empty handed. I won’t lie, I enjoyed watching as time went by and they got more and more frustrated with what they found. Or rather, what they didn’t find.
“Why’d you let me sleep so long?” I asked after we were silent for the better part of thirty minutes.
Ben’s eyes shifted to me for a second before he focused back on the impound across the street. “Because I’m an awesome brother,” he muttered. “Dream about anything exciting?”
“Yeah, lollipops and candy canes.”
He straightened up. “They’re gone,” he said scooting his chair back. I followed him to the door and then out onto the sidewalk. The street on either side of us was empty. Ben swore as he jerked his head to look both ways repeatedly.
“Where’d they go?” I whispered, my breath fogging in front of my face.
“How would I freaking know?” he snapped and scratched at the back of his
neck angrily. I could almost see the internal struggle going on in his head as he tried to choose which direction he thought they might have headed. Shoving my hands into the pockets of my coat, one wrapped around the grip of my gun while the other clutched Hailey’s folded up file. As long as they weren’t going after her I could breathe easily. Unless they were. Maybe they were headed to her parents’ house now. Without saying a word to Ben, I pulled the papers out of my pocket and unfolded them quickly. Ben noticed me struggling as I brought the papers up to my face, trying to read them in the dimming light. Finally, I found a page with a few printed maps.
“What are you doing?” Ben asked, his voice obviously confused.
I had to look up and search for street signs, but as soon as I knew where we were, I was able to figure out which way Hailey’s house was. With a smile, I looked up at my brother. “I know which way they went.”
In all his panic and maniacal driving, I have no idea how Ben managed to pick the exit to the town that was literally right next to Hailey’s. I don’t think it could have been more perfect unless we pulled right up to her front door, though I guess that wouldn’t have been ideal what with the sociopathic assassins on our tail. Either way, we were only about a mile outside of Columbia City and that had to be where the suits were headed.
Even though I knew now that they had given up on finding us and were now after Hailey again, I couldn’t help but feel a little excited. I’d finally figured something out on my own. Now I was the one leading the two of us down the street at a brisk pace. I was Batman.
A few streets down and with no suits in sight, I was really beginning to doubt my detective skills. The streets were starting to empty as it neared seven o’ clock and people had made it home for the night. Surely they were sitting down to dinner with their families, talking about their days at work and winter break plans; doing things I’d never get to do again with my family. Finally I just stopped in the middle of the sidewalk nearly causing Ben to bump into me.
“Why’d you stop?”
I shook my head and shrugged hopelessly. “What are we doing?”
Ben cocked an eyebrow. “We’re going after the suits. What do you think we’re doing?”
“That’s not what I mean,” I muttered with a sigh and leaned back against the building we were in front of. “So what if we find Hailey? We’ll keep going down the list until all the patients are either safe or dead. And then what?”
“Then what?” Ben asked narrowing his eyes. “What do you mean then what? We go after Eli. We put that lunatic behind bars or we put a bullet through his brain. That’s what.” Then he leaned in close. “Now’s not the time to go all doom and gloom on me, Jack.” He spit my name out at me and jabbed his finger into my chest. “This isn’t just some Easter egg hunt. These are people’s lives we’re dealing with. So we’re going to keep going this way. We’re going to find the suits and you’re going to quit being such a freaking Debbie Downer, sound good?”
I breathed in deeply. He was right. “Alright, alright,” I agreed and pushed off from the wall.
Now Ben was in the lead and I dragged my feet behind him keeping my pace up. My brother was definitely right. It didn’t matter how hopeless I felt. A person’s life was in danger and we were the only ones she could count on right then. Sy had made it clear the police weren’t on our side. Parents were just as clueless as everyone else. We were really it. I quickened my pace so I was walking next to my brother but I didn’t say anything to him. Out of the corner of my eye I saw his mouth twitch into a quick smile. It didn’t last though.
Then just as we passed an alley, he was yanked in before either of us had a chance to take another step. One second he was there, the next he wasn’t.
I whipped around to find one of the suits, the taller one, standing just a few feet from the sidewalk. The other had one arm wrapped around Ben’s neck and held a gun to his temple. The closest suit to me backed up, motioning for me to step into the alley. My heart was already racing and my hands were clammy as I took a shaky step toward them. My eyes didn’t leave Ben’s.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” the tall suit said to me. “You’re going to tell us who you work for, and he won’t put a bullet through your brother’s brain. Okie dokie?”
My hands were clenched into fists in my coat pockets and I nodded as I pressed the gun into my side. Do I pull it out and try to shoot one of them? Could I even do that in time? Could I do it at all?
“Jack, don’t tell him anything,” Ben said through his teeth as he gripped the tightening arm around his throat.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” the suit snapped then looked at me again, his eyes cold and hard. “Now, do you have an answer for us, Jack? Or do you want to become an only child?” The suit holding the gun to Ben’s head pulled back the hammer. What could I do? I looked to Ben. What do I do? What do I do?
Again my eyes flicked to my brother and then back to the tall suit. “We don’t work for anyone,” I whispered, my voice giving away the absolute terror I was feeling.
The suit squinted at me. “What was that?” he asked. I don’t know if he was mocking me or if he truly couldn’t hear what I was saying but I managed to repeat what I’d said a bit louder. “What do you mean you don’t work for anyone?”
I licked my lips, tapping my finger against my gun as I tried to come up with a response. “We’re just uh…doing this by ourselves,” I said hoping my nerves disguised my blatant lying. “Like a couple of vigilantes or something.”
An amused smile cracked his stone cold exterior. “Vigilantes?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “What, like you’re Batman and he’s the Boy Wonder?”
“It’s probably more the other way around,” I muttered and brought one hand out of my pocket to scratch the back of my head.
Just then I heard a crack and the tall suit and I looked over to find Ben’s assailant lying on the ground holding his nose. While the other suit’s head was turned, I used that small window to pull my gun out of my pocket and aim it at him.
“Shoot!” Ben yelled at me as he plowed into the man, sending them crashing into the wall of the building next to us.
My hand was so shaky and slick with sweat, I could feel the gun slipping from my grasp. I pulled back the hammer and aimed as well as I could. My breathing was getting too heavy, too short. My chest was getting tight. No. Not another panic attack. I could see my brother’s mouth moving as he kept yelling for me to shoot but I couldn’t hear his voice.
Then I watched in horror as the gun slipped from my hands and clattered to pavement. It all happened in slow motion. I watched as the fallen suit pushed himself up with one hand and aimed his gun at me with the other. Ben lunged at me, a look of terror in his light eyes.
Then time sped up again.
A crack split the night air and my brother slammed into me, pushing me toward the opening of the alley. I stumbled but regained my footing quickly as the two of us ran as fast as we could down the street. Adrenaline surged through me as my legs pumped faster than they ever had before. Ben was just barely behind me and the two of us were flying down the sidewalk, past restaurants and offices and stores.
It seemed like forever before I finally started feeling tired. We had made it pretty far before it was too hard to catch my breath and I had to slow down. We ducked into another alley and I leaned back against the wall, putting my hands on my knees as I gulped in the cold air. Snow started drifting down in tiny flakes from the ink black sky. First snow of the year.
Finally I was able to catch my breath. Ben was being rather quiet. “What now?” I croaked and straightened up to look at him. He was leaning against the opposite wall in the same position I had been in. After a minute, he straightened up very slowly.
It felt like someone dropped a rock onto my stomach.
Dark red smeared his left side and the hand that had been covering it. I took a step forward then froze in the middle of the alley. “Are you alright?” I asked, my voice shaking. B
en put his hand out to stop me from coming any closer but he didn’t lift his head to meet my worried eyes. Instead he stayed like that for a long time, sucking in air and then exhaling slowly. Maybe he was hoping the pain would go away if he didn’t move. It didn’t look like it was working though. “Ben,” I finally said. Still he held his hand up to keep me back.
The seconds ticked by agonizingly slow as I waited for him to say something. Anything. At long last he straightened up slowly, his face contorted into a pain filled grimace until he was completely upright. “I’m alright,” he wheezed.
I took another step toward him. He didn’t do anything to stop me this time so I kept going until I was right next to him. “Let’s get you back to Sy,” I said lifting his arm around my neck slowly and putting my other arm around his middle. We didn’t even make it one step before an animalistic sound escaped his clenched teeth and his legs gave out. “Alright,” I exhaled. “We’ll stay here a bit longer.” Carefully, I let Ben slip to the ground and I propped him back against the wall. Immediately his head and shoulders slumped and he was silent. “Ben?” He didn’t respond. I got down on my knees, feeling panic tingle its way down my arms and legs. I tapped my fingers rapidly against his cheek. “Ben?” Still nothing. Finally I brought my hand back and smacked it hard against his face. His head snapped up and I watched with relief as his eyelids slowly fluttered open.
“I’m awake,” he groaned.
“You have to stay with me, Ben,” I said getting right in his face. “Just talk.” My brother mumbled something inaudible. “What was that?” I asked tilting my head closer.
“Looks like…you’re Batman now,” he repeated.
I narrowed my eyes and got up. “Really?” I asked “You really just said that?”