by Elodie Colt
“How the hell should I know? I don’t know where you’re taking me,” I complained.
“I’ve got a car waiting for us at the next corner,” Jimmy told me with a smile I couldn’t help but return. That man had messed up my life within a couple of days, but he was growing on me nevertheless.
Jimmy came to a stop in front of a black van with tinted windows. He tossed my bag in the back of the car and opened the door for me.
“After you,” he offered, and I got into the shiny vehicle. Jimmy took his seat next to me, and the car rolled into motion. I couldn’t see who was driving as a dark, tinted-glass panel separated the back from the front area.
“How do the Hunters know I left?”
“Because they’re tracking us,” Jimmy stated matter-of-factly.
“What?”
“No need to panic. It was part of the plan. I have my people out there to check out the situation,” he tried to reason with me.
“But won’t they track us directly to the compound? I assumed the location needed to be kept a secret.”
“We’ll distract them which is why we have to make a little detour before we get to the compound. I can’t explain everything now as there’s no time, but I need you to trust me on this, okay?” He waited for my agreement. I nodded because what other option did I have?
“So, here’s the plan,” Jimmy started, clapping his hands once. “We’ll go into a café, I’ll order us something to drink, and then we’ll take a seat. We’ll do some small talk and after a few minutes, you’ll excuse yourself and go to the restroom. Take the last stall on the left, and someone will wait for you there.”
O… kay… I slowly started to regret my decision of trusting him and gave him the most confusing look I could manage. “I don’t—”
“She will make sure you reach the compound safely,” Jimmy interrupted me, leaving me as clueless as before and with no idea whom he meant by ‘she.’
My head whipped in his direction at his words. “You’re not coming with me?”
Jimmy shook his head. “Distraction tactics, remember? Don’t worry, I have watching eyes everywhere.” That was not the answer I’d wanted to hear. Nothing made any sense to me.
The car continued to follow the streets of the city, passing restaurants, bars, and stores. I felt like a foreigner all of a sudden. The outside was full of people, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling that I wasn’t part of them anymore. Had I ever been?
A few minutes later, the car stopped in a parking lot in front of a shopping center Lauren used to drag me to every month.
“Let’s go, Haylie.” Jimmy brought me out of my thoughts. “Stay here, I’ll be back in a few,” he spoke to no one in particular, leaving me confused for a moment, but assuming he’d just asked the opposite, I supposed he was talking to the invisible driver.
We got out of the car and made our way through the revolving doors to enter a great hall surrounded by shops of all kinds. The shopping center was crowded with people towing shopping bags and grumbling kids behind them.
“This way,” Jimmy said and took a turn to the right. “Locations like these are perfect for misleading them. Their Catchers won’t be able to distinguish our voices amongst the mass of people,” Jimmy explained in a low voice. I assumed with ‘Catchers’ he meant the ones with Ricky’s ability. Tears threatened to spill at thinking about the young boy who got killed because of me, but I swallowed them down quickly. Now was not the time for breakdowns.
We passed a few shops until we entered a café. Jimmy took a seat at the very back closest to the ladies’ room. I was a complete bundle of nerves by the time I sat down, whereas Jimmy seemed to be as composed as ever.
He ordered two cups of coffee. I was close to asking Jimmy a thousand questions playing havoc in my mind, but I knew I couldn’t ask them here. He’d told me at least three times to be careful about talking when Catchers were close.
After a few minutes of uncomfortable small talk about my childhood, school, and my plans for the future, which I dodged to avoid dragging Shawna into the conversation, I excused myself as had been our plan. Jimmy nodded and gave me a wink before I strode to the back area in the direction of the ladies’ room.
There were three stalls on the left side and an elongated mirror with three sinks on the right. Taking a deep breath, I strode to the last stall. The knob displayed ‘occupied.’
“Um, can I come in?” I asked in a hushed tone, unsure what else to say.
It didn’t make any sense. If they wanted me to enter, why not keep the door unlocked? No one answered, so I grabbed the handle and rattled a few times.
“Hey! Mind waiting for a few?” a harsh voice yelled, and I took a step back. The voice sounded like it came from an elderly lady. Definitely not the person I should meet here. Or was it? Hell, how should I know?
I mumbled a poor apology and returned to the mirror on the other side. After what felt like an eternity, the lady left her stall while I pretended to rearrange my hair. She gave me a sour look in the mirror while washing her hands. Nope, not the one who should get me out of here.
As soon as the woman left, I hurried back and locked myself in the last stall which was empty—of course. I would have been pretty surprised to find another person in here when someone just left it.
Yeah, what now? I huffed a laugh. This was ridiculous.
I bent low to sit down on the toilet seat, but just as my behind touched the plastic, a scraping noise from above made me jump in surprise. I whipped my head up and noticed one of the square tiles above me sliding to the side.
A second later, a female face appeared. She wore black sunglasses, so her eyes were obscured from view, and a sharp cut bob of red hair framed her pretty but harsh features.
“Surprised?” the woman asked sounding bored, but I was too stunned to answer. She offered me a hand with perfectly manicured nails. I glared at it dumbfounded.
“Don’t worry, we have all the time in the world. I’ll just keep hanging here and wait until you’re ready,” the woman snapped in annoyance.
I shook my head to keep it together and put one foot on the toilet seat. Grabbing the offered hand, I let her pull me up into the vents. I struggled to get through the tiny hole and hit my knees and elbows at every edge, the noises echoing loudly through the maze of pipes.
“You’re as graceful as an elephant,” the redhead muttered, and I gave her a sour look because even if she wore a ridiculously tight business suit in cream and killer shoes with pinpoint heels, she didn’t make a sound when she moved her elegant limbs.
So, this was the ‘someone’ who should take me to the compound safely? I had the uneasy feeling that I wasn’t going to enjoy our little adventure.
“Let’s get going.” Her voice was familiar, but I couldn’t place where I’d previously heard it. I was sure I’d never seen the woman before. A face like hers wouldn’t escape my memory.
The foreign woman turned around and started to crawl on all fours leaving me with no other option than to follow. I hoped the distinct chatter of the shoppers below us was loud enough to drown our noises.
She moved left and right taking numerous turns through the maze, and the only thing I could do was stare at her butt clad in a pencil skirt wiggling in front of me.
We took another sharp turn left when she suddenly came to a halt causing me to nearly get spiked by her lethal heels.
“Shit,” she cursed, and my heart leaped into my throat. Had we been caught already? Well, it would have been a short journey, then. And not an exciting one considering my current surroundings, I might add.
I glanced around the woman’s frame and spotted a figure in front of us. A man in dark blue overalls and dirt on his face—apparently, a plumber—was leaning with his upper body into the vents as he fumbled with a screwdriver over his head. The rest of his body was hidden from view, his feet probably resting on a ladder below. His back was facing us, but as soon as he finished his task, he turned around.
&nb
sp; When his eyes fell upon us, the expression on his face morphed into one of shock. I figured he’d never spotted anything other than rats up here, definitely not two women crawling around—one who could be mistaken for a rich businesswoman and another one cowering behind her.
Suddenly, the woman in front of me was in a hurry to scramble forward, closing the distance between herself and the plumber. What the hell is she doing?
I wanted to whisper-yell my question but thought better of it. The plumber’s mouth kept falling open as he struggled for words, looking like a fish on land.
“Hey, handsome,” she drawled seductively. I couldn’t see her face, but her smile was unmistakable.
She didn’t give the guy any time to react, but grabbed his head and kissed the hell out of him. The guy didn’t even manage to close his eyes, he was that shocked. My mouth dropped open as wide as the plumber’s with the only difference being that his tongue was pretty busy at the moment.
“If you’ll keep quiet, you’ll get another one, okay?” the redhead whispered after pulling back. The plumber just stared at the lips that had just kissed him and nodded slowly. Actually, it was a mixture between a nod and a shake of his head, as if he was trying his hardest to grasp what was happening. The crazy woman kissed him again, more forcefully this time. I tried my best to avert my eyes, but the scene in front of me was like a horrible accident you just couldn’t look away from.
“We’re in a hurry. Would you let us pass?” she asked him in her sweetest voice when she finished her sloppy attack. The plumber only nodded. It seemed this was the only movement he was capable of at the moment. I rolled my eyes at her exaggerated show. If he only knew what a bitch she was…
After a few seconds of awkward silence where no one dared to move, the woman cleared her throat and nodded toward the open tile which the plumber was still occupying. We couldn’t pass as long as it was open blocking our way.
The plumber cleared his throat, too, and made his way back down the ladder, closing the tile above him and freeing our path. I let out a breath of relief.
“Come on,” the woman urged me on, her voice icy again, and I continued to follow her through the narrow tunnels.
“Nice distraction,” I couldn’t help but mutter as what I’d just witnessed crawled back into my mind.
“Not one word to the others, understand?”
After what felt like an eternity, the noises below us became fainter, and I wondered in which part of the shopping center we currently were. Another restroom, maybe?
My question was answered when the woman removed one of the tiles at the end of the tunnel. She scanned the area below before letting her feet dangle through the hole, followed by the rest of her body. I did the same and felt my feet hitting solid concrete.
Finally.
I took a needed breath after inhaling the muggy air in the vents. It’s a good thing I wasn’t claustrophobic.
Without acknowledging me any further, the woman set off again, her hips sashaying from left to right, and heels clicking rhythmically on the concrete. I silently followed her through what must have been an emergency exit until she stopped at a little alcove and retrieved a backpack.
“Put that on,” she instructed and tossed a black trench coat my way. The woman couldn’t make her annoyance at having to babysit me any more apparent. Well, that made two of us.
Without questioning what plan we were following, I stuffed my arms through the sleeves and made a knot with the sewn-in belt. When I lifted my head again, she pushed a pair of black sunglasses on my nose nearly jabbing my eyes in the process. Next came a black wig with elbow length, night black hair and sharp-cut bangs in front. The thing got stuck in my hair clip, so I slapped the woman’s hand away to adjust the wig myself. Enough was enough.
“Pretty,” she exclaimed in a derisive voice and started to walk down the aisle.
A few minutes later, we exited the shopping center on a different side. Again, a car was waiting for us, but this time it was a little runabout in the form of a convertible.
Mrs. Snappy unlocked the car doors and folded herself gracefully into the driver’s seat. I didn’t wait to be offered a ride but just opened the door to the passenger seat and got in. The engine roared to life, and the woman stomped her foot on the pedal, hurling forward with a screeching sound and leaving black tire marks on the concrete. I grabbed the oh-shit handles to avoid banging my head on the side window.
We continued down the road faster than I was comfortable with, but she seemed to handle the wheel with ease shifting gears at just the right time and snaking left and right to quickly rush through the traffic.
“I have to cover your eyes. Newcomers aren’t allowed to know the location of the compound, so do me a favor and don’t whine,” she snapped, and I bit back an equally snappy remark.
She steered the car up a hill where the houses became thinner until there was only vast landscape on either side. Headstones of a cemetery loomed in the distance. Another sharp turn, and we made a halt next to the fence surrounding the cemetery.
I was clueless as to why we were stopping in the middle of nowhere. For all I knew, the woman planned on taking a shovel and bopping me on the head to bury me under the earth. It would be the perfect spot.
After we exited the car, she approached me with a piece of fabric in her hand.
“Turn around,” she demanded, and I did so reluctantly. I would need to be careful of my steps because I reckoned she wouldn’t give a shit if I bumped into anything.
The sunglasses were removed, and the fabric was wrapped over my eyes blindfolding me. I felt a knot tighten behind my skull before she pulled sharply one last time to make sure it was secure. She clutched my upper arm in a painful grip and roughly hustled me forward causing me to stumble.
“Hey! Could you go a little easier on me? I can’t see where I’m going,” I complained despite my promise not to do so. There was only so much bitchiness I could endure.
“My order is to bring you to the compound as quickly as possible, so stop crying like a baby,” she hissed into my ear and shoved me forward once again to make her point.
It didn’t take long before I lost my orientation which probably had been the plan after all. Every few steps, I tumbled over the harsh undergrowth as I was shoved forward. Suddenly, I was tugged back by a hand on my belt and snapped to a halt.
“There’s a mat on the bottom, so don’t chicken out,” was the only warning I received, and before I could ask what the fuck she meant, I flew through the air with flailing limbs.
Everything happened so fast, I didn’t even have the chance to open my mouth for a scream before landing with a face plant and an all-too-sexy oomph sound on a not-so-soft mat.
Arms and legs spread wide like a starfish and having my unnatural black hair stuck everywhere, I crawled up and yanked the fabric from my face. Screw those rules. I wasn’t walking blindly again as long as Mrs. Bitchy was near me.
I opened my eyes to see a dark tunnel with flickering lights on both sides on the walls. I whirled around to look for the woman only to see her descending a metal ladder.
My mouth popped open in disbelief. “Why wasn’t I allowed to use the ladder?” I complained looking up. I only saw a little white dot on top showing the daylight from outside. The descent was as deep as it had felt.
“Because it was more fun to watch your elegant landing. Now be quiet and follow me.” The sardonic glare I received could have killed. Wow, this woman was really something. I wondered if she was even able to talk in a normal tone.
She took the lead again, and we continued to stroll down a dimly lit underground hallway. One of the lights was broken, and sharp glass shards were scattered everywhere. There was a dark spot on the wall, a dried rivulet following a line down. Blood?
Jesus, what have I gotten myself into?
Suddenly, the air next to me rippled and became hotter, and the woman’s appearance started to change. I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn’t halluci
nating, but no, my eyes didn’t fool me.
Her hair grew to her shoulder blades and faded into a silvery blonde, her nose became longer, her cheeks rounder, and her breasts lost some of their fullness. Even the white nail polish on her fingernails shifted to black.
And then I remembered where I’d seen her before.
“Cassie! You’re the one…”
“The one and only, yes. And before you ask, yes, I can change my appearance.”
The revelation didn’t surprise me as much as it should, I realized. So many weird things had been going on that this seemed to be harmless in comparison. Now it also made sense how her hair had turned black the night of the attack. I guessed it was a handy ability and certainly fit the girl with the bad attitude.
Jimmy was right—the plan to mislead the bad guys had certainly worked. We’d entered the shopping mall with different appearances than exiting it.
After another sharp turn, we found ourselves in front of a set of huge metal double doors. She took the two handlebars and pushed them down, opening the doors wide.
“Welcome to paradise!”
The next morning, we all gathered in the control room. Phil and I were seated in front of the monitor set-up.
My eyes shot to Cassie when she entered, and I raised my brows at seeing her in a straight business suit. As much as the blonde annoyed me, I couldn’t deny she was a clear ten on the scale of hotness. My determination to stay away from her slowly wavered for a second.
“Are the cars ready?” Jimmy asked Phil while buckling on a few weapons. I hoped he wouldn’t need them. A fight in the middle of the day in one of the busiest places in town would be a catastrophe.
“Yes. Here are your keys.” Phil retrieved two sets of keys from an envelope and tossed them to Jimmy and Cassie.
“Good. Cassie, you’ll get Haylie to where we arranged. Chris and Sarah, you two can go back to your classes, but keep your phones close in case I need you. Scott, let’s go.” They all nodded, and everyone filed out of the room.