Ch. 25
Paige smiled and kissed her boyfriend's cheek. "That was really sweet."
Reid smirked at her after setting down his drink. "That was a onetime thing," he spoke to her as they made their way back to the dance floor.
"You're turning him soft, Paige," Pogue chuckled as he passed the couple with Blake on his. "He's no longer the badass Reid Garwin, that we all knew and hated." Blake laughed along with the older Son of Ipswich while Reid flipped him off.
Paige laid her head on his chest and sighed contently. "This night is perfect, nothing can go wrong," she said as they spun in a slow circle. Reid smiled a genuine smile and rested his head on top of his girlfriend's.
The night continued on with everyone having the time of their lives. The end of the school year was less then three months away, bringing with it Graduation Day for the senior class.
It wasn't until near the end of the night that the dancing started to die down. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen here is the last song of the evening. Enjoy." The DJ said into the microphone.
Couples went the large dance floor as "Amazed" by Lonestar played through the speakers.
After the song ended everyone gathered their things and either headed back to Ipswich or to their hotel rooms for the night. The hotel manager made it clear to the Provost of Spenser Academy that if they were to allow the students to room overnight that they would have to obey a curfew of 1 a.m.
"That was one of the best nights ever!" Blake mused as the eight of them piled into an elevator. River and Paige grinned, agreeing with their friend. In the corner Rylee yawned and curled closer to Tyler.
"Tired?" he asked; her response was another yawn.
They had an early start to the morning with school and a long night of dancing, so exhaustion was slowly creeping over some of them.
Once the elevator stopped, the eight got off and walked to their room where Pogue checked the time. The clock on the nightstand between the two beds told him it was only ten minutes passed midnight. He ran a hand through his hair that was no longer slicked back. "I say a midnight swim is in order."
Blake and Paige grinned. Reid had already reached into his bag and pulled out his swimming trunks. "I'll go tell the others." Blake walked from the room, reappearing a minute later she said, "Rylee pretty much passed out in her dress and Tyler is going to stay with her. Caleb said he was worn out too but River is gonna come with us I think."
"Awesome," Reid said as he came out of the large bathroom in his swimming trunks and a towel hanging around his neck.
The girls grinned and grabbed their own bathing suits and took turns changing in the bathroom. Within five minutes the four of them made their way out into the hallway where River was waiting patiently in her bathing suit with a towel wrapped around her.
"You all ready to have a mini pool party?" she said, wiggling her eyebrows. Her, Paige and Blake raced down the hallway and back to the elevators, giggled as quietly as they could as to not be overheard.
The hallways were empty as they made their way down to where the pool was on the fourth floor. "Well, damn," Blake said, reaching for the door and finding it locked. "Pool closed at eleven."
Paige grinned. "It's not locked."
Blake stared at her as she shook the locked door. "Yes, it is, Paige. See, it's locked."
The blonde smirked as the iris of her eyes flashed pink and she was gone. She reappeared on the other side of the locked door and waved from where she stood. With a sly grin, she reached down and unlocked the previous locked door. "See," Paige said, pushing the door open. "It's not locked."
Reid laughed with the others as they walked into the pool area that had a strong smell of chlorine. Pogue took a running jump and leapt into the pool causing a large splash.
"Holy shit!" he yelled as he clambered out of the pool. "It's freezing!"
Blake laughed and smirked as an idea struck her. She bent low to the cold water, reached into her sweatpants pocket and pulled out a lighter. Her eyes flashed purple while she flicked on the lighter and sent a stream of flames into the icy water. A few minutes later, she broke the surface with her toes and grinned.
She jumped in after undressing. Paige and Reid followed. "Nice and warm."
"What if we get caught?" River asked hesitantly just as Pogue jumped into the water for the second time, sending a wall of water over Paige.
"No one is going to catch us," Blake said, sounding sure of herself and trying to hid her laughter at Paige's shocked face. "We have to keep a keen ear on that. And when I say we I mean you."
River bit her lip and thought about it then a smile slowly crept on her lips.
"Ah, what the hell." She grinned and cannon balled into the water, making a splash. Pogue grinned as his eyes bled black and a small ball of water lifted a few inches above the pool. He chuckled to himself as he threw it, hitting a unsuspecting Blake on the side of the head.
"Uh!" she yelled with a small laugh before taking off in the direction of her boyfriend. Within the hour a full blown water fight broke out. The clock now read five past one in the morning, which was five minutes past curfew.
Pogue was holding a giggling Paige over his head when all of a sudden River's eyes flashed lime green. "Shh!" she hushed her babbling friends, who all froze with their eyes on River. "Someone's coming."
Frantic at being caught past curfew, even a few minutes late, the five teens quickly got out of the pool and grabbed their things.
Blake ran to the door that led the way back to the hallway but slid to a halt when a hand grabbed her arm. "No!" River whispered and pulled her in the other direction to where to locker rooms and bathrooms were. "We have to hide!" Reid followed the two girls into the locker room while Paige ran in the direction of the sauna with Pogue right on her heels.
Paige flung the door open and took a large breath before walking into the steam filled room. With her obscured vision she made her way to the back part of the dark sauna just incase someone thought to peek in.
"Pogue?" she whispered as she pulled on her shirt and shorts over her wet bathing suit. Hm. Must not have followed me in here. Hope everyone found a hiding spot.
The minutes ticked by but she kept silent as she waited for the O.K. from River. It was hard to breath in the hot, steamy room. Paige heard the door open, then close. Hoping it wasn't the night Hotel security, she cautiously peaked around the pillar she hid behind but saw no one, so she stepped toward the door. "Pogue?" she said a little louder then the first time. No one answered. "Reid? Reid. If you're trying to scare me…" Her sentence lingered as a small movement to her left caught her attention.
"You've been discovered, sneaky one." Paige laughed at the efforts of her boyfriend or friend. Gradually, she gained some of her sight back as she squinted but saw no one where she early saw movement. Or thought she saw movement. "Huh." With shallow breaths she turned around to exit the sauna when a hand caught around her mouth and nose.
"Okay, you got me," she said with a muffled voice and waited for the hand to lower but instead it was replaced with a cloth.
Suddenly realizing this was not a friend, her hand flew to the arm trying to pull it away from her face. The smell of chloroform quickly filled her nostrils as she tried to find the connection to her friends. Just as she breached the link, her eyelids slide shut and she drifted into unconsciousness.
"Okay," River's voice came softly from a locker next to Blake. "It's safe." She stepped out of the locker and opened the one her friend was in. "Whoever it was, they just left."
"It's about time," an irritated voice came from above them. The two girls looked up the see Reid floating near the ceiling of the tall room with midnight black eyes.
"You're lucky Paige didn't see that," Blake scolded once Reid stood next to them. He rolled his eyes and turned away from the two, walking out into the pool area.
Pogue stepped out from behind a thin white cabinet that held dozens of towels. "That was a close one. I heard whoever it was walk right past me," he said as he joined the others. "Let's get Paige and get out of here. I think she went into the sauna."
The four of them walked quickly down the small hallway and opened the door to the sauna. "Paige?" Pogue called from the entrance as foggy steam poured out.
Reid pushed his friend out of the way and strolled further into the steamed filled room. "Paige, come on." He waited a few seconds for a reply before turning to the others. "River?" The dark haired girl walked to the side of Reid as her eyes flashed lime green and her keen wolf senses kicked in. She breathed in and out through her mouth trying to get more oxygen from the hot room as her eyes scanned the large room.
"She's not in here," she said, breathing for the first time through her nose. The familiar smell of her blonde haired friend's shampoo filled her nostrils but there was one scent that was not recognizable. "Okay, never mind, she was in here."
"Well then where is she now?" Pogue thought out loud.
Being almost second nature to the girls, Blake quickly found the connection that the four girls shared to talk telepathically. Only unlike normal, this time it felt different, like a link was missing.
"River," she said in a worried voice. This strange feeling has happened once before when the girls were training. Rylee had passed out after a long, vigorous training session in 90 degree weather. The other girls had tried to wake her up using telepathy but they couldn't reach her.
"I can't reach her either," River replied in a forced calm voice as to not worry the guys. She left Reid's side and looked around the room again but like before, Paige was nowhere to be found.
In silence they walked out of the sauna, across the pool area and back out into the hallway. River lead the way to the elevators with her eyes still glowing and using her keen senses. Once in the elevator Reid broke the tensioned silence.
"What does that mean? When you can't reach her?" He asked, blues eyes glancing from River to Blake.
The girls exchanged a look before speaking. "It means that she's unconscious," Blake said, not looking at either of the Sons. The elevator stopped and the four of them stepped out and walked down the long hallway to the rooms.
"Unconscious?" Reid said, worry etched in his handsome features. "But-"
"I don't know how she became unconscious or where she is," River interrupted just as they came to the door. She took out her card key and opened the door. The room was dark, and three sleeping forms could be seen. "Rylee," Blake called loudly.
Rylee stirred next to Tyler and slowly opened her eyes. "What is it?" she murmured sleepily.
"It's Paige," River answered as she grabbed fresh clothes from her bag. "She's missing and we can't reach her." Rylee sat straight up, waking Tyler up as she did so.
"What?" she asked, throwing the sheets off her and got out of bed.
Tyler's eyes grew wide at what River said. Worried, Reid walked to where Caleb lay asleep in the other bed. "Caleb, wake up."
The eldest Son of Ipswich woke with a start, noticing all of his friends in the room with worried looks on their faces. "What's going on?" He looked at each person in the room and became aware that someone was missing. "Where's Paige?"
"We can't find her," Reid spoke quietly. "And apparently they can't reach her because she's unconscious."
Paige's eyelids fluttered open. She sat in a dark room that was not familiar to her. The only light source came from a small creak in the door. She tried to stand but a sharp pain stabbed at her wrists and ankles. She looked down and noticed that they were bound with rope to the chair she sat in. Her thoughts were hazy and jumbled as she fought to remember what had happened.
While absorbed in her thoughts she failed to hear footsteps as someone entered the room. "You look beautiful," a deep voice called from the other side of the room. Paige's head snapped up to see an outline of a man.
"What do you want from me?" She had no idea where she was or who this guy was. If help was to come she needed some information. For the first time since she was thirteen, Paige was thankful for the challenges and terrifying positions she and her friends had been put in. Because honestly, compared to some of the things she went through like finding her powers and dealing with Demon and his henchmen, this was really not that big of a deal. Whatever this was.
Her motive now, was to find out who this guy was and where she was at.
"You know what I want," the man said as he stalked toward her slowly. She still couldn't see his face but something about his voice was familiar. The moment he stood in front of her, his hand reached to her neck though his grip did not tighten as she expected it to. Instead, his thumb caressed her soft skin gently, causing a wave of chills to wash through Paige's body.
She pulled away from him as best as she could with being restrained and squinted her eyes, trying to see her abductor's face. "Who are you?"
The man stood up straight and turned from Paige. His hand hovered over the light switch next to the closed door, then a small lamp on the desk to Paige's right switched on.
Her eyes quickly looked around the room, taking in her surroundings. She was in what looked liked a small hotel room. The bed was pushed to the edge of the room leaving a large space in the middle where Paige sat. A notepad on the desk read: Hyatt Regency Boston. Okay, so I'm still at the hotel. She concluded before her eyes fell on the man standing with his back to her. He wore a pair of dark jeans and a dark hoodie with the hood pulled over his head.
"Who are you?" She asked again.
Slowly, he turned around pulling his hood down as he did. A gasp of surprise came from Paige's lips as she took in the man before her. Blonde hair, blue eyes, fierce gaze. "Corey."
A smirk spread across Corey's face. "Surprise, Paige."