by Amber Lynn
We were led through what I supposed were a couple of small streets. If there were roads, they were covered in snow. The houses were cute little log cabins. Every once in a while, I saw someone peeking out behind curtains, but no one came out to greet us.
The way the others were walking around me screamed that there was something special about me. Whether they understood they were drawing more attention to me by their antics, I wasn't sure, but I was fairly certain every single one of them knew I didn't like that attention.
"Here you go," Kyle said, leading us to a large two-story home. "Most of the lower floor is set up as a place to see patients, but Lizzie's room is also down there. The top floor has some guest bedrooms, so you should be able to settle in up there."
We were able to walk right in the house; evidently they weren't worried about crime there. When we first walked in, we saw the doctor's office area that Kyle told us to expect. There were a couple patient tables, cabinets filled with medicine and a few filing cabinets.
"I'll leave you guys to get settled and I'll let everyone else know who you are, so they don't worry and cause problems for you. When you're ready, if you were serious about helping find the other missing uniques, I live three houses down to the right. I can fill you in on who's missing and the little information we've been able to find," Kyle said.
Kyle seemed nice, but Rick and Nate were extremely leery of him. I didn't think it had to do with the way Kyle looked at me, even if that was probably part of it. I still thought he looked like a Viking, which made me wonder if berserkers and Vikings were related.
"Don't worry. You have two FBI agents and a NYPD detective here, so if something fishy is going on, we'll get to the bottom of it."
For some reason, saying those words out loud made me think I was part of a cartoon crime-fighting show. I didn't really consider myself FBI, having only gone on one kind of case, but I had worked for the government for a while, and was good at puzzles.
"And would you happen to be included in those law enforcement agencies?" Kyle asked me.
"I would be one half of the FBI agents."
"Then we have nothing to worry about," Kyle said, giving me another wink as he took his leave.
I was hoping he was just doing that to get under Nate's skin. If he was, he and I would be great friends, because I loved to antagonize Nate as often as I could. On the other hand, if he still thought I was available, I was going to have to stab him a time or two to let him know I wasn't interested. I figured it would take something that extreme to get through to him.
"I don't like him very much," Vinnie said, speaking for the first time.
In new situations, Vinnie tended to hide in the background a little bit. I was sure he was just running computer programs to analyze the situation, so he could warn us of any danger he perceived, but it was kind of funny with how outspoken he usually was in private.
"I imagine that your reasons align with mine," Nate said with a little extra gruffness in his voice. "He knows you're spoken for Avery, but yet continues to flirt. I'm starting to think we should have left you at home."
"Ha. That would've been a fight I doubt you could have won," Rick said. "Even with her fear of flying, she wouldn't have given up on being able to meet her little girl. Plus, even though she won't admit it, she hates being away from you."
The best answer I had for that statement was physical, so I walked over to him and kicked him in his right shin. I didn't use my full strength, but the boots I was wearing to help keep my feet warm wouldn't have felt great no matter how much force I put into the action.
"You are such a dork sometimes, Rick."
"And you are way too violent for your own good, little girl," he replied as he tackled me to the ground. "You're lucky I was named your protector, or sometimes your life would really be in jeopardy."
As was usual when I got pinned to the ground, I dug one of my knives out of my pocket and brought it up to his side jabbing just a little bit. He'd felt the point of one of my little friends enough that he should've known it was coming.
"You know that I'd give you a big fight if you ever turned on me. You said you don't fight at a hundred percent, but you know very well that I don't either, because I could just concentrate and make it so you don't fight back. I love you, Freddie, but sometimes you really piss me off."
We both started laughing as he rolled off me. It was hard to get a good fight in when neither of the opponents wanted to hurt the other one. Our fights sometimes turned into something reminiscent of a choreographed dance instead of the battles they should've been.
"Are they always like this behind closed doors?" Gary asked.
I'd been so careful about hiding who I was around Frannie that neither her nor Gary really knew the real me. It was weird to be able to act like myself in front of them.
"Usually they're worse. I think they're being good because of the present company," Nate suggested, and he was right.
"Yeah, you're pretty lucky Avery only took out one knife. They usually draw blood by now," Vinnie added.
"He's joking," I said, not wanting them to make me sound insane. "We're always on our best behavior."
I tried to give my most innocent eyes, but that failed when I started laughing again. Best behavior was something I found impossible when I was playing around with Freddie.
"There's a reason why we have to keep them on opposite ends of the house. No one else would get any sleep if they were allowed to be closer. If I didn't know they actually like each other, I would think they were enemies." Nate was giving away more details than necessary, so I decided to change the subject.
"Whatever, let's go check out the sleeping arrangements and take a look around."
It turned out there were three rooms upstairs. Frannie and Gary called dibs on the biggest room. That was fine; I knew Frannie was used to things being a certain way. Vinnie had no problem just hanging out downstairs, so that left me, Nate and Rick to fight over the last two rooms.
?"Why don't you two share a room?" I asked, knowing that I was going to end up in a bed with Nate.
That really wasn't that big of a deal. We had separate rooms at home, but I almost always woke up to find him snuggled in with me. He claimed I was having a nightmare and he was only there to help me. I claimed he was full of it, but didn't fight him on the matter. The truth was I slept better with him around.
Of course, they both laughed, thinking I was joking about them sharing a room. If I didn't know they'd shackle me to a bed, I'd tell them I was going to go stay with Kyle. That would make them think twice about laughing at me.
"Come on, we're taking this room," Nate said, dragging me into a room.
Just before the door closed, I yelled, "Rick, if I'm not out of here within five minutes, send in a search party."
"You're so silly sometimes," Nate said as he pulled me in for a thorough kiss. By the time he was done, my breathing was only starting to regulate itself. "Don't think I didn't pick up that thought about staying with Kyle. Do I need to chain you down now, or will you behave?" he asked as he pulled away.
"I watched you pack and I know you left your chains at home, so that's kind of an empty threat, don't you think?"
"I'm sure I could dig something up if I thought the moment warranted it. Let's get unpacked so we can take a look around. I'd really like to find Elizabeth and get out of here as soon as possible. I have a feeling I'm not going to want many people to lay eyes on you."
With the hard part of the trip out of the way, I thought I'd be able spend some time getting to know Elizabeth. It wasn't like we had to get back for work. I didn't know what kind of deal Nate had with his supervisor, but it seemed like he could take any case he wanted and he hadn't found anything he wanted me involved with.
"Have you tried to reach her telepathically?" I asked. "I don't really know her, so it's difficult for me to try to focus in on her."
"I've tried and am getting nothing back. I'm hoping that's just because she's beyond my range."
Looking around the room, I saw a bed that looked like we'd both fit on fine. It pretty much worked out that if Nate fit, we both did. The bed was topped with a dark blue comforter and four pillows. Also in the room, there was a dresser and a door that led to a closet.
I didn't see another door, so I guessed there was a communal bathroom we were all going to have to share. I really hoped there was at least one more in the house, because I doubted anyone would be able to get in whenever Frannie decided to take a shower.
After stuffing our clothes in the dresser, we hurried and made our way downstairs to find Rick and Vinnie. I assumed with the eight bags it was going to be a little while before Frannie bestowed us with an appearance.
"Where do you guys want to start? With the other disappearances, I'm a little more worried about what's going on here," Rick said. I had the same feeling. If just Elizabeth was gone, then maybe there was a good explanation, but with others missing, there was reason to be concerned.
"I don't know anything about Elizabeth's personality, so I'm not sure what normal behavior is for her or what might be a clue. I think I'll leave that up to you guys. Just tell me what you need me to do." I didn't like deferring to others, but the guys knew my skill set.
"If someone was in need of her help, I believe she would have dropped everything and gone to the rescue. Hopefully that explains everything and she'll be showing up within the next couple of days surprised by our visit," Nate said as he glanced around the clinic area we were standing in.
I followed his gaze and wondered how anyone slept with a mini hospital set up in their house. I couldn't smell the usual antiseptic that went along with a hospital, but I imagined there were bottles hiding in one of the cabinets. I wondered again if Kyle had room at his place.
Nate was quick to bring my thoughts away from the berserker. "Let's start looking around and see if anything has been disturbed. Try to find any planners or calendars. They're our best bet at figuring out what her day-to-day life was like. I don't see any evidence of a fight and she's too much like her mother to allow herself to be kidnapped without maiming someone."
We took a look around and saw nothing disturbed. Rick found a calendar that had the day marked for when she was supposed to meet Sophia, but nothing else indicating where she could be. As we were wrapping up our search, Frannie and Gary made their way downstairs.
"Anything we can do to help?" Frannie asked.
"We've searched the downstairs and didn't find anything helpful. I doubt the upstairs will reveal anything because it doesn't seem it's used often," Nate reported.
"Is anyone getting hungry? I took a peek in the fridge and cupboards while I was looking around, and I could whip something up," I said, looking for something to do.
When I wasn't sure what to do, I always turned towards the kitchen. Something about that room in a house made me feel safe, and often I found myself thinking clearer there.
"Yeah, we haven't eaten for a while. Why don't you do that and we'll rearrange the waiting room into a sitting area, so we can eat and talk about next steps," Rick suggested.
I didn't need to be told twice as I headed off to the kitchen with Frannie following behind me. I was hoping she would. I had a lot of questions I needed to get answers to and my best friend had a lot to answer for.
If she knew I was different the whole time, I couldn't believe she didn't give me a clue that she was too. I didn't think she could've known that I wasn't aware of my specialness. You never knew though, I might have been wearing an "I am special and don't even know it" sign for years.
The fact that I'd been out on my own and other special people could sense me, made me want to smack my parents a few times. We hadn't really gone into details about why they did what they did, but I had to believe they had someone keeping an eye on me. The thought of that made me get a little agitated, so I focused in on food.
I decided to make some quick potato chip breaded chicken breast with a side of rice. It was getting late and I didn't want to be stuck cooking forever. I turned on the oven and quickly coated the chicken. Once in the baking dish, I threw it into the oven, calling it good.
Frannie had stood off to the side as I worked, careful not to get in my way. The food wouldn't be ready for thirty minutes, so it was time for the Frannie grilling to commence.
CHAPTER 5
Cats are magical; the more you pet them the longer you both live