a/n: Sorry for the lil over two months delay on getting this chapter out. Inspiration was late in hitting for this; I'm just glad my new fourth period class is boring as heck and gives me time to write for this. I want to say a HUGE thank you for those who have read, reviewed, favorited, or simply put on the alert list. It's good to know that at least one person is reading and (hopefully) enjoying. I'm not too sure this chapter is the best; it certainly isn't the longest; but I hope its just as well. Enjoy!
Oh, and in the last chapter, I misspelled a name, it was supposed to be 'Toulouse' not Telouse, or however I spelled it.
Disclaimer: I only own the original characters, nothing more.
Chapter Eleven: Left Behind
The expedition sped through the closed in road. Fresh green and shades of gray flew past in a blur. Tyler glanced uneasily at his friend whose jaw was clenched and eyes were glued straight through the windshield. His gloved hands grasped the leather wheel tightly, making Tyler a tad nervous about the sitting arrangement.
"Reid," He called out as he leaned forward to try to catch his friend's eye. "Where are we going?"
"I told you where we're going." The Garwin teen snapped without moving an inch from his position.
"Right, but back to the school isn't informative."
"It's a place, isn't it?"
Tyler clenched his jaw and turned away to stare out the windshield again. The hum of the engine increased in volume as the pressure of Reid's foot on the accelerator increased in strength. The Simms teen had wanted to tell him to slow down, to calm down because his actions could lead them nowhere good. Instead, he bit his tongue and clenched the rubber handle by the door.
The meeting had ended in the conclusion that Chase was indeed back; and although the reason as to why was blurred; Tyler knew the possibility of it dealing with Reid was high. The fact that his birthday loomed near was difficult to ignore.
"He may still want power, now more than ever. We have to keep an eye out for trouble and stick together."
That seemed simple enough to handle, yet Reid's behavior was way below comprehension. The only reason he would be reacting the way he was...
Tyler let his gaze slide back to the blond driver. "What do you know?" He questioned, driving straight to the point.
"Nothing yet." Reid replied distractedly.
"You have an idea." Tyler pushed, leaning forward once again.
"I have plenty." The blond dismissed.
"Let me in on it, Reid." The Simms teen demanded.
"Look, do you want to drive?" Reid snapped, glancing impatiently to his friend. Concentrating on the road while having to listen to the passenger pester you with annoying questions was beyond distracting.
"Yeah, I do!" Tyler retorted, impatience at not being answered snapping through.
A devious smirk crossed Reid's lips. "Then, by all means..." His gloved hands slipped from the wheel and Tyler's heart jerked into a radical beat.
"Reid!"
The expedition swerved a turn through the trees, skimming the forest line yet remaining on the pavement. The accelerator pulled back as the expedition slowed to an eventual stop.
Reid glared at the boy in the passenger seat. "Now why the hell did you do that?"
Tyler kept his pitch black eyes on the wheel for a moment longer before closing his eyes and turning his head away. "What's going on, Reid? What's happening?"
Reid tossed his head to the side to stare out the window. "That new girl; the transfer student..." He began after a moment in silence.
"Josie?" Tyler turned his blue eyes back to his roommate.
"If that's what you call her." Reid replied in an off handed manner. "When was the last time Chase came into our lives?"
Dark eyebrows furrowed together as Tyler kept his confused gaze on Reid. "Caleb's birthday."
A sigh escaped the blond's lips. "Think again, Baby Boy."
Tyler's jaw clenched at the nick name, but remained silent, awaiting his friend's explanation. Reid turned in his seat, resting his arms on the arm rest between them as he caught Tyler's eye and kept it.
"He came with the first batch of transfer students; a.k.a.; when we met Sarah. Now that he's back, don't you find it catchy that it happens when we get another transfer student?"
Mulling the idea over, Tyler dropped his gaze momentarily and sat back into his chair. Slowly, he spoke up. "She's been here for over a month now...these occurrences only began recently..."
Rolling his eyes, Reid replied; "I didn't say it made perfect sense. That's why I didn't tell our Fearless Leader." Tyler frowned at the sarcasm, though Reid chose to ignore it. "Just give me some credit, will ya?"
"Fine. So, what are we doing now?" Tyler questioned glancing out the windshield.
Reid turned in his seat and pressed down on the gas peddle, putting the expedition into motion once again. "We're going to find the new girl and ask some questions." He replied, a hint of a sarcastic smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth.
Sarah glanced at the time on her cell phone before once again snapping it shut and burying it deep within the pocket of her jacket. Her eyes glanced uncertainly out at the parking lot where no vehicles had driven in through for the past twenty minutes.
Caleb had called her nearly half an hour before, telling her that Reid was on his way back to the school. He had asked her to watch over him, make sure he didn't do anything stupid. What she could do to stop the Covenant brother, Sarah had no clue. Reid had never been one to heed the warnings of others, let alone follow commands.
What also worried her was the fact that her boyfriend had yet to call back to check up on her. News as to what was going on would have been very helpful instead of leaving her out in the cold waiting for a vehicle that hadn't shown any sign of arriving. Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Sarah quenched the annoyance that had been bubbling in her throat and pulled out her phone again.
Movement in her peripheral vision made her snap her head up to her left.
Kate stopped in her tracks, her smooth brown hair blowing into her face as she stared at her roommate in confusion.
Sighing, Sarah shrugged her shoulders and flashed a small smile. "Sorry." She mumbled before Kate took the last few steps to stand by her side.
Both girls watched the parking lot, hands shoved in their jacket pockets.
"Any word from Caleb?" Kate spoke up, lifting a hand to her face to remove a strand of hair.
The young blond shook her head before shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "Not since he called about Reid."
"What do you think could have happened?"
"I don't know. But whatever it is, he seemed pretty hell bent on me sticking with Reid." She sighed and shook her head, this time at the idea of her boyfriend withholding information. For all she knew, Caleb could have sent Reid to keep tabs on her, instead of the other way around. But if that were the case, why? Why wouldn't Caleb have come and keep on eye on her himself? Why would he need to?
"Here he comes." Kate nodded toward the entrance of the parking lot and soon both girls watched as the black expedition pulled into a parking spot. "Come on." Her hand pulled on Sarah's arm, leading her to the black top to meet up with the boys.
She was never the type for cat and mouse, especially when she had to play the cat. She may have been athletic at one time, but chasing wasn't her style. Searching wasn't all that fun either, especially when you didn't know where to start.
Evelyn grit her teeth before trying Josie's number once more. The voice mail picked up without any ringing. Sighing, Evelyn snapped the phone shut and slid it into the back of her jeans pocket before wrapping the jacket tighter around herself.
Not at the courtyard, there were no gardens, the church halls were currently closed. Stopping in her wondering tracks, Evelyn considered checking the infirmary. It was either that or going into the woods which was only a short distance away.
'Walking across campus to check a place she may not be, or going into the closer, more expansed woods where...she also...may not be...' Biting her lip and looking from one direction to the other, she thought: 'Tricky.'
Her phone vibrated from the back of her jeans and instantly she reached back to pull it out. An unfamiliar number flashed in the blue screen and a small hope flickered that it could lead to Josie.
"Hello?"
Static fluttered across the ear piece as a sudden harsh wind blew past, restricting the sound of any response.
"Hello?" She repeated, turning her back to the wind.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" A voice snapped at her.
Evelyn lifted her head at the alien voice and looked around. "Who is this?"
Reid glared through the building window down to the lone figure standing just beside the forest line. "Who do you think?" He snapped into the mouth piece of his phone.
Her breathing faltered and Evelyn found she had to hesitate before replying so as to keep her voice from sounding a couple of octaves higher than usual. "Reid?"
"No, it's the All Powerful Oz. Answer my question. What are you doing?"
Defiance burned within Evelyn as the guy had the nerve to make demands of her when she was currently busy. "How did you get my number?"
"Does that even matter?!" Irritation coated his voice.
Evelyn huffed as her eyes continued to watch her surroundings. "Well, if Oz got my number, I think I should warn the Wicked Witch of the West that he's on her tail."
"Where's your cousin at?" He questioned hurriedly.
Tyler leaned against the counter top in the rec room while Kate lounged in one of the couches, Sarah sat at a table, and Reid stood in the middle. All their attentions were trained on the person who stood by the pool table. The rec room was empty save for these five people; Reid had closed and locked the door to the room so as to keep others out.
Evelyn clenched her fists and kept her arms crossed tightly in front of her. The weather outside was getting worse; dark clouds spat out sprinkles of water that attacked the windows with each breath of harsh wind. Her leg began to shake as adrenaline pumped through her veins.
"So you don't know where she is?" Reid questioned for the third time since they'd been in the room.
"No, damn it." Evelyn replied, losing her patience.
"Why do you need to find her?" Kate intervened, as Evelyn and Reid stared heatedly at each other before turning to Tyler who spoke.
"Somethings have been happening around school, we need to know if she knows anything about it."
Sarah caught Reid's eye, silently questioning if it had more to do with the covenant than anything else. His lips parted as if to speak, though instead he broke the gaze and stepped towards Tyler. "We can check the infirmary," He whispered. "She didn't check there."
Evelyn's body jerked forward; however, she restrained herself, bit her lip, and turned her gaze to the window.
"I'll go check." Kate volunteered, standing up from the couch and catching everyone's attention. She turned to Sarah, expecting her to speak up and join her, however Tyler was the one to speak.
"I'll go with you." The Simms teen turned to the door, unlocked it, and opened it for the dark haired girl.
Just then Evelyn felt her cell phone vibrate from within the pocket of her jacket. Pulling it out, her heart beat quickened as Josie's name appeared in the caller id. She punched the call button. "Josie?"
"No." A monotone voice answered in a drawl.
"Wha..." But that was her voice. The sound may not have been the same, but the vocal chords underlined Josie's.
"How much do you love your cousin?"
"Josie, what are you doing?" Evelyn snapped, turning her back to the others in the room.
A sigh echoed in the background before the monotone voice sounded again. "Don't call me Jos-ie. Now, do you want your cousin back or not?"
Evelyn's mind worked fast as she attempted to make sense of the conversation. "Well if you don't want me calling you Josie, what do you want me to call you? And as for your second question, that depends."
"Who the hell are you talking to?" Reid's voice sounded from behind causing Evelyn to turn and silence him with her worried expression.
"You two must share a smart-ass gene. Look, I really don't care for her. She's annoying. So, I'm willing to make a trade."
There was a pause in which Evelyn leaned heavily against the pool table. "What kind of trade?"
"Tell the Garwin boy to come with you. He knows what I want."
"Woah-wait! Come with me, where? Who are you?"
"Just after the imaginary sun of ours disappears, come into the woods. If anyone else besides the two of you comes, you can forget about this girl's future. I'll be waiting." After the phone line died, Evelyn slipped the phone back into her pocket and slowly faced the silent teens behind her.
Swallowing hard, she kept her worried gaze on the blond Garwin. "What...did you do?"
Reid's eyebrows knit together in confusion before opening his arms as if to show he had nothing on him. "What are you talking about?"
"Was that Josie?" Tyler questioned, stepping forward between his friend and the stranger girl.
"Yes, but..." She shook her head. "She just said that if I wanted my cousin back, I'm supposed to take you," She pointed accusingly at Reid. "Into the woods after the sun sets. You have something she wants, and apparently she isn't coming back until you give it to her."
Kate inched closer to Sarah and whispered, "Is this some ex-girlfriend or something? Cause she sounds like she needs to get some..."
Sarah's eyes widened as she nudged her roommate in the side.
"I don't have anything." Reid replied after sharing a glance with Tyler who clenched his jaw in return. Evelyn's dark brown eyes stared unwavering into Reid's bright blue as both parted their lips to speak.
"Tyler," Sarah spoke in the tense atmosphere. Her eyes had strayed between Reid and Evelyn in silent analysis before turning her full attention to eh Simms boy. Call Caleb. Get him over here."
An hour had passed. That just left one half hour.
Caleb had arrived with Pogue maybe ten minutes earlier to evaluate the situation. At Caleb's silent request, Sarah had discreetly taken Kate from the room so as to keep the secret on a somewhat controlled level.
"I'll go with Reid." Caleb stated calmly as soon as Kate and Sarah exited.
"Why?" Evelyn questioned, her straight face disguising the fact that her heartbeat quickened.
Caleb calmly stared into her eyes and replied: "Because we don't know who this person is, they could be dangerous."
Tyler watched as Evelyn's face twitched from contained frustration and quickly turned to Caleb himself. "In that case, Pogue and I should go too."
Caleb's shoulders tensed as he considered the younger boy. "Just me and Reid. Any more and we could set this person off."
Tyler clenched his jaw and turned away from Caleb's steady stare. Reid felt a twinge of annoyance as he watched his roommate back down. Seriously, the boy had no back bone when it came to Caleb. Pogue slapped a hand on Tyler's shoulder before standing up and heading for the window behind a now brooding Evelyn.
"Our time's almost up." Caleb stood from the chair he'd been occupying. "Let's go, Reid."
"No." Two voices spoke in unision; one laid back, the other alarmed.
Tyler lifted his head, Pogue turned from the window and Caleb froze in his steps. Slowly, the Denvers male turned his head to the side, waiting for the objectors to make their cases.
"She's my cousin and whoever was on the phone made it clear they didn't want anyone else showing up."
"And why do I have to go anyway?" Caleb turned around fully, setting his irked gaze on Reid who simply crossed his arms. "She has no clue as to who's waiting for us and why am I even wanted?"
"That's what we're going to find out." Caleb answered patiently. He then switched his gaze to lock with Pogue's. "Stay here. Watch them."
The muscled teen inhaled swiftly, puffing out his chest and standing taller before nodding silently. Caleb didn't waste any time taking in the reactions of Tyler and Evelyn. Instead, he turned on his heel, banged open the door and called sternly over his shoulder: "Reid, let's go!"
Rolling his eyes, the blond teen uncrossed his arms and followed, the rec room door slamming loudly after he exited.
